1861 - Anti-secessionist screed sent from San Francisco by a colporteur, John “Johnnie” Ware, enclosed in its original rare ‘internal’ Pony Express envelope
San Francisco: June 12, 1861. Envelope or Cover. California politics had long been dominated by pro-slavery Democrats until the presidential campaign of 1860 when their party split into two factions, one led by Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas and the other by Vice-President John C. Breckinridge. This schism allowed the..... More