Partly-printed DS as president, signed “R. B. Hayes,” one page, 17 x 14, February 12, 1880. President Hayes appoints Augusta B. Berard as "Postmaster at West Point, in the County of Orange, State of New York." Neatly signed at the conclusion in ink by President Rutherford B. Hayes, and countersigned by Postmaster General David M. Key. The gold foil seal and red ribbon affixed at the lower left remain fully intact. Mounted on a sheet of cardstock and in fine condition, with the tails of the ribbon taped to the mount.
Augusta Blanch Berard (1824-1901) was a beautiful, intelligent, kind, and popular bachelorette who helped her parents in the West Point, NY, post office before serving as Postmaster there for 26 years under five Republican Presidents and one Democrat President. Berard family members worked in that position for 61 straight years during the nineteenth century. Miss Berard was popular among cadets, and she was engaged to a handsome graduate who died after being dragged by a horse while on detail at West Point. She was also a teacher and author and her Reminiscences of West Point in the Olden Time was published in 1888.
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