“My State Occupies the Position of a Conquered Province” — Confederate Veteran Congressman Benjamin Franklin Grady, 1894

GRADY, Benjamin Franklin (1831–1914). Autograph letter signed “B. F. Grady,” three pages, Washington, D.C., May 21, 1894. Written on United States House of Representatives stationery to D. C. Wismer of Quakertown, Pennsylvania.

A forceful political letter by the Confederate veteran and sitting North Carolina congressman, opposing federal Sunday legislation and condemning the growth of centralized government.

Answering Wismer’s concerns about a proposed “Sunday Bill,” Grady argues that Congress possesses no constitutional authority “to meddle with religious worship, or with the morals of the people.” He denounces the government’s capture by “cranks, fanatics and unscrupulous tyrants” and blames Northern political influence for the erosion of states’ rights.

In the letter’s most striking passage, Grady writes:

“My State occupies the position of a conquered Province, and it seems a little strange that I should be called on by the conquerors to shield them from the results of their own teachings.”

Grady served in the 25th Texas Cavalry during the Civil War and represented North Carolina in Congress from 1891 to 1895. This candid correspondence documents the persistence of Confederate political grievances alongside late nineteenth-century debates over religious liberty and federal authority.

Condition: Legible handwriting throughout, with original mailing folds, light toning, and minor edge wear. A small tear or paper loss is visible near the lower right of the signed page. Accompanied by an older dealer description and catalog clipping.