Printed Document Signed (pencil).
One of the famed nine Union generals that hailed from tiny Galena, Illinois -- the "City of Nine Generals," most famously Ulysses S. Grant -- was this wealthy merchant, who was supposedly the first Illinoisan to volunteer in the Civil War, and formed a regiment with his friend Grant; he participated in a number of major battles and rose to the rank of brevet brigadier general; after the war he entered banking in Chicago, serving as director of the Chicago Stock Exchange. Item #52451
PDS (pencil), 1p, 5¼" X 8½", n.p., n.y. Near fine. Minor edgewear. Printed broadside of a poem likely NOT authored by Chetlain -- titled "Growing Old," this 7-stanza poem begins: "Softly, O softly, the years have swept by thee, / Touching thee lightly with tenderest care; / Sorrow and death they have often brought nigh thee, / Yet they have left thee but beauty to wear. / Growing old gracefully, / Gracefully fair." This popular late 19th century tear-jerker has no author attributed to it. Highly sentimental, it discusses the vagaries of age and the wisdom that can come with it. It appears in a number of hymnals and poetry anthologies of that era. Along the bottom edge of this copy, Chetlain pencils a small: "Chicago Nov 1901 / ALC." Why Chetlain would sign and date a broadside printing of this syrupy verse is a complete mystery and we offer no theory. In 1899 he did publish a memoir "Recollections of Seventy Years," but this text does not appear in it and apparently bears no relevance to it. The broadside has been free-floated against a cream double mat and 3/4" walnut bead-edged frame (overall dimensions 10¼" X 14"). Quite unusual and likely one of a kind.
Price: $195.00