Autograph letter signed by leadership from Woodman Horswell & Co., a prominent firm  supplying uniforms to both the Union and Confederate armies, addressed to Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin (1817–1894). Boston, Massachusetts, 24 April 1861. 1 page, 8vo. WITH a sample of cloth suitable for making uniforms (identified in the letter as "Cadet Mixed Doeskin"), 3 1/8 x 5 inches.

In the proposal letter, the Woodman Horswell representatives write that the cloth is "all wool...not flocked at all, & will do good service." They conclude the letter by saying to the governor, "above all, do not give them goods in which there is any cotton...!"

The storefront of Woodman Horswell & Co., an importer and wholesaler of wool and woolen goods, was located on Franklin Street in Boston, Massachusetts. Archival photographs from 1860 show the firm's trade sign showing Franklin Street looking east from Hawley Street, in the area known as the "Tontine Crescent." Many of the neighborhood's prominent businesses, including Woodman Horswell, were razed during the Great Boston Fire of 1872.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs] [Militaria, Accouterment, Equipment, Uniforms]