Description:

Evarts William

2pp cream bifold ALS on “Department of State, Washington” letterhead inscribed overall and signed by 27th U.S. Secretary of State and Chairman of the American Committee of the Statue of Liberty William M. Evarts (1818-1901) as “Yours very truly Wm. M. Evarts” at top of page three. In near fine condition, with expected paper folds and light overall toning, each page measuring 4.875” x 8”.

 

Evarts addressed this letter to an unknown correspondent named “Wm h. Leman” on October 15, 1880:

 

“My dear Mr. Leman,

 

Your very kind note and the menu you give of the Company makes it certain that I will drive with you on Thursday if I stay on after my speech at Bklyn Wednesday night. The Bishops I think should be au gratin once the laymen (?)”

 

When Evarts wrote this letter in the fall of 1880, he was halfway into his tenure as chairman of the American Committee of the Statue of Liberty. Evarts directed American fundraising efforts between 1877 and 1886, when Bartholdi's statue was finally inaugurated in New York Harbor. Evarts was instrumental in urging Congress to accept France's offer of the statue in 1877, and in passing a bill that allocated funds for pedestal construction.

 

William M. Evarts was a Harvard- and Yale-trained lawyer who argued some of the most controversial legal cases of the late nineteenth century. He engaged in private practice and then served as U.S. Attorney General during the late 1860s. Evarts served as chief counsel to 17th U.S. President Andrew Johnson (1808-1875) during the latter’s impeachment trial, and then represented American interests in a lawsuit against Britain concerning Confederate ship building, trade, and asylum during the Civil War. Evarts was Secretary of State in the Hayes administration. The subject of Evart’s letter is enigmatic, and it is unclear why a cabinet member who usually handled issues of foreign policy would concern himself with domestic church matters.

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