Abraham Lincoln
Washington, D.C., March 30, 1864
Lincoln Approves Transfer Consul Involved In Slave Colonization in Haiti Slabbed PSA MINT 8
ANS

ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Autograph Note Signed, to William H. Seward, March 30, 1864, Washington, D.C. 1 p., 3.375" x 2.375". Minor staining on edges, some ink smears; very good. Encapsulated and PSA-graded NM-MT 8, measuring 5.25" x 3.25" overall.

This long note, written and signed by President Abraham Lincoln, communicated his approval to Secretary of State William H. Seward of the appointment of James DeLong, then a consul in Haiti, as consul at Callao, Peru. DeLong did not receive the appointment, as the incumbent consul remained at his post until the end of September 1864.

Complete Transcript
It is said there may be a vacancy in the Consulship at Callao; & if there shall be, and the Sec. of State is willing, so am I, that Mr. DeLong may have the place.
A. Lincoln
March 30, 1864.

Historical Background
The United States had a consulate in Callao, Peru, the seaport for the adjacent capital of Lima, from 1854 to 1906. In June 1861, President Abraham Lincoln appointed John C. Underwood (1809-1873) of Virginia as U.S. Consul at Callao, Peru. Underwood was an antislavery activist and one of the first Republicans in Virginia. He declined the appointment to Callao and took a position as the fifth auditor of the U.S. Treasury Department. In March 1863, Lincoln appointed Underwood as judge of the federal court for the Eastern District of Virginia. To fill the consulate in Callao, Lincoln appointed John E. Lovejoy (1817-1891) of Iowa as Consul on August 6, 1861. Lovejoy was the younger brother of abolitionist martyr Elijah Lovejoy (1802-1837) and abolitionist and Republican Congressman Owen Lovejoy (1811-1864) of Illinois.

Late in 1863, Lovejoy had requested a leave of absence for a few months, which may have been reported to Lincoln, leading him to pen this note.

On September 23, 1864, Lovejoy wrote a letter to President Abraham Lincoln, explaining that nearly a year earlier, he had requested a leave of absence for a few months to visit his family in Iowa. The request was denied, and acting on the advice of his brother Congressman Owen Lovejoy, he remained in Peru. He informed Lincoln that his wife's health and the decision of his underaged son to enter the army made it his duty to return home at the end of September. He had written Secretary of State Seward about his intention to leave, and if he could not obtain a leave, he would resign.

On September 28, 1864, Lincoln appointed James H. McColley (1820-1869) of Pennsylvania as U.S. Consul at Callao. McColley served as consul there until April 1869, when he died of yellow fever in Lima.

While a consul in Tangier, Morocco, in February 1862, DeLong arrested two Confederate officials. Europeans in the city, generally sympathetic to the Confederacy, formed a mob, but DeLong refused to release his captives. Moroccan officials ordered DeLong to release the prisoners, but he again refused. One week after the arrest, forty marines from the USS Ino landed in Tangier, took custody of the two Confederates, and escorted them back to the ship. Eventually taken to a military prison in Massachusetts, the Confederates were later released as part of a prisoner exchange. The Moroccan government later wrote to the U.S. government to emphasize its friendship and loyalty. They vowed to prohibit all Confederate ships from docking in Moroccan ports and to arrest any Confederate agents that appeared on Moroccan soil.

James DeLong Jr. (1811-1891) was born in Ohio and became an attorney. He was elected as a judge in 1850 and served until 1861. President Abraham Lincoln appointed DeLong as U.S. consul in Tangier, Morrocco, in September 1861, but recalled him after only five months. The Senate rejected his appointment on July 12, 1862. One month later, on August 6, Lincoln temporarily appointed DeLong as U.S. Consul at Aux-Cayes, Haiti. Lincoln made the appointment permanent in February 1863, and the Senate approved it in the following month. He remained as Consul at Haiti until at least October 1866. DeLong, the U.S. consul at Aux Cayes was a backer of a Haitian Slave olonization scheme. There were reports of disease and starvation on the island. After theese reports of the colony?s destitution reached Washington, Lincoln dispatched a rescue ship to retrieve the remaining settlers. Though some chose to remain on the mainland and subsequently integrated into Haitian society, just under 300 survivors of the ill-fated colony docked at Alexandria, Virginia in March 1864. With no small irony, one of Stanton?s recruiters reportedly greeted them at the docks and mustered an unknown number into the army. After returning to Ohio, DeLong moved to Kansas in 1871 and served as mayor of Independence, Kansas, for two terms. He moved to Wichita around 1886.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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3.375" x 2.375"