Autograph Letter Signed while state Surveyor General. Albany, August 28, 1844, to James Burt. Warwick, New York

Quarto, three pages, plus stamp-less address leaf, formerly folded, in very good, clean and legible condition.

1844 – New York Surveyor General, Seward Democratic intimate, describes a Daniel Webster Whig mass meeting

"…You may desire to learn something of the gathering here yesterday. Danl. Webster, F. Granger, Senator Berrien of Georgia and some other notable Whig speakers were on the ground. There were people from Mass and Vermont. Sundry S.[team]boats chartered at low prices from N York and along the River Towns…DW spoke for nearly two hours. Mainly on the Tariff subject, the other Notables spoke more briefly. There were an unusual number of banners with various devices and mottos and on the whole the Pageant is said to have been quite imposing. As to the Number, there are so many contradictory…statements in the papers of this morning and in the mouths of those who attended, that it would be quite difficult to state the real force. My brother William who was present at the recent Whig Meeting at Springfield Mass of 15000 to 20000 and who attended the convocation here yesterday remarked to me that at no time were there more than half the number on the ground near the Patroons yesterday. Others estimate the number at 7000. Others are 20000 and some others at forty or fifty thousand. One thing is quite certain. That from the thirty three thousand inhabitants of this city a comparatively large proportion turned out, and going early to the grounds secure the preferred seats, as tis said.

You may not be aware that the wrangling Locofocos have settled the question of candidate for Governor on their part. The advocates of the 'Old White Horse' have had to give him up – since the rank and file from the Lakes to the Seaboard have declared for Silas Wright. Whether Mr. W. will accept or refuse, they are determined to nominate him, as appears by the Selection of Delegates to the State Convention. The roman spirit of that man will now be put to the severest test. To accept of that or any other place is repugnant to his inclination. To refuse the nomination when unanimously tendered to him would hazard his high reputation. It is believed by the political wiseacres that Mr. W. will reluctantly yield to the wishes of his friends. Should this result transpire, it may be presumed that few even bets will be made on the election of Governor…."

The humorous crowd estimate is sadly reminiscent of recent claims of the inaugural audience numbers. "Old White Horse" refers to the incumbent Governor William Bouck who rode his same old favored animal up and down the state while on the stump. Bouck did not seek re-election and Democrat Silas Wright succeeded him.

The writer, Nathaniel Jones, was born in Massachusetts, moved as a teenager to New York, where he taught school – one of his students being William Seward, future Governor and Lincoln Secretary of State – before going into politics as a state legislator. After making his fortune in banking, he was elected to the US Congress as a Democrat, serving two terms before returning to New York when his friend Seward was elected Governor on the Whig ticket, to hold several state positions, including Surveyor General, Erie Canal Commissioner and Superintendent of Schools. James Burt, his correspondent, was the oldest presidential elector in New York, having cast his Electoral College ballot for Thomas Jefferson in 1800, then again for William Henry Harrison in 1840. When he received this letter he was 84 years old, and was still planning a business trip with Jones, a former legislative colleague and apparently a relation.