Louis McLane Signed Letter dated 1829 - Autograph - Railroad History

2 page letter signed by Louis McLane. Nice!

Louis McLane (May 28, 1786 – October 7, 1857) was an American lawyer and politician from Wilmington, in New Castle County, Delaware, and Baltimore, Maryland. He was a veteran of the War of 1812 and a member of the Federalist Party and later the Democratic Party. He served as the U.S. Representative from Delaware, U.S. Senator from Delaware, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, U.S. Secretary of State, Minister Plenipotentiary to the United Kingdom, and President of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Named for the King of France, McLane was born in Smyrna, Delaware, son of Allen and Rebecca Wells McLane. He attended private schools and served as a midshipman on the USS Philadelphia for one year before he was 18. He then attended Newark College, later the University of Delaware, and studied law under James A. Bayard. Admitted to the bar in 1807, he began a practice in Wilmington, Delaware. He married Catherine Mary Milligan in 1812, and they had 13 children. During the War of 1812 McLane joined the Wilmington Artillery Company, formed for the purpose of defending Wilmington. When Baltimore was threatened, they marched to its defense, but were sent back due to lack of provisions. Ultimately, they saw no action, and McLane left the unit as a 1st Lieutenant. Following the War of 1812 Delaware was unique in continuing to have a viable Federalist Party. Read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_McLane

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (reporting marks B&O, BO) was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from the city of Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of the National Road early in the century, wanted to continue to compete for trade with trans-Appalachian settlers with the newly constructed Erie Canal (which served New York City), another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania (which would have connected Philadelphia and Pittsburgh), the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (which connected to the nation's capital, Washington, D.C., although it never reached Ohio), and the James River Canal, which directed traffic toward Richmond and Norfolk, Virginia. At first, the B&O was located entirely in the state of Maryland, its original line extending from the port of Baltimore west to Sandy Hook (opened in 1834). There it connected with Harper's Ferry (by boat, then by the Wager Bridge) across the Potomac into Virginia, and also with the navigable Shenandoah River. Read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_and_Ohio_Railroad

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