Man, I *LOVE* 19th century baseball stuff. This is a signed letter about a treasury note purchase during the Civil War (1862). From the looks of it, William & John O'Brien (as signed on the letter) may have partaken in the first documented baseball game, ever - not to mention undocumented games that happened prior.
It is documented that they played for the New York Knickerbockers in 1845! This piece is over 150 years old, it has ties to the very beginnings of our national pastime nearly 200 years ago! I love the embossing, the paper, the penmanship, the fact that it took place during the civil war, the ties to wall street, everything.
I think there is still much fun research to do on this piece, but for now, I'm just excited to have a Civil War era relic that has to do with the very beginnings of our national pastime
Below is from a book "Base Ball Founders".
