THE PAPERS OF N. BEVERLEY TUCKER
The following seven lots are a portion of the papers of Nathaniel Beverley Tucker, a high-ranking Confederate agent active in Canada at the end of the war, who in the confusion and recriminations in the wake of the Lincoln assassination, was named by President Johnson and the Federal government as a conspirator in the assassination plot. Born in Winchester, Virginia and educated at the University of Virginia, he tried his hand at a variety of trades before becoming editor of the Washington Sentinel from 1853 to 1856, in which role he won influential political friends. In 1857, he was rewarded with the post of consul in Liverpool (succeeding Nathaniel Hawthorne). When Virginia seceded, he returned home and enlisted in the Confederate Army. But in 1862, as a civilian, he undertook to procure supplies for the Confederacy in Europe, which mission proved unsuccessful. Upon his return, he was sent to Canada to trade southern cotton for Canadian bacon. Charged as a conspirator after Lincoln's assassination, he fled to Mexico but finally returned to the United States in 1872. He resided in Washington until his death.
DAVIS, Jefferson (1808-1889), President, Confederate States of America. Autograph letter signed ("Jeffer:Davis") as Confederate President, to Beverley Tucker, Richmond, 15 September 1861. 1 page, 8vo, integral blank, envelope, minor browning along folds, otherwise fine.
Details
DAVIS, Jefferson (1808-1889), President, Confederate States of America. Autograph letter signed ("Jeffer:Davis") as Confederate President, to Beverley Tucker, Richmond, 15 September 1861. 1 page, 8vo, integral blank, envelope, minor browning along folds, otherwise fine.
DAVIS RESPONDS TO TUCKER'S OFFER TO SERVE THE CONFEDERACY. The Confederate President's gracious response to Tucker's patriotic offer to procure supplies for the Confederacy during the first year of the war. At this stage of the war, the necessity of creating a government and an army from scratch inundated Davis with a multitude of eager applicants for the military, political and diplomatic posts: "In his correspondance he had to deal with a flood of congratulatory letters, most of them also asking for some favor or appointment" (Davis, Jefferson Davis, p. 314). As the volume of requests increased, Davis passed much of the responsibility for responding to his secretary Josselyn but in the case of important individuals, still took the trouble to respond in person.
Here, the harried Confederate President replies to Tucker: "I have repeatedly thought of the proposition of Mr. Gifford & yourself & expected it to be submitted for a decision. If the public interest does not require that arrangement to be made, I will remember your offer of personel [sic] service and be assured of the pleasure it will give me to contribute to your personal welfare." In spite of Davis's gracious rebuff, Tucker would go on to render services to the Confederacy throughout the war.
DAVIS RESPONDS TO TUCKER'S OFFER TO SERVE THE CONFEDERACY. The Confederate President's gracious response to Tucker's patriotic offer to procure supplies for the Confederacy during the first year of the war. At this stage of the war, the necessity of creating a government and an army from scratch inundated Davis with a multitude of eager applicants for the military, political and diplomatic posts: "In his correspondance he had to deal with a flood of congratulatory letters, most of them also asking for some favor or appointment" (Davis, Jefferson Davis, p. 314). As the volume of requests increased, Davis passed much of the responsibility for responding to his secretary Josselyn but in the case of important individuals, still took the trouble to respond in person.
Here, the harried Confederate President replies to Tucker: "I have repeatedly thought of the proposition of Mr. Gifford & yourself & expected it to be submitted for a decision. If the public interest does not require that arrangement to be made, I will remember your offer of personel [sic] service and be assured of the pleasure it will give me to contribute to your personal welfare." In spite of Davis's gracious rebuff, Tucker would go on to render services to the Confederacy throughout the war.