US SUPREME COURT JUSTICE NH GOVERNOR SENATOR NAVY/TREASURY SY LETTER SIGNED 1835

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US SUPREME COURT JUSTICE NH GOVERNOR SENATOR NAVY/TREASURY SY LETTER SIGNED 1835:
$49.99

LEVI WOODBURY

(1823-1824)

ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURTAPPOINTED BY PRESIDENT POLK,

GOVERNOR OF NEW HAMPSHIRE,

U.S. JACKSONIAN SENATOR FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE,

SECRETARY OF THE NAVY APPOINTED BY PRESIDENT ANDREW JACKSON,

SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY APPOINTED BY PRESIDENTS JACKSONand VAN BUREN

PRESIDENTIAL TIMBER IN THE MID-1840s!

Woodbury’s record ofpublic service has been unmatched by any New Hampshire citizen!

HERE’SA DOCUMENT SIGNED BY WOODBURY on “TREASURY DEPARTMENT” Letterhead, 1p., datedJuly 8, 1835 to the Noted (criminal embezzler) Samuel Swartwout, Collector of Customs at NewYork City, providing authorization to permit the entry of merchandise (“60 casksof Spanish Brown”) imported from Bristol in the ship Bristol…

NOTE: Samuel Swartwout (November 17, 1783, Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York – November 21,1856, New York City) was an AmericanWar of 1812 veteran, merchant, speculator, and politician. He is best known forhis role in the Swartwout-Hoyt scandal, in which he wasalleged to have embezzled $1,222,705.09 during his tenure as Collector of the Port of New York. As Collector, he openly aided the Texans intheir struggle for independence from Mexico.He held meetings in New York where Stephen F.Austin, Branch Tanner Archer, and William H. Wharton appeared in quest of fundsand supplies. He also sent provisions to Texas at his own expenseand saved the two-ship Texas Navy from a consignment sale by paying for repairsto the vessels. Swartwout, Texas, now aghost town, was named after him for his role. Swartwout was one of four VicePresident Burr allies arrested for misprision of treason and sent to Washington,D.C. for trial!

THE DOCUMENT MEASURES 8”x 10” AND IS IN VERY FINE, CLEAN CONDITION!

ARARE ADDITION TO YOUR PRESIDENTIAL CABINET & SUPREME COURT/AMERICAN POLITICALHISTORY AUTOGRAPH, MANUSCRIPT & EPHEMERA COLLECTION!

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OFTHE HONORABLE LEVI WOODBURY

Levi Woodbury(1789-1851) was born at Francestown (NH). He graduated from DartmouthCollege (Class of 1809) and was admitted to the New Hampshire Bar in 1812. Woodbury served as Clerk of the State Senate(1816), then was appointed Associate Justice of State Superior Court (served1817 - 1823). In 1823 he was elected Governor, and reelected a year later. In1825 Woodbury was Speaker of the House and elected to a term in the U.S. Senate(served 1825 - 1831). As a U.S. Senator Woodbury was a Jackson Democrat.

In 1831, President Andrew Jackson appointed Woodbury Secretary of the Navy(served 1831 - 1834). During his three years in that office, the Navy continuedon a path of economy and mild reform. Woodbury implemented mild and generallyineffectual measures to curtail the consumption of grog and the use of floggingas a punishment. Operationally, he promoted further measures to expand U.S.naval presence in the Orient in support of American commerce.

In 1834, Pres. Jackson appointed Woodbury Secretary of the Treasury(served 1834 - 1841). He served both Presidents Jackson and Martin Van Buren inthis post

As Treasury Secretary, Woodbury fought with success to end The Bank of theUnited States; like Jackson he favored an independent treasury system and\"hard money,\" and like his predecessor, Acting Secretary Roger B.Taney, Woodbury refused to place government funds with the Second Bank of theUnited States, depositing them instead in commercial banks. The 1830s was aperiod of general prosperity and by 1834 had paid off the national debt. In fact, Woodbury was the last Secretary ofthe Treasury to have paid off the national debt.

In 1836, when the Treasury Department realized an unprecedented surplus,the money was turned over to the states in four installments. This extra moneywas a contributing factor to wild speculation and an expansion of creditresulting in a panic in 1837. Consequently, Woodbury realized the need for asystem which would enable the government to directly administer its own funds.The financial Panic of 1837 was a legacy of Woodbury\'s tenure, as was thecollapse of speculative land prices.

In 1840 Congress passed an act establishing an \'\'Independent TreasurySystem.\" This authorized the Treasury Department, not commercial banks, tomanage the government\'s funds. Much of this law was repealed the next year, butWoodbury had laid the groundwork for more permanent independent treasury systemeventually established 1846. He alsooversaw the construction of the New Treasury Building, begun by architectRobert Mills in 1836, after the Department\'s previous quarters had beendestroyed by fire.

In the 1844 presidential election Woodbury and the Jackson Democratssupported the Democrats\' nomination of James K. Polk. Polk was inauguratedPresident March 4, 1845, and he promptly named Woodbury an Associate Justice ofthe U. S. Supreme Court. Woodbury was the first Supreme Court Justice to haveattended law school (briefly attending Tappin Reeve\'s Law School in Litchfield,Conn.). Woodbury served on the Supreme Court for five years.

Woodbury was a candidate for president in 1844 and 1848, but was notnominated by the Democratic party to be their candidate. Woodbury was likely tobe the Democratic nominee for President in the 1852 election, but he died in1851 before the Democratic National Convention.

Several U.S. Navy, Revenue Cutter Service and Coast Guard ships have beennamed in honor of Levi Woodbury, including: USS Woodbury (DD-309), 1920-1923;USRC Woodbury (Schooner, 1837-1847); USRC Woodbury (Steamer, 1864-1915) andUSCGC Woodbury (WPC-155, 1927-1948).

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