Autographs
N.Y. Governor "John Tayler" Signed Military Commission
JOHN TAYLER (1742-1829). Governor of the State of New York, Merchant and Politician, served nine years as Lt. Governor, four months as Acting Governor, and also served in both houses of the New York State Legislature.
April 24th, 1817-Dated Federal Period, Partly-Printed Document Signed, "John Tayler" as Governor, Officers Military Commission, with Embossed Seal, New York, Fine. Governor John Tayler has signed this printed 1817 Military Commission for John Welch as 2nd Lieutenant of the 7th Regiment of Infantry, signed in brown ink at bottom right by Taylor and Co-signed at left by Charles D. Cooper, Secretary. Embossed Seal of New York with Eagle on Globe. Document measures 12" x 15" typical folds, some humidity tone and minor paper loss along the top centerfold, else in overall good condition.
John Tayler (July 4, 1742 " March 19, 1829) was a merchant and politician. He served nine years as Lieutenant Governor of New York, four months as Acting Governor of New York, and also in both houses of the New York State Legislature.
He was a member from Albany County in the New York State Assembly from 1777 to 1779, in 1780"81, and from 1785 to 1787. He was appointed City Recorder (Deputy Mayor) of Albany in 1793, and First Judge of the Albany County Court in 1797. In 1798, he ran for U.S. Senator from New York, but was defeated by Federalist James Watson. He served in the New York State Senate from 1804 to 1813.
On January 29, 1811, he was elected President pro tempore of the State Senate and was Acting Lieutenant Governor, Lt. Gov. John Broome having died in August 1810. He served until the end of June 1811 when he was succeeded by DeWitt Clinton who had been elected Lt. Gov. in a special election under the provisions of Article XX of the New York State Constitution of 1777.
Tayler was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1813, and re-elected in 1816, on the ticket with Daniel D. Tompkins. After Tompkins' resignation to assume the office of Vice President of the United States, Tayler served as Acting Governor from February 24 to June 30, 1817.
Charles DeKay Cooper (1769 Rhinebeck, Dutchess County, New York - January 30, 1831) was an American physician, lawyer and Democratic-Republican politician.
In February 1804, Cooper attended a dinner party during which Alexander Hamilton spoke forcefully and eloquently against the Federalists' plan to nominate Aaron Burr as their candidate for Governor of New York. Cooper later wrote a letter to Philip Schuyler, Alexander Hamilton's father-in-law, in which he made reference to the "despicable opinion" Hamilton had expressed about Burr. The letter was published in the Albany Register, but was tame compared to other attacks on Burr in the press. Still, Cooper's letter proved the last straw in the ongoing rivalry between Burr and Hamilton. When Burr read the letter weeks later, shortly after his defeat in the governor's race, he was enraged by Hamilton's alleged remarks, and challenged Hamilton to a duel in which Hamilton was killed.
From March 1806 to June 1807, Cooper was First Judge of the Albany County Court. From 1815 to 1816, he was a member of the Erie Canal Commission. In April 1817, while his father-in-law was Acting Governor, Cooper was appointed Secretary of State of New York.