Lot 709: THOMPSON, JACOB

THOMPSON, JACOB Autograph letter signed ("J. Thompson"), 8 pages (8 1/8 x 5 1/4 in.; 207 x 133mm), Paris, 9 October 1865, to Jeremiah Black; eight punctures at inner margins affecting a couple of characters of a few words, paper loss at bottom of last leaf affecting three words of text, light spotting and soiling. Brown linen portfolio, green morocco spine label.

A defeated Confederate in exile longing for home. Secretary of the Interior in Buchanan's administration, Thompson joined the Confederacy as a secret agent in Canada and was suspected of involvement in Lincoln's assassination. He remained outside the United States at the end of the war. In this lengthy letter to Jeremiah Black, a fellow member of Buchanan's cabinet, he discusses politics, personal matters and his self-imposed exile. From Paris he poignantly writes: "In truth I never look upon any other country as my country. The graves of my ancestors are in the South for two hundred years and in defence of the flag of a common country they have shed their blood freely. Thus consecrated it is impossible to adopt another country as my country."