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Details
GARFIELD, James Abram, President. Letter signed ("J.A. Garfield") as President, to Justin S. Morrill, Washington, D.C., 29 June 1881. "Executive Mansion" stationery, small repairs to verso, otherwise in very fine condition, with a fine, large signature.
DATED ONLY THREE DAYS BEFORE GARFIELD'S ASSASSINATION
A letter from the unsuspecting President, who was already being stalked by his assassin, to the influential Vermont Senator (author of the Land-Grant Bill), declining an invitation to visit him in Vermont. Referring to plans for a trip to New England which he would not live to make, Garfield writes: "Accept my thanks for your kind tender of hospitality. I wish it were in my power to spend a few days at your house with Mrs. Garfield, but the time we have to spend in New England will not permit it. Regretting this, and with kind regards to yourself and family...." In a postscript Garfield adds: "I note what you say on official matters, and would be glad to talk with you when we meet, about them."
Three days later, preparing to visit his ailing wife in New Jersey, Garfield was shot by Charles Guiteau in the Washington D.C. waiting room of the Baltimore and Potomac railroad station. Guiteau had stalked the President for several weeks and on three occasions was close enough to effect an assassination, but balked. Garfield received two gunshot wounds and underwent three operations in the following weeks. The unsanitary practices of the time resulted in blood poisoning, which eventually led to his death, 19 September 1881. The assassin, Guiteau, who told the court that God had instructed him to kill the President, was convicted and hanged.
DATED ONLY THREE DAYS BEFORE GARFIELD'S ASSASSINATION
A letter from the unsuspecting President, who was already being stalked by his assassin, to the influential Vermont Senator (author of the Land-Grant Bill), declining an invitation to visit him in Vermont. Referring to plans for a trip to New England which he would not live to make, Garfield writes: "Accept my thanks for your kind tender of hospitality. I wish it were in my power to spend a few days at your house with Mrs. Garfield, but the time we have to spend in New England will not permit it. Regretting this, and with kind regards to yourself and family...." In a postscript Garfield adds: "I note what you say on official matters, and would be glad to talk with you when we meet, about them."
Three days later, preparing to visit his ailing wife in New Jersey, Garfield was shot by Charles Guiteau in the Washington D.C. waiting room of the Baltimore and Potomac railroad station. Guiteau had stalked the President for several weeks and on three occasions was close enough to effect an assassination, but balked. Garfield received two gunshot wounds and underwent three operations in the following weeks. The unsanitary practices of the time resulted in blood poisoning, which eventually led to his death, 19 September 1881. The assassin, Guiteau, who told the court that God had instructed him to kill the President, was convicted and hanged.