Author: Peck, George Record (1843-1923). Railroad attorney and President of the American Bar Association who was a childhood friend of the American Impressario & Lecture Manager Major James B. Pond.
Title: A Collection of 7 Letters Signed by the Railroad Attorney and President of the American Bar Association George R. Peck Addressed to His Boyhood Friend the American Lecture Manager Major James R. Pond, One Referring to Winston Churchill.
Description: 1891 through 1901. 1891-1901. 1891-1901. - A collection of 7 signed letters to Major James B. Pond from his boyhood friend, the Railroad Attorney & President of the American Bar Association, George R. Peck. Included are 6 Typed Letters and 1 Autograph Letter, each signed by Peck, plus a telegram to Pond. The collection consists of the following: An autograph letter penned on 8-1/2 inch high by 5-3/8 inch wide "Gilsey House, New York" hotel stationery. In his letter dated April , 1891, Peck states that "I came up from down town sick .. I expect to come to your dinner though, sick or well. Would particularly like to meet Mr. Depew". Signed "Y - GRP". In a letter dated September 20, 1895, typed on his 10-1/2 inch high by 8 inch wide "Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Co. Legal Department" stationery, Peck addresses Pond as "My Dear Old Sweetness" and describes his sad departure from his previous Railroad position. Signed "Geo R Peck". The letter is folded for mailing with Pond's dated red "Answered" stamp across the top. In a telegram dated July 1, 1898, Peck offers to help Pond with an army matter and the Paris Exposition "..will write letters to president or anybody else." Sent during the height of the Spanish American War, Peck comments on the troops "If it is as hot in Cuba as it is here I feel sorry for our soldiers." He goes on to express his pride that his "boy Charley is to be first lieutenant in the 12th Illinois". In an August 8, 1899 letter typed on his 7-1/2 inch high by 5-1/2 inch wide "Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company Office of General Counsel" stationery, Peck thanks Pond for sending "so beautiful a copy" of "The Message to Garcia". Signed "Geo R. Peck". Folded for mailing. In a March 12, 1900 2 page letter typed on facing sides of his folded 7-1/2 inch high by 11 inch wide "Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company Office of General Counsel" stationery Peck, addressing Pond as "My dear old sweetness", writes that he "shall take the greatest pleasure in meeting Mr. Landor. Walter Savage Landor is one of my divinities .. Tonight there is to be a literary gathering at the Oakland Culture Club on the South Side, in honor of Eugene Ware - 'Ironquill', - of Topeka. He will be here and I am to introduce him. You see Kansas continues to come to the front." Signed "Geo R Peck". Folded for mailing with a small smudge affecting 2 words. In a May 22, 1900 2-page letter typed on 2 sheets of 10-1/2 inch high by 8 inch wide creamy white stationery, with the first page being on his "Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Co. Legal Department" stationery, Peck addresses Pond as "My dear old American Beauty". He again mentions his son: "My boy Charley is in Texas on a cattle ranch, and bids fair to become a cattle king in time, He rides a bronco, wears a sombrero, and can round up a herd of Texas steers with the best of them." Signed "Geo R Peck". Folded for mailing, the edges and corners are soiled and creased. In a September 24, 1900 letter typed on his 7-1/2 inch high by 5-1/2 inch wide "Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company Office of General Counsel" stationery Peck states that "Sunday night after leaving you, I went to Boston .. but I saw no place more charming and visited no one who gave me such pleasant hospitality as I received at your grand old home at Bergen Heights." Signed "Geo R Peck". He sends "kind regards to Mrs. Pond" and with a postscript in his hand "Also to 'Bim'". Folded for mailing. In a January 4, 1901 letter typed on his 7-1/2 inch high by 5-1/2 inch wide "Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company Office of General Counsel" stationery Peck states that "I shall be on hand when you and Winston Churchill come. I noticed what the newspapers said about his striking for better pay, and was delighted that you stood your ground." Signed "Geo R Peck" with a typed postscript "P.S. D---n the dog". Folded for mailing. Having escaped from a Boer prison in South Africa, Winston Churchill received several offers for lecture opportunities. Major Pond's offer was among the first and Churchill left for America in December 1900. The lectures arranged by Pond were not successful and Churchill's earnings were far less than he expected. He sometimes spoke in nearly empty theaters. He wrote to his mother: "I arrived to lecture in an American town & found Pond had not arranged any public lecture, but that I was hired out for 40 pounds to perform at an evening party in a private house - like a conjurer." Pond often sent books, including his own "Eccentricities of Genius", to his correspondents. He would then stamp the word "BOOK" on the letter from the correspondent he was planning to respond to. He has done so on 5 of the letters here. The Railway attorney George Record Peck (1843-1923) was born in Steuben County, NY and was a childhood friend of James B. Pond. He joined the First Wisconsin Heavy Artillery when 19 years old. Promoted to Captain in the Thirty-first Wisconsin Infantry, he took part in "Sherman's March to the Sea". Peck studied law at Janesville after the Civil War and was later appointed as United States District Attorney for the District of Kansas by President Ulysses S. Grant. Leaving that position in 1879, he became the general solicitor for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad in 1881 and subsequently held the same position with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company. Peck served as President of the American Bar Association in 1905-06. Very good .

Keywords: AMERICANA; LAW; GEORGE RECORD PECK; COLLECTION; SIGNED LETTERS; TYPED LETTER SIGNED; AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED; LOT; RAILWAY ATTORNEY; NINETEENTH CENTURY; 19TH CENTURY; GEORGE R. PECK; CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE & ST. PAUL RAILWAY COMPANY; PRESIDENT OF THE AMER


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