Goldberg Coins and Collectibles

Sale 52

Manuscript, Collectibles and Aerospace Auction

Civil War

Lot	Photo	Description	Realized
Lot 254		Battle of Mill Spring, KY Jan. 19th 1862. Hand-colored lithograph by Currier & Ives, 9½ x 13¼" (image is 8 x 12½") 152 Nassau St. New York is at lower right below image. Matted and framed to an overall size of 15¼ x 19". Depicting the bayonet charge of the 9th Ohio Volunteers under Co. McCook against Confederates forces under Gen. Zollicoffer. Very good; toning and a few minor creases in upper background. Estimated Value $200 - 250. View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 255		Black Corporal in B. Co., 56th Regt. of U.S.C. Inf. Vols. - Samuel Henderson. Civil War marriage certificate from Samuel Henderson, a corporal in the 56th Mass., an all black unit, signed by the unit's preacher, in all likelihood black as well. This certificate is part of the application of the soldier's widow for a pension. With the document is a sworn statement that the woman's child was the son of Corporal Henderson, who died of cholera in 1866 while serving in the occupation Army. Supporting documents include sworn statements that the child of Mrs. Henderson is the offspring of Corporal Henderson. Marriage certificate and pension claim are in poor condition; other documents good, with fold splits. Estimated Value $200 - 300. View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 256		Jefferson Davis Endorses Remington & Co. For Rifle Manufacture. Correspondence between E[liphalet] Remington & Sons, Chief of Ordnance Col. H.K. Craig, and Jefferson Davis, who was Secretary of War. The first letter, 2 pages from E. Remington & Sons to Col Craig, is datelined Washington, February 26, 1854, and is secretarily penned and signed; the recto is silked. The arms manufacturer had devised a plan for applying the Maynard Primer, a roll cap priming system, to small arms and wanted to alter arms for the U.S. Government to fit that system. In part: "As we understand from the decisions on our recent applications, for a continuance of our contract for rifles that no more are to be made except at the National Armories. And as we are desirous of employing our work, tools and machinery, we would like to do any other work for your Department which may be required. Understanding that the 'Maynard primer' will be applied to a large number of arms, we have undertaken to devise a mode for applying it which we submit for examination. If our mode should be approved we would like to take an order for altering all the arms to which the 'Maynard primer' may be applied….charging no more than enough to pay us a fair profit--the rate for arms to be settled when the manner of making the alteration shall be decided….we think the manner in which we executed all our orders for your Department is such as has established for us a character for skill as workmen and fidelity as contractors….We may remark likewise that we were the first to introduce the successful manufacture of Steel Barrels for Carbines and Rifles…." On March 13, 1854, Col. Craig refers the letter from Messrs. Remington to Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, acknowledging that the Remingtons had been the first to successfully use steel for the manufacture of rifle barrels and that they "have executed their contracts with this Department faithfully and satisfactorily, and they have had less work than the other private armories." Jefferson Davis pens a long autograph endorsement below Craig's referral., "If it should be found necessary to make further contracts for the manufacture of Rifles, it would in my opinion be advisable and proper to give the Messrs. Remington due credit for the advantages they have conferred. Jeffer. Davis, Sec. of War, 13th March 1854." Some fold toning and bureaucratic markings. Remington & Sons were one of the top firearms manufactureres during the 19th century, responsible for many important innovations within the arms industry. Col. Craig fought for the Union during the Civil War (he was breveted Brigadier General), and Jefferson Davis, of course, would become president of the Confederacy. An outstanding association. Estimated Value $5,000 - 7,500. View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 257		[Georgia - 1876] Dixiecrat Politicians Complain About Republican Efforts To Mobilize Southern Blacks. Fine-content autograph letter signed by A.P. Roberts, Sheriff of Whitfield County, 3pp, on Whitfield Superior Court stationery, Dalton, Ga., Jan.11, 1875, in which the Roberts writes to Govenor James M. Smith to complain of supposed irregularities initiated by the Republicans in the Hays � Tilden election. In part: "…I think it my duty …to inform as to the character & doings of W.H. Booker…the worst disorganizer we have in this county. …Said Booker…has been doing all in his power to aid the opposition to the Democracy of the county & has joined in with the worst radicals to defeat the democracy. He…was most prominent in bringing out a candidate for sheriff who was a thorough Bullock Radical, one who …carried many negroes to Atlanta to aid the radicals in the city elections…. " Very good; one corner missing, affecting a few words and small fold tears. Estimated Value $500 - 1,000. View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 258		[Georgia] Ku Klux and Other White Supremicists Block Black Voters, 1868. A fascinating and extremely descriptive 4pp letter written to General George Meade, the hero of Gettysburg, from a Republican sheriff on July 7, 1868, in Atlanta Georgia. The Sheriff, facing forces beyond his power to cope with, writes Meade concerning the true situation on the grass-roots level in an unreconstructed Georgia. In part: "We had on Tuesday last all over this country a grand farce called an election…The old disenfranchised Rebel leaders took entire control of the affair and run the machine on the Rebel plan….Colored men were told that unless they had paid their taxes they were not entitled to vote. What few colored men remained at the county precincts were compelled to vote for Seymore & Blair under threat of immediate expulsion from their homes, Ku Klux Clans &c., all the disenfranchised rebs voting. I would reasonably calculate that between four and five hundred colored men went away from the polls without voting…We cannot live at this rate. …there is but one way to manage these states lately in rebellion…These old rebel leaders must be kept out of the way for at least ten years. If they are permitted now to take part either in the courts, in the councils of this country, in the pulpits or any other position where they will have an opportunity of promulgating and decimating their hellish doctrines this country cannot have any permanent peace…." The state of Georgia had the dubious distinction of being declared "reconstructed" in 1868, then being reoccupied under the orders of U.S. Grant due to the excesses there. Estimated Value $1,000 - 2,000. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $575
Lot 259		Indian Wars Era U.S. Army Officer�s Frock Coat. Ca. 1875-90, frock coat with two rows of eight gilt brass staff officer buttons. Dark blue wool body with minor wear and a few small moth holes and old sewn repairs in the shoulder board area. Lining mostly intact with some small tears and period repairs. By the early 1890s, a new pattern had replaced this type. Good condition overall. Estimated Value $700 - 900. View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 260		Northern Liberties Fire Co. No. 1 Meeting Book, Philadelphia, PA, 1853-1909. A massive, handwritten meeting book covering over 150 years of meetings of the fire company which was founded May 1, 1756. The book measures 17 x 11 inches, almost 3 inches thick and over 600 pages, plus a large hand-penned index in the back; it weighs 9 pounds. Original decorated board covers; front cover is detached and spine titles missing; internally clean except for some edge spotting. The front section contains the company members' names and addresses with their individual signatures from 1853 to 1866; also, their constitution and bylaws dated June 21, 1853, as well as department affairs, memberships, and the repair and purchase of fire engines. An April 1865 entry records the sending of delegates to the funeral of President Lincoln. A 3-page record on April 8, 1865 describes the celebration after General Sheridan took Richmond: "Independence Hall and all the house bells rung in joyous peels…when such a bellowing of steam whistles and ringing of bells, and such a spontaneous gathering of firemen was never heard or witnessed before…On Sunday night inst. news came that General Lee had surrendered his entire rebel force to General Grant…Our engine was taken to the front of the State House [Independence Hall], steam got up and the whistle blown for several hours…." On Saturday, the 15th "it was announced that the great and god-like President…Abraham Lincoln was foully assassinated…." The book records numerous records of transporting the sick and wounded to hospitals from Jan. 22, 1864 to June 3, 1865; also, taking "colored" soldiers to different hospitals. There are also large sections recounting festive annual "Great Parades" of the various fire companies. An 1881 entry memorializes James Garfield and in 1906, a full page celebrates the company's 150th anniversary. An outstanding and rare manuscript record of one of the first fire companies in the United States and covering the dramatic days of the Civil War. Estimated Value $1,500 - 2,000. View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 261		Scott, Winfield - 1850 ALS (1786-1866) U.S. Army general, diplomat, and presidential candidate. Autograph letter signed, 2pp, 5½ x 3½", New York, Jan. 12, 1850. To Major General P(ercifer) F. Smith, introducing a clergyman whose card is attached under Scott's signature. With holograph envelope signed in the return address, to Maj. Gen. Smith in San Francisco. Smith was prominent in the Mexican War and was the military commander of California and the Oregon Territory when Scott wrote to him. Estimated Value $250 - 300. View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 262		Scott, Winfield. Signature on a 1 x 6" slip of paper with "U.S. Army, Feb. 10, 1857," n.p. Fine. Matted with a portrait of Scott and framed to an overall size of 12 x 11¼". Estimated Value $125 - 150. View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 263		Gen. Sherman is Bitter at His Son's Conversion to Catholicism (1820-91) Union general; he succeeded Grant as the Commanding General of the Army. Autograph letter signed as Commanding General of the Army, 4pp, on Headquarters Army of the United States stationery, Washington, D.C., July 13, 1878. To [Charles William] "Moulton," who wrote an 87 page pamphlet ("The Review of General Sherman's Memoirs Examined") in 1875 defending Sherman against H.V. Boynton's criticism of Sherman's memoirs. Sherman, who was embittered by his son Tom's conversion to Catholicism, writes, in part: "…your letter…assures me that some member of the family echos my sentiments in regard to the real cause which lead Tom to abandom her, and his true Career, for the Church…." Sherman writes that the motive of the high officials of the Catholic Church is to use him and his office in the interest of the Church "for which end they permit even falsehood….the action of Tom has been injuriously used for their purposes…though opposed, I had for the sake of his happiness yielded a reluctant consent…the truth will manifest itself in due time, and in a way which Catholics will find does not add to the sanctity or interest of their Church. Tom wrote me…I have not answered…because when he went I told him plainly & frankly that it was Desertion and I could not correspond with a Deserter…Sheridan & Ord both have Catholic influences…." Sherman concludes and signs his letter at the top of the first page. Fine; minor wear to back page. To Sherman's sorrow, Tom was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1879. Why he should have been surprised is a puzzle: after all, his wife, Ellen, was a devout Roman Catholic and she reared their eight children. Estimated Value $2,500 - 3,500. View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 264		Two 1862 Civil War Prints From Harper's Weekly. One print is titled "The War For The Union, 1862--A Bayonet Charge" and the other: "The War For The Union, 1862--A Cavalry Charge." Page size is is 15¾ x 22. Both have some light toning and foxing; the second has a faint dampstain. Two graphic combat depictions. Estimated Value $200 - 300. View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 265		U.S. Colored Troops Apply For A Pension. Two Kentucky letters written to attorney George Woods in 1872 and 1873, pertaining to pension applications for former members of the U.S. Colored Troops: Isaac Lucas, Co "B" 4th U.S.C. Hy. and Isaac Dunlap, Co. "A" 4th U.S.C.H.A.C. Both documents are torn and stained. Estimated Value $300 - 400. View details and enlarged photo	Unsold