CLAY PIPE USED AND PRESENTED BY PRESIDENT ANDREW JACKSON AT THE END OF HIS ADMINISTRATION, PRESERVED IN WOOD CASE FASHIONED FROM WHITE HOUSE “SHUTTERS”

White ball-clay tobacco pipe of long-stem “trade pipe” type. Circa February or March 1837. Approx. 21 3/4 x 2 3/8 in. Preserved in a fitted mahogany presentation case lined with cotton batting, absent one side panel. WITH Typed document signed by William A. Richardson (1831-1896). Washington, D.C., 1888. Affixed to lid interior. Case 23 1/2 x 3 x 2 1/4 in. 

Period pencil inscription to the bowl reads: "This pipe was / given to Mary / Ellen Brady / by Andrew / Jackson, when / he was Pres-ident of the / U.S. It was / the last pipe he / smoked in the / White House." 

Provenance: President Andrew Jackson, presented in February or March 1837 at the close of his administration to Mary Ellen Brady (1831-1905); to William A. Richardson (1821-1896), former United States Secretary of the Treasury and Chief Justice of the Court of Claims by 1887; presented to the New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1888; deaccessioned, 2000; current private collection. 

A historically significant presidential relic whose documentation is recorded in a contemporary printed account published in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register (July 1888), as well as the signed typewritten note affixed to the interior of the pipe’s case. The article and note relate that in February or March of 1837, shortly before the conclusion of his presidency, Andrew Jackson was found alone in his chamber at the White House, smoking this very pipe. Upon his departure from office, he is said to have promised the pipe to a young girl who had expressed admiration for its long stem and distinctive red-tipped mouthpiece. After Jackson left Washington, his private secretary reportedly fulfilled the promise, forwarding the pipe to the child at the President’s direction.

A period inscription to the pipe's bowl records the young girl as Mary Ellen Brady (1831-1905), the daughter of Irish immigrant Peter Brady (1792-1856), who settled his family in Washington, D.C. and became a well-connected politician. He was certainly well-connected with President Jackson, writing to him on several occasions, including on 6 July 1837 (Library of Congress, Andrew Jackson Papers, 1775-1874; Series 1, MSS 27532, Vol. 99). The biography of Brady by Georgetown College (associated with his son, Peter Rainsford Brady (1825-1902)), notes explicitly that he "introduced his children to many famous men such as Andrew Jackson."

Mary Ellen married important New Hampshire politician Benjamin Brown French (1800-1870) in 1862, an important figure in Washington, D.C. politics. In 1833, he served on the committee to meet Andrew Jackson in Boston, where he invited the President ot visit Concord during his tour. The same year, French moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked in the Clerk's Office of the House of Representatives until 1847, serving as the Clerk from 1845. He was a close associate of Franklin Pierce. Though not an intimate of President Jackson, he did meet him on several occasions. (Witness, p. 13) 

After his tenure as Clerk, French worked in several roles, often working in tandem with the Federal Government: President of the Magnetic Telegraph Company (1847-1850), Commissioner of Public Buildings (1853-1855 and 1861-1867), Treasurer of the U.S. Agricultural Society, and Clerk of the Committee of Claims of the House of Representatives (1860-1861). During his time in Washington, he became closely acquainted with the Lincolns. In 1867, he took a clerkship in the Treasury Department.

William Adams Richardson (1821-1896) was a first cousin of French's first wife, Elizabeth Richardson French (1805-1861). In 1869, he was appointed by President Johnson as the Acting Secretary of the Treasury. French's biographers remark, "The appointment of Elizabeth's nephew William A. Richardson as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury gave him an influential ally and led him to remark smugly that the pendulum was 'settling down honest & right' for himself." (Winess, p. 567). French and Richardson worked closely together at the Treasury Department, and Richardson even lived with the Frenches at the end of Benjamin's life. 

French kept an extensive diary (published in Witness), and his last entry on 8 August 1870: "I am sitting alone in my sick chamber, Mrs. French, who is devoted to me and seldom leaves my side, having gone down with Judge Richardson to dinner." His final words written were: "Mrs. French has come up and says I must not write any more. I obey." (pp. 622-623) He died four days later on August 12th. 

While not recorded explicitly, it seems evident that the young widow Mary Ellen, at some point, gifted Andrew Jackson's pipe to their close family friend, William A. Richardson, who later recorded her girlhood story.

In a 28 April 1895 letter, Mary Ellen refers to the pipe, stating that President Jackson expressed regret that he had no toys for the Brady children and asked them if they could be otherwise entertained. Young Mary Ellen asked for his pipe so that she could "blow soap bubbles." (Georgetown University manuscirpts, Peter R. Brady papers, Collection Overview). 

Notably, the story of Brady's father and President Jackson's pipe is also mentioned by Mary Ellen in a letter written on 23 January 1831 from Washington, D.C. to her brother, Peter Rainsford Brady, a leading pioneer in the Arizona frontier: "...Tucson papers here sent us with the story of the Jackson pipe, and other anecdotes of father." (Georgetown University manuscripts, Peter R. Brady papers (GTM-880801), Correspondence from Mary Ellen French 1870's, 23 Jan 1871-11 Jul 1874, Box: 1, Folder: 16, ).

Peter Brady was a Democratic candidate for Congress in Arizona, and in the 12 November 1870 issues of the Weekly Journal-MIner of Prescott, Arizona, the tale of the pipe is published alongside updates of Brady's campaign in an article titled, "New Anecdote of Gen. Andrew Jackson": "Brady's father was one of General Jackson's most intimate friends, and was one of his earliest appointments to office...During Jackson's administration, Mr. Brady, his wife, and my friend, your candidate for Congress, then a boy, had frequent and familiar intercourse with the President's household. On the expiration of Jackson's term of office, Mr. and Mrs. Brady and the boy, went to the White House to pay a farewell visit. The old hero took the pipe he was smoking from his mouth, and gave it to Brady as a parting gift. The pipe was bequeathed in his will to his son, and Jackson placed his hand upon that son's head, and blessed him. That blessing could not fail or be lost, and that is why your candidate cannot help being a true Democrat and an honest man." While the story has clearly been modified for political expediency, placing Peter as the recipient and thus as the Democratic successor "blessed" by President Jackson himself, the fundamentals of the tale remain the same. 

The 1888 Register and signed note further identify Richardson, Chief Justice of the United States Court of Claims and formerly United States Secretary of the Treasury, as the donor of the relic, noting that it had remained in the possession of the original recipient (Brady) for approximately half a century before passing into his hands. In keeping with the object’s historical importance, Richardson commissioned a custom mahogany case for its preservation, the wood described as having been salvaged from shutters removed from the west windows of the State Dining Room of the Executive Mansion during renovation.

William Adams Richardson (1821-1896) was an American jurist and statesman who occupied several prominent federal offices during the post–Civil War era. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Richardson first established himself in Massachusetts politics before entering national service. He served successively as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of the Treasury under President Ulysses S. Grant, overseeing fiscal matters during a period of economic volatility following the Panic of 1873. In 1874, he was appointed Chief Justice of the United States Court of Claims, a position he held for nearly two decades, shaping jurisprudence concerning claims against the federal government.

AN IMPORTANT DOCUMENTED PRESIDENTIAL RELIC

References: 

Benjamin B. French. Donald B. Cole and John J. McDonough, editors. Witness to the Young Republic: A Yankee's Journal, 1828-1870. Hanover and London: University Press of New England, 1989. 

New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Vol. XLII (July 1888), p. 312. 

Note: This lot cannot be packaged and shipped in-house. Successful bidders winning items marked as being packaged and shipped by a third-party service are responsible for paying the third party directly. We are happy to offer complimentary drop-off service to local third-party packing/shipping companies in Columbus, Ohio.

[Presidents, Presidential Memorabilia, Presidential Relics, Pipes, Pipe stems]