Sunday, September 8, 2024

Frank Hiscock to Major-General Henry W. Slocum, August 11, 1865

SYRACUSE, N. Y., August 11, 1865.
DEAR GENERAL:

We of the State of New York, of the chosen of the Lord, who are desirous of sustaining the administration of President Johnson, etc., are looking around for candidates for state offices this fall.

And now to the point. I have no doubt a nearly, if not entirely, unanimous nomination for the office of Secretary of State (the head of the ticket) can be secured you. I now think the nomination can be secured by acclamation; but certainly it can be secured so as to be, or appear to be, entirely unsought after by you,—if you desire it. I came from Saratoga yesterday, where together with Belden I talked with several of our friends. To-day, Watson, of Cayuga county, has been here. He is present at this writing and would be most happy to honor you. Therefore you see my judgment is not mere speculation. I believe, also, that you know enough of me to have a fair opinion of my discernment in political matters.

The question now is, What do you desire in the matter? Please write me fully, that your friends may act advisedly. I hardly know whether to advise you or not, but it must be obvious to you that for your own good, if you intend to come back to this State, the sooner you mix in State politics the better, and there can hardly be a better or more propitious way of entering than as a military "Hero," and before all the military heroes have retired to civil life, and have become your rivals for civic honors.

Most truly, your friend,
FRANK HISCOCK.

SOURCE: New York (State). Monuments Commission for the Battlefields of Gettysburg and Chattanooga, In Memoriam: Henry Warner Slocum, 1826-1894, p. 103

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