Abraham LincolnABAA
968 résultats
1509réf. 3547615/09/1863. The letter itself was from Lamb a pallbearer after Lincoln's assassination Joseph Gillespie was a Whig member of the Illinois Assembly in 1840-41 and then served in the State Senate from 1847 to 1859. He joined the Republicans in 1856. Gillespie chaired the Illinois Republican State Convention in 1860 where presidential electors were selected who would vote for Abraham Lincoln and served as circuit court judge in Southern Illinois from 1861 to 1873. From when they met in 1840 Gillespie was a key political ally lawyer and trusted and intimate friend to Abraham Lincoln. They consulted on legal cases and in political matters where they kept each other informed of political developments. Gillespie visited President-elect Lincoln at Springfield before he left for Washington. When Lincoln was president Gillespie occasionally went to Washington to see him and kept him informed about the political situation in the western states. Their correspondence shows a close personal bond. James L. Lamb was a meatpacker industrialist and friend of Lincoln from Illinois known for his business dealings with the future President and his role as one of the pallbearers at Lincoln's funeral. In a letter addressed to President Lincoln Lamb wrote him from Springfield Ill. September 10 1863 to secure a position for a relative. “My friend and relative Mr. James H. Lea is an applicant for the position of paymaster in the army. His appointment I am sure would meet the approbation of all true friends of the Government who are acquainted with him. I have long known him as a reliable competent businessman and one whose integrity could be fully relied upon. His moral character is without blemish and the most satisfactory assurances can be given of his integrity and fitness for the position.” The docket states “Springfield Sep. 10/63 James L. Lamb to the President. Application for appointment of James H. Lea as a Paymaster.” This letter was not mailed by Lamb to Lincoln. Instead Lamb gave the letter to Gillespie to enlist his support and use his influence with Lincoln. Gillespie presented Lamb’s letter to Lincoln with his request that it be honored. Autograph endorsement signed Washington September 15 1863. “My old friend Gillespie presents this; and I would like for him to be obliged.” This is unpublished and not in Basler’s Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. The wording of Lincoln’s endorsement saying that Gillespie presented this to Lincoln and the implication that Gillespie will need to be presenting this to the Secretary of War raises the possibility that Gillespie handed this to Lincoln in person and then took the endorsement to Stanton. On October 10 Gillespie wrote Lincoln that the appointment had not yet been made and relating a communication with Stanton saying “I would beg to call your attention to the subject of the appointment of my friend James H. Lea of Alton to the office of paymaster in the regular army. Secy. Stanton told me that he would retire one now on the list to make place for Mr Lea in a short time. I have heard nothing from him since. I would take it as a great favor if this thing could be done soon. I am aware how much you must be pressed with business of an engrossing character at this juncture but hope you may find leisure to jog the secretary’s memory.” According to papers in the Library of Congress James H. Lea was appointed an additional paymaster of volunteers to rank from February 23 1864. He signed his oath of office in April. This is a fascinating endorsement showing how Lincoln sought to assist his old friends to the extent he appropriately could. <img class=""alignnone wp-image-25018 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204144051/Folder-site-11-1600x1327.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""1327"" /> unknown books
1861réf. 3521508/08/1861. ""It is said that the young man named within was in the Great Bethel affair. His mother calls on me to ask a Lieutenancy for him"" We have never before a document on the market referencing Bethel by name or referring to the battle as great Part of a private collection assembled at Sesslers more than a half century ago The Civil War formally began with the bombardment of Fort Sumter on April 12–13 1861 but the first sustained clash between organized armies on land was the Battle of Big Bethel also called the Battle of Bethel Church fought on June 10 1861 near Hampton Virginia. Virginia's decision to secede from the Union had been ratified by popular vote on May 23 and Confederate colonel later major general John B. Magruder was sent down to the peninsula to deter any advance on the state capital Richmond by Union troops based at the well-defended post of Fort Monroe. Confederate forces under Magruder defeated a probing Union attack led by John Adams Dix and field commander Theodore Winthrop who was killed in the assault. The Union objective was to push back Confederate outposts guarding the Yorktown Road but poor coordination and a nighttime friendly-fire incident ruined surprise. When Union troops advanced at dawn they were repulsed by well-positioned Southern artillery and infantry around Big Bethel Church. The battle ended in a Confederate victory providing an early morale boost to the South while exposing the inexperience and disorganization of Union forces in the war’s opening weeks. It confirmed that the conflict would not be short or bloodless. Abraham Lincoln was distressed by the Union defeat at Big Bethel. The battle underscored for him the Union's lack of military preparedness and the challenges in finding capable commanders reinforcing his determination to avoid future losses. During his presidency Lincoln would regularly meet with members of the public who would wait to see him in the foyer of his office in the White House. This included soldiers and their family members. Autograph letter signed Frank J. White as Captain of Company A 10th Regiment Fortress Monroe July 27 1861 seemingly given to the soldier himself or his sent to his family. ""Mr. Charles. J. Seymour has been a member of my company for three months and has gained my highest esteem for the excellent manner in which he has discharged his duties. He is well qualified to hold a much higher position than his present one."" Autograph document signed August 8 1861 on a detached leaf no recipient but likely Secretary of War Simon Cameron. ""It is said that the young man named within was in the Great Bethel affair. His mother calls on me to ask a Lieutenancy for him; and I ask a respectful consideration of his case."" Seymour received the promotion Lincoln requested becoming a lieutenant just weeks later on August 27 1861. He served as Aide-de-Camp on the staff of Gen. Daniel E. Sickles and was later promoted to major. He also assisted in recruiting efforts in New York City. This was acquired from Mabel Zahn at Sesslers in the 1970s. <img class=""alignnone wp-image-25018 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204144051/Folder-site-11-1600x1327.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""1327"" /> unknown books
1864réf. 3503129/10/1864. Journalist George D. Prentice's son was a Confederate officer captured by Union forces who would later be charged with murder George D. Prentice was born in Connecticut on December 18 1802 and graduated from Brown University in 1823. He came to Kentucky in 1830 to write a campaign biography entitled The Biography of Henry Clay and remained in this state until his death on January 22 1870 in Louisville. Prentice became the editor of the Louisville Journal the newspaper of the Whig Party. The main focus of this paper was the promotion of Henry Clay’s agenda and his multiple presidential campaigns. Prentice brought the Journal from upstart newspaper to the most widely read newspaper in the western United States because of his wit and command of the English language. Upon the failure of the Whig Party Prentice supported the Know-Nothing Party. Prentice then supported John Bell and his Unionist platform in the 1860 election calling for the Southern states to stay in the Union. Following the repeal of neutrality in Kentucky the pro-Union Prentice wrote in the Louisville Journal on September 19 1861: “Well thank God we at last have weighed anchor and set out for the haven of safety and of honor. Now let all possible sail be spread and the noble ship of state be driven into the lines of her insolent foe with the whole might of the valor and devotion of her true men.” Prentice became part of Lincoln’s core group of advisors for Kentucky affairs during the war. But despite Prentice’s Unionist satisfaction that Kentucky was no longer neutral his two sons fought in the Confederate army one dying in 1862 and the other being captured in 1863. The son of Prentice Clarence J. Prentice was one of the most colorful Kentuckians in the Confederate Army. From 1863 to 1865 he commanded the 7th Confederate Cavalry Battalion. Based in southwestern Virginia the 7th was composed of mountaineers who resided along the Kentucky-Virginia border. The unit was difficult to discipline and was regarded as a ""black sheep"" battalion by other units in the department. While some members of the battalion accompanied Gen. John Hunt Morgan on his last Kentucky raid they were part of the dismounted brigade. Prentice and the balance of the 7th was left behind to guard Pound Gap. In his ""Kentucky Cavaliers in Dixie"" George Dallas Mosgrove left a lively pen portrait of the young officer. He described the 7th as wild and difficult to discipline but added that the men were afraid of Prentice who was a crack shot. Major Prentice was captured on March 31 1863. George Prentice wrote to Lincoln to enlist his help in securing a parole for his son. In his letter to Lincoln dated Journal Office Louisville Ky. May 6 1863 Prentice stated: “I wrote to you last week in regard to my son Major Clarence Prentice now a rebel prisoner at Camp Chase. He would ere this have been forwarded for exchange but Gen. Burnside at my solicitation consented to have him detained until I could have time to hear from you. I think there has been time but I have received nothing from you either by mail or telegraph. I know that the pressure of the affairs of state upon you is very great. Perhaps you did not read my letter at all. Major Prentice is the only child left to me. My household is very desolate. My son is tired of the war but unfortunately he thinks the south right. I ask you to direct his release upon his taking the non combatants oath and giving bond and security for its scrupulous observance. If you cannot do this as I painfully fear you cannot I earnestly appeal to you to parole him to stay outside of both the United States and the Southern Confederacy until after the rebellion. I should scarcely venture Mr. President to make this appeal to you but that I think I have served the Union cause faithfully devotedly and successfully. I have suffered very much and sacrificed very much in its behalf—more I am sure than any other man in Kentucky; and I am likely even at the best to suffer and sacrifice much hereafter. I think there is not a candid and intelligent Union man in this state who would hesitate to say to you that I have saved it to the Union politically. “And now dear sir pray grant me what I ask in behalf of my only son. His mother is half delirious and so am I. I am scarcely capable of performing my daily duties to the country but if my request were granted I feel I should be buoyant with new life. Please let me know your decision soon for if my son cannot be paroled upon either of the conditions I have mentioned I want him sent forward as soon as possible to City Point as he is extremely uncomfortable in his present situation.” Ten days later Lincoln issued an order written on the back of Prentice's letter instructing General Burnside to parole young Prentice ""to remain outside the limits of both the loyal and disloyal States or so-called 'Confederate States’…during the present rebellion and to abstain from in any wise aiding or abetting said rebellion."" He was released in May 1863. However Clarence Prentice immediately upon his release from Camp Chase violated his oath and re-entered the Confederate Army. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel. Only a few months after his parole he was back to robbing banks burning courthouses and spreading terror and destruction generally along the Kentucky-Virginia border. In the fall of 1863 after being released from Union custody Prentice shot and killed a hotel proprietor named White in Abingdon Va. during a ""personal difficulty."" His trial was set for November 8 1864 in Abingdon and his father wanted to attend and assist him at his trial. George Prentice again wrote Lincoln asking for his assistance. Lincoln complied with Prentice’s request. Autograph note signed Washington October 29 1864. “Allow George D. Prentice of the Louisville Journal to pass our lines go to Abingdon Va. and return.” Prentice also wrote to Secretary of State William Seward on October 25 1864. A letter of Captain R. H. Baptist exists October 22 1864 to Prentice offering to give evidence in the forthcoming trial of his son saying “a conversation occurred between White & myself that ought to be made known in the trial of your son by all means.” Prentice sought Seward’s help in lining up Baptist up as a witness for his son: “Capt Baptist who formerly served under my son…and is now a prisoner…at Johnson's Island writes to me some facts which would be of vast importance to my erring child in his approaching trial…and which Capt. B. says he would state on oath…if he could be paroled to the Southern Confederacy or exchanged…I think that the exchange of Capt Baptist would subserve the cause of truth humanity and justice.’’ After being shown Baptist's letter Lincoln arranged for his parole so that he could testify on behalf of Clarence Prentice. Thus did Lincoln intervene twice to aid his Kentucky advisor. Clarence Prentice was acquitted of the murder charge. He continued to serve in the Confederate Army until the war ended. <img class=""alignnone wp-image-25018 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204144051/Folder-site-11-1600x1327.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""1327"" /> unknown books
1861réf. 377541861. It also includes the rules issued to the incoming prisoners taken in during the suspension of Habeas Corpus at the infamous Fort Lafayette by its Commander Charles Wood A remarkable group without precedent in its scope in our experience <img class=""alignnone wp-image-37759 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20260902194337/Lincoln-Oct-29-1861-1-1600x948.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""948"" /> In the opening months of 1861 with South Carolina out of the Union and other Southern states having called conventions to declare secession feeling was divided in Maryland. The tobacco counties of southern Maryland and the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay were secessionist. The grain-growing counties of northern and western Maryland containing few slaves were safe for the Union. But the loyalty of Baltimore with a third of the state’s population was suspect. President-elect Lincoln had to pass through Baltimore on his way to Washington for his inauguration. Allan Pinkerton's detectives uncovered a plot to murder him as he moved through Baltimore so he famously had to pass through in stealth and disguise. After the war broke out on April 12 1861 Confederate flags appeared on many Baltimore homes and buildings. On April 19 as the 6th Massachusetts Infantry marched through Baltimore headed to protect the capital there was a riot and a number of soldiers were killed by the mob. Pro-Confederate Baltimore activists cut the telegraph lines north pulled marking buoys from the harbor to prevent ship entry and destroyed bridges to make train access almost impossible while groups of citizens went to the White House to demand that no Northern troops be sent through Baltimore. In these early days of the war chaos reigned and suspicions of Southern sympathies were readily flung. John Williams a Baltimore-born steamship agent who had spent several years living and working in Norfolk Virginia was one of them. In early August 1861 Williams traveled to Boston where he checked into the Parker House under a false name and had shaved his mustache. The city's U.S. Marshal alerted that a man of some prominence from ""Secessia"" was in town traced him through the office of a steamship company after a two-day search. Once apprehended Williams acknowledged his true identity and according to a contemporary newspaper account of the arrest admitted to holding a commission — that of Major — in the Confederate army though the report qualified this as secondhand information and it may not have been so. The New York Times reprinted a story from the Boston Herald that covered his arrest under the headline ""Rebel Spy Arrested in Boston."" He said he had been in Richmond on the day of the Battle of Bull Run and that his purpose in Boston was to arrange payment for cotton belonging to Massachusetts owners that had been left in his charge as steamship agent and subsequently seized by Confederate authorities in Virginia. He was arrested and confined at Fort Lafayette the infamous military prison in New York Harbor then holding dozens of similarly detained civilians including several of Baltimore's arrested police commissioners and the sitting mayor of Washington D.C. In immediate command over the Fort Lafayette prisoners was Lieutenant Charles 0. Wood who was described as “brutal” by many of the prisoners. He had been a baggage handler on the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad before the war and had received his commission it was said from President Lincoln as a reward for successfully smuggling Lincoln’s baggage through Baltimore prior to his inaugurations When originally converted to a prison the fort was believed capable of holding up to fifty POWs. From the very beginning however twenty were held in each battery while nine to ten were held in each casemate. Before long there were often thirty-five to a battery and up to thirty in a casemate. . . . When the prisoners arrived at Fort Lafayette they were escorted to the office of Lieutenant Wood where again they were searched and had their names recorded. All their money was confiscated; they were given a receipt and then shown to their quarters. Williams's family and friends mounted a sustained campaign on his behalf almost immediately. Character references arrived from Norfolk and Baltimore attesting to his loyalty and denying he held any real military rank or authority — an odd claim given his own admission. His wife unable to reach Union territory easily from Confederate-held Norfolk required a military flag of truce simply to travel north. In the end her plight would make it from John Dix to Winfield Scott to William Seward to Abraham Lincoln. By late September Williams had declined to take the oath of allegiance required for release; by early October the War Department set firm terms — the oath plus a personal bond of $10000 guaranteeing his future loyalty to be approved by the United States District Attorney. A bond in that amount was drawn up in New York in late October executed jointly by Williams's son as principal and four sureties including Williams's own father and three other men. A joint bond however exposed each surety to the entire $10000 obligation should any of the others prove unable to pay — a meaningful risk for men who in some cases were only business or personal connections rather than family. Baltimore's Provost Marshal George R. Dodge functioned as the intermediary between the family and the military/War Department chain — writing on Williams's behalf to Butler and Dix forwarding Seward's letters relaying Dix's instructions. Williams's wife Cecilia decided to travel directly to Washington meet the President and press for her son's release and for the bond to be restructured so that each surety's liability would be several or individually fixed rather than joint. After a full day of frustration — hours waiting at the White House hours more waiting for Secretary of State Seward who never appeared — she and a companion finally intercepted President Lincoln in person. He heard her out and in a tone characteristically restrained even in victory said that while he never interfered with his Secretary of State's decisions he thought the bond might indeed be made several rather than joint. He gave her a note to that effect. Within days the change was formally authorized: each of the four sureties would be liable for $2500 rather than the whole $10000. Williams was released from Fort Lafayette sometime in the following weeks and was corresponding freely from his father's Baltimore address by mid-December 1861. <img class=""alignnone wp-image-37760 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20260902194446/Lincoln-Oct-29-1861-B-1-1600x869.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""869"" /> The 19-piece archive: There is a nineteen-piece archive documenting running from prison regulations issued days before Williams's arrival at Fort Lafayette through correspondence addressed to him as a free man in Baltimore that December. Selected items are transcribed here in full; the remainder are described and available for inspection. - The note Lincoln handed Williams' mother after encountering her walking by the White House fence Autograph document signed Washington October 29 1861 directing Seward to see Mrs. Williams given to Mrs. Williams by a fence post in the garden of the White House. ""Sec. of State please see this lady – She wishes the bond may be several & not joint. I think it might be so. A. Lincoln."" - An original set of rules for Fort Lafayette prisoners signed by the head of prisoners Charles Wood. Document signed Fort Lafayette August 3 1861. ""Instructions for the Guidance of Citizen Prisoners confined at this Post"" Fort Lafayette N.Y.H. August 3 1861. Standing prison regulations issued before Williams's own arrival transcribed here in full: Regulations for the guidance of Citizen Prisoners confined at this Post. §1. The rooms of the prisoners will be ready for inspection at 9 o'clock A.M. all cleaning etc. will be done by the Prisoners themselves unless otherwise directed all washing will be done in the yard. §2. No conversation will be allowed with any member of this garrison and all necessary communications in regard to their wants will be made to the Sergeant of the Guard. §3. No Prisoner will leave his room without the permission of the Sergt. of the Guard who will allow them to go to the privy every other hour during day time and twice after midnight at night. §4. Prisoners will avoid all conversations on the political affairs of this Country within hearing of any member of this garrison. §5. Light will be allowed in the prisoners' rooms until 9.15 P.M. after this hour all talking or noise of any kind will cease. §6. The Prisoners will obey implicitly the directions of any member of the Guard. §7. Cases of sickness should be reported at 7 A.M. §8. Any transgressions of the foregoing rules will be corrected by solitary confinement or such other restrictions as may be required to the strict enforcement thereof."" - Winfield Scott intervenes permitting Cecilia Williams to visit her husband. Letter signed Winfield Scott Head Quarters of the Army Washington October 25 1861. ""Mrs. Cecilia A. Williams will be permitted to visit her husband John Williams a prisoner confined at Fort Lafayette. Winfield Scott."" - Cecilia Williams describes her meeting with Lincoln and her receipt of this note. Autograph letter signed Cecilia A. Williams to her father Baltimore October 31 1861. ""My dear Father After a hard days work I take my pen to endeavor to explain matters to you. I wrote you we were going to Washington. Accordingly on Tuesday night I went to Mr. Mentyell's house that we might be able to start in the early train. We arrived in Washington soon after daylight Wednesday and went to the President's house and sent up our letter but there were already 20 persons waiting for him and we were told to call at 1 o'clock as that was the best time for ladies. We then went to the State Department but Mr. Seward was not to be seen. His son read our letter from Gen. Dix and when we explained what we wanted he thought it could be done. We waited 3 hours for Secretary Seward but he did not come and we went back to the President caught him finally in a fence corner and told him what we wanted. He understood the matter directly and said though he never interfered with the Secretary yet he thought the bond might be made severally instead of jointly and gave us a note to Mr. Seward to that effect. We then returned to the State Department and saw his son again. He said it was no use to wait for his father that the proper documents would be sent to the District attorney in Balt. this Thursday morning. We returned to Balt. in the afternoon train and bright and early this morning Mr. Mentyell and myself went to Mr. Addison's office saying if Mr. Seward's letter came to hand saying that the other parties were reliable men the bond might be severally instead of jointly. Mr. Addison said we could have another bond drawn up and get it signed and sealed and get a letter from Mr. Deford saying the securities were reliable and he would fix it with the District Attorney in New York. We then went by Mr. Addison's instructions to Mr. Hanan U.S. Commissioner and he drew up the bond and we brought the signers except yourself to his office and had everything fixed and sealed with the U. States Seal and took it with Mr. Deford's letter saying the securities were reliable to Mr. Addison. He first said we could send it on by our friend Mr. Lawton but on reading Mr. Seward's letter a second time he said there was a mistake and the bond would have to go to Washington and be forwarded to the district attorney in New York. He promised me faithfully he would write to Mr. Seward this afternoon and send it and the bond on and also mention for fear of another delay that Fort Lafayette struck through should be changed to Fort Warren. ""Now my dear father do not be discouraged I am very hopeful that it is nearer right than it has ever been because we have both Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward in our favor and the most you can do is to see the district attorney constantly because it is to be sent to him and you must put your signature to make the bond complete. It is best therefore for you to be in New York because as soon as it comes to the attorney you can sign and I would not hesitate to press my suit keep at him till it is finished night and day but I need not urge you I know your perseverance. ""I wish you would telegraph as soon as it comes we will be so much relieved but Mr. Mentyell and I are going again to Washington on Saturday to see if the papers have been sent on and that I hope will be the last of your travelling and mine on this errand and soon we hope to have you both with us. My trust and confidence is in my Heavenly Father that he will give us the desire of our heart. P.S. I suppose there is no doubt about his taking the oath now do you think there is after all this extra trouble Perhaps you had better write and tell him and comfort him all you can. I think all now will depend on himself in haste. Does he know that he has to take the oath and give bond also"" <img class=""alignnone wp-image-37761 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20260902194603/Lincoln-Oct-29-1861-C-1-1600x951.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""951"" /> There are other documents in the group including: - Fort Lafayette receipt August 11 1861 for $59.89 in cash taken from Williams on intake itemized as good paper bank notes gold and silver. - A three-part exchange August 13–15 1861 concerning a visit by Williams's father signed by General J. Dix George Dodge and Col. Martin Burke attempting successfully to enlist the help of Winfield Scott. - Letter from a Lt. Wm. H. Wiegel to Cecilia Williams Norfolk Va. Fortress Monroe August 21 1861 forwarding a letter from her brother via flag of truce and offering to arrange her safe passage to Baltimore through Confederate lines. - Letter of introduction Naval Office Custom House Baltimore August 31 1861 to Simon Cameron Secretary of War vouching for Williams as ""a firm supporter of the government."" - Letter from Marshall George R. Dodge to Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler Baltimore September 12 1861 stating that Williams ""arrested in Boston as a rebel and charged with having been commissioned by the Confederate authorities has not at any time been under our surveillance"" and that Baltimore authorities had no charge against him. - A long Norfolk citizens' affidavit undated attesting to the fact that Williams was a simple commercial agent and had no military commission signed by several prominent businessmen. - Retained copies of letters of Secretary Seward and a letter of Dodge forwarding at least one. - Letter sending a pass from Lt. H. Van Rensselaer to Mrs. C. A. Williams October 25 1861 stating that: ""I enclose pass to visit your husband no passes are given to males."" - The original $10000 indemnity bond dated October 26/27 1861. A printed instrument docket: ""Dated October 26th 1861""; body: ""twenty-seventh day of October"" binding John Williams Jr. as principal and John Williams Sr. Thomas Jenkins James Flack and George McComas as sureties jointly in the sum of $10000 conditioned on Williams's observance of his oath of allegiance. Witnessed by E. Delafield Smith and Stewart L. Woodford notary public; affidavits of the sureties' worth sworn before John Hanan U.S. Commissioner October 27 1861. - Undated pass ""Pass the bearer to and from Fort Warren"" to Capt. Davidson Steamer Asst. signed Wm. H. McKim Capt. A.Q.M. - Letter from the same Chas. F. Wood now 1st Lieut. 9th Infty to John Williams Esq. Baltimore December 16 1861. Returning his pistol and noting four others belonging to fellow prisoners were sent to Col. Dimmick commanding Fort Warren. A remarkably complete archive showing not only Lincoln's clemency but the chaos and accusations of the early months of the war and containing a first hand account of meeting Lincoln himself. <img class=""alignnone wp-image-25018 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204144051/Folder-site-11-1600x1327.jpg"" alt=""historical memorabilia dealer"" width=""1600"" height=""1327"" /> unknown books
1851réf. 3655813/09/1851. This is our first such document <img class=""alignnone wp-image-36570 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20260526171629/Lincoln-Sept-13-1851-1-1600x604.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""604"" /> John H. Harris was a hatter in New York and then in South Carolina. In 1833 he came to Illinois to scout the land and in 1835 he returned with a group of prospective settlers from New York who established themselves in what became the town of Tremont. Harris laid out the village built a schoolhouse and built a church. He was clearly a major local booster and land developer. When there was a possibility for Tremont to become the county seat of Tazewell County in 1836 John Harris donated 20 acres of land and the citizens raised $2000 to bring the county seat to the town. Harris married Catharine Montross in 1815 with whom he had four children before her death. In 1843 he married Sarah Holder with whom he had one child. In 1860 Harris was a farmer living in Tremont with his second wife and their son and he owned $5000 in real estate and $400 in personal property. Abraham Lincoln represented Harris in three cases in the Tazewell County Circuit Court two of which he won and one of which Lincoln lost and appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court. This is the famous case of Harris v. Shaw. In 1850 Harris brought suit in the Tazewell County Circuit Court to obtain compensation by reason of the removal of the county seat of Tazewell County from Tremont to Pekin. This was because of his gift of the piece of ground in the public square of Tremont to the county on the condition that the county seat be located there. The judgment of the Court was against Harris and he carried the case to the Supreme Court of the State of Illinois. He employed Lincoln as his attorney. The Supreme Court case was heard on Jan. 24th and 25th 1851 in the city of Springfield. It was taken under advisement by the Court. Almost a year later February 4 1852 the Supreme Court finally affirmed the judgment of the lower court on the premise that in no part of the contract between Harris and the County was it stated that the county seat should remain forever as located. So Lincoln lost this case. As for Lincoln’s fee for the case and appeal he received $50 in cash upfront and a promissory note for another $100 due a year later — a total fee of $150 for the case. It is interesting to note that Lincoln had argued a similar case shortly before Harris v Shaw. This one was Adams et al. v the County of Logan and he had represented the County - and won. This is a very rare receipt for Lincoln’s legal services. It is our first. Autograph document signed Pekin Ill. September 13 1851. “Received Pekin Sept. 13th 1851 of John H. Harris fifty dollars in cash and his note for one hundred dollars due one year hence in full for my services done and to be done about his suit for the old court house property at Tremont. A. Lincoln.” In another earlier case in which Harris used Lincoln’s legal services Harris sued a Mr. Dean in an action of debt. The ruled against Harris and Harris retained Lincoln and appealed to the Tazewell County Circuit Court. A jury found for Harris and awarded him $19.95. <img class=""alignnone wp-image-25018 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204144051/Folder-site-11-1600x1327.jpg"" alt=""historical memorabilia dealer"" width=""1600"" height=""1327"" /> unknown books
1846réf. 3117130/03/1846. At the time Lincoln wrote this he was running for Congress It shows the relationship between perhaps the most famous senior and junior law partners https://vimeo.com/943731365share=copy In his nearly 25 years as a lawyer in Springfield Illinois Abraham Lincoln had three partners. He joined John Todd Stuart as a junior partner then started a new practice as a junior partner with Stephen T. Logan. In 1844 Lincoln and Logan took on William H. Herndon. In the fall of 1844 Lincoln was tired of being a junior partner. He had worked for senior partners with political ambitions and Lincoln wanted a younger partner to whom he could relate. Logan and Lincoln dissolved their partnership in December 1844. Logan wanted to practice law with his son David and Lincoln wanted to start his own law firm. In October Lincoln invited his friend William Herndon to form a partnership with Herndon as junior partner. Thus was born Lincoln and Herndon. The firm would become a legend. In all three firms Lincoln functioned as a general practitioner taking a wide variety of civil and criminal cases. Herndon did not disappoint his friend. He contributed to the practice by performing research for his older and more experienced partner building the firm's law library and overseeing young men who came to study law read the law at their office. Business began slowly for the new firm. Not until March 1845 was their first case heard in the Sangamon County Circuit Court. That first case was Hope v. Beebe et al and was action in debt with Lincoln and Herndon appearing for plaintiff and Logan for defendant. Here is a description of that case: A plaintiff Norwood had won a replevin suit against the Beebee also spelled Beebe Brothers in the U. S. Circuit Court Beebee Brothers v. Whitney & Norwood. Hope the marshal of the U. S. Circuit Court District of Illinois to help Norwood collect what he was owed retained Lincoln and Herndon and sued Beebee and others in an action of debt the intent being to collect money ordered paid by the court. Beebee and others named on the replevin bond in the federal suit failed to perform the obligation of bond - they did not or would not pay. Beebee claimed that he was unable to pay because of another suit that Norwood instituted against Beebee. On March 18 1845 the case was continued and heard again in July when Lincoln filed documents allowing for concessions on both sides. It was again continued until March of 1846. Lincoln with the help of Herndon then drafted another document seemingly pointing to the another aspect of the suit and explaining why the plaintiff should not have to drop the suit. In 1846 Lincoln was running for what would be his first elected position Congressman. In August he won that election and served one term. In March he was campaigning and seeking to gain support. Autograph document signed ""Lincoln & Herndon"" Springfield late March 1846 in the hand of both partners showing their collaboration. It begins in Lincoln's hand: “And for further replication"" before switching to Herndons for the lines"" to the said plea of the said defendants by them above pleaded said plaintiff says that to be further precluded from maintaining his said action against said defendants because of the matters in said plea alleged he ought not because he says that since the pleading of the last plea by said defendants to wit on — day of February AD 1846 the said replevin suit by the said Norwood and Turner against the said Beebees in the Said plea mentioned was by the same court at which it was pending determined in favor of the said Beebees and against the said Norwood and Turner and by the judgment of said court a return of the bacon in the plea mentioned.” Lincoln hand wrote the balance: “…Mentioned was awarded to the said Beebees and also adjudged that the said Beebees should recover of and from the said Norwood and Turner the sum of $650 damages and costs of suit and this he is ready to verify. Wherefore he prays judgment.” At that time Lincoln was preparing for his run for Congress his only national election until 1860. The parties would later reach an agreement in March 1847 and the court dismissed the case. Lincoln and Herndon received fees of $25 for their legal services. A final version of this filed document is published by the Papers of Abraham Lincoln as is the judge's further March 1846 continuance. The present document is three pieces affixed either by Lincoln or at a later date. This is the only paperwork from Lincoln and Herndon’s first case we have ever seen on the market. <img class=""alignnone size-post-window wp-image-25018"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204144051/Folder-site-11-1600x1327.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""1327"" /> unknown books
1864réf. 2373223/04/1864. A search of public sale records going back 40 years fails to turn up even one other example of this document After the firing on Fort Sumter on April 12 1861 enthusiasm for enlisting in military service swept through both the North and South. In remarkable speed two large volunteer armies were created. Except for a tiny number of professional soldiers all expected to be in service for a brief term. Not just soldiers but the public and political leaders had fooled themselves about the war's likely duration. However the patriotic hope on each side that the war would be over in a matter of weeks or months was dashed in the first battle of Bull Run on July 21 1861. By late 1862 no sensible person believed that an early end to the bloody strife was possible and the knowledgeable expected peace to be far off in the future. Facing a protracted war maintaining a sufficiently sizable army became the greatest problem facing both Union leader Abraham Lincoln and Confederate leader Jefferson Davis. In 1862 rather than institute a draft President Lincoln requested 300000 more men and assigned each state a quota. The states could meet their quota in any manner they saw fit. Most states offered cash incentives known as bounties to gain recruits. Depending on where one enlisted the combination of local state and federal bounties could exceed $1000. But the 1862 policy also did not recruit enough troops. <img class=""alignnone wp-image-24611 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204150003/Lincoln-April-23-1864-2-1600x602.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""602"" /> As the war dragged on with no end in sight the inflow of volunteers was drying up and the Union needed to keep the ranks filled. The U.S. Congress resorted to the first draft in the country’s history in March 1863. All able-bodied men between ages 20 and 45 were required to be enrolled and available for military service. Draftees were chosen by lottery. Once conscripted a man could avoid service for that particular round of the draft either by paying a $300 commutation fee or by hiring a substitute to take his place. As in the South this raised accusations that the war had become “a rich man’s war but a poor man’s fight.” Nevertheless in both North and South statistics indicate that wealthy men were represented in the service in at least the same proportion as they were in the general population. A lot of blood was spilled in 1863 with the battles of Chancellorsville Gettysburg Vicksburg Chickamauga and Chattanooga among others. By year’s end President Lincoln and the Union leadership realized that more men were needed for the army and urgently. On February 1 1864 Lincoln called for 500000 men to serve for three years or for the duration of the war. Then on March 15 he supplemented this with a call for 250000 more. There would be another draft call in December 1864 but it was never completed due to the impending end of the war. The March 1864 draft call stated: “Washington March 15 1864. In order to supply the force required to be drafted for the Navy and to provide an adequate reserve force for all contingencies in addition to the 500000 men called for Feb. 1 1864 the call is hereby made and a draft ordered for Two Hundred Thousand men for the military service – Army Navy and Marine corps of the United States. The proportional quotas for the different wards towns townships precincts or election districts or counties will be made known through the Provost Marshall General’s bureau and account will be taken of the credits and deficiencies of former quotas. The 15th day of April 1864 is designated as the time up to which the numbers required from each ward of a city town etc. may be raised by voluntary enlistment; and drafts will be made in each ward of a city town etc. which shall not have filled the quota assigned to it within the time designated for the number required to fill said quota. The draft will be commenced as soon after the 15th of April as practicable…” It took little more than a week for everything to be in place. <img class=""alignnone wp-image-24623 size-full"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204145931/My-Movie-177ygbhbj.gif"" alt="""" width=""1920"" height=""1080"" /> The mechanics of the draft were that each state and district within a state were assigned quotas and the President would order that each state’s draft numbers and districts be implemented. This was the actual order for the draft. Then each individual district would receive from the President details of its requirements in a circular letter. One sees these individual district circular letters on the market every now and then. But what one never sees is the order to implement the draft for a state assigning the districts and number of troops being called forth. In fact a search of public sale records going back 40 years fails to turn up another example nor have we seen one before. Document signed as President Washington April 23 1864 being Lincoln’s implementation order for New York. “I hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of State to affix the Seal of the United States to the apportionment of the quota of troops to be furnished by the State of New York from its several districts dated and this day signed by me and for so doing this shall be his warrant.” An extremely rare if not unique document showing Lincoln raising troops on the macro level of a state. <img class=""alignnone wp-image-23729 size-post-window"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204152429/Folder-site-7-1600x1327.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""1327"" /> unknown books
1863réf. 423266New York: Baker & Godwin Printers and Publishers Printing-House Square opposite City Hall 1863. Softcover. Very Good. The earliest publication of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in book form preceded only by the exceptionally scarce 16-page pamphlet The Gettysburg Solemnities. Octavo. Stitched in the original printed wrapper with a publisher's advertisement on the rear wrap. pp. 1-3 4-48. Modest overall toning and rubbing to the wrapper some fraying at the corners part of the paper along the spine back is perished one vertical stain at the front wrap and title page a very good copy with a few scattered contemporary brown ink markings. Very light contemporary ownership name in pencil at the top of the front wrap. Housed in a fine quarter blue morocco slipcase with gilt spine lettering and two raised bands and with an internal cloth chemise. "Collection of Foreman M. Lebold" stamped in gold on the front cover of the slipcase. Foreman M. Lebold was a noted collector of Lincoln material and the eldest brother of Nathan Leopold one of the infamous Leopold and Loeb teenage thrill killers convicted of the murder of Bobby Franks which captured the attention of the nation. Foreman like much of his family eventually changed his last name to Lebold because of the notoriety of the trial. Lincoln delivered his speech at the dedication ceremony of the Gettysburg National Cemetery on November 19 1863 about four months after the pivotal battle that turned the tide of the Civil War in favor of the Union. His speech was preceded by an Oration by Edward Everett the most famous orator of the day. Everett's oration printed here in full took about two hours to deliver and is now largely forgotten. Lincoln's address was delivered in only a few minutes and is now celebrated as the supreme distillation of American values and testament to the sacrifices necessary to achieve freedom for all Americans. It is printed on page 40 of this booklet under the title: "The dedicatory remarks were then delivered by the President as follows: / President Lincoln's Speech. / Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation ." A well-preserved copy in the original wrappers. Sabin 23263; Printing and the Mind of Man 351. Baker & Godwin, Printers and Publishers, Printing-House Square, opposite City Hall unknown books
1862réf. 63833Washington. January 6 1862 i.e. 1863. Abraham Lincoln Writes on Behalf of an Illinois Friend Colleague and Patriot A remarkably moving and poignant autograph letter signed from Abraham Lincoln as president writing to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton on behalf of his former Illinois Whig colleague Martin P. Sweet who seeks to have a second son appointed to the Union Army even after his first had fallen in battle. Lincoln and Sweet were political colleagues and friends and the two shared the experience of losing sons at a young age. Not only had Sweet's son Lieutenant John J. Sweet died at the Battle of Gaines Mill on June 27 1862 but Lincoln himself had lost two young sons most recently his son Willie who died of typhoid fever in February 1862. Lincoln's brief letter to Stanton is fewer than one hundred words and contains the terse and eloquent rhythms that would categorize many of his most famous utterances including the Gettysburg Address later in 1863. The text written on Executive Mansion stationery reads in full: "Hon. Sec. of War; Sir Martin P. Sweet an Illinois friend of mine had a son a first Lieut. in the 5th Regular Cavalry who was killed in the battle of Gaines' Mill. He now asks that another son – brother to the deceased – be appointed to the place or a place in the same regiment in which the father says the officers tell him there are vacancies. The young man's name is 'Martin A. Sweet.' I shall be personally gratified if this can be done without difficulty. Yours truly A. Lincoln." The president has dated his letter January 6 1862 although based on the reference to the 5th Cavalry's role at Gaines' Mill in the summer of that year we must attribute this to an early New Year's error and assume that the date would properly be January 6 1863. Gaines' Mill took place on the third of the Seven Days Battles and was a major tactical victory for the Confederacy despite heavy losses on both sides. The "vacancies" alluded to by Lincoln would not be surprising – the 5th United States Cavalry suffered fifty-eight casualties in the fighting including all but one of its officers. It is unclear if Sweet's second son Martin Anthony ever received his appointment despite the heart-wrenching plea of his father and personal request of the President; in whatever case he lived through the war before passing away at a relatively young age in 1889. A "Martin A. Sweet" is recorded in the 6th Michigan Cavalry which was part of the Michigan Brigade and saw heavy action from Gettysburg through Appomattox. Martin Pierce Sweet 1806-64 was a native of New York who moved to Freeport Illinois in 1840 becoming a prominent local figure in law and politics. He and his wife Catherine Van Etten had six children. Sweet's policies mirrored Lincoln's own early views being firmly opposed to slavery through legislation though not a radical abolitionist. Throughout the 1840s and 50s Sweet and Lincoln were alternately comrades and opponents in the Illinois Whig party – in 1849 for example Lincoln backed Cyrus Edwards against Sweet for the appointment as General Land Commissioner and in 1855 he and Lincoln were both considered as alternatives to Lyman Trumbull who nonetheless took the seat in the Senate over both. In 1856 Sweet firmly backed Lincoln for vice president though he was soundly defeated by Dayton. From then on Sweet became an unofficial political adviser to the ascendant Lincoln – perhaps his most enduring legacy in that role was when he met with Joseph Medill and others to strategize on Lincoln's behalf in the Lincoln-Douglas debates one of which took place in Sweet's hometown of Freeport. Among their advice to Lincoln was that he should ask "a few ugly questions" including the famous prompt which resulted in Douglas' so-called Freeport Doctrine. Lincoln's ties to Sweet and the Douglas debates are made clear in a letter of September 16 1858 in which the future president wrote to his Illinois friend to apologize for a potentially disparaging comment fearing "that those villainous reporters Douglas has with him will try to make something out of it.I write this to assure you that nothing can be farther from me than to feel much less intentionally say anything disrespectful to you." A deeply moving autograph letter signed from Abraham Lincoln as president assisting a friend political ally and bereaved father prepared to lose a second son and give a last full measure of devotion for the Union cause. Light tanning vertical crease near right edge just touching signature. Very good. In a cloth chemise and half morocco and cloth box spine gilt. Michael Burlingame Abraham Lincoln: A Life Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press 2008 pp.486-557. hardcover books
1863réf. 376857New York: Baker & Godwin 1863. First edition in book form. 48 pp. 1 vols. 8vo. Original printed wrappers expert restoration to the spine. Housed in a morocco backed box. First edition in book form. 48 pp. 1 vols. 8vo. A lovely copy of the rare first edition of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address delivered at the dedication of a cemetery on the Gettysburg battlefield four months after the bloody and pivotal battle that turned the tide of the Civil War in favor of the Union. Lincoln's speech delivered in only a few minutes stands as a supreme distillation of American values and of the sacrifices necessary for the survival of liberty and freedom. Much controversy surrounds the circumstances and content of the address as it was actually delivered at Gettysburg. The words spoken in the speech differ in the versions appearing in newspapers and the text which appeared in Washington several days later published as The Gettysburg Solemnities and known in only four copies which is now taken as the closest version to Lincoln's final intent because of its correspondence to the known manuscript versions. Interestingly and according to Carbonell the text of the first appearance of the speech in book form published a few days later as An Oration Delivered on the Battlefield of Gettysburg i.e. the present printing is taken largely from the New York Tribune printing. Lincoln's address appears on page 40 and parenthetical notes are added indicating "applause" and "long-continued applause." A diagram on page 32 gives the details of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg. "Lincoln's speech composed on the train on the way to Gettysburg and written down according to tradition on scratch-paper and the backs of envelopes comprised ten sentences and took only a few minutes to deliver. From the first words - 'Four score and seven years ago' - to the last - 'that government of the people by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth' - it is immortal one of the supreme utterances of the principles of democratic freedom" PMM. PMM 351; Wills 191-204 261-263; Howes E233; Sabin 23263; Streeter sale 1747; Monaghan 193 Baker & Godwin unknown books
1863réf. 2972001/09/1863. A powerful letter showing Lincoln's direct involvement with the chief judicial military officer showing the merciful Lincoln at work and showing his prioritizing retaining experienced veterans in the service <img class=""alignnone size-post-window wp-image-29790"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20240123003955/Lincoln-Sept-1-1863-3-1600x295.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""295"" /> The Judge Advocate General of the United States Army is the senior officer of the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the United States Army. The position was abolished but then reinstated in 1849. In 1862 Lincoln appointed his first Judge Advocate General Joseph Holt only the second since 1783. He named Joseph Holt. Holt joined the Army as a colonel in 1862. As Judge Advocate General of the Army Holt oversaw the expansion of military law to include the military prosecutions of citizens who were not in the military service. By the time he joined the Army he believed that the only means to prevent treason from occurring again was to ensure that slavery was abolished for all time and eventually equal treatment under the law enforced in the South. At the beginning of the Civil War Joseph Carbery Lay had an office in Washington D. C. as an agent for the transaction of all kinds of business including procuring patents pensions back pay purchase and sale of real estate writing of deeds releases and other instruments regarding settlement of accounts with and claims against the Government. He quickly enlisted in the 12th Infantry Regiment of the Regular Army as a lieutenant. During the Peninsula Campaign in the spring of 1862 the 12th Infantry distinguished itself in its first combat action at the Battle of Gaines Mill in June 1862 while sustaining fifty percent casualties. Lay was a captain at that time. <img class=""alignnone size-post-window wp-image-29789"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20240123003932/Lincoln-Sept-1-1863-2-1600x746.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""746"" /> Captain Joseph Carbery Lay was cashiered - dismissed - from the Army on July 21 1862 for being drunk on duty and breach of arrest. Lay felt that an injustice had been done and wanted the dismissal revoked. In 1863 the matter came to the attention of President Lincoln who insisted on seeing the record of the case. He was always anxious to prevent injustice from being done and even a case in which alleged drunkenness was involved was not beneath his notice. Autograph letter signed as President on Executive Mansion letterhead Washington September 1 1863 to the Judge Advocate General insisting that he receive the records in Lay’s case. “Sir: I am told that Carbery Lay a Captain in the 12th. Regular Infantry has been dismissed by a Court-Martial. Please get the record and examine the case & report to me. Yours truly A. Lincoln.” <img class=""alignnone size-post-window wp-image-29791"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20240123004036/Lincoln-Sept-1-1863-4-1600x491.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""491"" /> Lincoln prioritized retaining experienced veterans in the service and sided with Lay as is indicated by the fact that Lay was reinstated by being appointed a lieutenant in the Seventeenth Infantry on October 30 1863 less than two months after this letter. While Lay was serving in that unit in 1863 it was present in engagements at Rappahannock Station and on Mine Run and marched with it until going into winter camp. In 1864 the regiment took part in the Wilderness Campaign and the operations before Petersburg inscribing on its colors Laurel Hill North Anna Bethesda Church Cold Harbor and Petersburg; while its records show in addition that it was also engaged at Spotsylvania Court House and the battle of the Wilderness. Lay’s problems were not over however as in June 1864 he was accused of having returned to his home in Washington without leave. He came back to base soon after and made a statement that he had been ill and sent to hospital and then had a difficult time rejoining his regiment. Perhaps to avoid disciplinary action he resigned from the Army a few months later on September 12 1864. Over the years we’ve had just a handful of letters showing the kindly merciful Lincoln at work and none to Holt. <img class=""alignnone size-post-window wp-image-25018"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204144051/Folder-site-11-1600x1327.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""1327"" /> unknown books
1863réf. 373004Washington D.C. 1863. 1p. plus integral blank. 4to 9-3/4x7-3/4 inches. Minor smudging to signature. Housed in a blue full morocco box. 1p. plus integral blank. 4to 9-3/4x7-3/4 inches. The first military draft in U.S. history was passed by Congress in early 1863 and signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln in March of that year. The Enrollment Act or Civil War Military Draft Act required the enrollment of every male citizen between twenty and forty-five years of age as well as those immigrants who had filed for citizenship unless exempted by the Act. It set enlistment quotas for each state and required states to draft men if they did not meet their enlistment quotas through volunteers. It also included the policies of substitution furnishing a suitable substitute to take the draftee's place and commutation paying $300 to avoid the draft which led to substantial resentment among working-class citizens not wealthy enough to pay their way out of service. Only July 13 during the draft lottery in New York City a riot broke out leading to three days of violence and destruction. Although initially focused on the draft the protests subsequently devolved into vicious race riots. The rioters were largely white and in the wake of the Emancipation Proclamation claimed to fear that freed enslaved men would migrate to the city and take their jobs. Since Blacks were exempted from the draft the Draft Act only heightened fears of Black migration to the city. The violence against the Black community in New York as well as against abolitionists was substantial: the death toll reached upwards of 120 and numerous homes and churches were burned. Since most of the New York State Militia was fighting with Union troops at Gettysburg the New York Police Department was the only force on hand to deal with the rioters initially and they were badly outnumbered and underequipped. By day four of the riots five New York Militia units had reached the city along with the 26th Michigan Volunteers and the 27th Indiana Volunteers and were able to start restoring order. Eventually there were several thousand troops in the city and they brutally put down the remaining rioters. Almost immediately calls came to suspend the draft in New York most notably by Horatio Seymour the Governor of New York who wrote to Lincoln several times in the weeks which followed arguing against the constitutionality of the draft and the inequity in its application. Lincoln replied on August 7 refusing to acquiesce to Seymour's demands writing: "I shall direct the draft to proceed in all the Districts drawing however at first from each of the four Districts towit: the second fourth sixth and eighth . I do not object to abide a decision of the United States Supreme Court or of the judges thereof on the constitutionality of the draft law. In fact I should be willing to facilitate the obtaining of it; but I can not consent to lose the time while it is being obtained. We are contending with an enemy who as I understand drives every able bodied man he can reach into his ranks very much as a butcher drives bullocks into a slaughter-pen. No time is wasted no argument is used. This produces an army which will soon turn upon our now victorious soldiers already in the field if they shall not be sustained by recruits as they should be. It produces an army with a rapidity not to be matched on our side if we first waste time to re-experiment with the volunteer system already deemed by congress and palpably in fact so far exhausted as to be inadequate; and then more time to obtain a court decision as to whether a law is constitutional which requires a part of those not now in the service to go to the aid of those who are already in it; and still more time to determine with absolute certainty that we get those who are to go in the precisely legal proportion to those who are not to go. My purpose is to be in my action just and constitutional; and yet practical in performing the important duty with which I am charged of maintaining the unity and the free principles of our common country" Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln Vol. 6. Three days later on August 10 Lincoln signed the present order to resume the draft in the Second Congressional district of New York the western portion of Long Island primarily Nassau County and part of Queens County. This is the first draft order following his refusal to Governor Seymour to suspend the draft in the New York City area. In full manuscript accomplishments in brackets: "I Abraham Lincoln President of the United States of America and Commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy thereof having taken into consideration the number of volunteers and militia furnished by and from the several States including the State New York and the period of service of said volunteers and militia since the commencement of the present rebellion in order to equalize the numbers among the Districts of the said States and having considered and allowed for the number already furnished as aforesaid and the time of their service aforesaid do hereby assign Two Thousand and Fifty 2050 as the first proportional part of the quota of troops to be furnished by the 2ndDistrict of the State of New York under this the first call made by me on the State of New York under the act approved March 3 1863 entitled 'An Act for Enrolling and Calling our the National Forces and for other purposes' and in pursuance of the act aforesaid I order that a draft be made in the said 2nd District of the State of New York for the number of men herein assigned to said District." On the same day as this order Lincoln would meet with Frederick Douglass at the White House to discuss his traveling through the south to recruit former slaves to fight for the Union. An extraordinary Lincoln document at a turning point moment in the Civil War. unknown books
1865réf. 376410Montauk Montauk Navy Yard Wash D.C. 1865. 4 pp. 8vo. Slight soiling and minor tears along old folds otherwise in very good condition. 4 pp. 8vo. ".About 10:25 P.M. a man came in and walked slowly along the side." A remarkably clear and dramatic eyewitness account of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln from a naval surgeon who was close to the President's box at Ford's theater on that fateful night of April 14 1865. In this letter to his brother written the night after the assassination while the details were still fresh in his memory Dr. George B. Todd surgeon aboard the U.S. "Montauk" at anchor in the Navy Yard that day recounts the terrible event with a clarity of observation one might expect of his profession-a rarity among confused eyewitness accounts. The text of Todd's letter one of only 7 eyewitness accounts written within 24 hours of the assassination reads: "The few hours that have intervened since that most terrible tragedy of last night have served to give me a little clearer brain and I believe I am now able to give you a clear account up to this hour. Yesterday about 3 P.M. the President and wife drove down to the navy yard and paid our ship a visit going all over her accompanied by us all. Both seemed very happy and so expressed themselves - glad that this war was over or so near its end and then drove back to the White House. In the evening nearly all of us went to the Ford's Theatre. I was very early and got a seat near the President's private box as we heard he was to be there. About half past nine he came in with his wife a Miss Harris and Major Rathburn and was cheered by every one. As soon as there was a silence the play went on and I could see that the "pres." seemed to enjoy it very much. About 10:25 P.M. a man came in and walked slowly along the side on which the 'pres.' box was and I heard a man say "there's Booth" and I turned my head to look at him. He was still walking very slow and was near the box door when he stopped took a card from his pocket wrote something on it and gave it to the usher who took it to the box. In a minute the door was opened and he walked in. No sooner had the door closed then I heard the report of a pistol and on the instant Booth jumped out of the box onto the stage holding in his hand a large knife and shouted so as to be heard all over the house - 'Sic Semper Tyrannis' "so always with tyrants" and fled behind the scenes-I attempted to get to the box but I could not and in an instant the cry was raised 'The President is Assassinated.' "Such a scene I never saw before. The cry spread to the street only to be met by another 'So is Mr. Seward.' Soldiers had gone. Some General handed me a note and bid me go to the nearest telegraph office and arouse the nation. I ran with all my speed and in ten minutes the sad news was all over the country. Today all the city is in mourning nearly every house being in black and I have not seen a smile. No business and many a strong man I have seen in tears. "Some reports say Booth is a prisoner others that he has made his escape but from orders received here I believe he is taken as a mob once raised now would know no end. I will not seal this until morning and I may have some more news. "April 24th. "I have had no time to write until now as I have been a detective. We have now 7 that are implicated. Why don't you write Love to all George" Several important facts regarding the movements of both the President and John Wilkes Booth are recorded here: 1 This appears to be the only eyewitness account of the President's inspection of the "Montauk" earlier that afternoon. 2 Todd's account of Booth's interaction with the "usher" sitting outside the President's box "took a card from his pocket wrote something on it and gave it to the usher" is especially intriguing and reveals not only something of Todd's powers of observations but also his proximity to the assassin immediately before the shooting. Todd alone among eyewitnesses notes that the "usher" first took the card from Booth then went into the box and that a short time later the door opened and Booth went in. In fact Good finds only 7 other eye-witness accounts of the Lincoln assassination as early as April 15-most of these witnesses record little or nothing regarding the events before hearing the shot itself and none of them noticed Booth's interchange with the usher who was in fact Lincoln's valet Charles Forbes. There are three other accounts by eyewitnesses which partially corroborate Todd's observation of the Forbes and Booth interchange-but they were written much later than Todd's. 3 Todd's observation of the time he spotted Booth moving toward the box "about 10:25" corresponds to Good's own conclusion that Booth fired the fatal shot close to 10:30 PM. According to James Swanson MANHUNT p. 419 "the exact time of Booth's shot cannot be fixed . Booth may have shot Lincoln as early as 10:13 or as late as 10:30" Todd's account - again one of the freshest and most reliable weighs heavily in favor of Good. 4 Todd by his own account played a role in alerting the nation by telegraph. 5 Although he doesn't mention it as a surgeon of the ironclad Montauk Todd was also probably present at the autopsy of John Wilkes Booth on Thursday April 27 in the gun room of his ship. Indeed in an article in the February issue of the Baltimore and Ohio Magazine 1926 where the letter was first published and reproduced Todd is reported to have been "one of the surgeons who performed the autopsy." That as well as the fact that the other prisoners were being held on board the ironclad "Montauk" and "Saugus" may explain his cryptic remark near the end ". I have been a detective .". Todd actually mailed the letter on April 30 3 days after the autopsy and may very have participated in the actual investigation of the captives aboard the "Montauk." AN EXTRAORDINARY AND UNIQUE RECORD OF ONE THE NATION'S GREAT TRAGEDIES. Published from a copy in the State Historical Library of Wisconsin in Timothy S. Good WE SAW LINCOLN SHOT U. of Miss. 1995; with the mistaken date of April 30 1865 unknown books
1864réf. 24088President Abraham Lincoln seeks counsel from his cabinet on the appropriate response to the massacre at Fort Pillow Tennessee three weeks earlier. More than 400 African-American Union troops and their white officers were slain many of them after surrendering. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Letter Signed to Gideon Welles May 3 1864 Washington D.C. 1 p. 8 x 10 in. With: FORT PILLOW MASSACRE LYMAN TRUMBULL. Signed Presentation Copy. Reports of the Committee on the Conduct of the War: Fort Pillow Massacre. Returned Prisoners. 8vo. Illustrated with 8 portraits on 4 pages of woodcut engravings after photographic portraits of Belle Island POWs. Contemporary green cloth gilt with morocco spine label gilt-lettered. First Edition. Washington D.C. 1864. Inscribed on front fly leaf: "Lyman Trumbull to D.J. Ely". The cover title of sammelband that contains two Senate Reports related to Confederate atrocities: 1. U.S. Congress. May 5 1864. - Ordered to be printed.Joint Resolution directing the Committee on the Conduct of the War to examine into the recent attack on Fort Pillow. Senate Report 38th Congress 1st Session. Senate Rep. Com. No. 63. Nevins I: 204. 2. U.S. Congress. May 9 1864 - Ordered That the report.be printed in connexion with the report of the committee in relation to the Fort Pillow massacre.Joint Resolution directing the Committee on the Conduct and Expenditures of the War. Senate Report 38th Congress 1st Session. Senate Rep. Com. No. 68. On April 12 1864 1500 Confederate troops under Nathan Bedford Forrest attacked a Union outpost at Fort Pillow Tennessee. After four hours of intense fighting Forrest demanded the garrison surrender. Although outnumbered almost three to one the Union troops inside the fort at first refused. Confederate forces eventually captured the position. According to survivors Confederate troops motivated by racial hatred proceeded to kill Union prisoners as they pleaded for their lives. It is unclear how many were killed after the surrender but first-hand accounts suggest that the numbers were high. Of 262 black soldiers at Fort Pillow only 58 survived to be taken prisoner; of 395 white soldiers 168 survived as prisoners. On May 3 President Lincoln sent a letter like this one to each of the members of his cabinet. Three days later Lincoln held a cabinet meeting at which each cabinet member read his opinion on the appropriate response. All agreed that the U.S. government should demand "an explanation" from the Confederacy. Seward Chase Stanton and Welles advised holding Confederate prisoners equal in numbers to the Union troops massacred as hostages; if the Confederate government avowed the massacre those prisoners would be executed. Usher Bates and Blair strongly disagreed with Blair pointing out that such a response "would not be justified by the rules of civilized warfare." Bates concurred noting that "retaliation is not mere justice. It is avowedly revenge; and it is wholly unjustifiable in law and conscience." Little formal action beyond a Congressional investigation took place. Perhaps the greatest impact that Fort Pillow had was on the morale of black troops. Knowing what their fate would be if captured on the field by Confederate soldiers black Union soldiers charged into battle with the war cry "Remember Fort Pillow!" Complete Transcript Executive Mansion Washington May 3d 1864 Hon. Secretary of the Navy. Sir: It is now quite certain that a large number of our colored soldiers with their white officers were by the rebel force massacred after they had surrendered at the recent capture of Fort-Pillow. So much is known though the evidence is not quite ready to be laid before me. Meanwhile I will thank you to prepare and give me in writing your opinion as to what course the Government should take in this case. Yours truly A. Lincoln With abolitionist Senator Lyman Trumbull's signed presentation copy of Congressional reports. Condition: very good. books
1864réf. 3082New York: Mathew Brady 1864. First edition. Very Good. SIGNED CDV PHOTOGRAPH FROM 1864 MATHEW BRADY SITTING WITH DIRECT FAMILY PROVENANCE. Vignetted photographic portrait from Mathew Brady's sitting of January 8 1864 signed by Lincoln along the lower edge of the photograph. The photograph descended directly through Lincoln's family from the president and Mary Todd Lincoln through five generations to the family of Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith the last surviving direct descendant of Abraham Lincoln. The photograph remained within Lincoln's direct family until it appeared at Cowan's Auctions in 2010 offered as lot 272 along with other items descended in the Lincoln-Beckwith lineage. It had passed from Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln to their son Robert Todd Lincoln and from him to his daughter Jessie Lincoln Beckwith. Jessie's son Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith 1904-1985 was the last surviving direct descendant of Abraham Lincoln; the photograph passed to his wife Margaret Fristoe Beckwith and by descent to her daughter from whose estate it was consigned to the sale. Albumen print carte-de-visite on Brady's photographic mount; 1864. Small abrasion at bottom margin toning to verso; ink blot original on "A. Mathew Brady unknown books
1851réf. 27561A list of stockholders entirely in Lincoln's hand filed as evidence in his first significant railroad case. Lincoln's own appearance in the shareholder list represents only the second known instance of a stock purchase by the future president. The Illinois Supreme Court's ultimate ruling in favor of Lincoln and the railroad set an important legal precedent upholding the binding nature of a stockholder's contractual and financial obligations. "The decision subsequently cited in twenty-five other cases throughout the United States helped establish the principle that corporation charters could be altered in the public interest and it established Lincoln as one of the most prominent and successful Illinois practitioners of railroad law" Donald p.155. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Autograph Manuscript Signed by Lincoln in text constituting his official transcript of the "Subscription Book of the Capital Stock of the Alton and Sangamon Rail Road Company" incorporated February 27 1847 transcribed in early 1851. Comprising a cover sheet titled in Lincoln's hand the joint stock subscription statement and list of 91 shareholders with the number of shares subscribed and leaf with Lincoln's legal docket: "Alton and Sangamon Railroad Company vs. James A. Barret. Copy of contents of subscription book." 8 pp. 6 x 8¼ x ¼ in. With Lincoln's original stock certificate for the six shares noted in his manuscript. One of only two instances of his owning a stock and the only certificate of his known to survive. Historical Background The Alton and Sangamon Rail Road Company was chartered in 1847 to construct a line from Alton via New Berlin to Springfield. In 1850 however the Illinois General Assembly approved a more direct route bypassing the landholdings of some investors. Claiming breach of contract James A. Barret refused to make further installment payments for his 30 shares of stock as did several others who no longer stood to benefit from the new line. In 1851 Lincoln was hired to compel the defaulting shareholders to pay the balance of their promised investment. The tactical details are spelled out in a February 19 1851 letter from Lincoln to William Martin a commissioner for the sale of the company's stock. Four suits were to be brought against stockholders who had subscribed to the initial offering but had then failed to make the additional installment payments. In preparation Lincoln listed the essential documents he would need in order to win a judgment. "We must prove" he advised Martin "that the defendant is a Stockholder" "that the calls have been made" and "that due notice of the calls has been given." To show that the defendants were in fact stockholders Lincoln explained he needed to produce "the subscription book with the defendant's name and proof of the genuineness of the signature together with any competent parole or evidence that he made the advance payment" Basler 2:99. Lincoln's meticulous transcript of the subscription book was a key piece of the evidence filed in Sangamon Circuit Court on February 22 1851. The book includes Barret's name and the subscription statement transcribed by Lincoln on page two is explicit about the shareholders' obligations. We the subscribers to the Capital Stock of the Alton and Sangamon Rail Road Company.do hereby agree.to pay the balance of the installments due on said stock by us subscribed when the same may be called for by the board of Directors of said Company when duly organized in conformity with the Charter approved February 27th 1847. "A. Lincoln" with six shares for $600 is prominent among the 91 subscriber names. The only other known record of a Lincoln stock purchase dates from 1836 when he bought one share in the Beardstown and Sangamon Canal. In June of 1847 as head of a committee to promote subscriptions for the projected railroad Lincoln wrote an open letter to the "People of Sangamon County" appealing for their support. Railroad construction was booming and Lincoln anticipated that a line between Springfield and Alton would prove a lucrative investment for himself and his state. "The whole is a matter of pecuniary interest" he argued. "The proper question for us is whether with reference to the present and the future and to direct and indirect results it is our interest to subscribe. If it can be shown that it is we hope few will refuse" Basler 1:396-398. The list of subscribers is itself of considerable interest. It includes John Hay 1775-1865 the grandfather of Lincoln's later secretary John Hay 2 shares Ninian W. Edwards 1809-1889 husband of Mary Todd Lincoln's sister 20 shares John T. Stuart 1807-1885 Lincoln's law partner 5 shares Henry Yates 1786-1865 father of Illinois governor Richard Yates 10 shares Noah W. Matheny 1815-1877 clerk of Sangamon County and others. In the subscription book Henry Yates hedging his bets has added a condition beneath his name: "if the Road intersects the M. & S R R at New Berlin." Lincoln was mindful of the critical issues raised by the Alton and Sangamon lawsuits and "took extraordinary pains to construct an airtight case for his client" Donald p.155. To Martin he pointed out the legal issues adding "I have labored hard to find the law" in preparation for the trials. In the end two of the defaulting stockholders paid their delinquent calls. The suits against James A. Barret and Joseph Klein came to trial in the Sangamon Circuit Court in August of 1851 with Lincoln handling both the trials and the appeals for the railroad. Lincoln's preparation proved its worth the rulings were in favor of the railroad. "Illinois Supreme Court Justice Samuel H. Treat ruled that public utility superseded private profit. If Barret had won the case other stockholders would balk at fulfilling their obligations. The rule of caveat emptor protected corporate management from stockholder's personal interests and encouraged subsequent investment" Lincoln Legal Briefs Oct-Dec 1990 no. 16 online. At the time he transcribed this document Lincoln was an attorney on the 8th Judicial Circuit and also managed a thriving appellate and federal court practice. He handled a number of railroad-related cases representing both private individuals as well as the railroads themselves. He was not as some have argued a hired gun for corporate interests. Rather as his law partner William Herndon described him Lincoln was "purely and entirely a case lawyer." The fact that Lincoln despite his commitment to railroading often handled suits against the carriers casts light on his understanding of the lawyer's role in societyHe simply could not afford to take only one side in legal disputes. Nor did Lincoln pursue some political or philosophical agenda through litigation. He was not concerned with developing a consistent legal ideology. His business as Donald reminds us "was law not morality." James W. Ely "Lincoln as Railroad Attorney" Indiana Historical Society Symposium April 15-16 2005 Though a prominent lawyer Lincoln was still smarting over recent political defeats. Elected to the U.S. Congress in 1846 he had served out his term but his outspoken opposition to the Mexican-American War had cost him any chance at a second term. He subsequently failed in his attempt to become commissioner of the General Land Office. Lincoln declined an appointment as governor of the Oregon Territory instead returning to his law practice with William H. Herndon in Springfield Illinois. He would not attempt a political comeback until 1854. The rail line was ultimately highly profitable. Lincoln's overriding belief in the broader benefits of internal improvements is best expressed in a speech he delivered before Congress in 1848. Let the nation take hold of the larger works and the states the smaller ones; and thus working in a meeting direction discreetly but steadily and firmly what is made unequal in one place may be equalized in another extravagance avoided and the whole country put on that career of prosperity which shall correspond with it's extent of territory it's natural resources and the intelligence and enterprize of it's people. Reference "Barret v. Alton & Sangamon Railroad" in Daniel W. Stowell et al. eds. The Papers of Abraham Lincoln: Legal Documents and Cases 4 vols. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press 2008 2:172-210. books
1836réf. 24346.991836. No binding. Fine. Autograph Letter Signed to Mary S. Owens December 13 1836 2 pp. 9 3/4 x 7 3/4 in. ""Write back as soon as you get this and if possible say something that will please me for really I have not been pleased since I left you.""Here Lincoln perfectly demonstrates what Owens later described as deficiencies ""in those little links which make up the chain of a woman's happiness."" Rather than expressing his feelings for Owens Lincoln complains about his health and discusses political issues swirling in the Illinois General Assembly. Although inept at love the letter offers rare insight into the young representative's thoughts on a variety of political issues. In this highly important letter to Mary Owens a self-absorbed Lincoln complains to his potential spouse of his health both physical and mental and discusses political issues to the point that he describes his own letter as ""dry and stupid."" Perhaps more revealing than he realized it illustrates the tension in Lincoln's early life between matters of the head with which he was comfortable and matters of the heart with which he clearly was not. Complete Transcript Vandalia Decr 13. 1836Mary I have been sick ever since my arrival here or I should have written sooner. It is but little difference however as I have verry little even yet to write. And more the longer I can avoid the mortification of looking in the Post Office for your letter and not finding it the better. You see I am mad about that old letter yet. I dont like verry well to risk you again. I'll try you once more anyhow. The new State House is not yet finished and consequently the legislature is doing little or nothing. The Governor delivered an inflamitory political message and it is expected there will be some sparring between the parties about it as soon as the two Houses get to business. Taylor delivered up his petitions for the New County to one of our members this morning. I am told that he despairs of its success on account of all the members from Morgan County opposing it. There are names enough on the petitions I think to justify the members from our county in going for it; but if the members from Morgan oppose it which they say they will the chance will be bad. Our chance to take the seat of Government to Springfield is better than I expected. An Internal Improvement Convention was held here since we met which recommended a loan of several millions of dollars on the faith of the state to construct Rail Roads. Some of the legislature are for it and some against it; which has the majority I can <2> not tell. There is great strife and struggling for the office of U.S. Senator here at this time. It is probable we shall ease their pains in a few days. The opposition men have no candidate of their own and consequently they smile as complacently at the angry snarls of the contending Van Buren candidates and their respective friends as the Christian does at Satan's rage. You recollect I mentioned in the outset of this letter that I had been unwell. That is the fact though I belive I am about well now; but that with other things I can not account for have conspired and have gotten my spirits so low that I feel that I would rather be any place in the world than here. I really can not endure the thought of staying here ten weeks. Write back as soon as you get this and if possible say something that will please me for really I have not been pleased since I left you. This letter is so dry and stupid that I am ashamed to send it but with my present feelings I can not do any better. Give my respects to Mr & Mrs Abell and family. Your friend LincolnMiss Mary S. OwensHistoric BackgroundThis is one of the ten oldest Lincoln letters known to have survived. Although 11 leaves 9 of which are in institutions from Lincoln's educational sum book a few documents written or signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1832 relating to his service in the Black Hawk War again mos. See website for full description books
1845réf. 28226A master storyteller and talented mimic Lincoln's humor was the product of his upbringing in the frontiers of Kentucky Indiana and Illinois where tall tales and exaggeration were key ingredients to good jokes and effective tools in the courtrooms and legislative halls. For some it made him more appealing and approachable to the common man. For others his coarse backwoods humor was undignified reinforcing their belief that he was unfit to be president. This manuscript utilizes a series of "spoonerisms" in which the storyteller transposes the first few letters of two adjacent or nearby words for humorous effect. Its namesake Rev. William Archibald Spooner of New College Oxford University was allegedly prone to unintentionally making such mistakes in speaking Complete Transcript He said he was riding bass-ackwards on a jass-ack through a patton-cotch on a pair of baddle-sags stuffed full of binger-gred when the animal steered at a scump and the lirrup-steather broke and throwed him in the forner of the kence and broke his pishing-fole. He said he would not have minded it much but hefell right in a great tow-curd; in fact he said it give him aright smart sick of fitnesshe had the molera-corbus pretty bad. He said about bray dake he come to himself ran home seized up a stick of wood and split the axe to make a light rushed into the house and found the door sick abed and his wife standing open. But thank goodness she is getting right hat and farty again. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Autograph Manuscript "Bass-Ackwards" story ca. 1845-1850 Springfield IL. 1 p. 7 x 8.5 in. Historical Background C. F. Gunther of Chicago told Jesse W. Weik that Lincoln penned this for a bailiff in the Springfield courts. It was first published by Emanuel Hertz in The Hidden Lincoln in 1938. It once belonged to the Illinois State Historical Library in Springfield which traded it for a first edition of the Book of Mormon. According to auctioneer Charles Hamilton one collector considered it so unworthy of Lincoln's sacred memory he bid intending to burn it! Fortunately he lost. Provenance Abraham Lincoln to a bailiff of a Springfield court reportedly Arnold R. Robinson > The Illinois State Historical Library gift of a descendant > Charles Hamilton Galleries May 16 1963. See account in Hamilton Auction Madness 119: "This unsigned bit of Lincolniana was knocked down for $4000 at one of my earliest auctions nearly twenty years ago. What would it fetch today!" > Lindley and Charles Eberstadt > Parke-Bernet Galleries Eberstadt sale October 13 1964 lot 124 described as being "the most intimate and unusual Lincoln document known to survive" and "perhaps the greatest Presidential character piece extant" > Christie's a Western Collector December 9 1994 lot 84 > Louise Taper Beverly Hills California > The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Foundation 2007 > Freeman's/Hindman May 21 2025 lot 21. Exhibitions The Last Best Hope of Earth: Abraham Lincoln and the Promise of America at the Huntington Library October 1993-August 1994 Abraham Lincoln: A Personal Journey at the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum October 12 2001February 18 2002 Condition: Silked; creasing from folds; small losses along folds affecting a few letters; small marginal loss in upper right corner not affecting text; scattered spotting. books
