?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 100 - $ 200
TO PRESIDENT POLK DIX, JOHN A. Autograph Letter Signed, as Senator, to President James K. Polk, recommending the son of Anthony James Bleecker [John V.B. Bleecker] for the position of Purser in the Navy. 2 pages, 4to, with integral blank; faint uneven toning, folds. Washington, 21 November 1845
"I rec'd a letter last evening from Mr. A[nthony] J[ames] Bleecker relative to his son, whose name is before you as a candidate for the app't of Purser in the Navy. He understands a vacancy has occurred through the removal of Mr. Todd Young. . . . I presume he would receive the support of most, if not all, the democratic members of Congress from the State of N.Y. . . . . ". . . [M]y regard for his father, who is one of the most estimable citizens, has induced me to make this statement . . . . [T]he appointment of his son would, I am confident, be quite satisfactory to him & at the same time w'd highly gratify his . . . friends in N.Y." John Van Benthuysen Bleecker (1825-1864) was commissioned Purser in the Navy on January 16, 1847; he served as paymaster of the Mississippi squadron on June 8, 1864, at which time he was suffering from typhoid fever. The illness worsened, and on November 8, at home in New York City, he died.
