PRESIDENT ANDREW JOHNSON - CIVIL APPOINTMENT SIGNED 04/27/1865 CO-SIGNED BY: WILLIAM HUNTER - HFSID 4760
Price: $3,000.00
ANDREW JOHNSON and WILLIAM HUNTER
One day after the slaying of Lincoln's assassin, President Johnson appoints a
postmaster. The document was countersigned by Hunter, Acting Secretary of State,
while Secretary Seward recuperated from wounds inflicted by Booth's
accomplice.
Civil Appointment Signed: "Andrew Johnson" as President and
"W. Hunter" as Acting Secretary of State, 1p, 16x10. 3¼-inch
diameter white paper seal affixed with red wax at left. Washington, 1865
April 27. Signed just 12 days after Abraham Lincoln's death. In part:
"Know Ye, That, reposing trust and confidence in the Integrity, Ability, and
Punctuality of Archibald M. Hayes, I do appoint him Deputy Postmaster at
Hastings, in the State of Minnesota...." The day before Johnson signed
this appointment, Lincoln's assassin John Wilkes Booth and co-conspirator David
Herold were surrounded by Federal troops in a barn in Virginia. Herold
surrendered, but Booth refused to come out. The barn was set afire, and Sergeant
Boston Corbett fired into the burning building, mortally wounding Booth. This
document was countersigned by WILLIAM HUNTER, who was acting Secretary
of State while William H. Seward and his son were recovering from wounds they
received after Booth's accomplice, Lewis Payne, forced his way into Seward's
home on that fateful evening of April 14, 1865. Seward, in bed recovering
from an April 5th carriage accident, was stabbed several times. Only his neck
brace, which deflected some of the blows, saved his life. His son, Assistant
Secretary of State Frederick W. Seward, fought off Payne, who managed to escape.
In 1866, Hunter was appointed second Assistant Secretary of State by a
special act of Congress, an office he held until his death in 1886. Lightly
creased, folds are lightly shaded. Pinhead-size holes at cross folds. 1/8-inch
show through at lower left margin of stray ink stain on verso. ¾-inch light
stain at lower left edge. Overall, fine condition.
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