Mining Deed Signed by "Lincoln's Bodyguard" William Crook for President Arthur

This mineral certificate conveys 140 acres of land in Egbert Canyon in the Summit Valley Mining District, near Butte, Montana, to partners William Egbert Smith and Harry C. Kessler. It is signed for President Chester A. Arthur by Secretary William H. Crook, who had been one of Lincoln's bodyguards on the day of his assassination. Crook was replaced in the evening by John F. Parker, who left his post, allowing John Wilkes Booth to gain access to the presidential box at Ford's Theatre. Crook blamed Parker for allowing Lincoln's assassination, and Crook continued to work in the White House for another fifty years.

The partnership of William Egbert Smith and Harry C. Kessler was very successful in the Summit Valley District, where Smith built the first arrastra (a mill for pulverizing ore) in the territory. Their arrastra at the Yankee Doodle Gulch, powered by water, ran day and night, summer and winter for five years from 1876 to 1881 without stopping. Because the water supply came from a covered ditch, it never froze, allowing them to process one and a half tons of crude ore per day and netting an annual profit of $20,000. This deed involves another placer claim in Egbert Canyon in the same district.

[MINING.] Chester A. Arthur, Partially Printed Document Signed Secretarially by William H. Crook, Mineral Certificate No. 577, General Land Officer Certificate No. 4953, to W. Egbert Smith and Harry C. Kessler, September 30, 1881, Washington, D.C. 6 pp., 12.5" x 18". Includes color plat map of the Placer Claim. Also signed by S. W. Clark, Recorder of the General Land Office, and A. C. Webber, County Recorder for Silver Bow County, Montana Territory, with embossed seals. Includes original stamped, postmarked envelope to "Gen. H. C. Kessler" in Warrington, Pennsylvania, from E. B. Howell in Butte, Montana. Separations at vertical and horizontal folds affecting several lines of text; partial tape repairs; bound by green ribbon through metal grommets on left edge.

Excerpts
"Whereas, In pursuance of the provisions of the Revised Statutes of the United States, Chapter Six, Title Thirty-two, there have been deposited in the General Land Office of the United States the Plat and Field Notes of survey of the Placer Mining Claim of W. Egbert Smith and Harry C. Kessler embracing within its exterior boundaries fifteen hundred (1500) linear feet of the Egbert Cañon Lode accompanied by the Certificate of the Register of the Land Office at Helena, in the Territory of Montana, whereby it appears that, in pursuance of the said Revised Statutes of the United States, the said W. Egbert Smith and Harry C. Kessler did, on the twenty-second day of June, A.D. 1880, enter and pay for said mining claim or premises, being Mineral Entry No. 577, in the series of said Office, designated by the Surveyor General as Lots Nos. 38 and 65A and 65B embracing a portion of Townships three (3) and four (4) North of Range seven (7) West of the Principal Meridian in the Summit Valley Mining District in the County of Silver Bow and Territory of Montana in the District of Lands subject to sale at Helena, containing one hundred and forty (140) acres and eighteen hundredths (18/100) of an acre of land...."

"Now, Know Ye, That the United States of America, in consideration of the premises and in conformity with said Revised Statutes of the United States, Have Given and Granted, and by these presents Do Give and Grant, unto the said W. Egbert Smith and Harry C. Kessler and to their heirs and assigns, the said placer mining premises above described...."

"In testimony whereof, I, Chester A. Arthur, President of the United States of America, have caused these letters to be made patent, and the seal of the General Land Office to be hereunto affixed.
"Given under my hand, at the City of Washington, the thirtieth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty-one, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and sixth.
"By the President: Chester A. Arthur
"By Wm H Crook Secretary."

W. Egbert Smith (1836-1898) was born in New Jersey and became a teacher. After manufacturing stoneware in Missouri, he resumed teaching there before moving to Montana around 1870. In 1875, he moved to Butte, where he edited the School Tyro, a monthly magazine devoted to education in Montana. In 1876, he began a profitable partnership with Harry C. Kessler in the ownership of mines. He also served as postmaster of Butte, Montana, from 1878 to 1886, and superintendent of public instruction for the territory in 1879 and 1880. In 1889, Smith moved to Napa, California, where he engaged in horticulture until his death. In 1905, R. M. Place applied for letters of administration for Smith's estate in Montana, which included a half interest in the Silversmith and Egbert Cañon lodes and the Glen Egbert placer.

Harry C. Kessler (1844-1907) was born in Philadelphia and entered the Union Army as a second lieutenant in the 104th Pennsylvania Infantry. Promoted to first lieutenant in January 1863 and wounded at Fair Oaks, Virginia, he was discharged due to disability in August 1863. He engaged in the lithography business after the war but moved to Montana Territory in 1874 for his health. He became a mining magnate there and served in the Montana National Guard. He served as Silver Bow county commissioner and county treasurer and designed what would later become the state flag of Montana. In the late 1880s, he became colonel of the 1st Montana Volunteer Infantry, which was mustered into service in 1898 for the Spanish-American War. His regiment arrived too late for any action in Cuba but was sent to the Philippines to quell the insurrection there. He led forces against the guerrillas and in October 1899 was promoted to brevet brigadier general for his service. He returned to Montana and his mining interests and died in Philadelphia.

William H. Crook (1839-1915) was born in Maryland. He served as one of President Abraham Lincoln's bodyguards in 1865 and was relieved late by another bodyguard on April 14. He allegedly urged Lincoln not to attend the play at Ford's Theatre that night, but Lincoln insisted he had promised Mary Lincoln that they would attend. Crook served as a bodyguard to Andrew Johnson and first delivered the news to Johnson that he had been acquitted in his impeachment trial in May 1868. Crook continued to work in the White House for more than fifty years, serving a dozen presidents. In 1870, President Grant appointed Crook as "Executive Clerk of the President of the United States," and in 1877 as "Chief Disbursing Officer," a title he held for the rest of his career. In January 1915, President Woodrow Wilson and the rest of the White House staff celebrated Crook's fifty years of service and presented him with a cane. After his death a few months later, President Wilson attended his funeral, and Crook was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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