Rare Ephemera Nicholas Biddle Autograph
Posted by Richard Gabriel on Tue, Jun 22, 2010 @ 08:18 AM
Rare ephemera manuscript writings by Nicholas Biddle 1832. Found at Todd's Farm! All you have to do is look! Rare ephemera online by Calix Books.
The four Stanza hand written poem is found in 'The Pearl; or Affection's Gift. Christmas and New Year's Present.' Philadelphia: Thomas T. Ash-Chestnut Street. 1832. The four stanza work can be found in this edition but it is not ascribed to anyone. In our hand written manuscript copy it is ascribed to 'Chapman' by Biddle in 1832. This is Nicholas Biddle manuscript copies of perhaps an additional work he was creating for publication. Two sheets written on Water Marked Paper 'Amies Philad a' with a dove and a branch in its beak on the second page. Signed N. Biddle and then Biddle 1832.
Also copied is 'The Young Novice' by Miss Mitford and a poem written and incorporated into the work entitled "Ode to Bogle" by Nicholas Biddle, first published by Biddle in 1820. Extremely rare and important manuscript material from a Pennsylvania man who had a large influence on the finances of the United States...
On August 26, 1831, Biddle's brother, Thomas, a War of 1812 hero, was killed in a duel on Bloody Island (Mississippi River) at St. Louis, Missouri with Congressman Spencer Pettis. Thomas had taken offense to Pettis' criticizing Nicholas at the bank. After an exchange of letters to the editor Biddle accosted an ill Pettis in his hotel room. After Pettis recovered he challenged Thomas to a duel and both were killed when they exchanged shots from just five feet apart. The "Bank War" of 1832–36 was initiated by Biddle when he decided to apply for the Bank's re-charter four years before the charter was scheduled to expire. Until 1832, Jackson, for three years, had ignored the Bank and Biddle. But, once challenged, he decided to veto the bill to re-charter the bank, which was being pushed by Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky in preparation for another Presidential run later that year. Jackson, well-known as a man whom one did not want to anger, still harbored ill will towards Clay from the 1824 Presidential election. Clay's strategy failed, and Jackson gained great support from the public for his veto. Clay lost to Jackson again in November despite massive funding of over $3 million in bankers' support.
In early 1833, Jackson decided to pull the government's funds out of the Bank. The Secretary of the Treasury, Louis McLane, was favorable to the Bank. He refused to withdraw the funds and would not resign, so Jackson removed him as Secretary of the Treasury by appointing him to Secretary of State. His replacement, William Duane, deliberately delayed. After waiting four months, Jackson replaced him as well. The third man, his former Attorney General, Roger B. Taney, complied. The funds were transferred to seven state-chartered banks in late September. This put the Second Bank on the defensive. It had lost its biggest depositor, by far.
To fight back, Biddle decided to shrink the money supply and cause a recession in 1834 in order to force Jackson to accept a re-charter bill. The Bank demanded that old loans be repaid. It made no new loans. There was a brief recession in the first half of 1834, but another bill to re-charter failed in the House on April 4. That was the last time the issue ever came before Congress. And so, the Bank was doomed. Its charter expired in April, 1836. Biddle's friends assert that his non-partisanship provoked Jackson's hostility, a claim denied by Jackson's admirers. After the Bank lost its national charter in April, 1836, it continued to operate erratically as a state-chartered bank, partially causing the Panic of 1837.
In 1839, Biddle resigned from his post of Bank President, and in 1841, the Bank finally failed. Biddle was arrested and charged with fraud; he was later acquitted. He died soon after while still involved in civil suits. He was important in the establishment of Girard College under the provisions of the founder's will. Girard had been the original promoter of the Second Bank and its largest investor. Girard died in 1831.