Autograph Letter Signed ('Samuel Stevens') from the barrister and Whig politician Hon. Samuel Stevens of Albany, New York, to his future father-in-law Silas O. Smith of Rochester, asking for permission to court Mary Frances Smith.

1p., 4to. Bifolium. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed on reverse of second leaf to 'Mr Silas O Smith | Rochester'. The letter begins: 'Dear Sir | During my short sojourn at your city last October, I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of your daughter. Since my return a correspondence has taken place between us in which she has given me permission to visit her & to entertain the hope that she may be persuaded to exchange the protection of the best of Parents for that of a husband. Should I be so fortunate as to obtain the sanction of those Parents to such a mesure | May I hope for the approbation & blessing of those Parents'. In a final paragraph he points out that his 'happiness is involved' in Smith's decision. From the papers of the couple's daughter Marie de Grasse, Lady Evans (d.1920), wife of Sir Francis Henry Evans (1840-1907).