Description:

Wool John 1784 - 1869 Hoosac Tunnel proponent, Major-General John E. Wool, who is unable to attend a meeting in Boston of Tunnel advocates due his involvement in the establishment of the Military Asylum in Washington, D.C., instead writes a lengthy letter declining the invitation but outlining the importance of the Tunnel completion "...the citizens...of Massachusetts and of Boston would receive their due share of the trade of the great West. They cannot obtain it by any other route nor by any other means", perhaps to be used in his stead. Manuscript Letter Signed, "John E. Wool", Troy, New York, April 20th, 1853, two pages front and verso, 7.75" X 9.75", addressed to "E.H. Derby Esq / Boston". In full, " My friend Mr. D.T. Vail has just read me your letter of the 14th instant, in which myself and others are invited to visit Boston. / I deeply regret that I cannot avail myself of your flattering invitation. I am ordered to Washington, to attend a meeting of the Commissioners of the Military Asylum. I trust my absence will do no injury to the great enterprise you have in view. It seems to me that the sagacious Legislature of Massachusetts cannot for a moment hesitate to grant all you require. They certainly would not if they would consult the interest of the State and more especially the interests of the citizens of Boston. The completion of the tunnel will give you not only a continuous but the easiest and the shortest road from Boston to the Mississippi River. To attain this object, in order to obtain a share of the vast trade of the great West, many millions have already been expended but without success. The route through the projected tunnel is the only one by which you can expect to complete with the Hudson River and Harlem roads. This cannot be done by the Western road. The high grade and distance from Albany, including the crossing of the river at the latter place, will ever prevent competition with anything like success. With the facts before the Legislature, the members must be convinced of the necessity of another road, that is, if they desire that the citizens should continue this prosperity and preserve this high character for enterprise & utility. Without the road contemplated the State will not keep pace with the other States in improvement and advancement. / These hurried remarks are not made because I am personally interested in the road. Far from it. I have urged the completion of the road because I believe it would promote the general interest, and at the same time. the citizens of the northern part of Massachusetts and of Boston would receive their due share of the trade of the great West. They cannot obtain it by any other route nor by any other means. / I am truly yours, / (signed) John E. Wool." Light edge wear and mounting remnants along left blank margin on page one. Fold strengthened with tape on page two not affecting text or signature. Overall, near fine condition.

The Hoosac Tunnel was first proposed in 1819 as an underground canal beneath the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts as a way of providing the passage of goods and raw materials between Boston and the West. With the advent of steam locomotion the tunnel plan was re-proposed for railway traffic. Work officially began in 1851 by the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company, but drilling failures, cost overruns, injury and death, and legislative opposition plagued its progress. The Hoosac tunnel was officially opened in October 1875, after 24 years and $21,241,842 spent. It was the longest tunnel in North America from 1871 to 1916, and is still the longest transportation tunnel east of the Rocky Mountains.

The Washington meeting to which John Wool was called, the "Commissioners of the Military Asylum", oversaw the establishment of United States Military Asylum, the Soldiers' Home, which Congress approved in 1851, as an "asylum for old and disabled veterans." Seed money for the Soldiers' Home was brought back from Mexico by General Winfield Scott, who collected the funds from Mexico City in lieu of ransacking. Four of the original buildings still stand and are listed as national historic landmarks. Two of the buildings, Quarters 1 and Anderson Cottage, served as the summer White House for U.S. presidents -- Chester Arthur, Rutherford B. Hayes, James Buchanan and, most notably, Abraham Lincoln, who spent one-fourth of his presidency at Soldiers' Home, and while there wrote the last draft of the Emancipation Proclamation.

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