PBA Galleries

Elaborately written letter from a volunteer of 1861, who "lost my right arm, at the shoulder, in front of Petersburgh Va. July 30th 1864, and also my character (with, and among copperheads & traitors) because I supported and voted for the immortal Lincoln..." Brown was working as a watchman at the bonded warehouse, but was put out of work when a new Collector of the Port was appointed in a patronage move. He requests various possible positions, including a "U.S. General Inspector of Prisons," and describes his keen eye and absorbant intellect. Docketed on p.4, and with a signed notation by William A. Browning, private secretary to Andrew Johnson, "Executive Mansion, Sept. 7, 1865, Respectfully refered by the President to Hon. Preston King, Collector of Customs..." Provenance: A private California collection.