Presidential Signature Collection

The Abbot Vincent Taylor Library is pleased to present this Presidential Signature Collection LibGuide.  The collection came to the Library through the generosity of  Dr. Francis J. Murray, Professor Emeritus from the Department of History at Belmont Abbey College.  Dr. Murray's passion for collecting signatures can now be shared digitally.  Signatures are more than ink on a piece of paper, they provide a segue into the historical figures and events surrounding those signatures.  These signatures have already inspired a number of students who have worked to make this LibGuide possible.  Special thanks to Elijah McBride for his assistance formatting this page and providing the dimensions of the signed documents.  Thanks also to a number of students from the Digital Humanities program who photographed the collection and edited the photos: Alexis Rosson, Emily Smith, Maggie Williamson, and Catherine Yellico.

If you are interested in learning more about this collection, you may read the following articles:

Eric Wildstein, "Presidential ink has links to Gaston's past," Gaston Gazette, April 23, 2016.

Francis J. Murray, "Presidential Autographs: An Unintended Collection," Manuscripts, Vol. 69, No. 4 [Fall 2017], pp. 291-306.

Alexandrea Cattanea Pizza, "Passport Through Time: A Conservator's Role in the Life of a Manuscript," Manuscripts, Vol. 69, No. 4 [Fall 2017], pp. 307-320.

George Washington was the first President of the United States and served from 1789 to 1797.

Washington's cut signature is displayed in a 49 x 52 cm. frame with his portrait and a plaque with two quotes from the president. 

John Adams was the second President of the United States (1797-1801), after serving as George Washington's Vice President.

Adams' cut signature is displayed in a 27 x 32 cm. frame with his portrait, a plaque, and a ribbon.. 

Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States who served from 1801-1809.

Jefferson's signature appears on a 1805 document that measures 28 x 23 cm.  This document is signed by President Jefferson when James Madison was Secretary of State and gives permission for a ship to port at Havana. Madison's signature also appears on the document. The document is printed in both English and Dutch and is accompanied by an image of Jefferson in a 40 x 50 cm. frame.

James Madison served as the fourth President of the United States from 1809 to 1817. 

President Madison's cut signature appears here with his portrait in a 36 x 22 cm. frame.

James Monroe was the fifth President of the United States who served from 1817 to 1825.

 Monroe's signature appears on a certificate from the Register of the Land Office that permits the sale of eight acres of land.  The document appears in  a 41 x 71 cm.  frame and is accompanied by a sketch of President Monroe. 

John Quincy Adams, son of John and Abigal Adams, was the first president who was the son of another president.  He served as the sixth President of the United States from 1825 to 1829.

J. Q. Adams' cut signature is displayed in a 36 x 25 cm. frame with a reproduction of the first photograph of a president taken around 1843. 

Andrew Jackson served as the seventh President of the United States from 1829 to 1837.  President Jackson is considered by many to be the first populist president who sought to act as the direct representative of the "common man."

Jackson's cut signature is displayed in a 44 x 34 cm. frame with his portrait and a plaque. 

Martin Van Buren served as the eighth President of the United States from 1837-1841.

This presidential signature appears on a letter from Van Buren and is accompanied by a portrait in a 45 x 57 cm. frame. 

William Henry Harrison served as the ninth President of the United States.  Harrison was the first president to die in office and his was the shortest tenure, filling the office from March 4th, 1841 to April 4th, 1841.

Harrison's cut signature is accompanied by a photograph of the president in a 46 x 37 cm.  frame.  The frame also contains a plaque that reads "Warrant  as Aide-De-Camp in 1794." 

John Tyler served as the tenth President of the United States from 1841 to 1845. 

A cut signature from Tyler appears here with his portrait in a 47 x 33 cm.  frame.

James Knox Polk served as the eleventh President of the United States from 1845 to 1849.

Polk's signature appears here on a land grant signed by Polk when he was governor of Tennessee. The land grant is accompanied by a portrait of Polk in a 55 x 69 cm.  frame. 

Zachary Taylor served as the twelfth President of the United States from March 4th, 1849 to July 9th, 1850.

Taylor's signature appears on a requisition when he was "Commandmant" in 1833 at Fort Crawford in the state of Wisconsin. The 36 x 60 cm.  frame also contains a photograph of President Taylor.

Millard Fillmore served as the thirteenth President of the United States from 1850 to 1853.

Fillmore's cut signature here was composed when he was Vice President during Zachary Taylor's short presidency. The signature appears with a photograph of Fillmore in a 36 x 24 cm.  frame. 

Franklin Pierce served as the fourteenth President of the United States from 1853 to 1857.

Pierce's signature appears on a signed card and is accompanied by a photograph of  Pierce in a 55 x 62 cm.  frame.  Additionally the frame contains a page from a newspaper that has a drawing of " General Franklin Pierce Democratic Candidate for the President."

James Buchanan served as the fifteenth President of the United States from 1857-1861.  He was the only President to remain a bachelor throughout his life.

Buchanan's cut signature is displayed in a 37 x 25 cm. frame with his portrait and a plaque. 

Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth President of the United States who served from 1861 to 1865.

Lincoln's cut signature addressed to the Secretary of War appears with his photograph in a 41 x 50 cm.  frame. The signature and photograph are accompanied by a plaque that reads, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." 

Andrew Johnson served as Lincoln's Vice President during the President's second term.  After Lincoln's assassination Johnson completed Lincoln's second term as the seventeenth President of the United States from 1865 to 1869.  He was the first President to be impeached by the House of Representatives.

Johnson's cut signature appears with his image in a 31 x 44 cm.  frame, 

Ulysses S. Grant led the Union Army to victory at the end of the American Civil War and was elected the eighteenth President of the United States from 1869 to 1877.

Grant's signature appears on a letter to General Norton P. Chipman, dated February 12th 1872.  An image of the President from his time as Lieutenant General accompanies the signature in a 41 x 67 cm.  frame.

Rutherford B. Hayes won a disputed election and became the nineteenth President of the United States from 1877-1881.

Hayes' signature is displayed in a 50 x 28 cm. frame on a note addressed to General H. H. Sibley.  Henry Hastings Sibley had been the first Governor of Minnesota. A photograph of the Hayes and an invitation to a reception with the President accompany the signature.

James Garfield served as the twentieth President of the United States from March 1881 to September 1881.  On July 2, 1881, he was shot by an assassin and lingered for over a month before succumbing to an infection from the wound.

Garfield's signature appears here on a fragment of a correspondence dated June 15, 1880.   The signature appears with a photograph of Garfield in a 35 x 48 cm.  frame. 

Chester A. Arthur completed James Garfield's term of office as the twenty-first President of the United States from 1881 to 1885.

Arthur's cut signature is accompanied by his photograph in a 45 x 27 cm.  frame. 

Grover Cleveland has the distinction of being the only President of the United States to serve two nonconsecutive terms. He served as the twenty-second President from 1885 to 1889 as well as the twenty-fourth President from 1893 to 1897.

Cleveland's cut signature is dated October 1st, 1905 and appears with his image in a 34 x 43 cm.  frame.

Benjamin Harrison served as the twenty-third President of the United States from 1889 to 1893.  He was the grandson of the ninth President, William Henry Harrison.  Theirs was the only grandfather-grandson duo to hold the office.

Harrison's cut signature appears with his photograph in a 40 x 58 cm.  frame.

William McKinley served as the twenty-fifth President of the United Sates from 1897 to 1901.  His second term was cut short in September when he was assassinated by an anarchist.

McKinley's signature appears on note of gratitude for some "beautiful flowers" that had been sent by E.H. Hunt to the First Lady and the President after his election in 1896.   The letter appears in a 46 x 59 cm.  frame, and is accompanied by an engraved portrait of the President.

After the assassination of William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt became the youngest person to serve as President of the United States at the age of 42.  He served as the twenty-sixth President from 1901 to 1909.  In 1912 Roosevelt again ran for office as a Progressive Party candidate and was shot in the chest.  Though he recovered physically, his campaign failed.

Teddy Roosevelt's signature appears in a 44 x 54 cm.  frame on a letter of thanks addressed to Mrs. John Lewis Childs in 1918 when Roosevelt was Chairman of the American Red Cross Second War Fund Campaign.  Mrs. Childs was the wife of the horticulturalist businessman who started the first mail order seed company.  A photograph of Roosevelt on horseback accompanies the letter.

William Howard Taft served as the twenty-seventh President of the United States from 1909 to 1913.  He is also the only President to have the distinction of serving as the Chief Justice of the United States.  He filled that office from 1921 to 1930. 

Taft's cut signature appears on an unused distillery warehouse stamp and is accompanied by a cut signature of  First Lady Helen Taft. The signatures appear in a 36 x 32 cm.  frame that contains a photo of the President, the First Lady, and an engraved picture of Zachary Taylor to the left of Taft's signature. 

Woodrow Wilson served as the twenty-eighth President of the United States from 1913 to 1921 and led the country through World War I in order to "make the world safe for democracy".

Wilson's signature appears in a 96 x 52 cm.  frame on a letter of recommendation for Forrest Hadley McLaury when Wilson was President of Princeton University.  The letter is accompanied by a portrait etched by Jacques Reich.

Warren G. Harding served as the twenty-ninth President of the United States from 1921 to 1923.

Harding's cut signature appears with his portrait in a 40 x 24 cm.  frame. 

Calvin Coolidge was the thirtieth President of the United States and served from 1923 to 1929.

Coolidge's signature appears on a letter dated August 3rd, 1928, wherein he thanks Father [Elie] Theillon [manager of the Chantilly, Minn., Dairy Association] for some cheese he had received.  The letter is in a 37 x 42 cm.  frame and is accompanied by a sketch of President Coolidge. 

Herbert Hoover served as the thirty-first President of the United States from 1929 to 1933.

Hoover's signature appears on a letter to American author and playwright Ruth Comfort Mitchell Young about a speech that will be given to the American Farm Bureau Federation.  The letter is accompanied by a picture of the president in a 40 x 51 cm.  frame. 

Franklin D. Roosevelt served as the thirty-second President of the United States from 1933 to 1945. He is the only President to have been elected to office four times.  His leadership during the Great Depression helped the citizens of the United States regain faith in themselves.  He led the United States through World War II and died shortly before the conclusion of the European theater of war.

Below is a 38x72 cm frame that features three letters and one photograph. The first letter on the left is from when Franklin Roosevelt was governor of New York, the letter is dated June 29th,1931. The photograph shows Franklin with his wife, Eleanor, and his mother, Sara together during his inauguration day as governor of New York.

Harry Truman completed Franklin D. Roosevelt's fourth term of office and served as the thirty-third President of the United States from 1945 to 1953.

President Truman's signature appears on a photograph of him and First Lady Bess Truman in a 47 x 28 cm. frame.  The First Lady's signature also appears on the photograph. 

Dwight D. Eisenhower served as the thirty-fourth President of the United States from 1953 to 1961,  following a distinguished career as the Supreme Allied Commander for the European theatre of war during World War II.

President Eisenhower's signature appears on a letter of gratitude, dated January 31, 1969, to Mr. and Mrs. Harry Cubbage while he was hospitalized at Walter Reed Hospital.  The letter is in a 63 x 55 cm.  frame and is accompanied by a signed letter from the President's brother, Milton S. Eisenhower, to Professor Francis J. Murray of Belmont Abbey College in 1975. Additionally, above the letters are photographs of the President, his brother, and a signed photo of the President's wife, Mamie Doud Eisenhower.

John F. Kennedy served as the thirty-fifth President of the United States from 1961 to 1963,  when his presidency was tragically cut short by an assassin's bullet.

Kennedy's signature appears on a photograph of the President in a 43 x 30 cm. frame and is accompanied by a plaque from his presidency.

Lyndon B. Johnson completed Kennedy's term of office and served as the thirty-sixth President of the United States from 1963 to 1969.

Johnson's signature appears on correspondence with Sam Ramsey when Johnson was a member of Congress.  An additional letter signed by the First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson, is found with the President's signature in a 48 x 58 cm.  frame.  A photograph of both the President and First Lady accompany the signed documents.

Richard M. Nixon served as the thirty-seventh President of the United States from 1969 to 1974.  Despite a number of foreign policy successes, he is best known for his resignation following the Watergate scandal.

Two signatures of Nixon are found within a 41 x 51 cm.  frame.  The first signature is on a photograph of the President and First Lady Pat Nixon. The second signature appears on a letter to Belmont Abbey College Professor Francis Murray. 

Gerald R. Ford served the remainder of Richard M. Nixon's second term as the thirty-eighth President of the United States from 1974 to 1977.

The signed photograph of Ford appears in a 34 x 30 cm.  frame. The photograph was taken at a friend's wedding in 1942 when Ford was a navy ensign. 

Jimmy Carter served as the thirty-ninth President of the United States from 1977 to 1981. He is widely viewed as one of the leading ex-presidents in American history due to his humanitarian and peacekeeping efforts after he left office.

Carter's signature appears on a photograph of the President and First Lady Rosalynn Carter in a 42 x 51 cm.  frame. The First Lady's signature also appears on the photograph. Additionally, a signed letter to Professor Francis Murray of Belmont Abbey College accompanies the photograph. 

Ronald Reagan served as the fortieth President of the United States from 1981 to 1989.

Two signatures of Reagan are in this collection.  The first cut signature appears in a 51 x 36 cm.  frame with the cut signature of Jane Wyman, his first wife, and a movie poster from Reagan's time as a Hollywood actor. 

The second cut signature accompanies a photograph of Reagan as President in a 41 x 22 cm.  frame.

George H. W. Bush served as the forty-first President of the United States from 1989 to 1993.

Two signatures of Bush appear within a 41 x 51 cm.  frame. The first signature appears on a photograph of the President and First-Lady Barbara Bush. The second signature appears on a letter signed by George H. W. Bush when he was vice-president under Ronald Reagan. An additional letter signed by First-Lady Barbara Bush is also within the frame.

Bill Clinton served as the forty-second President of the United States from 1993-2001.

The President's signature from his time as Governor of Arkansas appears on a photograph in a 33 x 35 cm. frame.  Also within the frame is a pamphlet from Clinton's 1992 campaign in Charlotte, North Carolina.

George W. Bush served as the forty-third President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He is the son of the forty-first President, George H. W. Bush; the second time both a father and son became president.

The President's signature appears on a thank you note in a 41 x 46 cm. frame with a photograph of himself and First Lady Laura Bush. 

Barack Obama served as the forty-fourth President of the United States from 2009 to 2017. Obama is the first African-American to be elected to the presidency.

Two signatures of President Obama are in this collection. The first is a cut signature from the title page of the president's memoir, "Dreams from My Father". The signature is accompanied by a photograph of the President in a  39 x 53 cm.  frame. 

The second signature appears on a photograph of the President and his Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, in a 42 x 36 cm. frame.  The signature of Secretary Clinton, First Lady during the presidency of Bill Clinton, also appears on the photograph.

President Donald J. Trump served as the forty-fifth President of the United States from 2017-2021.  After a successful career as a land developer and author, he actively entered politics in 2015 and won the presidency in 2016.  He is the first President to be impeached by the House of Representatives twice in the same term of office.

No signature currently available.

Joseph R. Biden, Jr. served as the forty-sixth President of the United States from 2021-Present.

No signature currently available.