Elected as the first carpetbagger governor of Arkansas!
Letter Signed
(1833-1914) Born in Delaware County, Pa., he moved to Kansas in 1855 to engage in civil engineering, and at the outbreak of the Civil War he commanded a militia company at Fort Leavenworth. In May 1861, he was commissioned captain of the 1st Kansas Infantry, and in December became lieutenant colonel of the 5th Kansas Cavalry, and in March 1862, its colonel. He served mainly in Missouri and Arkansas during the war seeing action at Wilson's Creek, and after the capture of Little Rock, he was assigned to command the post at Pine Bluff, where in October 1863, he repulsed an attack by Confederate General John S. Marmaduke. He was promoted to brigadier general on August 1, 1864. After the war, Clayton bought a plantation and became a cotton farmer. In 1868, he was elected the first carpetbagger governor of Arkansas. One of his acts was to raise a negro militia to combat the Ku Klux Klan. He later served as a U.S. Senator, and Ambassador to Mexico in the administrations of William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt.
Typed Letter Signed: 7 x 8 3/4, signed in ink.
Embassy Of The United States Of America, Mexico
Cuernavaca, February 11, 1903
Major J.L. Bittinger, Consul General of the United States, Montreal, Canada
Dear Major:
Your letter introducing Hon. J.S.C. Wurtele was forwarded to me at this place. I regret that my absence from the Capital has prevented me thus far from meeting Mr. Wurtele. I have written him expressing the hope that I may have the pleasure of meeting him on my return, which will be in the course of a few days.
Thanking you for your letter, and with best wishes, I am
Sincerely yours, Powell Clayton
Light age toning and wear. Very fine. |