The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1905-08-05
lETTERSFROMT The
DEAD PAST
Correspondence Of Distin-
guished Men Discovered in
The Washington Post
Office.
ONE FROM A sEcEssIeNlsT
Greeley. Sumner and Garfield
Amongst Those in the
Collection
ONE FROM A sEcEssIsNIsT

Just the other day, during house-
cleaning IN the Postoffice Department,
number of autograph letters written by
men famous in American history We're
discovered in an old and battered file
case. The file-case had evidently been
considered of no value, says the Wash
ington Star, for it had been slowed away
in little-used portion Of the cellar and
would undoubtedly have eventually been
broken UP and its contents lost or de-
stroyed
The papers include letters of recon-
mendation by Roscoe Conkling. written
in 1866, when he was Representative
in Congress from New York, and by Hor-
| ace Greeley, James A. Garfield, Charles
Sumner and others of then national
prominence. Among the papers was the
record of the first woman appointed to
| the postal service and one of the first
employed in the government departments
in Washington in any capacity. Another
i document bore the written sentiments of
/ a rabid secessionist who was appointed
to Office on the strength of his s'penman-
/ ship and composition" against which his
anti-Union sentiments were not allowed
to stand in the way.
The documents are considered as of
more than ordinary interest, particularly
as autograph letters of recommendation
| from prominent men are now practically
things of the past. The general use Of
the typewriter and the fact that almost
every man Of prominence has a private
secretary are largely responsible for this
modern condition.
Autograph letters of recommendation,
moreover, are not looked upon with favor
in government departments nowadays,
/ and a missive from Horace Greeley such
as the one on the file would probably be
thrown in the waste basket as undeci-
| pherable. The appearance of this letter
justifes all things that were ever said
about the great editors chirrography.
The letter from Roscoe Conkling is on
ordinary foolscap paper, in his big strag-
Cling Handwriting, and looks as if it had
been written with paint brush. 1t
heads as follows
September 10, 1860.
sR. CONKLING..
"Hon. Montgomery D. Blair, Post
| master-General
Ny Dear Sir-Henry A. Daniels,
Utica, y. Y, is the man Of whom |
/ spoke to you last eve. He is a lawyer
by profession, d beautiful penman and a
man of much clerical exactness and ex-
perience. earnestly ask his appoint
ment as thing concerning my own per
sonal convenience, as well as fit and
urgent otherwise. Very truly, your obt.
servt.,
'sP. ST. have spoke to Mr.. Kasson,
delivering to him the message you sug-
gested. r. G."
The records show that Mr.. Conklin's s
brief appeal was successful and that Mr..
Daniels secured frst-elass clerkship in
1 the Postofiice Department.
The letter from Horace Greeley is on a
New York Tribune letterhead and it
took the appointing clerk just. two hours
and half TO decipher it. The text fol-
lows
washington, D. G., March ], 1861.
Dear iSir-I have known Hon ]. B.
Grinnel for several years as most up
right, able, worthy citizen, Grst of our
city, since of Iowa. and am sure he has
ever borne high character wherever
hAONA. sdo uOl pt CSuMc ~ CUulul01u
his selection for any particular Office, but
I feel strong confidence that any to
which be may be assigned will be filed
by him with eminent fidelity and i1teg-
rity. Respectfully,
'HoRACE GREELEY.
TO the Postmaster General after March
4, 1861 4
/ Mr.. Greeley's plea was also successful,
for Mr.. Grinnell secured q soft snap that
he held for number Of years
The autograph letter Of Charles Sum
ner is brief and to the point Mr. Sum
ner wanted d job for a Massachusetts
constituent and he asked for it without
preliminaries and without any remarks
~ e The caadidate's qualifications fer