ISAAC TOUCEY - MANUSCRIPT LETTER SIGNED 04/17/1857 - HFSID 17215

ISAAC TOUCEY.
Manuscript LS: "I. Toucey" as Buchanan's Secretary of the Navy, 2p, 73/4x93/4. Navy Department (Washington), 1857 April 17. To Assistant Surgeon Albert Schriver, U.S. Navy, York, Penna. In part: "Your letter of the 8th instant has been received. In reply, I have to inform you, that the rule of the Department is, that all those Assistant Surgeons, who were appointed in any one year, shall form a distinct class. You were not really entitled, by law, to be examined until you had been five years in the service, but as it was probable that you would be called upon for sea service before next June, the time at which you would be entitled to be examined, the Department thought it but fair to allow you to be examined in advance...." ISAAC TOUCEY was Secretary of the Navy during Buchanan's entire presidential term (1857-1861). During his tenure, he was accused of favoring the cause of the seceding states by deliberately sending some of the best vessels of the Navy to distant seas to prevent their use against the Confederates, a charge he denied. At the 1860 Democratic National Convention, Toucey was one of nine Democrats, including Stephen A. Douglas, Jefferson Davis, Franklin Pierce and Andrew Johnson, placed in nomination for President. He received only 21/2 votes on the first ballot. Stephen A. Douglas led with 1451/2 and later became the party's candidate. Horizontal fold touches "I" and "T" in signature. Show through of ink, 1-inch separation from bottom edge at mid-vertical fold. Entire vertical fold attaching letter to blank integral leaf attached with tape. Overall, fine condition.