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Lot 53
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William Henry Harrison 1835 ALS Re: Anti-Masons & Preparing for Presidential Campaign
William Henry Harrison 1835 ALS Re: Anti-Masons & Preparing for Presidential Campaign
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Description:

William Henry Harrison
Cincinnati, OH, November 25, 1835
William Henry Harrison 1835 ALS Re: Anti-Masons & Preparing for Presidential Campaign
ALS
An autograph letter signed by future president William Henry Harrison, complaining about Anti-Masonic leader Thaddeus Stevens while preparing for the upcoming 1836 presidential campaign. 4pp, measuring 7.5" x 12", Cincinnati, dated November 25, 1835. Signed "W. H. Harrison" and addressed to William Ayres. Harrison explains his refusal to take a public Anti-Masonic stand, to make any personal pledge that might cost him the election, or to say anything that might come back to haunt him once in office. With flattened mail folds and light, uneven edge toning. Some minor contemporary ink smudges. Faint soiling and foxing throughout. Boldly signed.

A partial transcript reads:
"I received yesterday a letter from Mr. [Thaddeus] Stevens...He declines publishing my letter because, as he says, it will create an insurmountable barrier between the Anti-Masons & myself. His object seems to be to procure from me a declaration that I will, if elected, appoint no adhering Mason to office in anti-Mason states. This appears to me to be new ground taken by the Anti-Masons and which cannot but result in injury to their cause.... I am decidedly of opinion that an irreperable [sic] blow would be given to the Anti-Masonic cause by the adoption of the course recommended by Mr. Stevens. No person who would avow such principles can possibly be elected to the Presidency....I think upon the whole that a violent course will destry all the prospects opened to the anti-Masons by the success of their efforts in your state, whilst a more prudent one would greatly promote their object…If I undertand Mr. Stevens aright the only fault he now finds in my course is that of my being unwilling to pledge myself to appoint no adhering Mason to office in an anti-Masonic state. Now even if I were determined to do so I would not pledge myself to do it - for I set out with a determination to make no pledges...Mr. Stevens' course here is attributed to his Federalism, & that he had determined to support Mr. [Daniel] Webster under any circumstances or any person but any old Jeffersonian Democrat like myself..."

A significant number of Founding Fathers were Freemasons, but as politics grew increasingly democratic in the Age of Jackson, many rural Americans believed Freemasonry represented urban arrogance, secrecy, and rituals that posed a threat to Republican democracy. Starting in 1826, an anti-Masonic movement gathered momentum and had a powerful impact on American politics. The Anti-Masonic movement began in upstate New York, and within a few years, spread through Pennsylvania, New England, and the Mid-Atlantic States, eventually reaching onto the Northwest Territory of the Ohio Valley. While many resented the Anti-Masonry movement, some states elected officials to Congress and their respective state governments on the Anti-Masonic Party ticket. It was America's first third party, and was instrumental in elevating the careers of such luminaries as William H. Seward, William Lloyd Garrison, and Thaddeus Stevens. By 1836 - the year following this letter - the Anti-Masonic movement had been absorbed into the Whig Party.

Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868) had been a delegate to the first national convention of Anti-Masons, which met at Philadelphia in September 1830. In 1833, he was elected to the state legislature on the Anti-Masonic ticket, and immediately proved an able debater and adept political operator, soon becoming the most powerful man in the Pennsylvania state legislature. Late in 1835, Stevens realized that the Anti-Masons could control the state legislature if the party allied with the Whigs. He sponsored a bill designed to suppress secret societies (such as the Masons, and, two weeks later, he was made chairman of a committee of five to investigate the "evils of Free Masonry." Both the Whigs and the Anti-Masons nominated Harrison at their conventions in December. Stevens refused to accept Harrison's nomination solely because Harrison would not pledge to be Anti-Mason, and called for a National Anti-Masonic Convention to be held in May 1836. With no popular support for such a move, Stevens reluctantly endorsed Harrison. Martin Van Buren won the election, but the Whigs showed wide national support. In late 1838, the Anti-Masons endorsed Harrison, in effect merging the two parties. Having been promised a cabinet post, Stevens campaigned vigorously for Harrison. After Harrison died a month after his inauguration, Stevens dropped out of politics and returned to his law practice. He later served in Congress, first as a Whig (1849-1853), then as a Republican (1859-1868), and gained national recognition during Reconstruction and the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson. Stevens died just three months after the trial ended.

William Ayres (1788-1856) was a celebrated lawyer, and member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1833-1835. In 1834, Ayres and Thaddeus Stevens became fast friends while working together for the establishment of a common school system of education. Ayres was a supporter of Joseph Ritner, the Anti-Masonic party candidate elected Governor of Pennsylvania in November 1835.

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: 7.5" x 12"
  • Medium: ALS

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