Abraham Lincoln Appoints the Arabist Edward Joy Morris as Minister Resident to Turkey

June 12, 1861

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Abraham Lincoln Appoints the Arabist Edward Joy Morris as Minister Resident to Turkey
Document Signed
1 page | SMC 156

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      Background

      Courting Pennsylvania by way of Constantinople, Lincoln puts the finishing touches on his appointment of Keystone State Congressman Edward Joy Morris, the Minister Resident to Turkey; the Seal of the United States, the President directs, is to be affixed to the envelope of a letter - carrying Morris’ credentials - addressed to His Imperial Highness, the Sultan of Turkey.

      A month before, Lincoln wrote that it seemed “Pennsylvania is well entitled to the place,” and so picked Morris who, happily, was not only a good Republican, but a seasoned traveler who had visited, and written about, the Levant. In 1842 he published Notes of a Tour through Turkey, Greece, Egypt, Arabia Petraea, to the Holy Land " and in 1855,  translated from the German Alfred De Besse’s The Turkish Empire, Embracing the Religion, Manners, and Customs of the People: with a Memoir of the Reigning Sultan and Omer Pacha.
       
      Morris remained Minister at Constantinople until October, 1870.
      Document Signed, as President, partially printed and accomplished in manuscript, 1 page, quarto, Washington, June 12, 1861. To the Secretary of State, William Henry Seward.
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      I hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of State to affix the Seal of the United States to the envelope of a letter addressed to His Imperial Highness, the Sultan of Turkey, (Mr. E. Joy Morris' credence) dated this day, and signed by me and for so doing this shall be his warrant.  

      Abraham Lincoln

      Washington, 12th June, 1861.