American Historical Ephemera & Photography

CLEVELAND, Grover (1837-1908). Telegram from Cleveland to Eliza Carol Morgan Hendricks (1823-1903). Executive Mansion, Washington DC, 25 November 1885. 1 page, 7 3/4 x 4 7/8 in., toned, matted with engraving of Hendricks by Buttre and handbill issued by the War Department announcing Hendrick's Death, SIGNED by adjutant general R.C. Drum. 

The President writes to the newly-made widow of Thomas Hendricks upon his unexpected death in Indianapolis: "The sudden and lamentable death of your husband excites my profound sympathy for you in this hour of your great bereavement, and, I sincerely mourn the decease of one so lately associated with me in the execution of the People's highest trust while the nation mourns the loss of an honored citizen + a faithful public servant."

Hendricks had taken the office of Vice President on 4 March 1884 and was visiting Indianapolis when he died suddenly in his sleep. The office of vice president was left vacant until after the 1888 election and Levi P. Morton took the job under Benjamin Harrison.

[With:] 2 1/2 x 6 5/8 in. gold-printed navy silk ribbon. Campaign ribbon reading "Governor Hendricks Reception Committee, October 29th, 1884." With a portrait of the Governor. -- 2 1/8 x 4 1/2 in. printed silk ribbon. With portrait and reading "Hendricks." -- 2 1/2 x 7 3/8 in. printed red silk ribbon. A memorial ribbon for a marshal at funeral or elegiac remembrances. Reading "Thomas A. Hendricks, Died Nov. 25, 1885" below a portrait of Hendricks. -- 2 3/4 x 6 7/8 in. lithographed cotton ribbon. Indianapolis: Willaim B. Burford, 1885. Memorial ribbon reading "The Nation Mourns. 1819. 1885. Thomas A. Hendricks." With a portrait of Hendricks surrounded by black curtains and a mourning border. -- 3 x 7 3/4 in. printed cotton ribbon. Likely from the installation of a memorial to Hendricks at the Indiana Statehouse in 1890. Reading "July 1, 1890. Hendricks Unveiling. Indianapolis." -- Together, 5 ribbons related to Hendricks, condition generally fair to good, some trimming. 

[Also with:] 25 x 38 in. lithograph portrait of Hendricks on cotton. New York, Boston & Chicago: J.H. Bufford's Sons, n.d. Somewhat similar to Threads of History, n. 517. -- SCHUMAN, A. To the National Democratic Convention of 1876. Gov. Hendricks Quick Step.  St. Louis: Balmer & Weber, 1876. 10 3/4 x 14 1/2 in. sheet music. -- PERINE, George E., engraver. after BRADY, Mathew. Thomas A. Hendricks. New York: H.S. Goodspeed & Co., 1876. Engraved portrait of Hendricks, with a portrait of Samuel J. Tilden by the same publisher. The pair ran as the Democratic nominees in the hotly contested 1876 presidential election. -- For Vice President: Thomas A. Hendricks. New York: A. Muller & Co., n.d. -- Two advertising cards featuring portraits of Hendricks. -- Together, 7 items.