Partly-printed vellum DS as president, signed “M. Van Buren,” one page, 13 x 16.75, July 11, 1838. President Van Buren appoints George F. Emmons as a "Lieutenant in the Navy while on duty in the Surveying & Exploring Expedition." Signed at the conclusion by Martin Van Buren and countersigned by Secretary of the Navy James K. Paulding. The lower vignette retains the original embossed Navy Department seal. Double-matted and framed with a plaque and portrait to an overall size of 25.25 x 21.25. In very good to fine condition, with scattered staining.
George Foster Emmons (1811-1884) was commissioned by Van Buren to be a lieutenant aboard the USS Peacock and participate in the famous Wilkes Exploring Expedition of 1838 to 1842, which discovered the Antarctic Continent on January 16, 1840. He was assigned command of the expedition's overland party conducting surveys and exploration from Puget Sound south to San Francisco. He served with great honor in the Mexican and Civil Wars and he became commodore in 1868, chief of the Hydrographic Office in 1870, and rear admiral in 1872.
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