March 2012 Auction Ends Wednesday, March 28th, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/28/2012
Autograph letter signed by Rutherford B. Hayes dated 4 July 1885 from Fremont, Ohio. Marked ''Private'', Hayes' letter to magazine editor Edward Bok refers to what Hayes calls the ''Omaha Slander,'' a scandal in which Eugene Field, an anti-Hayes columnist for the ''Chicago Daily News'' (and whose father, incidentally, defended Dred Scott), accused Hayes of hypocrisy for keeping a dry White House, revealing that the former president was part-owner of a saloon property in Omaha, Nebraska. The temperance policy in the Hayes White House was rumored to be the doing of Mrs. Hayes, a prohibitionist - a fact that encouraged Field in his Hayes hazing. According to one source, Field went so far as to travel from Chicago to Omaha to visit and photograph the saloon in question. Bok, a friend of Hayes and editor of ''The Brooklyn Magazine'' apparently ran an article defending Hayes' reputation in the wake of the scandal, for which Hayes expresses his gratitude: ''My Dear Sir: I am greatly obliged for your friendly and effective editorial notice of the Omaha Slander. The abuse of certain people is virtually commendation. Such notice is due to a course of conduct which must have had influence, or it would not be so frequently referred to. Negative character and conduct do not provoke hostility. All who take advanced stabs in reform which touch the [?] nerves, or which concern personal vices, will surely receive blows and be a mark for many an arrow. This is to be expected, and is, in brief, equivalent to a certificate of good conduct extorted from the adversary. Again honestly thanking you / I remain / Sincerely / R.B. Hayes''. Interestingly, in another letter to Bok, Hayes admits part-ownership of the property, but does not claim any wrongdoing in so owning. 2pp. letter measures 5.25'' x 8.25''. Near fine.
Rutherford B. Hayes Autograph Letter Signed Regarding the ''Omaha Slander'' Story on Liquor Trafficking -- '...the abuse of certain people is virtually commendation...''
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