PROMOTED BY PRESIDENTS (MILITARY--SPANISH AMERICAN WAR.) McKINLEY, WILLIAM. Four partially printed promotions, accomplished by hand for Samuel Louis Franklin Piper, an African American officer. All four are printed on vellum, size varies, approximately 14 x 18 inches SIGNED BY GROVER CLEVELAND, WILLIAM MCKINLEY (TWICE), & WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT. Washington, D.C. 1893, 1898, 1900, and 1909
An exceptional collection of promotions for an apparently exceptional officer. Piper's first appointment was to second lieutenant, signed by Grover Cleveland and his Secretary of War, Daniel Scott Lamont; his second promotion signed by William McKinley and his Secretary of War Russell A. Alger to Captain He was promoted again to Major by McKinley, signed as well by Elihu Root as Secretary of War -- and finally by William Howard Taft, in 1909. Strangely enough, we could find nothing out about this.
