Beschreibung:

FILLMORE, Millard (1800-1874), President . Autograph letter signed ("Millard Fillmore") as President, to Nathaniel March, Washington, 5 May 1851. 1 page, 4to (10 x 7 15/16 in.), integral blank, tape repairs on verso, some soiling to margins . PRESIDENT FILLMORE ATTENDS THE OPENING OF THE ERIE RAILROAD The first railroad lines in America were completed in the 1830s and by 1850, the industry was booming: in the four year span from 1848 to 1852, track mileage doubled. In 1851, the Erie Railroad (originally called the New York & Erie Railroad) opened between Piermont on the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Its 547 miles of track made it the longest railroad in the world and provided a critical link between eastern cities and the expanding farms and markets of the midwest. Here, the President responds to an invitation to attend the railroad's opening ceremonies: "I have your note...inviting me to attend the opening of the N.Y. & Erie R.R. on the 14th inst. and assuring me that there will be nothing political in the celebration." Fillmore, a native of New York, expresses his pleasure in accepting: "Feeling, as I do, a deep interest in the success of that noble enterprise, I am prepared to rejoice with those who rejoice in its completion, and...shall with great pleasure accept your invitation."