One page autograph letter signed to Wm. J. Miller, Esq.
Newport, [R.I.]: Thursday morning, Sept. 14, [1865]. 4to (approx. 10" x 8"), approx. 20 lines and 200 words, in ink; folds, and with the original stamped cover "Steam Boat" and with a Providence roundstamp, and the stamp of the "American Steamboat Company, Sept. 14, 1865, steamer City of Newport." Light soiling and spotting of the envelope, but generally near fine. Written just after the end of the Civil War, Newton begins by apologizing he will not be able to attend a meeting because of "my constant engagements for the past two weeks in closing up the affairs of the Naval Academy ... I regret to say that it has been impossible for me to attend the State Committee ... to listen to Mr. Bradford's report of the convention, which is doubtless very satisfactory judging from the little that I have gathered from the papers, and I feel grieved that I have lost the opportunity of interchanging views ... upon the prospect of bright hope for better days now dawning ... Write me (if not too much trouble) the most interesting points of your conversation ... My regards to Bradford, Steere, and all good friends in the bonds of democratic truth and love..." Miller was a resident of Bristol, a member of the Rhode Island Historical Society where he is known to have delivered several papers, worked with the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey on charts of Narragansett Bay, and later was one of the founders of the Bristol and Warren Water Works. Item #56517
Price: $225.00
