AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED FROM BEDFORD, PA., 5 DECEMBER 1833, TO SAMUEL M. BARCLAY, HARRISBURG, DISCUSSING HIS OPPOSITION TO SAMUEL MCKEAN, CANDIDATE FOR THE U.S. SENATE SEAT VACATED BY GEORGE DALLAS: "DEAR SIR, I REC'D THIS MORNING YOUR LETTER OF SAME AND THANK YOU FOR THE INFORMATION IT CONTAINED. WITH THE ELECTION OF SPEAKER I AM PLEASED, MR. FINDLAY IS A YOUNG GENTLEMAN OF TALENTS - HIS INTEGRITY UNQUESTIONABLE, HE IS A GENUINE DEMOCRAT, AND THE SON OF MY OLD AND WORTHY FRIEND - THERE COULD NOT HAVE BEEN A SELECTION MORE GRATIFYING TO ME. IT WAS WITH GREAT PLEASURE I VOTED FOR HIS FATHER FOR U.S. SENATOR, AND IT WOULD HAVE AFFORDED ME MUCH PLEASURE TO VOTE FOR HIS SON FOR SPEAKER HAD I BEEN PLACED IN A SITUATION TO DO SO. "WITH RESPECT TO U.S. SENATOR, MR. SERGEANT THO A MAN OF EMINENT TALENTS AND STERN INTEGRITY HAS NO EARTHLY CHANCE OF AN ELECTION, AND HE HAS NOT MANY FRIENDS AMONG YOUR CONSTITUENTS, OF COURSE IT COULD HARDLY BE EXPECTED THAT YOU WOULD VOTE FOR HIM. RUSH, DUANE OR MUHLENBERG IN MY HUMBLE

Bedford, PA, 1833. Folio sheet, folded to 8" x 9-1/2". Written on the first two pages in ink manuscript. Docketed on final blank, "5th Dec. 1833 D. Mann ansd." Addressed, "Samuel M. Barclay Member H.R. Harrisburg Pa." Circular postal cancel, "Bedford PA Dec 7". Folded for mailing, wax seal with tear of blank margin where opened. Several fold splits [repaired, no loss]. Good+.

In 1832 and 1833 Pennsylvania conducted a marathon contest for the election of U.S. Senator, chosen in those days by the legislature of each State. The term of Senator George Dallas came to an end in March 1833. "The Pennsylvania General Assembly, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate, convened on December 11, 1832, for the regularly scheduled Senate election for the term beginning on March 4, 1833. A total of thirty-six ballots were recorded. Ballots 1-17 were recorded on four separate dates (11th, 12th, 13th, 15th) in December 1832. Ballots 18-21 were recorded on two separate dates (9th and 10th) in January 1833. Ballots 22-29 were recorded on two separate dates (19th and 20th) in February 1833. The thirtieth ballot was recorded on March 12, 1833, followed by three additional ballots on April 2. Following the thirty-third ballot on April 2, the election convention adjourned sine die without electing a Senator" [wikipedia; "U.S. Senate Election - 1832-33", Pennsylvania Election Statistics: 1682-2006, Wilkes University Website, accessed 7/21/2020.]
On December 7, 1833, two days after David Mann wrote this letter to his friend in the Pennsylvania legislature, the Democrat Samuel McKean, Mann's least favorite candidate, emerged as the winner.
The writer of this Letter, David Mann [1782-1859] of Bedford County, had been County Clerk, Recorder, Prothonotary under Governors Snyder and Findlay, a member of the State Senate from 1822-24, and County Auditor General. The Letter's recipient, Samuel M. Barclay [1802-1852], was a Bedford lawyer. He was admitted to the bar in August, 1826; elected as a Whig to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1833; and to the state Senate in 1837 [Website of the Pennsylvania State Senate]. Job Mann [1795-1873] appears to have been a cousin of David Mann. He was a Jacksonian member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania from 1835-1837, and a Democratic member from 1847-1851. He also served as the Treasurer of Pennsylvania from 1842-1848. (Inventory #: 36802)