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LOT #42169 |
Starting Bid: $3,000
James A. Garfield Two Autograph Letters Signed...
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Description
Days Before the 1880 Election, James A. Garfield Denounces the Forged "Morey Letter" Purporting to Show Garfield Endorsing Unrestricted Chinese Immigration
James A. Garfield Two Autograph Letters Signed ("J. A.
Garfield"). Two telegram drafts (each marked "Telegram"
in Garfield's hand at the upper left). Each one page on "Mentor,
Ohio" letterhead, 8 x 10 1/4 inches; October 22 and October 23,
1880. Mounted to larger sheets to an overall size of 8 3/8 x 10 5/8
inches.Two important campaign telegram drafts written by James A. Garfield in the final days of the presidential election of 1880, responding to the sudden publication of the forged Morey letter. The fraudulent letter, printed in the Democratic paper Truth and circulated widely in the last weeks of the campaign, purported to show Garfield endorsing unrestricted Chinese immigration, a position calculated to damage him among anti-Chinese voters in California and the West.
Garfield was outraged. On October 22, 1880, writing to Marshall Jewell, chairman of the Republican National Committee, he declared:
"I will not break the rule I have adopted, by making public denial of campaign lies. But I authorize you to denounce the so-called Morey letter as a bald forgery, both in its language and sentiment. Until its publication, I never hard of the existence of the Employers Union of Lynn Mass. nor of such a person as H. L. Morey. If you think best, publish your denunciation officially tonight, by Associated Press, East and West, and make Barnum feel the weight of public indignation for his reckless and dishonorable conduct.
J. A. Garfield."
He followed with a second telegram draft on October 23, after receiving a lithographic copy of the forged document:
"Your telegram of this afternoon is received. Publish my dispatch of last evening if you think best. Within the last hour, the mail has brought me the lithographic copy of the forged letter. It is the work of some clumsy villain, who cannot spell, - nor write English - nor imitate my hand-writing. Every honest and manly Democrat in America who is familiar with my hand-writing, will denounce the forgery at sight. Put the case in the hands of able detectives at once, and hunt the rascals down.
J. A. Garfield."
The Morey letter was one of the most notorious election forgeries of the nineteenth century. It appeared only weeks before the election and was distributed aggressively by Democratic operatives and newspapers. The issue of Chinese immigration was politically explosive, especially on the Pacific coast, where anti-Chinese sentiment was widespread. The forgery was intended to alienate working-class and anti-immigration voters from Garfield at the last possible moment.
The tactic had measurable effect in California, where the contest was exceptionally close. Garfield lost the decisive sixth presidential elector there by only 144 votes, though he still won five of the state's six electoral votes. Nationally, he won the presidency with one of the narrowest popular-vote margins in American history, while securing a clear majority in the Electoral College. Although the authorship of the forged Morey letter was never conclusively established, contemporary suspicion often fell on Stanley Huntley of the Brooklyn Eagle, best known as the creator of the "Spoopendyke" stories.
Condition: Overall very good and highly legible. Each leaf mounted to a larger sheet at the corners; minor loss at the left edges likely due to previous mounting; bottom left corners of each sheet detached and reaffixed with adhesive, resulting in minor staining. A few minor instances of smudged ink, not affecting legibility. Garfield's signatures are bold and dark.
Auction Info
2026 June 19 The John H. Freund Americana Collection Signature® Auction #6331 (go to Auction Home page)
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19th
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19th
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