[Declaration of Independence]

Letter signed by Andrew Stevenson of Virginia, Speaker of the House of Representatives ("And: Stevenson") to Charles Carroll of Carrollton (through an odd clerical error, the letter is actually directed to Carroll's deceased brother Daniel), 1 page (9 7/8 x 7 7/8 in.; 251 x 201) on a bifolium of wove paper (watermarked hudson), Washington, 22 May 1828, reception docket in Carroll's hand on verso of integral blank ("1828 May 22d Andrew Stevensons Letter speaker of the house Representatives ... see my answer inclosed"); light browning, a few short fold separations.

Letter signed by Andrew Stevenson of Virginia, Speaker of the House of Representatives ("And: Stevenson") to Charles Carroll of Carrollton (through an odd clerical error, the letter is actually directed to Carroll's deceased brother Daniel), 1 page (9 7/8 x 7 7/8 in.; 251 x 201) on a bifolium of wove paper (watermarked hudson), Washington, 22 May 1828, reception docket in Carroll's hand on verso of integral blank ("1828 May 22d Andrew Stevensons Letter speaker of the house Representatives ... see my answer inclosed"); light browning, a few short fold separations.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Official congressional recognition of "the only surviving signer of the declaration of Independence" and "an early and devoted friend to Liberty."

By the twenty-fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, 4 July 1801, 35 of the 56 Signers were dead (nine did not live to see Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown), and attrition continued remorselessly until William Floyd's death in August 1821 left just three survivors. Two of these, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, famously died on the same day: 4 July 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration. The third, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, lived until 14 November 1832, aged 95, and was for more than six years the last man alive who had signed the engrossed parchment pledging his life, fortune, and sacred honor to support the proposition that the American colonies "are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved. ..."  

In recognition of Carroll's unique position, the Congress passed a joint resolution extending to him the privilege of using a franking signature, rather than postage, to send correspondence and packages through the United States mails. A copy of the resolution (now lost) was sent to last surviving Signer at his home in Maryland, with the present eloquent covering letter from the Speaker of the House of Representatives:

"I have the honor to communicate to you, by direction of the House of Representatives, the inclosed joint Resolution of both Houses of Congress, extending to you, as the only surviving signer of the declaration of Independence, the privliledge of franking!— You will be pleased Sir, to receive it, as a token of the distinguished respect and veneration, which Congress entertain towards an early and devoted friend to Liberty, and one who stood preeminently forward in the purest & noblest land of Patriots, that the world has ever seen!—

"I cannot resist the gratification, which this opportunity affords, of publicly testifying the strong sentiments of esteem & veneration, which individually I entertain for your character & services, and expressing an earnest hope, that the evening of your long life, may be as peaceful and happy as it has been active and useful!—"

Carroll replied, in part, "This privilege I consider an honorable approbation of the part I took in the Revolution, and commands my grateful acknowledgements and thanks" (Rowland, The Life of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, p. 360). A fragment of the text of Carroll's answer, written in a clerk's hand and referred to in his reception docket, accompanies Stevenson's letter.

In his old age, Carroll became one of the most revered men in the United States, a virtual living national treasure. Charles Goodrich's pioneering Lives of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence (1829) characterized him as "an aged oak, standing alone on the plain, which time has spared a little longer, after all its contemporaries have been levelled with the dust. Sole survivor of an assembly of as great men as the world has witnessed, in a transaction, one of the most important that history records. ..."

Among countless such encomia from his countrymen, the franking privilege Carroll received from Congress was one of the few practical benefits the nation could offer one of its most respected—as well as one of its wealthiest—citizens.