ALS, one page, 8 x 10, April 14, 1840. Addressed from the Hermitage, a handwritten letter to Amos Kendall, the United States Postmaster General, in full: “Permit me to introduce to your acquaintance and kind attention my friend Col. Sam’l H. Laughlin, who will hand you this. The Col. is on his way to the Baltimore convention as one of the delegates from Tennessee. You will find the Col. a gentleman of good intelligence and in whom confidence can be well reposed & as such I present him to you. I wrote you a few days ago, which I hope you have received safely — with the kind regards of myself and household to you & yours I remain very respectfully your friend.” In very good condition, with a torn-out section of the letter affecting about a dozen words of text.
Samuel Hervey Laughlin (1796-1850) represented the first district in the Tennessee State Senate from 1838-1844, overseeing the establishment of Nashville as state capitol in 1843 and pushing for the establishment of several new Tennessee counties. He was also one of the ‘Immortal Thirteen’ who, fearing the election of a Whig, refused to meet with the Tennessee House to elect a representative to the U.S. Senate, leaving Tennessee unrepresented in the Senate from 1841-1843. As a delegate to the 1840 Democratic convention, Laughlin unsuccessfully supported Polk for the vice presidency. Laughlin also attended the 1844 convention at which Polk was nominated for president.
Amos Kendall (1789–1869) was an ardent supporter of Andrew Jackson, who appointed him as United States Postmaster General, serving under both Presidents Jackson and Martin Van Buren. He was one of the most influential members of Jackson's ‘Kitchen Cabinet,’ an unofficial group of Jackson's top appointees and advisors who set administration policy, and upon his return to private life, Kendall wrote one of the first biographies of Jackson, which was published in 1843.
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