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Engraved document on paper appointing an representative to Russia, accomplished in ink, with paper seal, signed in full by Abraham Lincoln as President and William H. Seward as Secretary of State. 12x18.

Document appointing the Secretary of the Legation of the United States of America at St. Petersburg. The document is filled out with the name of Green Clay, who was the son of the appointed Ambassador Cassius Marcellus Clay, and served as his secretary. Cassius Clay was the son of General Green Clay, who died in 1828. Though the son of a wealthy Kentucky slave-holder, Cassius Clay was an emancipationist who was inspired to joint the anti-slavery movement by William Lloyd Garrison. He was a founder of the Republican Party, and an early supporter of Abraham Lincoln for president. The signature of Lincoln on the present document is quite clear and bold.