GENERAL JOHN ADAMS DIX He signs with the other Commissioners of the Erie Canal (1837). Check signed: "John A. Dix", 6½x5. Albany, N.Y., 1837 July 6. Check no. 363, drawn on the Canal Fund account at the Mechanics' and Farmers' Bank, payable to E. E. Kendrick $2,600 in cash. Filled out in another hand and signed by Dix as           Commissioner of the (Erie) Canal Fund. Also signed by three other Commissioners: "A. C. Flagg", "A. Keyser" and "William Campbell". Endorsed on verso "E. E. Kendrick". Buchanan's Secretary of the Treasury, on January 29, 1861, JOHN A. DIX (1798-1879) telegraphed the order to a U.S. boat in the port of New Orleans: "If any man attempts to haul down the American Flag, shoot him on the spot". Dix later commanded the Department of Virginia (1862-1863) and the Department of the East (1863-1865). After the Civil War, he was Minister to France (1866-1869) and Governor of New York (1872-1874). The U.S. Army's Fort Dix in New Jersey is named in his honor. E. E. KENDRICK was President of the Mechanics' and Farmers' Bank. Dix's fellow commissioners included A.C. FLAGG, who was also the Comptroller of the Erie Canal. WILLIAM CAMPBELL was Surveyor General of New York State. Together, the four Commissioners signing here were responsible for reducing tolls on the Erie Canal, a move which paid off in increased traffic and increased revenues as well. The Erie Canal, opened in 1825, linked the Hudson River at Albany to Lake Erie at Buffalo, contributing greatly to the settlement of western New York State and linking the farms of the Middle West to markets in the East and in Europe. Light circular cancellation cut to body, several horizontal folds and light show-through from endorsement on reverse, Otherwise fine condition.