Stephen Douglas
Washington, DC, January 13, 1845
Stephen Douglas Re: Marines
ALS

As a Congressman from Illinois, Stephen A. Douglas, then spelling his surname with two s’s, forwarded a petition signed by several members of the Illinois Senate and House of Representatives to U.S. Secretary of the Navy John Y. Mason. The petition requested the appointment of Peter B. Ross of Illinois as a lieutenant of marines.

STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS, Autograph Letter Signed, to John Y. Mason, January 13, 1845, Washington, DC 1 p., 8" x 10". Expected fold, light toning; bold signature.

Excerpt
“I herewith enclose the Petition of Capt Peter B Ross of Illinois for the appointment of Lieut of Marines in the service of the United States. I am well acquainted with the signers to the Petition most of whom are members of the Senate & Legislature of Illinois & gentlemen of the highest standing. If you can give Capt Ross the appointment consistent with your sense of duty you will confer an especial favor on your obedient servant
“S A Douglass”

Stephen A. Douglas (1813-1861) was born in Vermont, and his father died when he was a few months old. After attending Canandaigua Academy in western New York, he began to teach school and study law. In 1833, Douglas migrated to Illinois and settled in Jacksonville, where he was admitted to the bar in 1834. As a Democrat, Douglas served in the Illinois House of Representatives (1836-1837), as Register of the U.S. General Land Office in Springfield (1837-1838), as Illinois Secretary of State (1840-1841), and as associate justice of the Illinois Supreme Court (1841-1843). Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, he served from 1843 to 1847, when he became one of Illinois’ U.S. Senators, a position he held until his death. He became a leader in the U.S. Senate, and his sponsorship of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 and popular sovereignty in the U.S. territories drew the opposition of fellow Illinoisan Abraham Lincoln. Their series of debates in 1858, when Lincoln tried to unseat Senator Douglas, drew national attention to both men. In 1860, southern opposition to Douglas as the Democratic nominee for president divided the Democrats, allowing Abraham Lincoln to win a plurality of the votes and a majority in the electoral college. Douglas strongly supported the Union and urged compromise to avert secession before dying of typhoid fever in June 1861.

John Young Mason (1799-1859) was born in Virginia and graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1816, and studied law at the Litchfield Law School in 1819. Admitted to the bar in Virginia that year, he began a practice in Greensville and Southampton counties. He served in the Virginia House of Delegates (1819-1821, 1823-1826) and the Virginia Senate (1826-1831) before representing Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives (1831-1837). After serving as a federal judge in Virginia (1841-1844), Mason served as U.S. Secretary of the Navy (1844-1845) under President John Tyler. He then served as U.S. Attorney General (1845-1846) and again as U.S. Secretary of the Navy (1846-1849) under President James K. Polk. He resumed the practice of law in Richmond, Virginia, from 1849 to 1854, when President Franklin Pierce appointed Mason as U.S. Minister to France, a position he held under Presidents Pierce and James Buchanan until his death.

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8" x 10"