The Post-Master General

Washington, Sept. 23, 1864.

When the resolution of the [late] Baltimore convention, declaring that they deemed it essential to the general welfare that harmony shall prevail in the national councils, and regarding as worthy of public confidence and official trust, those only who endorsed the principles in the series of resolution which should characterize the Administration of the Government, was shortly after its passage read by Postmaster General Blair, he at once virtually tendered his resignation, which was not formally made and accepted until to day, as will be seen from the following correspondence. It is understood that ex-Governor Dennison, of Ohio, will be his successor.

THE PRESIDENT TO MR. BLAIR.

Executive Mansion, Washington,
Sept. 23, 1864.

Hon. Montgomery Blair:

My Dear Sir: You have generously said to me more than once that whenever your resignation could be a relief to me, it was at my disposal. The time has come. You very well know that this proceeds from no dissatisfaction of mine with you personally or officially. Your uniform kindness has been unsurpassed by that of any friend; and, while it is true that the war does not greatly add to the difficulties of your Department, as to those of some others, it is yet much to say, as I most truly can, that in three years and a half during which you have administered the General post office I remember no single complaint against you in connection therewith.

Yours
A. Lincoln

[MR. BLAIR TO THE PRESIDENT.]

Post Office Department
September 23, 1864.
My dear Sir,
I have received your note of this date, referring to my offers to resign when ever you should deem it advisable for the public interests that I should do so and stating that in your judgment that time has now come. I now, therefore, formally tender my resignation of the Office of Postmaster General. I can not take leave of you without renewing the expressions of my gratitude for the uniform kindness which has marked your course towards,

Yours very truly,
M. Blair

To the President.

– Published in The Union Sentinel, Osceola, Iowa, Saturday, October 15, 1864

NOTE: Due to the poor contention of The Union Sentinel at the time it was microfilmed, the bottom of the column containing the bulk of Lincoln’s letter to Montgomery Blair has been torn away. Mr. Blair’s response, his official resignation, appears in part, at the top of the next column, however the right side of the column has also been torn away. I have therefore resorted to using the documents themselves from the Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress:

Abraham Lincoln to Montgomery Blair, Sept. 23, 1864
Montgomery Blair to Abraham Lincoln, September 23, 1864

Please also note, the formatting of the letters is slightly different than the actual documents, as my goal was to duplicate as close as to what might have been the newspaper formatting as possible.