Description:

Johnson Andrew 1808 - 1875

Andrew Johnson endorsed envelope addressed to Niagara Falls suspension bridge site.

Diminutive cream envelope measuring 4.25" x 2.5" endorsed by future 17th U.S. President Andrew Johnson (1808-1875) in pencil as "From Andrew Johnson, Ex Pres. U.S." Inscribed "Andrew Johnson" in a different hand on sender's address flap verso. The envelope is addressed to one "William Ray, DE Lanu, Suspension Bridge, Niagara Co., NY., De Veaux College". It bears philatelic markings from Nashville, Tennessee and was postmarked April 13th of an unknown year. A stamp once located in the postage area was later removed. In very good condition, with expected light soiling to back. There is isolated roughness found at the four corners of the back caused by old adhesive.

The historical records did not reveal anything about one William Ray, but the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge was finished in 1855 and in operation until 1897. This 825-feet-long bridge connected Niagara Falls, New York with Niagara Falls, Ontario, and had replaced a temporary overpass constructed in 1848. Johnson added "De Veaux College" to the address along the bottom. Nearby Deveaux College, an academy providing academic instruction and industrial training to orphaned boys, was financed by a wealthy area judge. The first buildings on its campus date from around 1855.

Before beginning his political life, Johnson was a tailor by trade in eastern and central Tennessee. Johnson was largely self-educated, and distinguished himself early on by his fine public speaking abilities. After gaining experience in the Tennessee Congress, Johnson served in the U.S. House of Representatives between 1843 and 1853, as the 15th Governor of Tennessee between 1853 and 1857, and later as its military governor between 1862 and 1865. Johnson served as a Tennessee Senator before and after his disastrous presidential term.

Free franking, or the ability to send mail free from postage, was instituted in the late eighteenth century. The privilege has been alternately granted, rescinded, expanded, and restricted over the last two hundred years. Traditionally, Presidents, Vice Presidents, and Congressmen as well as former office holders, and occasionally their spouses and relatives, held free franking privileges.

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