Description:

ULYSSES S. GRANT (1822 - 1885) Eighteenth President of the United States and Union lieutenant general. Fine association and content manuscript signed letter as president of the "Mexican Southern Railroad Company", 1p. large 4to., New York, Apr. 5, 1883 to J. N. Burritt. Grant responds to an invitation to attend the annual reunion of the Society of the Army of the Potomac. He writes: "...I accept with pleasure the kind invitation to be present om that occasion, if I should be here, or where it would be possible for me to attend. But I have to ask to be excused from being allotted to respond to any toast whatever because of the uncertainty of my attending the Reunion..." Nicely signed, and in very fine condition. The idea for the Mexican Southern sprang from discussions between Grant and Mexican politician Matías Romero to construct a railroad from Mexico City to the Guatemala border. The pair held a banquet at Delmonico's in New York City to pitch the idea to wealthy American investors, several listed on the letterhead including: JAY GOULD, RUSSELL SAGE, and ex-Union Gen. GRENVILLE M. DODGE, an executive with Union Pacific. Grant's investment in this business, along with those he made with the stock swindler Ferdinand Ward, would start to sour this same year. The Mexican Southern would fail in 1885 - the same year as Grant's death.

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November 14, 2018 10:00 AM EST
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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