Free-franked mailing panel, 5.5 x 3.5, addressed in the hand of President Martin Van Buren to “T. W. Olcott Esquire, Albany, N. York,” who adds his franking signature above, “Free, M. Van Buren,” and writes a third-person sentiment on the reverse, “With the President’s kind regards for Mr. & Mrs. Olcott.” In fine condition, with a central horizontal fold.
Thomas Worth Olcott was an American banker (1795–1880) who served as president of the Mechanics' and Farmers' Bank of Albany, an institution he was connected with for 69 years. In early life, and up to 1860, Olcott was a Democrat and member of the Albany Regency instituted by Martin Van Buren. After 1860 and for the remainder of his life he was a Republican. He ran for Congress once but was defeated. In 1863, while Abraham Lincoln was president, Secretary of the Treasury Salmon Chase offered Olcott the position as the first Controller of the Currency, which he declined. He also refused the nomination for New York State Controller, which his youngest son held from 1877 to 1879.
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