[Election of 1864]. [New Jersey]. Congar, Horace N

Circular from H.N. Congar. To the Union Citizens of Newark, New Jersey: From My Transient Home in the Far East, I Send Greeting to the Union Men of My Native City...[caption title and beginning of text]

[N.p., but most likely Newark, N.J. 1864]. Letterpress broadside, printed in two columns, 16.5 x 10 inches. Old folds, small chip to top outer margin, two tiny holes affecting just a few letters. Good plus. Item #3721

A very rare Unionist broadside supporting the re-election of Abraham Lincoln in the critical presidential contest of 1864. The present broadside was authored in early June 1864 by New Jersey Republican Party stalwart Horace N. Congar, an editor, diplomat, and politician who was at that time serving as U.S. consul to Hong Kong. In this rather stirring broadside, which Congar writes from his position in Hong Kong, he lauds "the thousands of earnest, faithful men, who are giving freely of their blood and treasure to the suppression of this infamous rebellion" and "the noble daring, the undaunted courage, and the determined valour of our brave soldiers of Freedom," and urges that, "in November, New Jersey will stand in the unbroken rank of States giving their verdict for the Party of Union." He also spends considerable space discussing the clear role of "the social, moral and political evil" of slavery as the precipitating event of the Civil War. Congar writes that "the evil it has wrought was as natural as the poisoned breath of the Upas tree." Stated clearly, Congar writes, "I heartily rejoice at the destruction of slavery" and looks forward to the time when "I shall tread my native land with a newer life if within its boundless domain there shall not be heard the clanking chain or the cry of the suffering and the oppressed."

"Horace Newton Congar (1817-1893) was a radical republican politician during the midnineteenth century and served on both the state and national levels. Mr. Congar had a great love for his party, and hope for its success which is reflected in his writing ... Horace Newton Congar was born in Newark on July 31, 1817. He married Isabell Reeves and had two children; a daughter Ella and a son Horace Junior. Horace Congar taught school for a while and he studied law in his leisure time. He was admitted to the New Jersey State Bar in 1847, and later, Cornelius Boice of Plainfield, and Lewis Grove of Newark, were his law partners. Congar was a friend of the abolitionist cause and he was one of the founders of the antislavery Free Soil Party in New Jersey. The party slogan, ‘Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor and Free Men,’ basically described the party platform. Congar later became a delegate from New Jersey to the Republican National Convention in 1848, which was held in Buffalo. He supported the nomination of Van Buren for president, and Adams for vice-president" - New Jersey Historical Society.

A rare and unusual Lincoln campaign broadside, with just two physical copies in OCLC, at AAS and Middlebury College.

Price: $750.00