Sep 26, 2019 - Sale 2517

Sale 2517 - Lot 143

Price Realized: $ 688
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 400 - $ 600
(MEXICAN WAR.) Wheeler, Frank. Letter written on letterhead captured from Santa Anna. Autograph Letter Signed to brother Joseph Klapp Wheeler of Philadelphia. One page, 17 1/4 x 11 inches, on a sheet of engraved Mexican letterhead with inked revenue stamp, plus integral address leaf; 3 punch holes in upper mark, stamp excised from address panel, folds and minor wear. With transcript. Jalapa [Xalapa], Veracruz, Mexico, 11 January 1848

Additional Details

Franklin Wheeler (1826-1867) of the 2nd Illinois Volunteers writes from active duty in Mexico regarding his recovery from an illness: "My arms & legs are nothing at all, I have not the least bit of mussel & never will be as stout as I was when I left home." He also regrets speaking kindly in a previous letter regarding a Mr. Thomas Hand, who it has since been learned was a member of a rival volunteer fire department back in Philadelphia: "I heard that he belonged to Southwark & was a bully of the Weckacoe Hose." The main attraction here, though, is the stationery: "I send you this sheet of paper as your Christmas present; it was among a number of quires captured from Santa Anna at the Battle of Mexico."