THOMAS W. FERRY - DOCUMENT SIGNED 12/21/1866 CO-SIGNED BY: MICHAEL KERR, MAJOR GENERAL RALPH P. BUCKLAND, JAMES R. HUBBELL, GEORGE ROBERT LATHAM, ELIHU B. WASHBURNE, JOHN HOGAN, THOMAS E. NOELL, ADDISON H. LAFLIN, HEZEKIAH S. BUNDY, EDWARD D. HOLBROOK, CHARLES H. WINFIELD, STEPHEN TABER, J. FRANCISCO CHAVEZ, JOHN L. THOMAS, JR., EDWIN R. V. WRIGHT, JAMES M. HUMPHREY, JOHN LYNCH, LEWIS W. ROSS, JAMES M. MARVIN, CHESTER D. HUBBARD - HFSID 32798

THIRTY-NINTH US CONGRESS: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
23 members of the first post-Civil War Congress sign up for copies of a speech on Reconstruction by Representative Henry J. Raymond, founder of the New York Times.
Document signed: "M. C. Kerr", "John Hogan", "Thomas E. Noell", "A. H. Laflin", "Jarmes R. Hubbell", "T. W. Ferry", "H. S. Bundy", "E. D. Holbrook", "R. P. Buckland", "C. H. Winfield", "Stephen Taber", "J. Francisco Chavez", "John L. Thomas, Jr.", "ERV Wright", "James Humphrey", "E. B. Washburne", "John Lynch", "L. W. Ross", "James M. Marvin", "C. D. Hubbard", "Geo. R. Lathan" and 2 unidentified signers. In all 23 signatures. U. S. House of Representatives, 1866 December 21. Printed form for requesting of printed copies of speeches given in the House, to be printed by the Congressional Globe (predecessor of the Congressional Record). The signers have requested between 100-500 copies each. Henry J. Raymond (1820-1869), founder of the New York Times in 1851, had given strong editorial support to President Lincoln throughout the Civil War. During his single term in Congress - this one - he advocated moderate treatment of the defeated South and opposed the more punitive Reconstruction policies advocated by the Radical Republicans. In retaliation, the Party's militant wing had gotten Raymond removed from his position as Chairman of the Republican National Committee six months before he delivered the speech requested here. The historic 39th Congress witnessed the end of the Civil War, the assassination of President Lincoln, the addition to the Constitution of the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery, the passage of the 14th Amendment (with its "due process" and "equal protection" clauses) for submission to the state legislatures, the passage of civil rights legislation, establishment of the Freedmen's Bureau, and the authorization for America's first 5-star general, Ulysses S. Grant. The House of Representatives was overwhelming Republican 130-40, with 19 others, mostly Unconditional Unionists. While Congress, urged by Raymond, adopted President Lincoln's position that the southern states had never left the Union, Tennessee was the only former Confederate state to have representatives in the 39th Congress. The signers of this document include MICHAEL C. KERR (D-IND), JOHN HOGAN (D-MO), THOMAS E. NOELL (D-MO), A. H. LAFLIN (R-NY), JAMES R. HUBBELL (R-OH), THOMAS W. FERRY (R-MI), HEZEKIAH S. BUNDY (R-OH), EDWARD D. HOLBROOK (D-Idaho Territory), RALPH P. BUCKLAND (R-OH), CHARLES H. WINFIELD (D-NY), STEPHEN TABER (D-NY), J. FRANCISCO CHAVEZ (R-New Mexico Territory), JOHN L. THOMAS, JR., (Unconditional Unionist-MD), EDWIN R. V. WRIGHT (D-NJ), JAMES M. HUMPHREY (D-NY), ELIHU B. WASHBURNE (R-IL), JOHN LYNCH (R-ME), LEWIS W. ROSS (D-IL), JAMES M. MARVIN (R-NY), CHESTER D. HUBBARD (R-WV) and GEORGE R. LATHAM (UU-VT). Creased, shaded, folds. Light wear at edges. Otherwise, fine condition.