Autograph Letter Signed as Secretary of the Navy, July 16, 1856
1856. Manuscript. ALS single sheet dated July 16, 1856, one paragraph, light mailing folds but clean and bright. Addressed to one Second Asst Engineer Montgomery Fletcher instructing him to report to the Engineer Chief of the Navy for examination in view of promotion. Signed "J.C. Dobbin". James Cochrane Dobbin (1814-1857) was a native of Fayetteville, North Carolina and a graduate of the University of North Carolina in 1832. He was a member of the United States Congress 1845-47 and the North Carolina legislature 1848-52. As Secretary of the Navy under President Franklin Pierce, Dobbin authorized the Perry Expedition to Japan. Ill health forced his resignation from the Cabinet on the spring of 1857 and he died of tuberculosis that October. Montgomery Fletcher, to whom the order is addressed, would later serve as Chief Engineer aboard the "Saranac" of the Pacific Squadron of the U.S. Navy during the Civil War. Item #X165
Price: $175.00