Details
GRANT, ULYSSES S., President. Autograph letter signed ("U. S. Grant"), as President, to J. A. J. Creswell, Postmaster General, Long Branch, N. J., 20 June 1871. One 1/2 pages, 8vo, on lined paper, docketed on verso of integral blank leaf, fold breaks with old scotch tape repairs, one small marginal tear.
"Recent events prove to me that the postmaster at Pensacola, Fla., F. L. Humphreys, and the postmaster at Warrington, Fla., G. W. Legallais, should both be removed. I do not know that other parties have been recommended for their places but I would suggest that some ag[en]t. of the department be directed to look into the matter and suggest names for their places. I would not consult Senator Cliburn in the matter."
"The country has had few, if any, abler postmaster-generals" than John Angel James Creswell, according to DAB. His loyalty to the Union during his tenure in the House and Senate from 1861 to 1865 earned him the appointment by Grant as Postmaster General in 1869, a position that he filled for five years, during which time he reformed the Postal Service. His numerous accomplishments in this area included the abolition in 1873 of the system of franking privileges, "the mother of frauds" (DAB); it is possible that the "recent events" that Grant refers to involved abuse of this sort.
"Recent events prove to me that the postmaster at Pensacola, Fla., F. L. Humphreys, and the postmaster at Warrington, Fla., G. W. Legallais, should both be removed. I do not know that other parties have been recommended for their places but I would suggest that some ag[en]t. of the department be directed to look into the matter and suggest names for their places. I would not consult Senator Cliburn in the matter."
"The country has had few, if any, abler postmaster-generals" than John Angel James Creswell, according to DAB. His loyalty to the Union during his tenure in the House and Senate from 1861 to 1865 earned him the appointment by Grant as Postmaster General in 1869, a position that he filled for five years, during which time he reformed the Postal Service. His numerous accomplishments in this area included the abolition in 1873 of the system of franking privileges, "the mother of frauds" (DAB); it is possible that the "recent events" that Grant refers to involved abuse of this sort.