1834 - A man in Lowell, Massachusetts, pleads directly to President Andrew Jackon to have his friend reinstated as the postmaster of Lowell, Massachusetts

Lowell, Massachusetts, 1834. Unbound. Very good. This four-page letter is datelined, "Lowell. April 22. 1834. It was sent directly to President Andrew Jackson by Fink(?) Booth. It bears no postal markings and has no accompanying envelope. In nice shape. Aa transcript will be provided.

In the letter, Booth related how his friend, Mr. Myman, had performed well and done no wrong but was dismissed from his job as postmaster perhaps in jealousy over his success in buying and selling property. He asked Jackson personally to reinstate Myman to his position as he was an "honest and warm hearted friend of the present Executive."

The letter (truncated) reads in part:

"There is probably no one in Town that has so much business with the Post office as myself, & can truly assert that during all the time Mr Myman was P.M. I never knew or heard of the slightest irregularity or neglect. Few day pass in which I am not at the office, & I am confident the present incumbent does not spend more time there than his predecessor. The attempt to prove that the business of the department was ill conducted under Mr. Myman entirely failed. Mr Pates who was sent to examine & who did make a thorough examination reported favorable on the spot & declared that he could discover nothing irregular & no want of care & attention. . .. Our Post office was much better managed than is usual in Towns in the interior. This arrangement is due to Mr Myman under whose care & direction the office was fitted up. I do not wish in this communication to cast imputations up anyone, but [but he is] considered the victim of a base & cruel intrigue. . .. His restoration to office . . . is an object of great importance to him. I can very safely say that his reinstatement in the Post office wd be very satisfactory to a large majority of all classes & would generally be considered an act of simple justice to an honest & warm hearted friend of the present Executive." . President George Washington based most of his federal appointments on merit, but many of his successors did not. Andrew Jackson was especially noted for rewarding his political friends and supporters with government jobs through his use of the "spoils system," meaning "to the victor go the spoils." In Jackson's time there were around 20,000 federal employees; by the 1880s, there were over 130,00. After President Garfield was assassinated in 1883 by a disgruntled job seeker, Congress passed the Pendleton Act establishing the Civil Service Commission to ensure almost all federal positions be filled competitively based on merit. It also made it illegal to fire or demote covered employees based on political reason, and it forbade requiring competitively hired workers to contribute to or provide volunteer work for political organizations.

It's unknown whether President Jackson intervened to reinstate Myman as the postmaster. . (Inventory #: 010224)