Details
TYLER, John. Autograph letter signed ("John Tyler") to an unidentified correspondent, Sherwood Forest, 27 October 1857. 1 page, 8vo, with a three-line commentary added below the signature in a 19th century hand.
"DIED A TRAITOR TO HIS COUNTRY"... The former President obligingly furnishes a sample signature, as requested: "Underneath you have my autograph signature as requested." The person who penned the commentary, a few years later, evidently took strong issue with Tyler's later political affiliations. He writes "Died a Traitor to his Country in 1861," alluding to Tyler's service in the Provisional Congress of the Confederacy and to his election in November 1861 to the Confederate House of Representatives. Tyler has the dubious distinction of being the only former President of the United States to join the rebel government. To his credit, he also played an active role in the final, if fruitless efforts to avoid the cataclysm, as Tyler chaired the 21-state convention that met in Washington during February 1861. Tyler's critic got the dates wrong, since the former President died on 18 January 1862, before he could take his seat in the Confederate legislature.
"DIED A TRAITOR TO HIS COUNTRY"... The former President obligingly furnishes a sample signature, as requested: "Underneath you have my autograph signature as requested." The person who penned the commentary, a few years later, evidently took strong issue with Tyler's later political affiliations. He writes "Died a Traitor to his Country in 1861," alluding to Tyler's service in the Provisional Congress of the Confederacy and to his election in November 1861 to the Confederate House of Representatives. Tyler has the dubious distinction of being the only former President of the United States to join the rebel government. To his credit, he also played an active role in the final, if fruitless efforts to avoid the cataclysm, as Tyler chaired the 21-state convention that met in Washington during February 1861. Tyler's critic got the dates wrong, since the former President died on 18 January 1862, before he could take his seat in the Confederate legislature.