LETTER SIGNED AS PRESIDENT, WRITTEN ON A SINGLE LEAF FROM WASHINGTON 1 MAY 1851, ADVISING GOVERNOR GEORGE BRIGGS OF MASSACHUSETTS THAT HE HAD NO INTENTION OF REMOVING CHARLES HUDSON OF MASSACHUSETTS FROM HIS FEDERAL POSITION BECAUSE OF HUDSON'S ABOLITIONISM, OR FOR ANY OTHER FORESEEABLE REASON

Folded sheet, written on first page only, the other three pages blank. Last page with some matting remnants. Old folds, some chips to last blank. Signed, "Millard Fillmore." Very Good. Millard Fillmore letter signed as President. 1p, 8" x 9.75." The Letter reads in full: "I am in receipt of your favor of the 28th ult, stating that a rumor had come to your notice, that Mr. Charles Hudson was to be removed on account of his abolitionism &c. You are quite correct in placing so little reliance on the report, as I have no intention now of removing him, though I cannot of course say what the future may require. You may be assured however, that it would be done under no circumstance but from necessity and with great regret." The Letter emphasizes the heightened tensions over slavery at the beginning of the crucial decade of the 1850s. Charles Hudson (1795-1881) was a Massachusetts politician, minister, and abolitionist who served multiple terms in Congress before his appointment as Naval Officer in the Boston Customs House, the post referenced in this letter. As a moderate Whig, preservation of the union was Fillmore's most cherished value. He was willing to put up with slavery if that was necessary to prevent a disruption of the Union and Constitution. He thus supported the Compromise of 1850, particularly the Fugitive Slave Act, so hated in the northern States. Hudson was not removed, and retained his position during Fillmore's presidency.…