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Lot 29
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Millard Fillmore Signed Three Times Civil War Letter
Millard Fillmore Signed Three Times Civil War Letter
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Description:

Millard Fillmore
Buffalo, NY, September 3, 1864
Millard Fillmore Signed Three Times Civil War Letter
ALS
MILLARD FILLMORE, Autograph Letter Signed, to Sally Sprigg Carroll, September 3, 1864, Buffalo, New York. 3 pp., 5" x 7.75". Small stains at lower edge on fold and lower right edge of page 3, not affecting text; later pencil notations; dark, bold signature.

"she seemed to have fallen in love with you, and had you been a gentleman instead of a lady, I should have felt a little jealous of her expressions of admiration."

In this playful letter, former President Millard Fillmore writes to Sally Carroll, the widow of his friend, former clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court William T. Carroll, who had died just over a year earlier. No stranger to grief, Fillmore had lost his first wife in 1853, just weeks after leaving the Presidency, and his only daughter in July 1854. After running for president again in 1856, Fillmore remarried in 1858 to a wealthy widow thirteen years his junior.

Fillmore writes of his second wife's fascination with Sally Carroll and mentions two of the Carrolls' children. Samuel Sprigg Carroll (1831-1893) left the U.S. Military Academy at West Point for duty in the field. He rose to the rank of brigadier general by 1864, but his arm was splintered by a bullet at the Battle of Spotsylvania in May 1864, keeping him out of the service for the remainder of the war. Fillmore also mentions Caroline Ann "Carrie" Carroll (1841-1914), whom he had known when she was a child.

Complete Transcript
Buffalo, Sept. 3d 1864.

My Dear Mrs. Carroll,
Could you know how anxiously Mrs. Fillmore and myself had waited for your Photograph and that of your lamented husband, you would be able to appreciate the gratification we felt on the receipt of your kind favor of the 27th ult. but you can not know how sadly we were both disappointed at not receiving yours.
I will not speak for myself, but Mrs. Fillmore had set her heart upon it and often spoke of it with the impatience of a liver, and wondered why it did not come; and sometimes she would express an apprehension that she had ‘oer stepped the modesty of nature' by sending hers to you, unsolicited, and thereby seemingly imposed an unwilling obligation upon you to send her yours. But did you know how much she desired it, she thought you would excuse the effort to obtain it. In fact she seemed to have fallen in love with you, and had you been a gentleman instead of a lady, I should have felt a little jealous of her expressions of admiration. So I hope that you will still bear this In mind and send us one of your dear self.
Your lamented husband was one of my most esteemed friends, and I value his very highly, as it is a good likeness; and I am also gratified to see those of your son and daughter, but both have grown out of my knowledge, but I am happy to see that your son is winning laurels in his profession, and tho' suffering from an honorable wound, I trust he will soon be well again. I fear little Carry would not know the Old Gentlemen who used to pet her; but pray give her and your noble son my kindest regards, and accept for yourself the assurance of my esteem, in which Mrs. F. cordially joins & believe me
Truly and sincerely / your Friend
Millard Fillmore

In a follow-up letter on September 8, Fillmore corrected a misstatement in this letter, when he admitted that his wife had not sent Carroll a picture ("her modesty prevented her from sending it") but had only sent a picture of him. He corrects the oversight by enclosing photographs of his wife, his son, and his daughter, "taken from a painting since her death." He also addressed Carroll's loneliness since the death of her husband: "You must indeed be exceedingly lonely and I wish Mrs. F. and myself were so near that we could give you an occasional call to cheer your loneliness, but as we can not do that, be assured that we shall ever keep you in remembrance, and that you possess our cordial esteem."

Millard Fillmore (1800-1874) was born in a log cabin in western New York. Largely self-taught, he later read law with several lawyers before being admitted to the bar in 1823. He married Abigail Powers in 1826, and they had two children. He represented New York as a Whig in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1833 to 1835 and again from 1837 to 1843. He returned to his law practice, and in 1846, helped found the University of Buffalo and became its first chancellor. While Fillmore served as state comptroller in 1848, the Whig Party selected him as the vice-presidential running mate for Mexican War hero Zachary Taylor. When the Whigs won the election, Fillmore became vice president in March 1849. As vice president, he presided over the Senate during the contentious debates over the Compromise of 1850, which Fillmore favored. When President Taylor died suddenly on July 9, 1850, Fillmore became the 13th President of the United States. Although the Compromise of 1850, as proposed in a single bill by Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky, failed to gain enough support to pass, Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois pushed through the provisions as five separate bills, and President Fillmore signed them as they reached him. His support of the Fugitive Slave Act part of the Compromise made him unpopular with many northern Whigs. In 1852, Fillmore lost the Whig nomination to Mexican War hero Winfield Scott, whom Democrat Franklin Pierce easily defeated in the general election. Fillmore's wife died just weeks after Pierce became president, and Fillmore returned to New York, where a year later, his only daughter died. After spending a year in Europe and the Middle East, Fillmore was the presidential candidate for the American Party in 1856. He garnered more than 21 percent of the popular vote but won only the state of Maryland in the Electoral College. In 1858, he married widow Caroline Carmichael McIntosh (1813-1881). Although he supported Stephen Douglas, the northern Democratic candidate in the election of 1860, like Douglas, Fillmore was a strong supporter of the Union and supported Lincoln's efforts to preserve it.

Sally Sprigg Carroll (1812-1895) was born in Maryland, the daughter of Samuel Sprigg, who served as governor of Maryland from 1819 to 1822. She married William Thomas Carroll (1802-1863) in 1828. They had nine children, of whom three died young. Her husband was one of the first professors of law at Columbian College (now George Washington University) from 1826 to 1828 and served as clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1827 until his death.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 5" x 7.75"
  • Medium: ALS

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