62B

Stephen A. Douglas

Autograph Letter Signed, "S.A. Douglas,"

to a Tammany Hall committee (representatives "of the Democratic Republican electors of the City of New York"), sending a speech in lieu of attending their dinner. 3¼ pages, 4to, written on a folded sheet; folds, faint scattered soiling to terminal page.

New York, 5 May 1851.

  • Notes: ". . . I need not assure you that this testimonial of your respect and confidence is exceedingly grateful to my feelings . . . as a manifestation of your approbation of my course as a member of the Democratic Party . . . . You do me no more than justice when you say that my public career has been marked by fidelity and devotion to . . . that great party whose . . . ascendency we believe to be essential to the purity and perpetuity of our republican institutions. Fidelity to the cause is the paramount duty of every democrat . . . . The only mode in which I can hope to repay your kindness and hospitality will be found in my constant and persevering endeavors to merit your confidence and realize in the future that which your partiality has so generously awarded me in advance. . . . The necessity for confining the federal government clearly within the limits of its legitimate functions--for preserving the rights of the States in their original purity and vigor . . . and for a strict observance of every provision of our constitution . . . has never been rendered more manifest than by our recent experience. . . ."

    In 1851, Stephen A. Douglas became a member of the Tammany Society ("Tammany Hall"), which supported his candidacy for president in the 1860 election.
  • Condition: Committee:
    F[rancis] B[rockholst] Cutting
    Isaac Townsend
    S. Livingston
    E[manuel] B[ernard] Hart
    Edward C. West
    Henry Nichol


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November 6, 2025 12:00 PM EST
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