Lot 640: 6 Assorted Letters: Hoover, Taft, Pershing, G. Marshall, Alfred Smith

Autographs. 1st item: President and later Supreme Court Chief Justice William Howard Taft (1857-1930, President 1909-1913) TLS on Supreme Court of the US letterhead to Maj. General and Mrs. George Barnett thanking them for their Christmas card and greetings. Dated Dec. 22, 1927. Single page. 2nd item: President Herbert Hoover (1874-1964, President 1929-1933) TLS, on personal letterhead, dated June 3, 1941 from the Waldorf Astoria, to Mr. Newbold Noyes (Sr.) of the Star Newspaper, extending get well wishes. "We all want you to get well and to get back into the battle, as you are one of the kind needed now as never before." Single page, Includes envelope. 3rd item: President Herbert Hoover (1874-1964, President 1929-1933) TLS, on personal letterhead, dated June 13, 1942 from the Waldorf Astoria, to Mrs. Newbold Noyes (Leila) extending condolences on the death of her husband, Newbold Noyes Sr. "He was so constructive and a fine American and had been so long my friend that I feel deeply his loss." Single page. 4th item: U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall (1880-1959, served 1947-1949 under Harry Truman) TLS, on Secretary of State letterhead, dated Feb. 18, 1947, to Mrs. George Barnett (Lelia) thanking her for congratulations (likely on his appointment) with additional social related content and reference to her Virginia home. Single page. Includes envelope. 5th item: U.S. General John Pershing (1860-1948), commander of the American Expeditionary Force in Europe during WWI, to General George Barnett, on General of the Armies stationery, dated June 2, 1924, asking him to assist Mrs. Winifred Holt Mather in directing a fundraising campaign for the Lighthouses. The purpose of the Lighthouses was "the care and rehabilitation of the soldiers of our own and the allied armies who were blinded during the late War." Single page. 6th item: New York Governor Alfred E. Smith (1873-1944, served 1919-1920 and 1923-1928) TLS on State of New York Executive Chamber stationery dated April 26, 1924, to Mr. Walter G. Moyle expressing appreciation for a past letter and expressing hopes to meet at the upcoming convention in New York. Single page. All sheets approx. 10" x 8".

PROVENANCE: By descent in the family of Lelia Sinclair (Gordon) Dickey Noyes Lucas, the wife of Newbold Noyes, Associate Editor of the Washington Star, and daughter of USMC General George Barnett, Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps. Her family's ancestral home, Wakefield Manor Farm in Virginia, was acquired by wealthy tobacco planter Bazil Gordon in 1822.

CONDITION: Alfred Smith letter has remnants of adhesive residue on back and losses to upper left corner. Pershing and Hoover 1942 letters with a few spots of foxing. Pershing letter also has grime around edges and creased corners. Other items very good condition with light toning and handling wear.