HAND WRITING OF 2 FAMOUS MEN ON ONE COVER !! ENVELOPE ONLY, NORWICH CT POSTMARK, ADDRESSED BY WELLS TO "HON. J.D. COX, CINCINNATI, OHIO." DOCKETED BY COX AT LEFT "D.A. WELLS, NOV 29 / '71." -- SEE BIOS OF BOTH MEN BELOW !!!!!
DAVID AMES WELLS (JUNE 17, 1828 – NOVEMBER 5, 1898) WAS AN AMERICAN ENGINEER, TEXTBOOK AUTHOR, ECONOMIST AND ADVOCATE OF LOW TARIFFS.
BORN IN SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, HE GRADUATED FROM WILLIAMS COLLEGE IN 1847. IN 1848 HE JOINED THE STAFF OF THE SPRINGFIELD REPUBLICAN NEWSPAPER, WHERE HE INVENTED A DEVICE TO FOLD PAPERS. HE GRADUATED FROM THE LAWRENCE SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL AT CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS IN 1851, WHERE HE WORKED WITH LOUIS AGASSIZ. ALSO IN 1851, HE WAS APPOINTED ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AT THE LAWRENCE SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL, AND WAS LECTURER ON CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS AT GROTON ACADEMY.[1] HE EDITED THE ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY FROM 1850 TO 1866. HE INVENTED DEVICES FOR TEXTILE MILLS, AND WROTE THE SCIENCE OF COMMON THINGS (1857) AND WELLS'S PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATIONS OF CHEMISTRY (1858); WELLS'S FIRST PRINCIPLES OF GEOLOGY (1861) AND WELLS'S NATURAL PHILOSOPHY (1863), WHICH WENT THROUGH FIFTEEN EDITIONS AS A COLLEGE TEXTBOOK.
HE WAS A STRONG SUPPORTER OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN DURING THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, WRITING PAMPHLETS THAT REASSURED INVESTORS OF THE SOUNDNESS OF LINCOLN'S FINANCIAL POLICIES. HE FIRST ATTAINED REPUTATION AS A POLITICAL ECONOMIST BY AN ADDRESS ON “OUR BURDEN AND OUR STRENGTH,” READ BEFORE A LITERARY SOCIETY OF TROY IN 1864. IT DISCUSSED THE RESOURCES OF THE UNITED STATES IN REGARD TO THE NATION'S DEBT-PAYING ABILITY, AND ATTRACTED THE ATTENTION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN, WHO APPOINTED HIM IN 1865 CHAIRMAN OF A THREE-MEMBER NATIONAL REVENUE COMMISSION. IN THIS CAPACITY WELLS WAS THE FIRST TO COLLECT ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL STATISTICS FOR GOVERNMENT USE.[1] THE COMMISSION'S RECOMMENDATIONS BECAME LAW IN 1866.
PRESIDENT ANDREW JOHNSON MADE HIM A SPECIAL COMMISSIONER OF THE REVENUE. THE REPORTS OF THE SPECIAL COMMISSIONER OF THE REVENUE, 1866-69 RECOMMENDED THE USE OF STAMPS IN THE COLLECTION OF REVENUE ON LIQUOR AND TOBACCO. WELLS WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN ABOLISHING THE MANY PETTY TAXES WHICH HAD BEEN IMPOSED DURING THE CIVIL WAR, AND ORIGINATED MOST OF THE IMPORTANT FORMS AND METHODS OF INTERNAL REVENUE TAXATION ADOPTED FROM 1866 TO 1870.[1]
IN 1867, WELLS STUDIES THE COSTS OF PRODUCTION IN EUROPE. HE STARTED AS A HIGH-TARIFF SUPPORTER, BUT FINDING THAT HIGH WAGES IN AMERICA MADE FOR EFFICIENCY AS COMPARED WITH THE BACKWARD METHODS OF COMPETING COUNTRIES, HE WAS CONVERTED TO FREE TRADE, AND BECAME A LEADING ADVOCATE OF ABOLITION OF THE TARIFF. HE WAS AN ADVISOR TO HIS CLOSE FRIEND, CONGRESSMAN JAMES GARFIELD, ON TARIFF MATTERS, AND LATER TO GROVER CLEVELAND. AS CHAIRMAN OF THE NEW YORK STATE TAX COMMISSION, HIS LOCAL TAXATION (1871) WAS A HIGHLY INFLUENTIAL ANALYSIS. THE PROBLEM WAS NEW YORK WAS LOSING BUSINESS TO NEIGHBORING STATES WITH LOWER TAXES. HE WAS AN ACTIVE CONSULTANT TO THE RAILROAD INDUSTRY.
HE SERVED AS DELEGATE TO THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTIONS, AND RAN UNSUCCESSFULLY FOR CONGRESS FROM CONNECTICUT IN 1876 AND 1890, AND HE MADE MANY SPEECHES IN EACH OF CLEVELAND'S CAMPAIGNS.
WELLS DIED AT NORWICH, CONNECTICUT, WHICH HAD BEEN HIS RESIDENCE SINCE 1870. HE WAS MARRIED, MAY 9, 1860, TO MARY SANFORD DWIGHT, BY WHOM HE HAD ONE SON; A SECOND WIFE AND A SON SURVIVED HIM.
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JACOB DOLSON COX, JR. (OCTOBER 27, 1828 – AUGUST 4, 1900), WAS A STATESMAN, LAWYER, UNION ARMY GENERAL DURING THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, REPUBLICAN POLITICIAN FROM OHIO, LIBERAL REPUBLICAN PARTY FOUNDER, EDUCATOR, AUTHOR, AND RECOGNIZED MICROBIOLOGIST. HE SERVED AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI, THE 28TH GOVERNOR OF OHIO AND AS UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. AS GOVERNOR OF OHIO, COX SIDED FOR A TIME WITH PRESIDENT ANDREW JOHNSON'S RECONSTRUCTION PLAN AND WAS AGAINST AFRICAN AMERICAN SUFFRAGE IN THE SOUTH, THOUGH HE SUPPORTED IT IN OHIO.[1] HOWEVER, COX INCREASINGLY EXPRESSED RACIST AND SEGREGATIONIST VIEWPOINTS, ADVOCATING A SEPARATE COLONY FOR BLACKS TO "WORK OUT THEIR OWN SALVATION."[2] SEEING HIMSELF CAUGHT BETWEEN JOHNSON AND THE RADICAL REPUBLICANS, COX DECIDED NOT TO RUN FOR REELECTION. HE STAYED OUT OF POLITICS FOR A YEAR, THOUGH BOTH SHERMAN AND GRANT ADVOCATED THAT COX REPLACE STANTON AS SECRETARY OF WAR AS A MEANS OF STEMMING THE DEMANDS FOR JOHNSON'S IMPEACHMENT. BUT JOHNSON DECLINED. WHEN ULYSSES S. GRANT BECAME PRESIDENT, HE NOMINATED COX SECRETARY OF INTERIOR, AND COX IMMEDIATELY ACCEPTED.
SECRETARY OF INTERIOR COX IMPLEMENTED THE FIRST CIVIL SERVICE REFORM IN A FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT, INCLUDING EXAMINATIONS FOR MOST CLERKS. GRANT INITIALLY SUPPORTED COX AND CIVIL SERVICE REFORM, CREATING AMERICA'S FIRST CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION. HOWEVER, COX WAS OPPOSED BY REPUBLICAN PARTY MANAGERS, WHO ULTIMATELY CONVINCED GRANT TO CEASE CIVIL SERVICE REFORMS IN THE INTERIOR, A LARGE DEPARTMENT COVETED FOR ITS VAST CONGRESSIONAL PATRONAGE. PRESIDENT GRANT AND SECRETARY COX WERE AT ODDS OVER THE FRAUDULENT MCGARAHAN CLAIMS AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC ANNEXATION TREATY.[3] SECRETARY COX ADVOCATED A LASTING, HONEST, AND COMPREHENSIVE INDIAN POLICY LEGISLATED BY CONGRESS AFTER THE PIEGAN INDIAN MASSACRE. COX RESIGNED AS SECRETARY OF INTERIOR HAVING BEEN UNABLE TO GAIN GRANT'S SUPPORT OVER CIVIL SERVICE REFORM. ALTHOUGH COX WAS A REFORMER, GRANT HAD BELIEVED COX HAD OVERSTEPPED HIS AUTHORITY AS SECRETARY OF INTERIOR AND HAD UNDERMINED HIS AUTHORITY AS PRESIDENT. IN 1871 COX HELPED FOUND THE LIBERAL REPUBLICANS IN OPPOSITION TO GRANT'S RENOMINATION. IN 1876, COX RETURNED TO POLITICS AND SERVED ONE TERM AS A UNITED STATES CONGRESSMAN FROM OHIO. CONGRESSMAN COX SUPPORTED PRESIDENT HAYES'S REFORM EFFORTS, BUT HIS TERM AS CONGRESSMAN WAS UNSUCCESSFUL AT ESTABLISHING PERMANENT CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.[3]
COX WAS ELECTED AS A MEMBER TO THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY IN 1870.[4]
COX WAS ELECTED U.S. REPRESENTATIVE (OHIO) AND SERVED IN CONGRESS FROM 1877 TO 1879. AFTERWARD, COX NEVER RETURNED TO ACTIVE POLITICS. COX SERVED AS PRESIDENT AND RECEIVER OF A RAILROAD, DEAN OF CINCINNATI LAW SCHOOL, AND AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI. COX ALSO STUDIED MICROSCOPY AND MADE HUNDREDS OF PHOTO-MICROGRAPHS, AND IN 1881 HE WAS ELECTED FELLOW OF THE ROYAL MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY. IN 1882, COX STARTED A SERIES OF BOOKS HE AUTHORED ON CIVIL WAR CAMPAIGNS, WHICH REMAIN TODAY RESPECTED HISTORIES AND MEMOIRS. AFTER COX RETIRED IN 1897, HE DIED IN MASSACHUSETTS IN 1900. THROUGHOUT THE 20TH CENTURY, COX'S LIFE WAS MOSTLY FORGOTTEN BY HISTORIANS, HOWEVER, THERE HAS BEEN RENEWED INTEREST DURING THE 21ST CENTURY IN COX'S MILITARY CAREER AS UNION GENERAL DURING THE CIVIL WAR, AND HIS IMPLEMENTATION OF CIVIL SERVICE WHILE SECRETARY OF INTERIOR UNDER PRESIDENT GRANT, THE FIRST CABINET OFFICER TO DO SO IN U.S. HISTORY. ---------------------
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