William C. Endicott - Autograph card signed - Sec of War in Cleveland cabinet

Description

Member of Cleveland cabinet as Sec. of War. Business card sized card, signed. Tape residue on left side of card.
See Wikipedia article below:
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William Crowninshield Endicott
36th
United States Secretary of War
In office
March 5, 1885 – March 5, 1889
President
Grover Cleveland
Preceded by
Robert Todd Lincoln
Succeeded by
Redfield Proctor
Personal details
Born
November 19, 1826
Salem
, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died
May 6, 1900 (aged 73)
Boston
, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political party
Democratic
Other political
affiliations
Whig
Spouse
Ellen Peabody
​
​
(after 1859)​
Education
Harvard University
(
BA
)
Harvard Law School
William Crowninshield Endicott
(November 19, 1826 – May 6, 1900)
[1]
was an American politician and Secretary of War in the first administration of
President Grover Cleveland
(1885–1889).
Early life
Endicott was born in
Salem, Massachusetts
on November 19, 1826. He was a son of William Putnam Endicott and Mary (
née
Crowninshield
) Endicott. He was a direct descendant of the Massachusetts governor,
John Endecott
, and a first cousin three times removed of another Massachusetts governor,
Endicott Peabody
.
He graduated from
Harvard University
in 1847 and attended
Harvard Law School
in 1849–1850. He studied law with Nathaniel J. Lord prior to his admission to the Massachusetts bar in 1850.
Career
In 1852, he was elected a member of the Salem Common Council and, five years later, became City Solicitor. He was elected a member of the
American Antiquarian Society
in 1862. In 1853, he entered into a law partnership with J. W. Perry under the name Perry & Endicott, which was dissolved in 1873 upon his appointment to the bench. From 1857 to 1873, also served as president of the Salem Bank.
In 1873, Endicott, although a Democrat (and originally a
Whig
), was appointed by Republican governor
William B. Washburn
to the
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
, where he served until 1882. In 1879, he unsuccessfully ran for Congress, followed by an unsuccessful gubernatorial race in 1884.
Grover Cleveland
appointed Endicott
Secretary of War
and he served in that capacity in the administration between 1885 and 1889. Endicott oversaw many important changes in the organization of the
United States Army
, including the establishment of a system of examinations to determine the promotion of officers.
Endicott convened and chaired the
Board of Fortifications
in 1885 (usually called the Endicott Board), which would provide detailed recommendations and designs for the generation of American
coastal defense fortifications
constructed in the era of the
Spanish–American War
. Most of these
Endicott Period fortifications
served through early World War II.
Personal life
On December 13, 1859, Endicott was married to Ellen Peabody (1833–1927) in Salem. Ellen was the daughter of philanthropist George Peabody and Clarissa Peabody of Salem. Her grandfather was the distinguished Salem ship owner,
Joseph Peabody
, who made a fortune importing pepper from Sumatra and was one of the wealthiest men in the United States at the time of his death in 1900. Together, William and Ellen had two children:
William Crowninshield Endicott Jr. (1860–1936), a lawyer who married Marie Louise Thoron (1864–1958), daughter of Joseph Thoron and Anna Barker (née Ward) Thoron, in 1889. William C. Endicott Jr. was the president of the
Massachusetts Historical Society
for ten years.
Mary Crowninshield Endicott (1864–1957), who married the British statesman
Joseph Chamberlain
in 1888. After his death, she married the Anglican clergyman William Hartley Carnegie (1859–1936), in 1916.
Endicott died of acute pneumonia in
Boston, Massachusetts
on May 6, 1900. His wife lived another twenty-seven years, until her death in Boston on August 20, 1927, after which she was buried with William in the Endicott Lot at
Harmony Grove Cemetery
in Salem.