Gideon Welles Autographs

Gideon Welles (July 1, 1802 – February 11, 1878) was an American government official who was the United States Secretary of the Navy from 1861 to 1869, a cabinet post he was awarded after supporting Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 election. Although opposed to the Union blockade of Southern ports, he duly carried out his part of the Anaconda Plan, largely sealing off the Confederate coastline and preventing the exchange of cotton for war supplies. This is viewed as a major cause of Union victory in the Civil War, and his achievement in expanding the Navy almost tenfold was widely praised. Welles was also instrumental in the Navy's creation of the Medal of Honor. Lincoln nicknamed him his "Neptune".
Gideon Welles, the son of Samuel Welles and Ann Hale, was born on July 1, 1802, in Glastonbury, Connecticut.\nHis father was a shipping merchant and fervent Jeffersonian; he was a member of the Convention, which formed the first state Connecticut Constitution in 1818 that abolished the colonial charter and officially severed the pre-American Revolution political ties to England. In contrast to the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, the successor constitution of 1818 provided for freedom of religion. He was a member of the seventh generation of his family in America. His original immigrant ancestor was Thomas Welles, who arrived in 1635 and was the only man in Connecticut's history to hold all four top offices: governor, deputy governor, treasurer, and secretary. He was also the transcriber of the Fundamental Orders. Welles was the second great-grandson of Capt. Samuel Welles and Ruth (Rice) Welles, the daughter of Edmund Rice, a 1638 immigrant to Sudbury and founder of Marlborough, Massachusetts.
He married on June 16, 1835, at Lewiston, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, Mary Jane Hale, who was born on June 18, 1817, in Glastonbury, Connecticut, the daughter of Elias White Hale and Jane Mullhallan. Her father, Elias, graduated from Yale College in 1794 and practiced law in Mifflin and Centre Counties, Pennsylvania. She died on February 28, 1886, in Hartford, Connecticut, and was buried next to her husband in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford. Gideon and Mary Jane were the parents of six children.
Read more about Gideon Welles on Wikipedia

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Traded items with a signature of Gideon Welles

The most expensive item with a signature of Gideon Welles (A. Lincoln 2x signed ALS to Sec. of Navy Gideon Welles w/ academy con... Lot 135) was sold in August 2017 for $14,000.00 while the cheapest item (Signed envelope Gideon Welles Civil War Secretary of Navy) found a new owner for $19.95 in December 2011. The month with the most items sold (3) was October 2017 with an average selling price of $137.50 for an autographed item of Gideon Welles. Sold items reached their highest average selling price in June 2025 with $2,249.98 and the month that saw the lowest prices with $34.00 was December 2010. In average, an autographed item from Gideon Welles is worth $123.38.

Most recently, these items with a signature of Gideon Welles were sold on eBay - click here for more items.

Picture	Item Title	Price	Store
	GIDEON WELLES - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 08/27/1847	$914.85
	GIDEON WELLES - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 08/31/1847	$1,222.42
	GIDEON WELLES - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 08/31/1847	$1,222.42
	GIDEON WELLES - MANUSCRIPT LETTER SIGNED 07/16/1866	$714.85
	GIDEON WELLES - MANUSCRIPT LETTER SIGNED 07/16/1866	$714.85
	GIDEON WELLES - MANUSCRIPT LETTER SIGNED 10/19/1861	$1,114.85
	GIDEON WELLES - MANUSCRIPT LETTER SIGNED 10/19/1861	$1,114.85
	GIDEON WELLES - NAVAL APPOINTMENT SIGNED 09/22/1863	$1,422.42
	GIDEON WELLES - NAVAL APPOINTMENT SIGNED 09/22/1863	$1,422.42
	Gideon Welles Hartford Committee Autograph Signed Anti-Whig Campaign Letter 1844	$2,624.98
	Gideon Welles Hartford Committee Autograph Signed Anti-Whig Campaign Letter 1844	$2,624.98
	Gideon Welles Secretary of Navy American Civil War Autograph	$225.00
	Gideon Welles Secretary of Navy American Civil War Autograph	$225.00
	Gideon Welles, Secretary Of The Navy Autograph Letter	$299.99
	Gideon Welles, Secretary Of The Navy Autograph Letter	$299.99