1887 - PRESIDENT GROVER CLEVELAND AND HIS WIFE FRANCES FOLSOM
 SIGN DUAL AUTOGRAPHS DURING HIS FIRST TERM IN OFFICE

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Grover Cleveland

President Grover Cleveland
(1837 -1908)

First Lady Frances Folsom Cleveland
(1864-1947 )

Frances Folsom

President Grover Cleveland and First Lady, Frances Folsom Cleveland
 both Sign an Autograph Album Page During his First Term in Office

Historical Note

Cleveland, Grover (1837-1908) - Both the Twenty-Second (1885-1889) and the Twenty-Fourth (1893-1897) President of the United States, Cleveland was the first Democrat elected after the Civil War, and the only President to leave the White House and return for a second term four years later. Cleveland first won the Presidency with the combined support of Democrats and reform Republicans, the "Mugwumps", who disliked the record of his opponent, James G. Blaine of Maine. In June 1886 Cleveland married 21-year-old Frances Folsom; he was the only President married in the White House.

Cleveland vigorously pursued a policy barring special favors to any economic group. Vetoing a bill to appropriate $10,000 to distribute seed grain among drought-stricken farmers in Texas, he wrote: "Federal aid in such cases encourages the expectation of paternal care on the part of the Government and weakens the sturdiness of our national character. . . . " He also vetoed many private pension bills to Civil War veterans whose claims were fraudulent. When Congress, pressured by the Grand Army of the Republic, passed a bill granting pensions for disabilities not caused by military service, Cleveland vetoed it, too. He angered the railroads by ordering an investigation of western lands they held by Government grant, forcing them to return 81,000,000 acres. He also signed the Interstate Commerce Act, the first law attempting Federal regulation of the railroads. In December 1887 Cleveland called on Congress to reduce high protective tariffs. Told that he had given Republicans an effective issue for the campaign of 1888, he retorted, "What is the use of being elected or re-elected unless you stand for something?" But Cleveland was defeated in 1888; although he won a larger popular majority than the Republican candidate Benjamin Harrison, he received fewer electoral votes.

Elected again in 1892, Cleveland faced an acute economic depression. He dealt directly with the Treasury crisis rather than with business failures, farm mortgage foreclosures, and unemployment. He obtained repeal of the mildly inflationary Sherman Silver Purchase Act and, with the aid of Wall Street, maintained the Treasury's gold reserve. When railroad strikers in Chicago violated an injunction, Cleveland sent Federal troops to enforce it. "If it takes the entire army and navy of the United States to deliver a post card in Chicago," he thundered, "that card will be delivered." Cleveland's blunt treatment, while popular with the common man in the street, did not sit well with his political cronies and they nominated William Jennings Bryant in 1892, ending the chances of America's first three term President. After leaving the White House, Cleveland lived in retirement in Princeton, New Jersey. He died in 1908.

As First Lady, Frances Folsom took state entertainments seriously. Mrs. Cleveland's unaffected charm won her immediate popularity. She held two receptions a week - one on Saturday afternoons, when women with jobs were free to come. After the President's defeat in 1888, the Cleveland's lived in New York City, where Baby Ruth was born (progenitor of later Candy and Baseball Fame namesakes). With his unprecedented re-election, the First Lady returned to the White House as if she had been gone but a day. Through the political storms of this term she always kept her place in public favor. People took keen interest in the birth of Esther at the mansion in 1893, and of Marion in 1895. When the family left the White House, Mrs. Cleveland had become one of the most popular women ever to serve as hostess for the nation. She bore two sons while the Cleveland's lived in Princeton, New Jersey, and was at her husband's side when he died at their home, "Westland", in 1908.

1 Album page Document – Signed by Both Grover Cleveland as President and Frances Folsom as First Lady and Dated: October, 1887 During Cleveland's First Term in Office

Document Specifications:  This is a single page from an autograph album (an album leaf) common at the time. There is nothing on the reverse side except for an auction lotting number in pencil. There is some foxing (browning of paper due to aging) along the outer edges and some corner wear. Both signatures are full and legible. Grover Cleveland's autograph is dated October 30, 1887 and Frances Folsom's is dated 27 October 1887. The overall page measures 6¼" wide x 4" tall (180mm x 100mm).  Very Fine and Uncommon to find on the same sheet while in Office.

 Offered by Berryhill & Sturgeon, Ltd.

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