JOHN SHERMAN - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 02/14/1861 - HFSID 44702

JOHN SHERMAN
John Sherman, the author of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, wrote this letter on U. S. House of Representatives stationery in 1861. In it, he writes that "the Commissioner of Patents makes the appointments." Sherman was a U. S. Representative from Ohio when he wrote this letter.
Autograph letter signed "Jno, Sherman". Pencil notations on verso in unknown hand. 1 page, 4¾x8, on ruled House of Representatives Committee of Ways and Means stationery. Mounted on a 5½x8½ paper matte. Feb. 14, 1861. In full: "Dear Sir: In reply to your letters of the 4.th Insts. will state, that the Commissioner of Patents makes the appointments. Very truly". Republican Sherman (1823-1900) served as Ohio Congressman from 1855 to 1861 and U.S. Senator from 1861 to1877, when he became Secretary of the Treasury under President Hayes (1877-1881). He was then elected U.S. Senator in place of James A. Garfield, who had been elected President, and served from 1881 to 1897. Sherman was McKinley's Secretary of State from 1897 to 1898, resigning because of ill health the day Congress declared war on Spain. His name will forever be remembered as the author of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, the first major federal action to curb the power of the giant business monopolies. He was the younger brother of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman. Lightly toned, foxed and creased. Show-through from adhesive, which touches body of letter but not signature. Ink transference (does not touch signature). Folded twice and unfolded. Otherwise in fine condition.