Morey letter

On October 20, 1880, the New York newspaper, The Truth, published a letter that was supposed to have been written by President James Garfield to an "H.L. Morey" of Lynn, Massachusetts. The letter was purported to have been written in January of 1879. The letter was just three sentences written on congressional stationery, implying that Garfield favored increased Chinese immigration. Chinese immigration had become a highly politicized issue and all candidates were on record as being against further immigration. Garfield made no comment on the letter, because he couldn't be sure whether he had written it. Experts eventually declared the document a forgery, but the delay and silence by Garfield hurt him politically.

Related Topics:
James Garfield - Lynn, Massachusetts

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Reporters went to work looking for the recipient of the letter in Lynn, Massachusetts, but could find no person with that name. On October 26, 1880 Garfield submitted a handwritten version of the letter, which was published in newspapers so readers could compare the handwriting and judge for themselves. Garfield went on to win the election.

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