Dec 01, 2011 - Sale 2263

Sale 2263 - Lot 222

Price Realized: $ 6,720
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,500
(PENNSYLVANIA.) Archive of Muhlenberg family correspondence. Approximately 200 Autograph Letters Signed, almost all addressed to Hiester Henry Muhlenberg from his immediate family members, including 94 from his father Henry A.P. Muhlenberg; typical wear for the period; plus 20 assorted family photographs and engravings, 1814-84. Vp, 1828-40
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Additional Details

Almost half of these letters were written by Henry A.P. Muhlenberg (1782-1844) to his son. Muhlenberg was a Pennsylvania clergyman who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1829 to 1838, and then as Minister to Austria. The father's letters are full of interesting political commentary, including repeated references to President Jackson and future presidents Polk and Buchanan. He recounts at length a personal meeting with President Jackson at the White House: "Now, Mr. M, replied the old gentleman, you surely do not think that I ever questioned the purity of your views. . . . There is no man any where whom I would rather trust, whom I more respect, to whom I put a warmer attachment as a correct politician than yourself" (23 December 1835). Buchanan became a rival in 1835: "I never placed any reliance upon him & am therefore not disappointed. He has, mark it, mistaken his cause & will regret it when too late" (21 December). Congressman Muhlenberg wrote one letter while ignoring another future president, "amidst all the noise & confusion of the Hall, even while Mr. Polk is speaking on the Deposit question" (30 December 1833). Another letter captured the grim mood leading up to the Nullification Crisis: "There appears a heavy cloud hanging over the South, I hope it may blow off without producing any thing more than wind & noise. I fear the leaders have been exciting the people so long that the excitement can not be allayed" (3 January 1831).
These letters were addressed to Hiester Henry Muhlenberg (1812-1886) while he was a student at Dickinson College and the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, and then as a physician and bank cashier in Reading, PA. In addition to the political content, they also shed interesting light on his college days (Dickinson was on the verge of collapse in 1829) and his parents' travels in Europe. A more detailed summary is available upon request.