AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED AND MARKED 'PRIVATE', FROM MILWAUKEE, DEC. 29, 1862, TO JOHN W. WHITING, ESQ., DISCUSSING THE DAMAGE TO BONDHOLDERS CAUSED BY AN UNFAIR, PENDING JUDICIAL SALE OF LANDS AND PROPERTY OF THE LA CROSSE AND MILWAUKEE RAILROAD

7.75" x 9.75". [4] pp, folded, entirely in ink manuscript. Old folds [light dust along a few folds], minimal foxing. Small tear to outer margin of first leaf [no text loss]. Very Good.

Levi Hubbell [1808-1876] graduated from Union College and moved to Wisconsin in 1844. He became circuit judge for the Second Judicial Circuit in 1848; Associate Justice, and Chief Justice [1851] of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. President Grant appointed him U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Hubbell resigned from the Wisconsin Supreme Court when he was accused of bribery, though he was acquitted after impeachment charges. As U.S. Attorney, Hubbell again resigned over accusations of connection to the Whiskey Ring.
Hubbell advises the bondholders' lawyer of the biased decision of Judge Miller-- a sweetheart deal for the purchasers, disaster for the bondholders, "a mockery." He offers suggestions to void the sale: "I understand that a considerable number of the land grant bondholders, whom you represent, are dissatisfied with the recent sale of the lands & road, in Judge Miller's Court; and certainly they have good cause for it." A petition to set the sale aside should preferably be presented "by some attorney from N. York... There is little doubt that Judge Miller is unduly favorable to the late purchasers." Confirmation of the sale would result in "a stupendous swindle, by which a very few are to be benefited." Hubbell explains that Judge Miller's decision created cloud on the title. The absence of clear title will inevitably depress the value of the property.