WILLIAM BARCLAY "BAT" MASTERSON - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 12/31/1905 - HFSID 348287

WILLIAM BARCLAY "BAT" MASTERSON
He pens a letter in correspondence to an individual stating they are relatives in which Masterson quickly replies with otherwise!
Autograph Letter Signed: "W.B. Masterson". 2 pages, 8x10, loosely placed in 9½x11½ folio. Accompanied by original mailing envelope; heavily toned, soiled and worn. December 31, 1905, New York City, written to "Mr. Watson F. Masterson" of Ramsey, West Virginia. In full: "Dear Sir. Without going into details can assure you that we are not related; even remotely. My father was born in this state eighty years ago and moved to Illinois where I was born fifty one years ago. There are a great many families of Mastersons in Missouri and Iowa none of whom are related to mine. My father had but one brother and he was several years the eldest and has been dead about forty years and died without issue. Very respectfully." Masterson (1853-1921) was an American frontier gambler and buffalo hunter and a scout for the United States Army. Masterson was also a lawman, serving as a deputy in Dodge City, Kansas alongside Wyatt Earp and later sheriff for Ford County, Kansas (1877-1879), as well as town marshal of Trinidad (1881-1882) and later, during the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt, as a U. S. Marshall for the southern district of New York. He was also a journalist, beginning his career in the political hotbed of Dodge City and later as a sports writer in Denver, Colorado and in New York City at the New York Morning Telegraph. Toned and soiled. Creased throughout with normal mailing folds. Tape at center fold on second page. Nicks at center of folds, per both pages. Minor pencil markings throughout, not touching ink. Otherwise, fine condition.