Charles Sumner Autographs
Charles Sumner (January 6, 1811 – March 11, 1874) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1851 until his death in 1874. Before and during the American Civil War, he was a leading American advocate for the abolition of slavery. He chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1861 to 1871, until he lost the position following a dispute with President Ulysses S. Grant over the attempted annexation of Santo Domingo. After breaking with Grant, he joined the Liberal Republican Party, spending his final two years in the Senate alienated from his party. Sumner had a controversial and divisive legacy for many years after his death, but in recent decades, his historical reputation has improved in recognition of his early support for racial equality.
Sumner began his political activism as a member of various anti-slavery groups, leading to his election to the U.S. Senate in 1851 as a member of the Free Soil Party; he soon became a founding member of the Republican Party. In the Senate, he devoted his efforts to opposing the "Slave Power," which in 1856 culminated in a vicious beating, almost to the point of death, by Representative Preston Brooks on the Senate floor. Sumner's severe injuries and extended absence from the Senate made him a symbol of the anti-slavery cause. Though he did not return to the Senate until 1859, Massachusetts reelected him in 1857, leaving his empty desk as a reminder of the incident, which polarized the nation as the Civil War approached.
During the war, Sumner led the Radical Republican faction, which was critical of President Abraham Lincoln for being too moderate toward the South. As chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, Sumner worked to ensure that the United Kingdom and France did not intervene on behalf of the Confederate States. After the Union won the war and Lincoln was assassinated, Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens led congressional efforts to grant equal civil and voting rights to freedmen and to block ex-Confederates from power so they would not reverse the gains derived from the Union's victory in the war. President Andrew Johnson's persistent opposition to these efforts played a role in his impeachment in 1868.
Read more about Charles Sumner on Wikipedia
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Traded items with a signature of Charles Sumner
The most expensive item with a signature of Charles Sumner (1870-1880 13vol The Works of Charles Sumner Half Calf Subscriber's Copy Signed) was sold in November 2025 for $8,076.60 while the cheapest item (19th Century California Congressman Charles Sumner Signed Autograph Slip) found a new owner for $0.99 in October 2015. The month with the most items sold (5) was August 2025 with an average selling price of $365.00 for an autographed item of Charles Sumner. Sold items reached their highest average selling price in May 2026 with $608.50 and the month that saw the lowest prices with $5.50 was April 2009. In average, an autographed item from Charles Sumner is worth $81.00.
Most recently, these items with a signature of Charles Sumner were sold on eBay - click here for more items.
| Picture | Item Title | Price | Store |
 | Charles Sumner (1811-74) Autograph U.S. Senator - Massachusetts Framed Civil War | $259.99 |  |
| Charles Sumner 1869 Autograph Letter Signed - Mentioning "General Grant" | $407.00 | |
| Charles Sumner 1869 Autograph Letter Signed - Mentioning "General Grant" | $407.00 | |
 | Charles Sumner engraving & signed Senate chamber 1871 letter 40th parallel | $608.50 | |
| Charles Sumner engraving & signed Senate chamber 1871 letter 40th parallel | $608.50 | |
| Charles Sumner, Autographed Letter Signed, 11/27/55, Six Months Before Caning! | $275.00 | |
| Charles Sumner, Autographed Letter Signed, 11/27/55, Six Months Before Caning! | $275.00 | |
| Framed Charles Sumner 12/17/1864 Autographed Signed Letter | RR Auction COA | $325.00 | |
| Framed Charles Sumner 12/17/1864 Autographed Signed Letter | RR Auction COA | $325.00 | |
| Framed Charles Sumner 12/17/1864 Autographed Signed Letter | RR Auction COA | $365.00 | |
| Framed Charles Sumner 12/17/1864 Autographed Signed Letter | RR Auction COA | $365.00 | |
| Framed Charles Sumner 12/17/1864 Autographed Signed Letter | RR Auction COA | $420.00 | |
| Framed Charles Sumner 12/17/1864 Autographed Signed Letter | RR Auction COA | $420.00 | |
| Framed Charles Sumner 12/17/1864 Autographed Signed Letter | RR Auction COA | $525.00 | |
| Framed Charles Sumner 12/17/1864 Autographed Signed Letter | RR Auction COA | $525.00 | |
