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George L. Ruffin Autograph Letter Signed. ...
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Description
"Abraham Lincoln was the best representative American of his day... He was the martyr of the war of the Rebellion, he was sacrificed because if his devotion to the cause of Liberty, this decree of emancipation which gave freedom to millions of bondmen was sealed with his blood and his name is imperishably engraved on the hearts of the ransomed..."
George L. Ruffin Autograph Letter Signed. Twelve pages on
twelve leaves, 5" x 8", Boston; February 7, 1876. In a lengthy
letter to Secretary of the Cincinnati Lincoln Memorial Club, Peter
H. Clarke, Ruffin writes in incredible detail on the character of
Abraham Lincoln, who he compares to Brother Jonathan, as well as
the Emancipation Proclamation, the Presidential election of 1860,
and the anti-slavery movement. He mentions several prominent
nineteenth-century figures such as William H. Seward, Horace
Greeley, and Wendell Phillips. Ruffin, the first African American
to graduate from Harvard Law School, served as a representative
from Massachusetts in 1870. At the time of this letter, he was
practicing law and serving on the Boston City Council. Ruffin
writes, in part:"... Many of the persons now living saw the beginning and the ending of the national public life of Lincoln, and are perfectly familiar with the events which marked his career before the presidential election of 1860, however, I remember nothing or very little of him... I never could have entirely obliterated from my mind the recollection the forcefulness, quaintness, and originality which he always exhibited as a speaker...ranked among the best specimen of American oratory. So little did I know of Lincoln at that time that when the news came from the national Republican nomination Convention that... Seward's defeat had been brought about chiefly through the efforts of Horace Greeley, I was so disheartened and indignant that I immediately stopped taking the New York Tribune.... Looking back now I shudder to contemplate what the consequence might have been had that day's work...been different...
Abraham Lincoln was the best representative American of his day - every way - as a flat boatman and a rail splitter and President of the United States... Mr. Lincoln at the time he was elected president could not be said to be a representation of the Abolitionists of the country by any means, he was an anti slavery man but not an Abolitionist, they assailed him bitterly and effectively because of his allayed slowness in issuing the emancipation proclamation, and because of his interference with abolition Generals, particularly Fremont... But he did faithfully represent the great number of people...who can be truthfully called the American people... in Abraham Lincoln they have a leader who incessant work by day and whose prayers and mediations in the far watches of the night during the years of the great struggle between Freedom and Slavery were for his country his whole country and her welfare... He was the martyr of the war of the Rebellion, he was sacrificed because if his devotion to the cause of Liberty, this decree of emancipation which gave freedom to millions of bondmen was sealed with his blood and his name is imperishably engraved on the hearts of the ransomed... the heart of the nation, laid down his life for the freedom of the other, can never be forgotten while human hearts and human feelings remain human, it will remain a bond of union between the two and the children's children of both forever, teaching anew the truth of the Brotherhood of man and the Fatherhood of God..." Signed, "George l. Ruffin".
Condition: Each page separated along vertical folds with tape repairs on verso. Occasional smudged word which does not affect legibility Light scattered staining and thumbsoiling. Some ink transfer to verso of a few pages.
Auction Info
2022 October 19 Historic African Americana Signature® Auction #6248 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
October, 2022
19th
Wednesday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 10
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 283
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