Autograph Letter Signed by Matthew Hale Smith, Minister, Lawyer, Lecturer, Author, and Journalist.

A letter concerning the date he was ordained minister


A brief letter from Matthew Hale Smith (1810–1879) writing to a minister who preached a sermon near Malden, Massachusetts in 1842 or 1843 on the day Smith himself was ordained a minister.

Smith reminds his correspondent that a Deacon Safford was also present on that day and is querying to determine the exact date Smith himself was ordained. Smith writes in a large hurried hand and one can see where he has smudged the ink in his handwriting in his haste. The letter is written when Smith was in Astor House, New York City.

Matthew Hale Smith was a native of Portland, Maine. He was ordained a Calvinist minister and preached until about 1850 when he decided to become a lawyer in New York. Further adding to his career, he then embarked upon a career in journalism, writing prolifically.  In 1868, he wrote a popularized account of the New York crime scene, entitled Sunshine and Shadows which one recent scholar noted as being “...more shadow than sunshine.”

Smith further was a magnetic public speaker and lectured all over the country; in California, for nine months alone. During the Civil War years he exhorted young men to volunteer for the Union Cause. He served as the chaplain for the 12th Regiment of the New York State Militia; a volunteer militia regiment from the City of Brooklyn, New York.


Description: Autograph Letter Signed by Matthew Hale Smith, Minister, Lawyer, Lecturer, Author, and Journalist.

Astor House, New York City. June 2. 18[?]. Quarto. [1]p. Transmittal folds, very good.

[3726072]

Ref. National Cyclopaedia of American Biography.


Price: $50.00