Handwritten letter by President Abraham Lincoln’s oldest son

Robert Todd Lincoln, 1843–1926.  Oldest son of Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln; United States Secretary of War, 1881–1885; American Ambassador to Great Britain, 1889–1893.  Autograph letter signed, Robert T. Lincoln, one page, with integral leaf attached, 4” x 6”, on stationery of the War Department, Washington, [D.C.], September 19, 1883.

Lincoln, then the Secretary of War, presumably writes to another cabinet secretary—whom he does not identify except by title.  Addressing “My dear Mr. Secretary,” he writes, in full: “Here are some telegrams received by me from two of our Illinois State officials.  /  Very truly yours . . . ”

The only one of President Lincoln’s four sons to survive to adulthood, Robert Todd Lincoln played a substantial role in American history.  He served as a captain on Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s immediate staff during the last weeks of the Civil War and was present at Appomattox Court House when Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Grant.  He was the last surviving witness to the surrender.  A lawyer, Lincoln later served as the Secretary of War under President James A. Garfield and his successor, President Chester A. Arthur, and President Benjamin Harrison appointed him United States Ambassador to the Court of St. James’s. 

Lincoln was not at Ford’s Theater in Washington when assassin John Wilkes Booth shot President Lincoln on April 14, 1865, although he was with Lincoln, and openly wept, when he died.  In a strange twist of fate, he was also present or nearby when the next two presidential assassinations occurred.  He was with President James A. Garfield in the Sixth Street Train Station in Washington, D.C., when Charles J. Guiteau shot him on July 2, 1881.  He was also at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, although not present in the room, when Leon F. Czolgosz shot President William McKinley. 

Lincoln’s last public appearance was at the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on May 30, 1922.

This is an attractive letter.  Lincoln has written and signed it boldly in black fountain pen.  There are faint pencil notes, one identifying Lincoln, in the blank margin at the top, and there is an old dealer pencil note on the back of the integral leaf.  The letter has one horizontal mailing fold, not affecting the text, and shows a bit of soiling.  Overall, it is in fine condition. 

Unframed.