Books and Manuscripts

Oyster Bay, N.Y., August 23, 1904. One sheet, approximately 8 x 6 1/2 in. (203 x 165 mm) (sight). One-page typed letter on White House stationery, signed by Theodore Roosevelt as President of the United States, to Colonel John J. McCook: "Dear Colonel: / I am very much pleased at the news, and I am heartily / obliged to you. / Faithfully yours, / Theodore Roosevelt".; designated "Personal" in type at top; creasing from contemporary folds. In green velvet mat with engraved portrait of Roosevelt as well as a bronze medallion from his second inauguration, in frame, 16 1/2 x 21 1/2 in. (419 x 546 mm).

President Roosevelt writes to his close friend, Colonel John J. McCook (1845-1911). McCook was the youngest of the famed "Fighting McCooks", an Ohio military family that contributed 15 members to fight for the Union Army during the Civil War. In the war John fought under General Ulysses S. Grant in the Overland Campaign in Northern Virginia, and was severely injured at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. Following the war he studied law at Harvard, and became a prominent corporate attorney at Alexander & Green in New York City. During his career he served on the boards of directors for several prominent insurance companies, railroads, financial institutions, colleges, and religious organizations.

The brothers Daniel, John, and George McCook provided 15 sons to fight for the Union Army during the Civil War. Known affectionately as the "Tribe of Dan" and "The Tribe of John", together they were known as the "Fighting McCooks", and became well known in the North for their dedication to the war effort. By war's end, 14 had become officers and five were killed in action.