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Harrison William



William H. Harrison and Others Signed Letter with Naval Content

This remarkable letter, signed by seven U.S. Senators, a former U.S. Senator, and nine Congressmen, includes the signatures of future President William Henry Harrison as well as those of prominent Senators Richard M. Johnson, Thomas Hart Benton, and Jesse B. Thomas. This powerful coalition of members of Congress recommended to Secretary of the Navy Samuel L. Southard the promotion of Midshipman James Noble to the position of purser in the U.S. Navy or lieutenant in the Marine Corps. Noble was the son of U.S. Senator James Noble (1785-1831) of Indiana. Despite this lineup of Congressional support, the younger Noble did not obtain the appointment.

 


Signers include Senators Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky, Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, William Hendricks of Indiana, Benjamin Ruggles of Ohio, William Henry Harrison of Ohio, Jesse B. Thomas of Illinois, and William Marks of Pennsylvania. Also signing the recommendation is former U.S. Senator Walter Lowrie of Pennsylvania, who served from 1819 to 1824. Congressmen include Oliver H. Smith of Indiana, Mordecai Bartley of Ohio, Thomas H. Blake of Indiana, William Creighton Jr. of Ohio, John C. Wright of Ohio, Joseph Vance of Ohio, James Clark of Kentucky, John Sergeant of Pennsylvania, and Andrew Stewart of Pennsylvania.

 


WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON and others, Letter Signed, to Samuel L. Southard, January 14, 1828, Washington, D.C. 2 pp., 8" x 9.875". Expected folds; some repairs on folds, sealing wax intact.

 

Complete Transcript

                                                                        Washington City Jan. 14, 1828.


Sir


We recommend to your favorable notice Midshipman James Noble for the appointment of purser in the U.S. Navy. Believing him to be in every respect qualified, and his talents and integrity well known to you, we solicit his appointment, which would be gratifying to us and his friends generally. We have no doubt that he will if appointed faithfully discharge the duties enjoined. If out of your power to appoint him purser, we recommend him for a Lieutenancy in the marine corps.

                                                           
With great respect your obdt servts.

           
names


Rh: M: Johnson                                 
William Hendricks


Thomas H. Benton                             
Benjamin Ruggles


O H Smith                                          
Walter Lowrie


M Bartley                                           
W H Harrison


Tho H Blake                                       
J. B. Thomas


W Creighton Jun.                               
William Marks


J. C. Wright


Joseph Vance


Jas Clark


John Sergeant


Andw Stewart

 


James Noble (b. 1806) was born in Kentucky. His father and namesake was James Noble, U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1815 to 1831. The younger James joined the Navy as a midshipman on May 27, 1824. In 1829, he was listed as part of the crew of the frigate USS Guerriere. In 1832, he was still a midshipman, on the schooner USS Dolphin. In 1833, President Andrew Jackson nominated him for promotion to lieutenant, and that same year Noble married Sarah B. Thompson in Ohio. Noble retired from the Navy in 1855.

 


Samuel L. Southard (1787-1842) was born in New Jersey and graduated from Princeton University in 1804. He taught school in New Jersey, then tutored privately in Virginia, where he studied law. He gained admission to the bar and returned to New Jersey, where the legislature appointed him as a law reporter in 1814. Soon after winning election to the New Jersey General Assembly, he was appointed to the New Jersey Supreme Court. He represented New Jersey in the U.S. Senate from 1821 to 1823 and again from 1833 to 1842. President James Monroe appointed him as Secretary of the Navy in September 1823, and he remained in that office under President John Quincy Adams, until March 1829. Returning to New Jersey, he served as the state’s attorney general and then as governor from October 1832 to February 1833, before returning to the U.S. Senate. When President William Henry Harrison died after only a month in office, Southard was serving as President pro tempore of the Senate and was therefore second in line of succession after Vice President John Tyler. Ill health forced Southard to resign as President pro tempore in 1842, and he died soon afterward.

 

 


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