AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED
United States: Navy Department, 1837. One-page handwritten letter with two-page handwritten document listing individual being considered for examination "before the Medical Board" in 1837.Written while serving as Secretary of the Navy (under President Andrew Jackson) and addressed to Dr. William Barton, a surgeon for the United States Navy. In Very Good condition with mild age toning and wear to corners and edges. Shelved at Rockville Room E (MW Box).
1412264
Special Collections - Upstairs
Price: $500
NOTES
Mahlon Dickerson (1770–1853) was an influential early American statesman, jurist, and naval administrator who served in nearly every major branch of government during the early republic. Educated at Princeton University (then the College of New Jersey), Dickerson practiced law before rising through New Jersey and Pennsylvania politics, eventually becoming the seventh governor of New Jersey from 1815 to 1817 and later serving for sixteen years as a United States senator. He was appointed the 10th U.S. Secretary of the Navy under Presidents Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren, overseeing naval affairs during a formative period of American expansion and modernization. Dickerson also served briefly as a federal judge and was known for his close association with Jacksonian Democratic politics. Beyond public office, he managed iron mining interests in New Jersey and became one of the state’s most prominent nineteenth-century political figures, with his legacy preserved through places and naval vessels named in his honor.