1233001
Abraham Lincoln
[Andrew Johnson]
Scroll down to see images of the items below the description
Lincoln commissions a Captain in the United States Volunteers
Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865. 16th President of the United States. Partially printed 15½" x 19½" military commission boldly signed Abraham Lincoln, one page, Washington, D.C., April 12, 1864. Countersigned, E. M. Stanton, by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. Accompanied by a 15½" x 19½" partially printed commission for the same soldier with a stamped signature of President Andrew Johnson and by a tintype photograph of the commissioned soldier.
These two ornate documents are nice vellum documents. The Lincoln commission has a beautiful full 3¼" ink signature by Lincoln. Somewhat uncommonly for vellum, the ink has not beaded in Lincolnʼs signature but instead has adhered well to the document. It is a bold signature that is one of the better examples that we have seen on these types of documents.
These are both commissions for Oscar Benton Kerlin (1825-1886), who served in the Commissary of Subsistence of the United States Volunteers during and after the Civil War. President Lincoln commissioned him a Captain. He sent Kerlinʼs nomination to the United States Senate along with several other military nominations on March 19, 1864. The Senate confirmed his appointment on April 7, 1864, and this commission was issued five days later. Kerlin was promoted to Brevet Major on August 19, 1865, and the accompanying commission bearing the stamped signature of President Johnson, which is dated June 20, 1866, confers that rank retroactively to that date. Kerlin mustered out of the Volunteers as a Brevet Major on May 31, 1866.
Except for a period of four years when he lived in Louisville, Kentucky, Kerlin lived his entire life in Steubenville, Ohio, on the Ohio River across from Pennsylvania. Before the Civil War, he engaged in steamboating and ran one of the last steamers into New Orleans before the port was closed. For nearly 40 years, he led the choir at his church.
These documents come with a 2½" x 3⅞" irregularly trimmed tintype photograph of Kerlin in civilian clothing.
The Lincoln document has never been folded. The blue paper and wax seal is intact at the upper right. The document has docketing in the blank upper left margin, normal wrinkling, and some discoloration, particularly at the top, that does not affect either Lincolnʼs or Stanton's signature. The handwritten engrossments are somewhat faded, but Lincoln's signature is very strong and Stantonʼs is nicely readable. Overall the piece is in fine condition. The accompanying Johnson document, with a steel-stamped signature of Johnson and a preprinted signature of Stanton, also has an intact blue paper and wax seal, similar docketing at the upper left, normal horizontal and vertical mailing folds, pencil notations at the lower left and at the top on the back, and some discoloration. It, too, is in fine condition.
Unframed. Click here for information about custom framing.
This item is no longer available.
Click here to see other Presidential and First Ladies' autographs.
Click here and scroll down to see other Civil War autographs.
Click the left and right arrows to scroll through the images
|
