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After the senators from the seceding states left, he remained the senior Democrat in the U.S. Senate and also simultaneously maintained “friendly” connections with his former colleagues who now led the Confederacy. He is often remembered as the last senator
to be expelled from the Senate for being a Confederate sympathizer and breaking his oath. The evidence against him was primarily a letter he wrote to Confederate President Jefferson Davis on behalf of arms dealer Thomas B. Lincoln of Texas on March 1, 1861. The brief letter, written from Washington, D.C., reads: “My dear sir, Allow me to introduce to your acquaintance my friend Thomas B. Lincoln, of Texas. He visits your capital mainly to dispose of what he regards a great improvement in fire-arms. I recommend him to your favorable consideration as a gentleman of the first respectability, and reliable
in every respect. Very truly, yours, Jesse D. Bright” It was addressed “To His Excellency Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederation of States.”The letter was found on Thomas Lincoln following the First Battle of Bull Run while he was working as an
arms merchant on behalf of the Confederacy and was used to show that Bright had recognized Jefferson Davis as the Confederate president and worked to supply arms to the rebels. He argued in his defense that it was not clear when the letter was written that war was imminent and that he had not intended recognition of Davis’s leadership of the rebelling states but was instead being respectful of the title Davis claimed. He also insisted that his aim remained the reunification of the states. Despite his statements, the Republican majority easily expelled him from the U.S. Senate on February 5, 1862. His home in Indiana was also confiscated and used for Jefferson General Hospital. Bright in turn moved to Kentucky where he re-entered politics at the state level. He was later the
president of the Raymond City Coal Company and died in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1875, leaving behind a large family, including his wife and six children.
CONDITION: Very fine. The revolver retains 60% plus of the bright original high polished blue finish, mostly silvered out case colors, and 95% silver plating. Wear
is limited to some minor flash pitting on the cylinder, light edge wear, and some relatively minor flaking on the top barrel flat and left side
of the barrel lug. The flawlessly executed scroll
engraving is crisp and deep. Nearly all of the
cylinder scene is present. The serial numbers
and engraved markings on the barrel and frame
are sharp. The slightly undersized deluxe grip is also very
fine with nearly all of the original piano finish and some
very minor handling marks. Mechanically fine. The case and
accessories are all very fine with the case exterior exhibiting only light storage
marks and an absent key hole escutcheon, minimal contact and compression
wear on the dark blue velvet interior, and a chip at the screwdriver tip. This is an exceptional and historic, deluxe, factory cased and engraved Colt Model 1849 Pocket revolver attributed as originally presented by U.S. Senator Jesse D. Bright in the antebellum era and documented as passed down through his family.
Provenance: The Peters Family; The Bright Family;
Private Collection.
Estimate: 27,500 - 42,500
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