Scarce Autographed Letter Signed as Postmaster General of Baltimore

Baltimore, 1837. unbound. 4 pages, written front and back with each two-page spread measuring 10 x 16 inches, Baltimore, March 11, 1837. Written to an unidentified business partner who disappeared for several months without explanation, leaving a trail of unpaid bills. Skinner chooses to admonish the recipient while suggesting that he should try to regain his reputation, in small part: "...After waiting four months! I have at last your long 'private and confidential' letter, but not the one promised in it, to be sent to the company. I cannot describe to you how much I have been embarrassed by your long & unaccountable silence...I have been exceedingly disappointed especially after such long silence that you did not come on, as you told me you certainly would before the 4th of March. Nothing but some improbability should prevent you doing so now. I entreat that you will - for besides maintaining your high standards and standing with the company unimpaired, you may achieve other ends that will fully indemnify you for any expense of money. The Postmaster General cannot be pestered to grant to inferior 'hirelings of the Government' that indulgence which he denies to himself. Let me again entreat you to come on immediately. It is not to be imagined how intense is my anxiety that we suffer..." Much more excellent content. Several folds; very good condition.<br/><br/> American patriot, U.S. agent for prisoner exchanges during the war of 1812, and one of the foremost agriculturists of the 19th century. On September 13, 1814 Skinner and his close friend Francis Scott Key were held captive aboard the H.M.S. Minden where they witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry -- the event that inspired Key to write the poem "The Star Spangled Banner." In later years Skinner established the "American Farmer," the first regularly published agricultural newspaper in the U.S., and served as Chief of the Agriculture Bureau of the American Patent Office. His book "Elements of Agricultural Chemistry, from the French" remains in print to this day.<br/><br/>