1862 Autograph Album with Abraham Lincoln, His Cabinet and (200+) Members of the 37th Congress

• Sold For: $23,500
• Year: 1862
• Auction: 2012 May
• Lot #: 1
• Auction Category: Historical/Political/Pop Culture/Americana

A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new — North as well as South. - Abraham Lincoln, June 16, 1858Arguably the most influential President in American history, Abraham Lincoln was a polarizing figure from the moment he made his House Divided speech in June of 1858. For the abolitionists and anti-slavery citizens, Lincoln was a hero. Southerners and pro-slavery men seemed to have a much different opinion about him. Lincoln’s election two years later forced the hand of Southern states toward secession. If Lincoln is the most influential President, the 37th Congress has to be considered one of the most influential assemblies in American history. The debate over slavery, states’ rights and the perseveration of the Union were common occurrences in the unfinished Capitol chamber. These men, alongside Lincoln, held together our Nation during the Civil War. The presented 5-3/4 x 9" autograph album is the most complete accumulation of signatures from these men ever offered. Contained with the pages of the hard-covered album are (224) autographs that include – in order – President Abraham Lincoln (“8”), VP Hannibal Hamlin (“7”), William Seward, Salmon Chase, Edward Bates, Simon Cameron, Gideon Welles and Caleb Smith. Each of these signatures and on a page by itself and constitute the key members of the Cabinet. The person that obtained these autographs should be considered a pioneer in autograph collecting as the original owner meticulously gathered the autographs in order of importance with Lincoln first, followed by Hamlin, the Cabinets members, then the Senators and lastly the members of the House of Representatives. The autograph album can be dated between December, 1861 and February of 1862 by following the members of Congress and when they took office. There are a total of (224) signatures, eight are Lincoln and his Cabinet, (42) are senators (out of 50 possible at the time) including Henry Wilson (VP under US Grant) and Andrew Johnson (17th President of US); (170) of the (180) Representatives (there are 2 duplicate signatures) including William Wheeler (VP under R. Hayes) and Schuyler Colfax (VP under A. Johnson). All signatures were penned in black ink and are in incredible condition (ranging from “7-9”). Full photo LOA's from JSA and PSA/DNA. For a complete list of all (224) signatures and more information on each, please visit our website.Note: The Abe Lincoln autograph has January 28, 1862 added was the same day that he issued General Order #1 to advance all land and sea forces to his Generals. Grant obliged in the West, while McClellan did nothing. List, in order, of signatures (inscriptions in parenthesis): Abraham Lincoln signed as President (Washington, DC January 28, 1862, Yours Truly, grade “8”) Hannibal Hamlin signed as Vice President (June 10, 1862, grade (“7”)William H. Seward signed as Secretary of State (Auburn, grade “8”)Salmon P. Chase signed “S P Chase” as Secretary of the Treasury (Dec. 4, 1861, grade “7”) Edward Bates signed as Attorney General (of St Louis, MO) signed on the reverse of the S P Chase page, grade (“8”) Simon Cameron signed as Secretary of War (Dec 11, 1861, grade “7”)Gideon Wells signed as Secretary of the Navy (Dec 11, 1861, grade “7-8”)Caleb Smith signed as Secretary of the Interior (Dec 12, 1861, grade “7”)The remaining signatures were penned 3-5 on a page (unless otherwise noted):Senators: Henry S. Lane (Senator from Indiana, d.1881), James Grimes (Senator from Iowa, d.1872), Timothy O. Howe (Senator from Wisconsin, d.1883) John C Ten Eyck (Senator from New Jersey, d.1879), Lazarus W. Powell (Senator from Kentucky, d.1867), Charles Sumner (Senator from Massachusetts, d.1874), Lot M. Morrill (Senator from Maine, d.1883) Anthony Kennedy (Senator from Maryland, d.1892), John Sherman (Senator from Ohio - who took SP Chase’s seat – d.1900), Garrett Davis (Senator from Kentucky, d.1872), Benjamin Wade (Senator from Ohio, d.1878) Lafayette S. Foster (Senator from Connecticut, d.1880), James Harlan (Senator from Iowa, d.1899), Preston King (Senator from New York, d.1865), Willard Saulsbury, Sr. (Senator from Delaware, d.1892) Henry M. Rice (Senator from Minnesota, d.1894), Jesse D. Bright (Senator from Indiana, d.1875), Samuel C. Pomeroy (Senator from Kansas, d.1891), Orville H. Browning (Senator from Illinois – who took Stephen Douglas’ seat – d.1881) Lyman Trumbull (Senator from Illinois, d.1896), Zachariah Chandler (Senator from Michigan, d.1879), Morton S. Wilkerson (Senator from Minnesota, d.1894) James R. Doolittle (Senator from Wisconsin, d.1897), James W. Nesmith (Senator from Oregon, d.1885), James Dixon (Senator from Connecticut, d.1873), Ira Harris, Senator from New York, d.1875) Henry Wilson (Senator from Massachusetts and future Vice President under US Grant, d.1875), Milton Latham (Senator from California, d.1882), James H. Lane (Senator from Kansas, d.1866) John R. Thomson (Senator from New Jersey, d.1862), Jacob Collamer (Senator from Vermont, d.1865), James Alfred Pearce (Senator from Maryland, d.1862), Edgar Cowan (Senator from Pennsylvania, d.1885) James A. Bayard, Jr (Senator from Delaware, d.1880), James A. McDougall (Senator from California, d.1867), Anthony Kennedy (a second signature by the Senator from Maryland, d.1892), Solomon Foot (Senator from Vermont, d.1866), David Wilmot (Senator from Pennsylvania who took Simon Cameron’s seat, d.1868) Daniel Clark (Senator from New Hampshire, d.1891), Andrew Johnson (17th United States President by signed as Senator from Tennessee, d.1875), James F. Simmons (Senator from Rhode Island, d.1864) Waitman T. Willey (Senator from Virginia, d.1900)- only signature on this pageHouse of Representatives: Galusha Grow (Rep from PA, d.1907) only signature on the page William Wall (Rep from NY, d.1872), Robert H. Nugen ( Rep from OH, d.1872), George C. Woodruff (Rep from CT, d.1885), Socrates N. Sherman (Rep from NY, d.1873), James F. Wilson (Rep from IA, d.1895) R. Holland Duell (Rep from NY, d.1891), John Wallace (Rep from PA, d.1889), Fernando Beaman (Rep from MI, d.1882), Stephen Baker (Rep from NY, d.1875) William A. Wheeler (Rep from NY and Vice President under Rutherford B. Hayes, d.1887), Jacob Blair (Rep from VA, d.1901), Aaron A. Sargent (At-large Rep from CA, d.1887) William M. Dunn (Rep from IN, d.1887), Albert G. Riddle (Rep from OH, d.1902), William Sheffield (Rep from RI, d.1907) Henry Grider (Rep from KY, d.1866), John William Noell (Rep from MO, d.1863) and he added ”What use have you for my autograph?”, Clinton White (Rep from OH, d.1900) Joseph Baily (Rep from PA, d.1885), George Washington Dunlap (Rep from KY, d.1880), Jesse Lazear (Rep from PA, d.1877) Elijah Norton (Rep from MO, d.1914), Cornelius Leary (Rep from MD, d.1893), Jacob Chamberlain (Rep from NY, d.1878), Charles Walton (Rep from ME, d.1900) Edward McPherson (Rep from PA, d.1895), Warren Noble (Rep from OH, d.1903), Charles Biddle (Rep from PA, d.1873), William H. Wadsworth (Rep from KY, d.1893) John Shanks (Rep from IN, d.1901), Elijah Babbitt (Rep from PA, d.1887), John Hitchens (Rep from OH, d.1891), Casey A. Trimble (Rep from OH, d.1887) Alexander Rice (Rep from MA, d.1895), Richard Franchot (Rep from NY, d.1875), John Crisfield (Rep from MD, d.1897), William G. Steele (Rep from NJ, d.1892) Charles Delano (Rep from MA, d.1883), George K. Shiel (Rep from OR, d.1893), Charles R. Train (Rep from MA, d.1885), Harrison Blake (Rep from OH, d.1876) Reuben Fenton (Rep from NY, d.1885), Samuel C. Fessenden (Rep from ME, d.1882), John Bingham (Rep from OH, d.1900) Alfred White (Rep from IN, d.1864), Samuel Hooper (Rep from MA, d.1875), Owen Lovejoy (Rep from IL, d.1864), Frederick A. Pike (Rep from ME, d.1886) Samuel S. Blair (Re from PA, d.1890), Augustus Frank (Rep from NY, d.1895), William Windom (Rep from MN, d.1891), John F. Potter, Rep from WI, d.1899) William Kellogg (Rep from IL, d.1872), Gilman Marston (Rep from NH, d.1890), Timothy Guy Phelphs (Rep from CA, d.1899), Sideny Edgerton (Rep from OH, d.1899) William Morris Davis (Rep from PA, d.1891), Elihu B. Washburne (Rep from IL, d.1887), William Vandever (Rep from IA, d.1893), Robert Van Valkenburg (Rep from NY, d.1888) Theodore Pomeroy (Rep from NY, d.1905), John H. Rice (Rep from ME, d.1911), Charles B. Sedgwick (Rep from NY, d.1883), Francis W. Kellogg (Rep from MI, d.1879) William Mitchell (Rep from IN, d.1865), Dwight Loomis (Rep from CT, d.1903), Thomas M. Edwards (Rep from NH, d.1875), Edward H. Rollins (Rep from NH, d.1889) Thomas D. Eliot (Rep from MA, d.1870), Thaddeus Stevens (Rep from PA, d.1868), John P. Verree (Rep from PA, d.1889), William D. Kelley (Rep from PA, d.1890) Rowland E. Trowbridge (Rep from MI, d.1881), Schuyler Colfax (Vice President under Andrew Johnson & Rep from IN, d.1885), George P. Fisher (Rep from DE, d.1899), John T. Nixon (Rep from NJ, d.1889), John Patton (Rep from PA, d.1897) James T. Hale (Rep from PA, d.1865), James B. McKean (Rep from NY, d.1879), Isaac Arnold (Rep from IL, d.1884) Roscoe Conkling (Rep from NY, d.1888), Henry L. Dawes (Rep from MA, d.1903), Benjamin Thomas (Rep from MA, d.1878), Samuel Worchester (Rep from OH, d.1888) Portus Baxter (Rep from VT, d.1868), Robert Mallory (Rep from KY, d.1885), John Jordan Crittenden (Rep from KY, d.1863), John W. Menzies (Rep from KY, d.1897), Eliakim Persons (Rep from VT, d.1890) Martin F. Conway (Rep from KS, d.1882), Francis P. Blair (Rep from MO, d.1875), Sydenham E. Ancona (Rep from PA, d.1913), Charles A. Wickliffe (Rep from KY, d.1869) Hendrick B. Wright (Rep from PA, d.1881), John Law (Rep from IN, d.1873) James R. Morris (Rep from OH, d.1899), Charles B. Calvert (Rep from MD, d.1864), Samuel Cox (Rep from OH, d.1889), John B. Steele (Rep from NY, d.1866) George Cobb (Rep from NJ, d.1870), William G. Steele (Rep from NJ, d.1892, second signature), Horace Maynard (Rep from TN, d.1882), Charles H. Upton (Rep from VA, d.1882), Albert Porter (Rep from IN, d.1897) on reverse of page Moses F. Odell (Rep from NY, d.1866), Alexander S. Diven (Rep from NY, d.1896), John Noble Goodwin (Rep from ME, d.1887), Anson Morrill (Rep from ME, d.1887) Bradley F. Granger (Rep from MI, d.1882), William Allen (Rep from OH, d.1881) Justin S. Morrill (Rep from VT, d.1898), James Buffington (Rep from MA, d.1875), John B. Alley (Rep from MA, d.1896) George H. Browne (Rep from RI, d.1885), Benjamin Wood (Rep from NY, d.1900), Frederick A. Conkling (Rep from NY, d.1891), Elijah Ward (Rep from NY, d.1882), Edward Haight (Rep from NY, d.1885) Erastus Corning (Rep from NY, d.1872), Chauncey Vibbard (Rep from NY, d.1891), Ambrose W. Clark (Rep from NY, d.1887), James E. English (Rep from CT, d.1890) Alfred A. Burnham (Rep from CT, d.1879), Abram Olin (Rep from NY, d.1879), William Lansing (Rep from NY, d.1883), Burt Van Horn (Rep from NY, d.1896) John Stratton (Rep from NJ, d.1889), James Campbell (Rep from PA, d.1895), Francis Thomas (Rep from MD, d.1876), William G. Brown (Rep from VA, d.1884) Kellian Whaley (Rep from VA, d.1876), George Washington Julian (Rep from IN, d.1899), William Steele (Rep from IN, d.1897) James C. Robinson (Rep from IL, d.1886), Philip Johnson (Rep from PA, d.1867), James M. Ashley (Rep from OH, d.1896), John Hickman (Rep from PA, d.1875) Edwin H. Webster (Rep from MD, d.1893), Daniel W. Voorhees (Rep from IN, d.1897), Anthony L. Knapp (Rep from IL, d.1881), George Pendleton (Rep from OH, d.1889) Clement S. Vallandigham (Rep from OH, d.1871 – dated Jan 22, 1862), Richard A. Harrison (Rep from OH, d.1904), William P. Cutler (Rep from OH, d.1889) William A. Richardson (Rep from IL, d.1875), Robert McKnight (Rep from PA, d.1885), Valentine B. Horton (Rep from OH, d.1888), James S. Rollins (Rep from MO, d.1888) Elbridge G. Spaulding (Rep from NY, d.1897), James K. Moorhead (Rep from PA, 1894), Valentine B. Horton (Rep from OH, d.1888) Aaron Harding (Rep from KY, d.1875), Philip B. Fouke (Rep from IL, d.1876), Thomas L. Price (Rep from MO, d.1870) William A. Hall (Rep from MO, d.1888), Cyrus Aldrich (Rep from MN, d.1871), John A. Gruley (Rep from OH, d.1863), Charles Van Wyck (Rep from NY, d.1895) Henry May (Rep from MD, d.1866), Daniel W. Gooch (Rep from MA, d.1891), Goldsmith Bailey (Rep from MA, d.1862), Alfred Ely (Rep from NY, d.1892), William E. Lehman (Rep from PA, d.1895) Luther Hanchett (Rep from WI, d.1862), Samuel Shellabarger (Rep from OH, d.1896), John Covode (Rep from PA, d.1871)