Presented is an 1858 Neal Dow handwritten and signed letter in which the “Father of Prohibition” expresses his belief that nation-wide prohibition will be “impossible for many years to come”. Dow (1804-1897) was born to a Quaker family in Portland, Maine. From a young age, he believed alcohol to be the cause of many of society's problems and wanted to ban it through legislation. In 1850, Dow was elected president of the Maine Temperance Union, and the next year he was elected mayor of Portland. Soon after, largely due to Dow's efforts, the state legislature banned the sale and production of alcohol in what became known as the Maine law. After serving in the Union Army during the Civil War, “The Napoleon of Temperance” spoke across the United States, Canada, and Great Britain in support of the cause. In 1880, Dow headed the Prohibition Party ticket for President of the United States. After losing the election, he continued to write and speak on behalf of the prohibition movement for the rest of his life until his death in Portland at the age of 93. Dow wrote the four-page letter in black fountain pen on 8 x 9¾-inch ivory bi-fold paper, which was itself folded in half and again in thirds, and signed his name “Truly Yours, Neal Dow” in the lower right of page four. The letter is dated July 6, 1858 from Portland, Maine, addresses “Brother Guild”, a British temperance activist, advocating the acceptance of the “Permissive Maine Law” in other U.S. states as well as England. This item comes with a LOA from University Archives and a LOA from Beckett Authentication.

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