Description:

Robert E. Lee
Lexington, VA, February 8, 1869
Robert E. Lee Addresses Envelope to New York Insurance Executive
AD

ROBERT E. LEE, Manuscript Envelope, to Henry J. Furber, February 8, 1869, Lexington, Virginia. 1 p., 5.375" x 3.125". Torn on original opening; tape repairs to verso; clear postmark from "Lexington, VA" and original stamp present.

This envelope covered a letter of February 8, 1869, in which former Confederate General Robert E. Lee again refused an invitation to become the Universal Life Insurance Company's superintendent "at the South." In the letter to Vice President Henry J. Furber, Lee explained that his response was delayed by his "present engrossing pursuits," but concluded, "Upon a reconsideration with the aid of the explanation you have kindly given me, the chief points of which had occurred to me, I find that I am unable to come to a different conclusion." Undaunted, Furber sent a ten-page letter to Lee in June 1869, again inviting him to join the company.

On December 23, 1868, Lee had written to banker J. Willcox Brown (1833-1914) of Richmond, Virginia, "I have considered Mr. Furber's proposition, & though I believe that the establishment in Richmond by the Universal Life Insurance Compy of a branch office on the plan proposed, will be attended with much benefit; I do not think that I am the proper person for the position of Managing Director. The secure investment of the funds accruing from the Southern business, in the present Condition of our affairs seems to me would be attended with great trouble, & should be managed with great Care. In my present position I fear I should not have time, even if possessed the ability to conduct it. Life Insurance trusts I consider sacred. To hazard the property of the dead & to lose the scanty earnings of fathers & husbands, who have toiled & saved that they may leave something to their families deprived of their care & the support of their labour, is to my mind the worst of crimes. I Could not undertake such a charge unless I could see & feel that I could faithfully execute it. I have therefore felt Constrained after deliberation to decline the proposition of Mr. Furber. I trust that the Compy may select some better man for the position, for I think in proper hands it would accomplish good."

Complete Transcript
Mr Henry J. Furber
Universal Life Insurance Co
No 69 Liberty St
New York / N.Y.

Henry J. Furber (1840-1916) was born in New Hampshire and attended Bowdoin College from 1857 to 1860, when he went to Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he served as principal of the public schools until 1862, when he was admitted to the bar of Wisconsin. From 1862 to 1865, he practiced law in Green Bay and became an agent of the Metropolitan Fire Insurance Company. In July 1865, he moved to Chicago as general manager for the western states. A few months later, he was elected Vice President of the Universal Life Insurance Company of New York. He moved to New York and remained there until 1879, when he returned to Chicago. He practiced law with Van H. Higgins and Cothran until 1893, while also investing in Chicago real estate. In 1892 he conceived and promoted the Columbus Memorial Building, a fourteen-story building at the corner of Washington and State Streets, which was in use from 1893 to 1959. By the 1890s, he was president of the National Life Insurance Company of the United States of America, the Fidelity Safe Deposit Company, and the Columbus Safe Deposit Company. Worth an estimated $6 million, he shot and killed himself at St. Luke's hospital after two years of poor health.

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: 5.375" x 3.125"
  • Medium: AD

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