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Details
HARRISON, William Henry. Document signed (“W. H. Harrison”), as President, Washington, 18 March 1841. 1 page, oblong folio (11 ¼ x 16in.). Engraved boldly at top, “William Henry Harrison, President of the United States of America.” Counter-signed by Treasury Secretary Thomas Ewing.
ONE OF THE GREATEST OF PRESIDENTIAL RARITIES, a William Henry Harrison autograph while in office. Harrison holds the tragic distinction of having the shortest tenure of any U.S. President, just one month from his inauguration on 4 March until his death on 4 April. Here, on 18 March, he appoints William B. Smith a Collector of Customs for Machias, Maine. For years historians ascribed Harrison’s fatal illness to pneumonia brought on by the cold, windy rain of Inauguration Day, when he delivered his 8,000 word address coatless and hatless. But, contrary to folk wisdom, rain and cold does not cause colds or pneumonia. Harrison’s illness came upon him the 26th of March, and according to a recent report in the NY Times (31 March 2014), was more likely enteric fever, a bacterial infection caused by drinking the sewage-laced waters that flowed near the White House. Harrison complained of lethargy and exhibited a low pulse, along with cold, blue extremities, all symptoms of septic shock rather than pneumonia. He fell into a delirium, the opiates his misguided physicians prescribed only blocked his body’s ability to expel the deadly bacteria. He died just after midnight on the 4th, becoming the first of eight Presidents to die in office. Provenance: Charles Hamilton Auctions, 10 October 1974, lot 233.
Harrison is the rarest of Presidential autographs. Only 20 examples have appeared at auction since 1974; only 4 in the last 10 years.
ONE OF THE GREATEST OF PRESIDENTIAL RARITIES, a William Henry Harrison autograph while in office. Harrison holds the tragic distinction of having the shortest tenure of any U.S. President, just one month from his inauguration on 4 March until his death on 4 April. Here, on 18 March, he appoints William B. Smith a Collector of Customs for Machias, Maine. For years historians ascribed Harrison’s fatal illness to pneumonia brought on by the cold, windy rain of Inauguration Day, when he delivered his 8,000 word address coatless and hatless. But, contrary to folk wisdom, rain and cold does not cause colds or pneumonia. Harrison’s illness came upon him the 26th of March, and according to a recent report in the NY Times (31 March 2014), was more likely enteric fever, a bacterial infection caused by drinking the sewage-laced waters that flowed near the White House. Harrison complained of lethargy and exhibited a low pulse, along with cold, blue extremities, all symptoms of septic shock rather than pneumonia. He fell into a delirium, the opiates his misguided physicians prescribed only blocked his body’s ability to expel the deadly bacteria. He died just after midnight on the 4th, becoming the first of eight Presidents to die in office. Provenance: Charles Hamilton Auctions, 10 October 1974, lot 233.
Harrison is the rarest of Presidential autographs. Only 20 examples have appeared at auction since 1974; only 4 in the last 10 years.