Bidspirit auction | NOAH, MORDECAI MANUEL Autograph Letter

NOAH, MORDECAI MANUEL Autograph Letter Signed, written in English to Congressman Elisha R. Patter of Rhode Island. Concerning the establishment of a newspaper in Providence, Rhode Island, supportive of the administration of US President John Tyler. One page with integral blank and address panel on verso. 4to. New York, 6th October, 1842. In 1842, Mordecai Manuel Noah was one of President John Tyler's most significant and vocal political allies in New York City. At a time when Tyler was politically isolated, having been expelled from the Whig party and distrusted by Democrats, Noah served as a rare loyalist and propagandist for the administration. Noah established a daily newspaper called The Union specifically to serve as an organ for the Tyler administration in New York. Text of Letter: ”I rec'd your letter in regard to the establishment of a Tyler paper in Providence & desiring to know whether any of the Govt. patronage could be procured. I know the position of all the papers there & none can be considered as decidedly administration although the editor of the Herald who has been here promises to support the administn. If you will drop a line to the Post Master Genl. I am persuaded he will direct the latter and all the govt. patronage to go to any new paper which may be started in Providence without any hesitation.” Noah: Born into a family of Portuguese Sephardic ancestry, Mordecai Manuel Noah (1785-1851) was the first Jew born in the United States to reach national prominence. He was a man of many accomplishments: Lawyer, newspaper editor, playwright, diplomat, politician, judge and major activist for Jewish causes. It has been said that to the Jews of his day he was the quintessential American and to Americans, he was the representative Jew. Noah’s involvement in Jewish affairs was inspired by his belief in the idea of Jewish territorial restoration. In 1825 he helped purchase a tract of land on Grand Island near Buffalo, New York, which he named Ararat and envisioned as a Jewish colony. Noah was much involved in Jewish activities on behalf of congregations Mikveh Israel in Philadelphia and Shearith Israel in New York. Potter: Elisha Reynolds Potter (1811-82) was a politician, jurist and historian from Kingston, Rhode Island. He was a justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, and in 1842 was elected as a Law and Order Party candidate to the Twenty-eighth Congress; he served one term. Autograph Letters by Noah are rare to appear for auction sale.