Description:

Woodrow Wilson
Washington, DC, August 24, 1914
President Woodrow Wilson Thanks New York Friend for Sympathy Letter
TLS
WOODROW WILSON, Typed Letter Signed, to Mrs. Sidney Sherwood, August 24, 1914, Washington, D.C. On "The White House" stationery. 1 p., 7" x 8.875". Includes envelope and 5" x 7" photograph of Wilson. Light signature; some sunning; residue of mounting on integral leaf.

Woodrow Wilson's first wife Ellen Axson Wilson died of Bright's disease at the White House on August 6, 1914, at the age of 54, while he was President of the United States. They had been married for nearly thirty years. Her death devastated the president. This letter, written fewer than three weeks after his wife's death, thanked Mary Abigail Sherwood for her letter of sympathy.

Mary Abigail Sherwood had lost her husband of ten years, Sidney Sherwood, in 1901 and moved their five children from Baltimore back to her hometown of Cornwall, New York. Both Sidney Sherwood and Woodrow Wilson graduated from Princeton College in 1879. From 1892 to 1901, Sherwood had been a professor of economics at Johns Hopkins University, where Wilson earned his Ph.D. in history and government from 1883 to 1886.

Sixteen months after his first wife's death, in December 1915, President Wilson remarried, to widow Edith Bolling Galt (1872-1961), who served as First Lady during the remainder of his first and through his second term as President.

Complete Transcript
"August 24, 1914.
My dear Mrs. Sherwood:
I want you to know how real a comfort it was to me to get your letter of sympathy. It is very delightful to feel the warm touch of a friend's hand at such a time, and your letter has served to give me strength and courage.
Cordially and sincerely yours,
Woodrow Wilson
Mrs. Sidney Sherwood,
Cornwall, New York."

Thomas Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) was born in Staunton, Virginia, and graduated from the College of New Jersey (Princeton University) in 1879, attended the University of Virginia Law School, and received a doctorate from Johns Hopkins University in 1886. He taught at Bryn Mawr College (1885-1888), Wesleyan University (1888-1890), and Princeton University (1890-1902) before serving as president of Princeton University (1902-1910) and governor of New Jersey (1910-1913). Wilson won the presidential election of 1912, when William Howard Taft and Theodore Roosevelt split the Republican vote, and Wilson became the 28th President of the United States in March 1913. As the first southerner to be elected president since Zachary Taylor, Wilson brought to the office a progressive zeal for reform, both economic and social, and stressed individualism and states' rights. He is perhaps best known for leading the United States into World War I, despite an election vow to do otherwise, and for helping to negotiate the resulting Treaty of Versailles, for which he was awarded the 1919 Nobel Peace Prize. Although he helped create and championed the League of Nations, Wilson could not obtain Senate approval for U.S. membership.

Mary Abigail Beattie Sherwood (1864-1963) was born in Cornwall, New York, to a physician and his wife. As a child, she often accompanied her father on his rounds to see patients. In 1891, she married Sidney Sherwood (1860-1901), who was a professor of economics at Johns Hopkins University, and they settled in Baltimore, where they had five children. After her husband's death, she returned to Cornwall to raise her children. Her four daughters attended Vassar College, while her son attended Princeton University. She was a staunch Democrat and was active in the women's suffrage movement. Her daughter tutored two of Franklin D. Roosevelt's children, and she became a close friend of Eleanor Roosevelt. She visited the Roosevelts in the White House in 1942.

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:
  • 7" x 8.875"
  • Artist Name:
  • Woodrow Wilson
  • Medium:
  • TLS

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