Complying with a Request for a Complete Set of the Laws of the United States, from March 4, 1789 to the close of the 38th Congress, in a Manuscript Letter
Washington DC: December 13, 1865. A four page folded sheet (two integral pages blank), on the letterhead of the Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. Single page of text in a clerical hand, signed by Harlan as Secretary of the Dept. of Interior. Single page of text in a clerical hand, signed by Harlan. The letter is addressed to Saml. F. Cooper, Esq., Clerk U.S. Dist. Court, Van Buren, Arkansas. Docketed on verso {stating "James Harlan, Secy. Treasury" [sic]. Bi-folded crease from folding, vertical fade line down right third.
James Harlan (Aug 26, 1820 - Oct 5, 1899), served as a Free Soiler Senator from Iowa from 1855-60 and then as a Republican Senator from 1860-66. He was a close friend of President Lincoln. Harlan's daughter later married Lincoln's son, Robert Todd Lincoln. After Lincoln's death, President Andrew Johnson appointed him to the cabinet. The final years of his political career were besmirched by false accusation of corruption while Secty. of the Interior. He is perhaps most remembered for firing Walt Whitman from his clerk job at the when he found Whitman editing a copy of "Leaves of Grass" at his desk. He declared the book morally offensive and continued the purge of the Department. Harlan's statue was installed in the Congress, Hall of Columns for over 100 years as one of Iowa's two famous sons. Very good. Item #1238
"Sir: In compliance with the request submitted to this Department in you letter of the 27th ultimo, there will be transmitted herewith, to your address, for official use, a complete set of the Laws of the United States, from March 4, 1789, to the close of the 38th Congress. Please acknowledge the receipt of these statutes. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Jas Harlan Secretary."
Price: $200.00