Description:

Davis Jefferson 1807 - 1889 Free franked Jefferson Davis envelope as U.S. Senator with earlier two page ALS of West Point chaplain and professor in three departments Rev. John W. French to Secretary of War Jefferson Davis after hearing a rumor that he may lose one of his positions


Comprises:

(1) Jefferson Davis free franked envelope, 5.5" x 3", franked in upper right "Jeffer..Davis / U.S.S" as U.S. Senator. Addressed by Davis to "Revd. J.W. French, / U.S. Mil. Academy / West Point, / N.Y.." Postmarked Washington City Free, MAR 1 1859 Mended tears at "ff" of signature into the address, else fine.

Rev. John W. French (1808-1871) served as Chaplain of the House of Representatives in 1841, the first Episcopalian to hold that post. He was the founding priest of the Church of the Epiphany in Washington, D.C., serving from 1842 until 1856. On August 14, 1856, Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, West Point Class of 1828, wrote to President Franklin Pierce, "I have the honor to propose for you approbation the name of the Rev'd John W. French, of the District of Columbia, for the appointment of chaplain and professor of geography, history and ethics at the Military Academy at West Point." That same day, the President sent to the Senate his nomination for French's appointment "as proposed in the accompanying communication from the Secretary of War." On August 16, 1856, it was "Resolved, That the Senate advise and consent to the appointment‰Û_" Davis and French had become friends in Washington and became friends for life. This friendship caused some to question French's loyalty at the outbreak of the Civil War. French served at West Point until his death in 1871.

(2) Autograph Letter Signed "J.W. French", 4p, 7.5" x 9.75", front & verso of two conjoined sheets. West Point, December 6, 1856. To Jefferson Davis, Secretary of War; three months later Davis left office as did President Pierce as James Buchanan was inaugurated on March 4, 1857. Fine condition.

In part, "I will write as if I were to remain. I heard yesterday of a rumor that in your report you recommended some changes in the organization of this Academy. It may be that among the proposed changes is the separation of the duties of Chaplain from those of Professor. If so, I wished to suggest that the bill might be so drawn up as to leave for the present at the option of the incumbent, the two spheres as now under one head. The reason is that I have become so interested in my department; I have such materials; my plan for it appears so full of promise; that I should feel regret in transferring it to any other hand. I love the ministry and desire to be solely devoted to it. The labors from the union of two functions are most arduous. Still as I have borne the difficulty of the first grappling, I want the struggle and the achievement.

"If you divided the two perspectively and yet by leaving them for the present in one hand gave to one person the salary of both, this result might take place. 1. The clergyman might hire an assistant. 2. If there is no other way of preparing text books, and no appropriation can be got for Library, or ‰Û÷materials for instruction,' that money might be used. I only suggest this. I care nothing for the money. For a third person I should say it was but just that doing the work of both Prof & Chaplain, he should be paid for each. But in my case, I have no such thought‰Û_" Rev. French continues by suggesting his own reorganization of the Academy including the assigning of new West Point graduates to teach certain subjects.

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