5 September 1874 • Elmira, N.Y. (MS: ViU, UCCL 01123)
The Secretary of War.
Sir:
Your letter is received, & I hasten to thank you cordially for the offer of your good offices. I have written to the Hon. the Secretary of the Navy, as you suggested. 1explanatory note
The nephew I refer to is Samuel Moffett, now of Fredonia, N. Y., son of the late Wm. A. Moffett, merchant, of St. Louis, Mo.
I think the boy is conspicuously above the average in natural capacity, else I would try to defeat his aspirations, in place of endeavoring fo Ⓐemendation to forward them.
Thanking you again, I am, with great respect,
He will be 14 the 5th November next.
Belknap’s letter, a response to Clemens’s of 28 August, is not known to survive. Secretary of the Navy George Robeson also was helpful, at least initially, in the effort to secure a naval academy appointment for Samuel Moffett (see 24 Sept 74 to Belknapclick to open link and 22 Dec 75 to PAMclick to open link). The correspondence between him and Clemens has not been located, however.
MS, Clifton Waller Barrett Library, Alderman Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville (ViU).
L6 , 227.
The MS, owned in 1930 by Daniel P. Woolley, vice-president of Standard Brands, was deposited at ViU by Clifton Waller Barrett on 15 May 1962.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.