George Luther Stearns' Handwritten Copy of Charles Sumner's Letter of Acceptance Upon Being Elected to the United States Senate

Résumé du livre

George Luther Stearns' handwritten copy of Charles Sumner's letter of acceptance to the United States Senate, dated May 14, 1851, which Stearns had transcribed from the Boston daily advertiser of May 16, 1851. Stearns sealed his copy of the letter in an envelope, and he did not open it until after Sumner's death. The exterior of the envelope, included here with the letter, bears the following annotation, written by Stearns' widow, Mary Elizabeth Preston Stearns: "The envelope was superscribed by my husband, G.L. Stearns & it has remained sealed until today. March 15, 1874, while Charles Sumner is lying in the Doric Hall of the State House, Boston, mourned by all classes of the Commonwealth he served faithfully & by humanity throughout the world." The exterior of a second envelope bears the following annotation in an unknown hand: "1851-1874. Letter of acceptance of the senatorship. Hon. Charles Sumner."