Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal | Cincinnati History Library and Archives

Lincoln Originals at Cincinnati Museum Center

Letter from John Sherman to George McLaughlin, Dec. 15, 1863

Senator John Sherman of Ohio, younger brother of William Tecumseh Sherman, wrote this letter from Washington to George McLaughlin, Chairman of the Coins and Autographs Committee of the Great Western Sanitary Fair, on December 15, 1863. Sherman informed him that he had obtained a handwritten copy of the Amnesty Proclamation that Lincoln had cheerfully contributed. The Great Western Sanitary Fair was held in Cincinnati in December 1863 to raise funds to support the activities of the Cincinnati branch of the U.S. Sanitary Commission.

From the CMC Manuscript Collection: Mss VF 2491.

Page 1

Jump to Transcription

Letter from Sherman - Page 1

Page 2

United States Senate,
WASHINGTON, D.C., December 15, 1863

My dear Sir,
I have the pleasure to send you the autograph
copy of the recent Amnesty Proclamation of the President, the
whole in the handwriting of the President, with all the additions,
erasures, and interlineations.
Your circular was received about the time this proclamation
was issued, and regarding it as a document of the highest historical
interest, and wishing to advance to the utmost the noble purpose of
the Sanitary Fair, I, with Mr. Wade, waited on the President, and
requested the original copy of this document. He very cordially
met our wishes; but, as the original copy had been somewhat de=
faced, he kindly offered to copy it himself, retaining all the
marks, erasures, notes, and additions. He said if a great
deal of additional labor by him would relieve the sufferings
of a single soldier, he would cheerfully perform it. I
assured him that, by your agency, the result of his labor

Back to Top