A pair of men's boudoir slippers in a stars and stripes design attributed to Elizabeth Keckley. The slippers were likely commissioned by Mrs. Gideon Welles to be presented to her husband, Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy under President Lincoln. The slippers are crocheted in stripes of red and white from the toe to the heel. Across the top of the vamp is a blue band embroidered with scattered white stars. The throat of the slippers is edged in a twisted blue and red cord. The slippers have a flat, leather sole and a squarish toe.
This is a personal letter from Gideon Welles to his son Thomas. This is a bifolio letter written in dark ink on off-white colored paper. The letter is dated at the top right:[Washington / 5th March 1865] and begins [My Dear Tom]. The letter's text fills the front page, both inside pages and half the back page. The letter congratulates Thomas on his recent military promotion and recounts the recent inauguration of President Lincoln: [The inauguration passed off pleasantly and well. There was a great crowd, exceeding any previous one I have ever witnessed at an inauguration].
This cabinet card depicts Gideon Welles on a Mathew Brady mount. Shown from the waist up, he wears a black frock coat and waistcoat over a white shirt. A pocket watch chain T-bar is visible in one buttonhole. There is text at the bottom left corner of the card mount that reads "Brady, Photo, New York." The reverse of the card mount has text that reads "Imperial Carte de Visite, / by/ BRADY/ NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY/ No. 785 Broadway, / New York, / 627 Pennsylvania Avenue, / Washington, / D. C."
This is a personal letter from Mary Jane Hale Welles to her husband Gideon Welles. The bifolio letter has a narrow black border around the front page. The letter is dated at the top [Bellfonte 15 Aug.] and begins [My dear Husband / This is Saturday / very warm for this region, but pleasantly cool enough nights]. The writing on the front and second page is oriented vertically, with the writing on the third and last page oriented horizontally. The writing on the last page runs vertically. Mary Welles wrote the letter from Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. The content of the letter covers the stay in Bellefonte, the couple's children and acquaintances, an upcoming journey to Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, a possible vacation to Glastonbury, and the recent Civil War draft lottery. On the third page, Welles writes, [There is great excitement here about the draft. Some of their worst copperheads are drafted but suddenly many of them are half lame]. The letter is signed [Truly your affectionate wife M.J.W.]. Another hand has added the date [1863] to the top right corner of the first page as well as [M. J. Welles / Aug '63] to the top center of the last page.