1860.
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Unbound. One blue lined quarto sheet. [2]pp., written on both sides. With original envelope addressed to “Benjamin Coates Esqr / Philadelphia / U.S.A.” and with “M.C. Stevens” in the lower left corner (*Mary Caroline Stevens* was an American Colonization Society-owned packet ship used to transport free African-Americans emigrating to Liberia). The envelope has a black, circular “Baltimore Md” receiving postmark dated “Mar 5” as well as matching “SHIP” and “5” hand stamps. Very good with splitting at the folds expertly and archivally reinforced; the envelope has typical wear from mailing, along with a tear at the flap from being opened and two stains on the rear, possibly from being mounted in an album.
A two-page Autograph Letter Signed from the second President of Liberia Steven A. Benson, dated “Government House / Monrovia Jan 23rd 1860,” to Benjamin Coates, a Quaker businessman from Philadelphia and a prominent member of the American Colonization Society. Benson’s letter largely updates Coates on the latest events - a recent visit from African-American abolitionist Dr. Martin Delaney and news of a National Fair - but he begins with his concern over the recent events at Harper’s Ferry and his fear that Frederick Douglass would be implicated in the insurrection. Douglass had in fact fled to Canada for that very reason, but given his opposition to colonization, Benson’s suggestion that “Perhaps he will yet find his way to Liberia & find a resting place at last” was unlikely.
In his letter, Benson also touches on the ongoing friction between colonist and local people with a schedule that includes meetings with inland tribal chiefs who were hostile to and occasionally attacked the Liberian settlers: “I expect to proceed to Cape Mount next week & to be there for about four weeks, for the purpose of having a general Convention of the Chiefs, settling all their balances, breaking down all their barricades, & establishing peace in that entire section of the Country. I hope to & shall try hard to effect it by pacific means. From there I expect, after spending two or three days here, to proceed right down to the Fair [in Grand Bassa] & to perform similar duty in that section of the Country.”
Benson was born in 1816, the same year as the founding of the American Colonization Society, and arrived in the first group of settlers to Liberia in 1822, who were shortly thereafter decimated by disease and, for a time, taken captive by local groups. Extremely bright, he spoke several languages, was an ordained Methodist minister, and private secretary to Thomas Buchanan, the last of Liberia's white governors. Benson later served on the Colonial Council, as a judge following Liberia’s independence, and then as Liberian Vice President under Joseph Jenkins Roberts, before succeeding him from 1856-1864. As president, Benson’s outreach to local groups were left unrealized though it was during his time that the United States and several European nations first officially recognized Liberia. He retired to his coffee plantation following his term in office but died the next year at the age of 48.
Letters from President Benson are scarce and only infrequently appear. This example is especially interesting for its connection to Harpers Ferry and Frederick Douglass.
Item #451320
