Description:

Ulysses S. Grant
Philadelphia, PA, June 21, 1873
U. S. Grant as Draw for Banquet at Belmont Mansion in Preparation for 1876 Exhibition in Philadelphia, U.S. Centennial Commission
Printed document
[ULYSSES S. GRANT.] J. R. Hawley and John Welsh, Printed Document Signed in Type, Invitation to Henry J. Williams to attend Transfer of Grounds in Fairmount Park to the U.S. Centennial Commission, June 21, 1873, Philadelphia. 1 p., 6.5" x 8.75". With Admission Card for Henry J. Williams to the Banquet at Belmont Mansion, Fairmount Park, July 4, 1873. 1 p., 4.75" x 3.5". Invitation attached at left to backing paper; Admission Card attached to Invitation at top and left; some soiling on upper edge of card.

On July 4, 1873, President Ulysses S. Grant was to be a guest of honor at a ceremony and banquet in Philadelphia that transferred 475 acres in Fairmount Park to the United States Centennial Commission for the upcoming Centennial Exhibition, to be held there three years later. The Centennial Exhibition was held from May to November 1876 and was the first official world's fair to be held in the United States. It coincided with the centennial anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia in 1776.

Joseph R. Hawley (1826-1905) was the President of the Centennial Commission. He was an attorney in Hartford, Connecticut, and had served as a major general in the U.S. Army during the Civil War. After the war, he filled the offices of governor of Connecticut (1866-1867), Congressman (1872-1875, 1879-1881), and U.S. Senator (1881-1905). The Commission sent out 558 invitations to prominent men throughout the country. Although President Grant initially accepted the invitation, in late June, he said the serious illness of his father Jesse Grant would prevent him from attending. Jesse Grant died on June 29, 1873, in Covington, Kentucky. On July 4, President Grant was in Saratoga, New York, after visiting the cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Secretary of the Navy George M. Robeson, Secretary of War William W. Belknap, Attorney General George H. Williams, Secretary of the Treasury William A. Richardson, and Postmaster General John A. J. Creswell represented the Grant administration at the ceremony in Philadelphia.

This invitation and admission card permitted Philadelphia attorney Henry J. Williams to attend the ceremony and banquet that followed. Williams offered an indirect link to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, as he married a daughter of signer Dr. Benjamin Rush.

The banquet was held at the Belmont Mansion in Fairmount Park. The Belmont Mansion was built in 1745 for William Peters (1702-1786), an English lawyer and agent of the Penn family. During and after the Revolutionary War, the mansion was owned by his son Richard Peters Jr. (1744-1828), who served as speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly, state senator, and federal judge. As an abolitionist, Peters also made the mansion a stop on the Underground Railroad for escaping slaves. After his death, the Peters family kept the property for another quarter of a century. In 1867, the city of Philadelphia purchased the property for inclusion in Fairmount Park, and the house became a restaurant. For the 1876 Centennial Exposition, a large dining pavilion was built alongside the Belmont Mansion.

Excerpts
"On behalf of the United States Centennial Commission and the Centennial Board of Finance, the undersigned present their compliments to Henry J. Williams Esq and request the honor of his company at Philadelphia on the Fourth of July next, and his participation with the President of the United States, Members of the Cabinet, Governors of the several States, and other distinguished guests, in the Ceremonies and Banquet to take place on the occasion of the Transfer of the grounds selected in Fairmount Park for the Site of the International Exhibition, which is to be held in 1876 as the National Celebration of the Centenary of American Independence."

"Admission Card / To Henry J. Williams Esq / To the Banquet at Belmont Mansion, / Fairmount Park, / July 4, 1873, / Given to the President of the United States, / By the United States Centennial Commission and / The Centennial Board of Finance."

Henry J. Williams (1791-1879) was born in Pennsylvania, as the son of General Jonathan Williams, Chief of Engineers, and first Superintendent of West Point. The younger Williams became an attorney in Philadelphia. In 1820, he married Julia Rush (1792-1860), a daughter of Declaration-signer and famed Philadelphia physician Dr. Benjamin Rush (1745-1813). Williams served as the executor of the large estate of his brother-in-law James Rush (1786-1869).

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: 6.5" x 8.75"; 4.75" x 3.5"
  • Medium: Printed document

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