Books and Manuscripts

Lincoln, Abraham
Signed Revenue Service Commission
Washington (D.C.), March 7, 1865. Partially-printed commission on vellum, signed by Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, appointing Augustus G. Carey a Second Lieutenant in the Revenue Service of the United States; counter-signed by Secretary of the Treasury ad interim, George Harrington; embossed stamp in bottom left. Creasing from old folds, wear and soiling along same; small open tears at top and bottom central vertical fold; creasing and light wear in top left corner. 13 3/4 x 17 3/4 in. (349 x 451 mm).

A handsome commission signed by President Abraham Lincoln just five weeks before his assassination, appointing Augustus G. Carey a Second Lieutenant in the Revenue Service. Carey served with distinction in the Revenue Cutter Service during the Civil War, bearing witness to the famous clash of the Monitor and Merrimac at the Battle of Hampton Roads on March 8, 1862. He was an officer aboard the great steamship Great Eastern before his retirement in 1874. 

The United States Revenue Cutter Service was established in 1790 by Alexander Hamilton, with the intention of creating a maritime law enforcement organization on the eastern seaboard. Members of the Service served in a variety of capacities before it merged with other organizations like the United States Coast Guard, in 1915. During the Civil War, revenue cutters were stationed at every major port in the Union, and were often recruited for military operations.