Partly-printed DS, four pages on two adjoining sheets, signed “Fred'k Douglass,” 8.5 x 14, June 6, 1885. Deed transaction by which Civil War General Joseph R. West and his wife, Jane J. West, sell, for $20,000, property in the District of Columbia to Washington McLean. Signed on the docketing panel in ink by Frederick Douglass as recorder of deeds in the District of Columbia. The deed is also signed twice by General West, and once by his wife. In fine condition.
Joseph R. West (1822-98), who signs "J. R. West" and "Joseph R. West," was a 'California 49er.' During the Civil War he commanded the 1st California Vols., leading an expedition against the Gila Apaches in Arizona. Post war he was a U.S. Senator for Louisiana and later Chief Executive (e.g. Mayor) of the District of Columbia. Washington McLean, the purchaser of this property, owned and edited the Cincinnati Enquirer. His son, John R. McLean, owned the Washington Post, and his daughter, Mildred, was the wife of Civil War General John Babcock Hazen, and later, Admiral George Dewey.
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