Autograph ("W.M. Gwin") in upper corner of small envelope to the Secretary of the Treasury. No contents or stamp. 2.75 x 5.25" While a politician, William McKendree Gwin was a major proponent of California Gold Rush issues, USAO, and the San Francisco Mint. He was a US Marshall in Mississippi in the 1830s, then elected as a US Representative for Mississippi (1841-43). He came to California in 1849, was a member of the State constitutional convention, and then became a US Senator for California (1850-55 and then 1857-61). After the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, Gwin helped to organize secret discussions between Lincoln's Secretary of State, William H. Seward, and some southern leaders to find a compromise that would avoid dissolution of the Union. He returned to California where he supported Southern causes. In 1864, he attempted to interest Napoleon III in a project to settle American slave owners in Sonora, Mexico. Despite a positive response from Napoleon, the idea was rejected by his prot»g», Maximilian I, who feared that Gwin and his southerners would take Sonora for themselves. After the war, he returned to the United States and gave himself up to Major General Philip Sheridan in New Orleans. He retired to California and engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death in New York City in 1885.Date: Country (if not USA): State: CaliforniaCity: Provenance: