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LINCOLN, Abraham. Autograph letter signed ("A. Lincoln") to W. B. Sprague, Washington, 18 January 1864. 1 page, 4to, ruled paper, on Executive Mansion stationery.
LINCOLN OBLIGES A REQUEST FOR A SANITY FAIR AUTOGRAPH. A fine example of a wartime, Presidential letter. The President writes Rev. W. B. Sprague: "Yours of the 13th Inst. is received; and agreeably to your request therein, I send you this, for the use of the ladies mentioned, who are laboring for the relief of our sick and wounded soldiers." Sprague had asked Lincoln for an autograph sample to be sold in a Sanitary Commission Fair sponsored by a group of Albany women. Sprague was going to compile samples of all the Presidents into a bound volume for use in the fair. The U.S. Sanitary Commission arose in 1861 from the public spirited efforts of many Northern women who had organized themselves into the Women's Central Association of Relief (modeling themselves on the British Sanitary Commission in the Crimean War). Linking with prominent male reformers that were friendly to Lincoln, they persuaded the President to create the United States Sanitary Commission as an official government agency. Lincoln reluctantly agreed, thinking the Commission would be a "fifth wheel." He soon changed his mind. The tireless efforts of the Commission workers cut disease in Union camps in half. Over the four years of war they raised some $25 million to buy medicine and supplies for wounded Union troops. They coordinated the government's relief efforts, sent experts into camps to survey conditions and compile useful statistics, and supplied doctors, nurses and ambulances. Historian George Frederickson called the Commission "the largest, most powerful, and most highly organized philanthropic activity that had ever been seen in America" (The Inner Civil War, 98). Much of its funds were raised by Sanity Fairs held in numerous Northern cities, to which Lincoln contributed many autographs over the years. They continued their amelioration and advocacy work after the war, helping veterans gain bounty payments, back pay, and pensions. The group disbanded in May 1866. Printed in Basler, First Supplement, 219.
LINCOLN OBLIGES A REQUEST FOR A SANITY FAIR AUTOGRAPH. A fine example of a wartime, Presidential letter. The President writes Rev. W. B. Sprague: "Yours of the 13th Inst. is received; and agreeably to your request therein, I send you this, for the use of the ladies mentioned, who are laboring for the relief of our sick and wounded soldiers." Sprague had asked Lincoln for an autograph sample to be sold in a Sanitary Commission Fair sponsored by a group of Albany women. Sprague was going to compile samples of all the Presidents into a bound volume for use in the fair. The U.S. Sanitary Commission arose in 1861 from the public spirited efforts of many Northern women who had organized themselves into the Women's Central Association of Relief (modeling themselves on the British Sanitary Commission in the Crimean War). Linking with prominent male reformers that were friendly to Lincoln, they persuaded the President to create the United States Sanitary Commission as an official government agency. Lincoln reluctantly agreed, thinking the Commission would be a "fifth wheel." He soon changed his mind. The tireless efforts of the Commission workers cut disease in Union camps in half. Over the four years of war they raised some $25 million to buy medicine and supplies for wounded Union troops. They coordinated the government's relief efforts, sent experts into camps to survey conditions and compile useful statistics, and supplied doctors, nurses and ambulances. Historian George Frederickson called the Commission "the largest, most powerful, and most highly organized philanthropic activity that had ever been seen in America" (The Inner Civil War, 98). Much of its funds were raised by Sanity Fairs held in numerous Northern cities, to which Lincoln contributed many autographs over the years. They continued their amelioration and advocacy work after the war, helping veterans gain bounty payments, back pay, and pensions. The group disbanded in May 1866. Printed in Basler, First Supplement, 219.