COMPLIMENTARY BANQUET / TO / GEN. U.S. GRANT [followed by fifteen different toasts to the former President]

Little Rock, Ark. April 15th, 1880. Printed broadside on silk, 8 3/8 x 3 1/2 inches, a program for the event. Former Civil War commanding general and President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant visited Little Rock in the spring of 1880 and was welcomed by an enthusiastic crowd. He participated in a parade, made public appearances, and was toasted at a banquet in Concordia Hall. The event was recorded in an article in the :"New York Graphic" on April 26, 1880: "In the evening a grand banquet was given at Concordia Hall. It was the largest and most sumptuous entertainment of the kind that the local Delmonico had ever attempted, and it was in every respect a magnificent success. Plates were laid for 250 guests. Every one came in festive array and the solid men of Little Rock felt themselves proud to be numbered in the chosen band. General Grant was naturally given seat of honor, with Mayor [John G.] Fletcher, Col. Logan H. Roots, Governor W. R. Miller, Judge McCrary. of St. Louis, Judge Isaac C. Parker ["he hung 'em high] of Fort Smith, on his right and ex-Governor Powell Clayton, ex-Governor O. A. Hadley [and others] on his left. Gen. Grant gave the first toast, brief and to the point: 'The United States of America -- Forever United.'" Grant had returned from his nearly three-year world tour in December, 1879. He was considering running for President again in 1880 and may have been testing his strength of his renewed popularity in this tour through the south. The Republican Convention convened in Chicago in June and Grant was initially the most promising candidate, winning 304 of the 370 votes needed. Eventually the party compromised with various factions and James Garfield was chosen. Not recorded on OCLC. Some light creasing, a small spot or two, but a very nice example. Matted, glazed, and framed. (9797). Item #62052

Price: $1,250.00