Turner Auctions + Appraisals Presents The Edwin W. Sims Collection Of Political Ephemera And Much More On September 13

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA, September 2, 2025 – Turner Auctions + Appraisals is very pleased to present the Edwin W. Sims Collection of Political Memorabilia, plus offerings of books, maps, historic collectibles, and much more on Saturday, September 13, 2025, at 10:30 am PDT. The sale showcases the collected archives of late Chicago lawyer and politician Edwin W. Sims (1870-1948), plus his family. Among the Sims family offerings are letters signed by Theodore Roosevelt and the Gemini IV astronauts, campaign and other buttons and pins from the 1910s-1970s, and Republican Convention ephemera from the early 1900s. In addition, this eclectic and diverse auction features John Lennon drawings; maps and medals of Europe; maps, real estate tracts, and related ephemera of the San Francisco Bay Area; vintage books and games; naval memorabilia; coins and stamps; tintypes and ambrotypes; Matson Line menus/art; and signed letters or cards of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Charles Dickens, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Presidents Rutherford B. Hayes and Martin Van Bren.

Turner Auctions + Appraisals begins its online auction on Saturday, September 13, 2025, at 10:30 am PDT; sale items are available for preview and bidding now. The auction will be featured live on four platforms: LiveAuctioneers, Invaluable, Bidsquare, and Turner Auctions + Appraisals’ free mobile app, which can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Apps (“Turner Auctions”). Both are easily accessed through ‘Upcoming Auctions’ at the company’s website: www.turnerauctionsonline.com/upcoming-auctions/.

About Edwin Walter Sims (1870-1948)

Edwin W. Sims was a small-town boy who became a big-time attorney in Chicago, Illinois. E.W., as he was called, was born in Ontario, Canada, but brought up in Bay City, Michigan, after his parents moved there when he was five years old. His father was a newspaperman, then a teacher, and young E.W. became a reporter, editor, and special correspondent on several Michigan newspapers. While he enjoyed these media positions and was very good at them, he recognized early on there was not much money to be made. In 1892, he began studying law and graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan. He was admitted to the bar in both Michigan and Illinois in 1894, then moved to Chicago, which was booming and where familial nepotism toward lawyers was not an issue, unlike New York, his other alternative. In 1898, he married Charlotte Smith, the daughter of a prominent Chicago lawyer, and they had six children – four girls and two boys. E.W. quickly became part of the Chicago elite, rubbing elbows with regional mayors and governors, and moving his family from a nice area of town to an even nicer area.

In 1903, he became Attorney of Cook County, Illinois; he was appointed as Special Attorney for the Bureau of Corporations in Washington, D.C., under Commissioner (and later President) James R. Garfield from 1903-1905. There he found a like soul in Theodore Roosevelt, whom he had met in 1902 and who appointed him to many positions, including Solicitor of the Department of Commerce and Labor and later U.S. District Attorney, Chicago (Northern Illinois) from 1906-1911. (Photo, right, Edwin W. Sims).

It was in this position that Sims, at the behest of President Roosevelt, became one of the best known trust busters in the country, taking on the wealthiest man in America, J.D. Rockefeller, and Standard Oil, the largest monopoly in the country. From 1906-1911, Sims prosecuted and won this complex case – made up of over 1400 separate violations! – resulting in a fine of over $29 million dollars, then the largest in U.S. history. While the fine was overturned on appeal, the ruling against Standard Oil was kept in force, resulting in a new era of railroad practices. 

Sims’ high profile continued, as he claimed to have proof of a nationwide white slavery ring, trafficking young women into prostitution. Although no evidence was produced, Sims’ attention to this matter helped his friend James Mann, chairman of the powerful House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, bring the Mann Act to Congress; this was passed in 1909 and signed into law by President William Taft. Other noteworthy appointments followed, including as the first President of the Chicago Crime Commission from 1913-1922. As Sims’ power and success continued through the years, he went on to own a large legal practice in Chicago, with branch offices in Washington, D.C.; New York; and San Francisco. 

While his power in the legal and political arenas was well documented, Sims, a staunch Victorian patriarch, expressed his power and control in other areas as well. His family compound, the Sims Ranch, was located along several miles of Lake Huron coastline in Au Gres, Michigan. The property included homes for his six children and their families, where they all lived. All were expected — no, required! — to come together every day to eat their meals, with food that Sims decided, at the main “Ranch House” of Sims and his wife. Furthermore, to ensure the future well-being of his four daughters, Sims personally chose their husbands for them, although some initial matches proved not to be ideal. Through his political connections, he also was able to arrange that U.S. Highway 23 was rerouted through Au Gres on its way from Jacksonville, Florida, to Mackinaw City, Michigan. This effort also enabled Sims to take full advantage of the money the government paid to build a highway through private property, making him even richer.

From the standpoint of his collections, he was a thorough archivist of his storied career and was well aware of what he had achieved, amassing personal memorabilia until he died. This is according to his great-granddaughter B. Gail Demko, whose website, Sims Family Cemetery, provides comprehensive information on Edwin Sims and his family. “He ran the show and wanted things just so,” she said. “E.W. was the only personality allowed in the family, and he had an ego the size of the City of Chicago.” Although a number of valuable items were sold off decades ago by his younger son – including, sadly, a six-foot tall carved ivory tusk gifted by Roosevelt – a number of scrapbooks and other materials remained, recovered from a dirt-floor shed near the Great Lakes Naval Base, north of Chicago. Originally there were nine scrapbooks: six were given to the University of Michigan or the Canadian Historical Society, and three disappeared. Nonetheless, the lots in this auction include noteworthy elements of Sims’ extensive legal and political career during a dynamic era in Chicago and American history.

Some highlights of the Sims collection include correspondence with Theodore Roosevelt, with whom he shared a love of the outdoors, fishing, and hunting. In 1912, Sims served as the treasurer of the national primary when Roosevelt and William Howard Taft were vying to be the Republican candidate for president. After Taft won the primary, Roosevelt formed the Bull Moose Party to run against Taft and Democrat Woodrow Wilson. However, this split the right-leaning ticket, allowing Wilson to become president – who soon after sent a sarcastic telegram thanking Sims for Wilson’s electoral-vote win in Illinois! There is also the contract that Sims prepared for the 1927 “The Long Count Fight” between Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney for the undisputed heavyweight championship (Tunney won) — plus related ephemera. Another item of interest is the scrapbook with little drawings of Sims by his friend, Sidney Smith, who created “The Gumps” comic strip, which ran in newspapers for 42 years. And collectors of political ephemera will be interested in the many pins and buttons supporting political candidates and other causes in decades past.

Why is the Sims collection going to auction now? Gail Demko, who is also in charge of the acre-large family cemetery near Au Gres, Michigan, says the proceeds will go to support the cemetery, enabling more family members to rest there when the time comes. In the meantime, collectors of history and ephemera will find the sale’s offerings to be most interesting, just like Edwin W. Sims’ own fascinating life and story.

Here below are some highlights of the upcoming online sale (please see lot details in the online catalog):

Lot 3:  JOHN LENNON (1940-1980). Print-Multiple. Serigraph. Title: Lennon Broadhurst Theatre – New York. Ed. 805 / 1000. 23 x 20 in. Image. 33 x 35 ½ in. Frame. Signed by Yoko Ono Lennon lower left. Condition: no damage found; not examined out of frame. Certificate of Authenticity from Bag One Arts Inc.  Estimate $400-$600.

Lot 25:  WYLD, JAMES, The Elder (1790-1836). Partial and disbound: A General Atlas, Containing Maps illustrating some important periods in Ancient History and distinct Maps of the several Empires, Kingdoms and States in the World, From Original Drawings according to the latest Treaties by J. Wyld and Engraved by N. R. Hewitt. Edinburgh, Printed for John Thomson & Co. etc. [n.d.]. Folio. 30 map plates (out of 44), all with scenic detail engravings and hand-colored borders. With an archival box. Condition: Majority are good, with occasional edge tears, and all have some degree of soiling and spotting; but several are Poor-Fair, with losses and paper tape repairs (as noted); several with more significant dark staining. (See more information online.) Estimate $400-$600.

Lot 34: SPEED, JOHN (1551/52-1629). The Kingdome of Denmarke. To be sold by G. Humble. Dated 1626 version. Hand-colored map with decorative border panels of figures and city vistas. Center fold; English text verso. 16 4/8″ x 20 7/8″; two-sided frame 18 1/8″ x 22 3/4.” Condition appears very good. Note: not examined out of frame. Estimate $300-$500.

LOT 63: BAY AREA REAL ESTATE AUCTION BROCHURES/MAPS, 19TH CENTURY. A group of late 19th-century real estate auction brochures with tract maps, and a land purchase booklet. Condition: edge/fold tears and some corner losses, fold creases, toning, notations, and as described. (See lot details on website.) Estimate $150-$250.

LOT 101: SAN FRANCISCO POLL TAX RECEIPT, ASSESSOR WASHINGTON DODGE [TITANIC]. A State of California, City and County of San Francisco Poll Tax Receipt, Two Dollars, 1910. Facsimile signatures include Assessor Washington Dodge (1859-1919). The pencil signature unclear. Filled out for R. Harisberg(?), at 4396 17th. Dodge was a survivor of the sinking of the Titanic, April 15, 1912. He left his position as San Francisco Tax Assessor July 23, 1912. 3 3/4″ x 6 1/8.” Condition: numerous fold creases; large fold tear at left margin; small edge tears/creases; scattered toning. Estimate $150-$250.

LOT 100:  JAPANESE ALBUM OF HAND-COLORED PHOTOGRAPHS. Japan, Circa First Quarter 20th Century. A black lacquer album of approx. 48 hand-colored commercial photographs of villages/daily life, temples, gardens, lakes, landscape scenes around Japan, including Tokyo and Kyoto, several with female figures in interiors. 10 3/4″ x 14″. Condition: the cover is detached, back nearly detached, and both with spots of wear/scuffing; the spine is missing; slight bowing to board leaves, primarily at corners; leaves with toning, foxing, and areas of staining/soiling at margins; tissue leaves mostly present, but spotted and creased, some detached. Estimate $200-$300.

LOT 139: VINTAGE MATSON LINE MENUS (9), ART BY EUGENE SAVAGE (1883-1978). Group of nine menus from the Matson Line, S.S. Lurline, featuring the art of Eugene Savage, dated 1950 (1) and 1951, various days (8). 13 3/4″ x 10 1/2″ (13 3/4″ x 21″ opened). Including five designs, with multiples. Condition: overall good, with some toning/soiling; one with tape lower margin; one more toned damaged than the others. Estimate $150-$250.

LOT 118: GROUP OF UNION CASED TINTYPES, PHOTOS, AND A DAGUERREOTYPE (7). A sixth plate Daguerreotype of a bearded gent (with surface damage), in a brown octagonal Union Case (3 3/4″ x 3 3/8″). Together with three tintypes in rectangular black and brown Union Cases (the largest 3 7/8″ x 3 1/2″), one two-sided with paper underneath left side identifying subject as Mr. Woodhouse. And three miscellaneous others in smaller rectangular/ octagonal Union Cases (one with loss), tintypes and paper photos. Estimate $100-$200.

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LOT 176: TUNNEY VS. DEMPSEY “THE LONG COUNT FIGHT” CONTRACTS AND EPHEMERA. Attorney Edwin W. Sims’ collection of ephemera related to the World’s Heavyweight Championship boxing rematch between James Joseph “Gene” Tunney (1897-1978) and William Harrison “Jack” Dempsey (1895-1983), September 22, 1927, Soldier Field, Chicago. Dempsey, in his last career fight, was defeated by Tunney for the second time. Because of conflicting counts, the fight came to be known as “The Long Count Fight.” (See lot details on website.) FROM THE FAMILY OF EDWIN WALTER SIMS (1870-1948). Estimate $600-$800.

LOT 148:  RALPH WALDO EMERSON (1803-1882), PHOTOGRAPH AND SIGNATURE. Cabinet card portrait photograph of the American poet, essayist, philosopher by John S. Notman & Co., Boston, depicting Emerson seated in an armchair and holding an open book. With clipped signature, R. W. Emerson, glued to bottom of mount (approx. 1″ x 2 7/8″). Image 6 1/4″ x 4″; mount 6 7/16″ x 4 1/8″. Condition: two horizontal creases in the image at left margin (appears to have happened when laid down); slight crease upper right margin; light surface scuffing/spotting; pinhole at top margin; glue marks at bottom of card, slighting extending into image. FROM THE GLADYNE K. MITCHELL ESTATE. Estimate $700-$900.

LOT 177: THEODORE ROOSEVELT TLS [LANDIS V. STANDARD OIL]. ROOSEVELT, THEODORE (1858-1919). A typed letter signed on White House letterhead, to Hon. Edwin W. Sims, United States Attorney, Chicago, Illinois, dated January 6, 1907. One page; 8vo (folded sheet). Watermark for Whitings Woven Linen. A letter of congratulations to Sims and the Department of Justice for the case of United States of America v. Standard Oil Company (Landis v. Standard Oil). The letter, with Roosevelt’s handwritten correction/addition, reads: “My dear Mr. Sims: What an admirable decision that was of Judge Landis’; and how fortunate we are to have so able and fearless a man and so fine a lawyer on the bench! Let me add my congratulations to the Department of Justice in having so admirable a District Attorney in Illinois. Faithfully yours, Theodore Roosevelt”. Kenesaw Mountain Landis (1866-1944) presided over the case and imposed a +$29 million fine for Standard Oil’s acceptance of rebates on freight tariffs from railroads that carried oil for the Rockefeller Co.; it was the largest fine imposed on a corporation at that time. Condition: horizontal center fold crease; light toning and soiling, and a few scattered spots; paperclip stain on last blank page, which slightly bleeds through to header. FROM THE FAMILY OF EDWIN WALTER SIMS (1870-1948). Estimate $400-$600. (Photo, page 2, left)

LOT 185: THEODORE ROOSEVELT 1912 “THE WINNER” BUTTON, WITH OTHERS. [1912 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.] Theodore Roosevelt “The Winner” pinback portrait button, positing Roosevelt lost the nomination/ election, but “won” in public opinion; label on back for National Equipment Co., New York. 2″ diam. Condition: some wear/surface scuffing. Together with: two “Our Next President, Roosevelt” portrait pins (3/4″ and 7/8″ diam); a McKinley second-term double portrait pin with Roosevelt and a “Count Me for [McKinley] And a Full [dinner pail]” (the larger 1 1/8″ diam.). FROM THE FAMILY OF EDWIN WALTER SIMS (1870-1948). Estimate $200-$400.

LOT 183: 1912 REPUBLICAN CONVENTION, THEODORE ROOSEVELT EPHEMERA/PINS. A group of 1912 election ephemera and pins from the collection of then former U.S. District Attorney Edwin W. Sims, relating to his attendance at the Republican Party Convention in Chicago, in support of Theodore Roosevelt. After losing his party’s nomination, Roosevelt ran under a third/Progressive Party (Bull Moose Party), splitting from incumbent William Howard Taft’s re-nomination faction. Ephemera includes items tipped-on or laid down on two loose scrapbook sheets. (See lot detail on website.) FROM THE FAMILY OF EDWIN WALTER SIMS (1870-1948). Estimate $500-$700.

LOT 184: 920S CAMPAIGN BUTTONS, HARDING, COOLIDGE, HOOVER, OTHERS. WARREN G. HARDING (1865-1923) and CALVIN COOLIDGE (1872-1933), group of 1920 campaign pinback buttons: 13 Harding portraits, 3/4″ diam; and 17 assorted Harding and Coolidge, 11/16″ to approx. 3/4.” With a 1924 “Keep Square Deal Coolidge” (approx. 7/8″ diam.), and a “Coolidge” (approx. 3/4″ diam.). HERBERT HOOVER (1929-1933), AND VARIOUS: a 1928 “Hoover for President” and another Hoover (approx. 3/4″ and 7/8″); two Hoover tin litho lapel clips (5/8″); and a Hoover bar pin. Together with a “Davis and Bryan”; “I’m For Hiram” (Johnson); and four for General Leonard Wood (one very worn; one dented). Ranging from approx. 5/8″ to 7/8″. FROM THE FAMILY OF EDWIN WALTER SIMS (1870-1948). Estimate $150-$250.

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ABOUT TURNER AUCTIONS + APPRAISALS

Based in South San Francisco, Turner Auctions + Appraisals was founded by Stephen Turner to expand and complement the capabilities of Stephen G. Turner Associates, an auction and appraisal consulting firm founded in 2004. Turner Auctions + Appraisals presents online auctions in diverse categories of personal property (www.turnerauctionsonline.com). Among them are Fine Arts, Decorative Arts, Asian Arts, Toys, Jewelry, Militaria, Ethnic Arts, and others. The company offers a range of auction and appraisal services for buyers, sellers, and collectors. Online auctions are held several times a month. Working with leading live and online auction houses on the West Coast since 1991, Turner is a professional appraiser of personal property and seasoned auctioneer. His areas of expertise include fine art, decorative arts, antiques & residential contents. 

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