Everett is most often remembered as the guy who spoke before Abraham Lincoln at the dedication of the Soldiers National Cemetery on November 19, 1863 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Everett’s oration, which lasted for two hours, was to be THE Gettysburg Address, but Lincoln’s two minute address upstaged him in the history books. Edward Everett had a most impressive resume. As a Whig Party politician, he served in the United States House and Senate, was the Governor of Massachusetts, Minister to Great Britain and secretary of state. He also taught at Harvard University and served as that institution’s president. He was one of the great orators of his day. He speeches were widely praised and much anticipated. It is therefore not surprising that Everett was one of many speakers, chosen through the years, to give one of the annual 4th of July orations that were presented in Boston. The tradition of the 4th of July Oration started in 1783. That year the Boston City Council voted to replace the annual observance of the Boston Massacre with a more upbeat celebration of the birth of the nation. Through the years often more than one speaker was chosen each year to deliver address at various locations in the city. Those locations included the Boston Common, Faneuil Hall, the Tremont Temple and the Old South Meeting House. Boston die maker, Joseph Merriam, commemorated Everett’s 1860 oration with a medal. The obverse features a bust of Everett with his name and his date of birth, April 11, 1794. The reverse features the phrase, “Boston July Fourth Oration by Everett,” encircled by a wreath. This piece is scarce, but it is not a major rarity. Years ago, I owned a beat-up example in white metal, and I have seen three others offered for sale. This piece is made of brass. John Bell and Edward Everatt ran for president and vice president on the Constitutional Union Party ticket in 1860. Known to some as the "old gentleman's party" the Constitutional Unionists were the less radical alternative for pro-slavery southern voters. They platform, which was only a couple of sentences long, stated that the laws that were in place could deal with the nation's problems. In the election, they came in third with 39 electoral votes and 13% of the popular vote. The same die that Joseph Merriam used for the Oration medalet was used for this for the reverse of this piece. The Oration medalet is not listed in the DeWitt/Sullivan book on 19th century presidential campaign medalets, but it should have been. The Constitutional Union Party had met in May and nominated John Bell for president and Edward Everett as his running mate. It is interesting to note that Merriam used this same Everett die as the reverse for a piece that he issued for the John Bell campaign. Women did not have the right to vote in 1860, but they still had influence. The political items producers made campaign pieces for them as well. This small ferrotype (The pictures are printed in a thin piece of iron.) is only about 20 mm in diameter. The photos are framed in velvet and there is a loop that could be used to hang the piece on a button. Small ferrotypes like this were made for all four of the 1860 candidates, Lincoln, Breckenridge, Bell and Douglas). They are quite scarce.
