ALS, one page, 7.75 x 4.75, June 20, 1823. Tyler writes Benjamin Harrison, Esquire, of Berkeley. In part: “Your servant has handed me your letter of this date covering the sum of one thousand dollars in partial payment of a judgement obtained agst you…in the Supr. Ct. of this county, and this is intended by me to operate as a reciept [sic] for so much. I have been so busy in my harvest field as to have neglected to get a statement of the debt from the office. This shall be done by next Saturday if when your servant comes down for your newspapers you will direct him to call.” In very good condition, with intersecting horizontal and vertical folds, moderate soiling in the center of the page, and edge chipping.
This unique document ties two famous Virginia families—the Tylers and the Harrisons. The recipient of this letter was a descendent of Benjamin Harrison V, an American planter and revolutionary leader from Charles City County, Virginia. The Benjamin Harrison in this letter shared the name of the signer of the Declaration of Independence, whose son, William Henry Harrison, would go on to become President of the United States. And it was William Henry’s sudden death that would take Tyler, a Virginia politician from a well-to-do family, to the White House. Tyler’s rise to the highest office in the nation signaled the last gasp of old Virginia aristocracy, with the fate of the two families seemingly tied for generations. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
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