WILLIAM E. DODGE - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 12/29/1881 - HFSID 322364

WILLIAM E. DODGE
A letter from Dodge to a collector, adding his signature to the collection
Autograph letter signed: "W.E. Dodge", 4½x7. December 29, 1881. New York. In full: "Dear Fin In response to your request I hand you this to add to your collection of names. Wishfully Yours". William E. Dodge (1805-1883), a dry goods merchant, married Melissa Phelps in 1828 and, in 1833, joined her father's metal business, renamed Phelps, Dodge & Company. The company remained the leader in mining, copper and other metals for two generations. In addition to his metals firm, Dodge, who was called one of the "Merchant Princes" of Wall Street, owned large acreages of woodlands for lumber manufacturing in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and the South, and he was also a major stockholder in such railroads as the Erie, Lackawanna, Jersey-Central and Texas Central. Dodge was President of the National Temperance Society from 1865 until his death in 1883. He was also a member of the unsuccessful Washington Peace Conference (1861), and Dodge served as a U.S. Representative from New York from 1865-1867. Along with Peter Cooper, he was one of the co-founders of the United States Indian Commission (1868), and Dodge worked unsuccessfully toward the establishment of a Cabinet level Department for Indian Affairs. Fold in center. Some ink smeared in letter, but legible. Faint pencil marks on top left corner. Lightly toned. Pencil notes (unknown hand) on verso. Otherwise, fine condition.