JAMES GUTHRIE - MANUSCRIPT LETTER SIGNED 07/14/1854 - HFSID 17247

JAMES GUTHRIE
Signed Manuscript Letter as Secretary of the Treasury (1854), explaining that while the Department desires correspondents to furnish copies of records lost in the fire at the Treasury Building, it is unwilling to pay for these documents.
Manuscript Letter signed: "James Guthrie" as Secretary of the Treasury, 1 page, 7¾x9¾. Treasury Department (Washington, DC), 1854 July 14. To James H. Causten, Cumberland, Maryland. In full: "I have to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 12th inst., referring to an advertisement said to have been issued by Mr. Secretary McLane shortly  after the burning of the Treasury Building, requesting that holders of the correspondence of the Department would furnish copies thereof for its records, and asking whether the Department now desires copies of certain letters and contracts to which you have recently had access addressed to the late David Shriver, Superintendent of the Cumberland Road. In reply I have to state, that the Department does not consider it necessary to incur any expense for the object stated. Very respectfully, Your obedient servant".  James Guthrie (1792-1869), a Kentucky financier, served many years in the State's legislature and on the City Council of Louisville, seeking to have Kentucky's capital moved to that city. As Secretary of the Treasury under President Pierce (1853-1857), his vigorous administration and money-saving measures were widely praised. He drastically reduced the national debt. A strong supporter of slavery, he nevertheless opposed secession, and was offered a Cabinet post by President Lincoln. He was elected as a Democrat to the US Senate in 1865, supporting President Johnson and opposing Reconstruction measures. Ill health forced his resignation in 1868. Horizontal and vertical folds. Lower left edge/corner stained. Lightly creased and toned. Ink notes (unknown hand) on verso. Otherwise, fine condition.