The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-10-13
RARE SIGNATURES.
Valuable Autographs Collected by
Washingtonians.
From the Washington Star.

khe city, as he himself describes it, has been
commented upon in recent publication.
The acquaintance of Henry A. Willard,
who know him as an energetic and success
full man of business, would probably be sur
prised to learn that he is an autograph col
]ector. Such, however, is the fact, and
though Mr.. Willard speaks of his collec-
4 ton in a rather deprecating way, as if
n was a weakness to be concealed, yet it
4 GEMS that be has proved to De very success
A full in this direction and ranks among the
Heading collectors Of the country A re
rently issued octave volume of 500 pages OF
i the collections of the Wisconsin State His
4 torical Society contains an elaborate paper,
4 BY Pref Lyman c. Draper, on the collec-
4 ions Of autographs of signers OF the daclar-
[sltion of independence and of the constitu-
Etion Some account is given of all the
zlnown collections, and Mr. Wizards is
#Civen the first place among the incomplete
&Isets. OF the fifty-six signers of that docu-
#I5nent Mr.. Willard possesses the autographs
LII all out four OF this number twenty
afhree are autograph letters with the sigma
&fure attached, the rest being autograph
*focuments signed, letters signed, documents
4 Sigued and signatures. Prof. Draper says
z4hat las Mr.. Wizards collection possesses
Efhe rare Lynch and Gwinnett signatures.
&kyjth many other rarities, no effort should
Xbe wanting to secure its early completion"
#hhis set has been handsomely bound in
*5eather, and opposite each autograph is an
<knpraving of the signer Perhaps no one
the difficulty but the expense of making
collection of the autographs of the signers
pf the declaration of independence.
DIFFICULT TASK.
Tt is a task that enlists the best efforts of
khe leading collectors and although compe-
tent men for the past seventy years and
more have given freely of their time and
their money, yet at the present time there
are only twenty-five complete sets in the
world Various circumstances have rend-
cred a collection of this kind exceedingly
difficult, and perhaps the most prominent
is the death of eight of the signers soon aft
err appending their names to the declara-
ton. In Col. John Trumbull's historical
painting of the signers, now in the rotunda
Of the Capitol, only the portraits of forty
three are introduced. Col. Trumbull is said
10 have formed the design of this painting
as early as 1887, and two years later he be-
gan the painting of portraits from life. In
the execution of this work he Travelled all
over the country, and yet he failed to get
the portraits, even at that early day, of
thirteen of the signers. The first collector
in this particular field was Rev. DR.. Will
liam B. Sprague, of New York, who be-
came, in 1915, an instructor in the family of
Maj. Lawrence Lewis, nephew of Gen.
Washington. While thus employed he
a obtained permission of Judge Bushrod
s Washington, who inherited the papers of
1 his uncle, Gen. Washington, to take what
/ ever letters he wished from the correspon-
/ dence of Gen. Washington, provided he left
copies in their stead. In this way he came
/ into possession of rich collection of auto
4 graphs but in spite of these advantages he
was twenty years in completing full set of
the signers. Other collectors have not been
more fortunate. Mr.. Willard refuses to
say how many years ago he began his COL
lection, because If he did his friends might
begin to regard him as an old man. But it
was some years ago. He has not, however,
devoted very much time to his collection. 1t
has been the occupation Of his spare mo-
ments, he says-a recreation and a rest in
the midst Of business cares. His interest in
the subject was inspired, he says, by coming
into possession of many Of the papers and
letters of his wifes grandfather, Mr.. Brad
lev, the first senator from Vermont. Among
them were many autograph letters of
value.
HOW THE COLLECTION WAS MADE.
His set Of the signers forms only a portion
of his collection of autographs, and in COM
plotting that set he has awaited himself sof
opportunities for securing other autographs.
Like all collectors, whether of autographs,
old china, or books, he has had a number of
curious experiences. Some years ago he
happened to step into junk shop in pass
ing along one of the streets in this city.
There was great pile of paper heaped up
in the middle of the floor to be assorted for
the paper mills. While chatting with the
proprietor of the shop Mr.. Willard hap
pened to turn some of the papers over with
bis foot and he was surprised to see that
they consisted mainly of old letters and
manuscripts Of various kinds Picking one
up he saw at once that it was valuable
autograph letter. He asked the proprietor
If he would have any objection to his look
ing over some of the papers. The man said
that he had no objection, except that his
employees would soon be ready to aSsort the
pile, which must be ready for shipment by
the next day. After considerable negotia-
ton, and the payment of $50, Mr.. Willard
secured permission to have that pile of
papers left undisturbed for his inspection
until the next day. 1t proved to be rich
vein he had struck, and many valuable
additions were made to his collection.
THE BAREsT SIGNATURE.
As was stated in the quotation from Prof.
Diapers paper, the Lynch signature is the
rarest of all the signers. Lynch went to sea
for the benefit of his health soon after ap-
pending his name to the document, and
was never again heard from. So extremely
rare is any specimen of his handwriting
that there is in existence to-day only
one recognized autograph letter. Nearly
all the complete sets have only sig
natures of Lynch. These signatures have
been cut out of books and from old deeds and
receipts. Mr.. Willard has Lynch signature.
1t was submitted to the inspection of Simon
Gratz, of Philadelphia, a well-known col
lector, who wrote to Mr.. Willard that he
believed it was forgery. He said that he
recognized it as one of the forgeries OF
man by the name of James w. Turner,
whom Mr.. Gratz states fourished in this
city some twenty-five years ago, and sent
out number of counterfeit Lynch letters.
Mr.. Willard, however, believes in the gen.
uineness of the letter. He obtained it from
Fred. B. Mcclure, of this city, who found it
among the Madison papers, in the posses
sion OF his father, the late James @. Mcclure,
who was the executor Of the estate of Mrs.
Madison. TT had lain among those papers
undisturbed," says Mr.. Mcclure, "for the
past thirty years, since the settlement of
the estate" Mr.. Willard thinks that it is
hardly possible that forged letter would
be found in such a collection.
AL'ENFANT LETTER.
At the recent sale of the autograph col
lection Of the late Ben: Perley Poore, Mr..
Willard secured the manuscript of an
autograph memorial to congress written by
Maj. L'Enfant, the originator Of the plan OF
the city. 1t was dated from Philadelphia
IL the year 1900, and was an application for