ALS as a Kentucky senator, signed “H. Clay,” one page, 8 x 9.25, June 23, 1832. Addressed from “Washington,” a handwritten letter to “Col. Stone,” in full: “I have to thank you for your favor of the 20th inst. with your work on Antimasonry and Masonry accompanying it. I shall seize with eagerness the first leisure I can command to pursue it attentively. I rec’d also the volume for Genl. Harrison, which I will deliver to him, on his arrival here. No period is yet fixed for our adjournment.” In very good to fine condition, with a missing corner tip, and irregular light toning from prior display.
The recipient, William Leete Stone, was an influential journalist, publisher, author, and public official in New York City. Stone, who was a Freemason, addressed a series of letters on ‘Masonry and Anti-Masonry’ to John Quincy Adams, who in his retirement at Quincy had taken interest in the anti-Masonic movement. In these letters, which were afterward collected and published (New York, 1832), the author maintained that Masonry should be abandoned, chiefly because it had lost its usefulness. It is evident that it is this work that Clay references in his letter to Stone. Although the influence of Colonel Stone (as he was familiarly called; he held that rank on Governor De Witt Clinton’s staff) extended throughout the country, it was felt most particularly in New York City. He was the first superintendent of public schools in New York City.
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