Beschreibung:

Autograph book, 7 x 8 in., soft full leather boards with gilt "Autographs" on front. On ffep is "Frank B. Russell / Page in House of Representatives 1882 / at age of 14." On tp under "Autographs" Mr. Russell wrote "[Autographs] of President Chester A. Arthur & all members of Congress Collected while page in Lower house of Congress in 1882." At the top of the page he wrote "Note: I seem to have missed John G. Carlisle a member of the 47th Congress from Covington (District) Ky." Including four letters, three appear to have been taped into the front of the album and the fourth affixed to another page. The latter is a TNS by Florence Kling Harding (Mrs. Warren G.); plus TLS on White House letterhead, Nov. 17, 1924, signed by Calvin Coolidge; and two TLsS on Senate (Committee on the Philippines) letterhead, signed by Warren G. Harding, one dated Feb. 18, 1920 and the other, April 10, 1920. Harding was elected President in November of that year. Another future President who was a member of the 47th Congress was William McKinley Jr., who signed Feb. 3, 1882. Harding and McKinley, of course, both Ohioans and both died in office. This autograph book was signed by 270 members of the House of Representatives, a few twice [Thomas Herndon (AL), J. Proctor Knott (KY), William Cox (NC) and John Richardson (SC)]. About 44 are missing (including the Utah replacement Representative). The first autograph is that of Chester A. Arthur, dated 14th April 1882, after he had become President at Garfield's death in September 1881. This is followed by J. Warren Kiefer (OH), Speaker of the House, dated 2/2/82 by collector. The third page begins members of Congress, some of whom served in other offices before and after this. The first is Geo. M. Robeson, who served as Secy. of the Navy under Grant in 1869. Alexander Stephens, former Vice President of the Confederacy and later Governor of Georgia, is afforded two pages, one with a magazine image of Stephens' home, Liberty Hall, in Crawfordville facing a page with Stephens' large, very shaky, signature. Part of the collector's note reads that Stephens "...was an invated [?invalid] in a wheel chair on the floor of the Hs. when he wrote this autograph & was wearing silk scull cap." William Rosecrans, USMA 1842, Major General in Civil War, Minister to Mexico 1868-69, was a Representative from California 1881-1884. Philip Cook was a Brigadier General in the Confederate Army. "Fightin' Joe" Wheeler represented Alabama. During the Civil War he rose to the rank of Lieutenant General (CSA) and commanded the Cavalry Corps of the Western Army from 1862 until the close of the war. Many of the Representatives served in the Civil War, especially those from southern states: Thomas Herndon (AL) was a Colonel (CSA) (and signed twice in this book), as were Hilary Herbert and William Oates. Charles Shelley and William Forney, were brigadier generals (Forney surrendered at Appomattox). And there are many more captains and other ranks, such as Goldsmith Hewitt. And this is just Alabama. Other Brigadier Generals (and the states they represented) are: Jesse Finley (FL); Randall Lee Gibson (LA); James Chalmers (MS) - Brig. Gen. Forrest's Cav. Corps; William Cox (NC); and Robert Vance (NC). Many more colonels and lieut. colonels. Confederate service seems to have been almost an unspoken requirement for political office. There were just a few who would have been too young to serve (but the next generation was taking over by 1881). Those who were older often had other positions: John Randolph Tucker was Attorney General of Virginia from 1857 through the war to 1865. Otho Singleton was a representative to the Confederate Congress 1861-1865. There were certainly many officers among the northern representatives, also. Thomas Reed was a Representative from Maine in the 47th Congress, but became Speaker of the House in the 51st, 54th and 55th Congresses. Joseph ("Uncle Joe") G. Cannon (IL) became Speaker in the 58th and 59th Congresses.