Letter to Future Wisconsin Congressman and Niagara Steamer Victim John B. Macy Discussing Democratic Infighting, Treasury Secretary Robert J. Walker, Martin Van Buren, James K. Polk, and the Political Fallout of Texas Annexation: “Brough will never forgive Mr. Walker for defeating Mr. Van Buren & placing Mr. Polk in power.”
Cincinnati, Ohio: September 3, 1845. Autograph letter signed, “F. G. Macy,” 4 pp. 8 x 10 inches on a folded sheet, addressed to his brother John B. Macy. Excellent. Item #List3743
A letter bluntly discussing Democratic Party factionalism, written scarcely three months after the inauguration of James K. Polk and less than four months before the annexation of Texas formally took effect. The recipient, John B. Macy, would represent Wisconsin in Congress from 1853 to 1855 before perishing in the burning of the steamer Niagara on Lake Michigan in 1857. At the time of this correspondence, he appears to have been embroiled in a political controversy connected to Treasury Secretary Robert J. Walker and the Democratic press.
After briefly reporting the death of a relative’s child, Francis G. Macy turns to national politics, commenting on newspaper attacks directed against his brother and expressing frustration with Cincinnati editor John Brough, then one of the most influential Democratic journalists in Ohio. The letter captures the bitterness that remained after the Democratic nomination struggle of 1844, when supporters of Martin Van Buren and James K. Polk battled for control of the party:
“You perceive, I suppose, the continual attacks the Inquirer makes on you; this morning it is out on you & Drinker as well as upon Lake. It appears Brough is determined to prostrate you if possible. He has drawn out Father Ritchie in defence of Mr. Walker, but demands of Walker or the President to dismiss you immediately. My opinion is that no notice should be taken of his Billingsgate trash, but let him go on till Drinker gets his paper underway.”
Macy believed the attacks stemmed not from policy disagreements but from lingering resentment over the defeat of Martin Van Buren’s presidential ambitions and the rise of Polk under the influence of Treasury Secretary Robert J. Walker:
“It appears that Brough is determined to put down the Statesman & all other papers that give their support to the present Secretary of the Treasury, but, I am mistaken in Mr. Walker, if he can be influenced by Brough or made to succumb to him & his faction. [...] Of one thing you may rest assured, Brough will never forgive Mr. Walker for defeating Mr. Van Buren & placing Mr. Polk in power, for he looks upon the Secretary as the life of the party who was determined that Mr. Van Buren should not again be President, & however much he may laud Mr Polk, it is only that he may inflict, more fatally, the wound which he hopes will ruin Mr. Walker.”
Macy was a self-described “uncompromising whig”, but though he was disappointed by the election results, he did report grudging admiration for the victors. Referring to Walker’s role in securing Polk’s nomination and election, he observes:
“Now I should have felt under many obligations to Mr. Walker if he had killed off both Van & Polk, for then good honest Whigs would have once more been in power & Mr. Clay triumphant, but as he did not do that good deed, and offered us fair fight & manfully vanquished us, we submit with as good a grace as possible & wait our time to try it again. [...] At the same time we hope the Government will be so conducted as to reflect nothing but honour on our Country & I have no hesitation in saying that in relation to Annexation & the conduct of Mr. Polk up to this time, & the means he is adopting to secure the peace of the Country, meets with the hearty approbation of one uncompromising whig at least.”
An engaging political letter linking the Polk administration, the Texas annexation crisis, Democratic Party factionalism, and future Wisconsin congressman John B. Macy, whose political status made him one of the most famous of the Steamer Niagara victims.
Price: $350.00