27.953 risultati
1864rif. 42090np. 1864. Caption title as issued. 16pp printed in two columns per page. Stitched Very Good. This unusual item a Democratic Party campaign pamphlet is a compendium of "Derogatory Republican statements concerning Lincoln's capacity compiled for the campaign of 1864. The Pomeroy circular Fremont's letter of acceptance the Wade-Davis manifesto" Monaghan. It is a forceful reminder of the low esteem in which Lincoln was held during 1864 until Atlanta fell to the Union in September. FIRST EDITION. Monaghan 349. Sabin 70036. unknown books
1865rif. 42319Washington D. C. 1865. Caption title as issued. War Department Adjutant General's Office. April 17 1865. Single leaf folded to 3 1 blank pp. Disbound separating at the spine old stitching holes. Printed mourning border with diagram of hearse and pallbearers. Signed in type at the bottom of page 3 by Assistant Adjutant General W.A. Nichols. Except as noted Very Good. This scarce document prints the official arrangements for Abraham Lincoln's Washington D.C. funeral. The program lists participating military units; names the Senate House Army and Navy participants in the procession; family relatives "The Delegations of the States of Illinois and Kentucky"; governmental officials from the President on down. A printed diagram displays the hearse and pallbearers. The procession's route is described beginning "precisely" at 2 o'clock P.M. on Wednesday April 19th after "conclusion of the religious services at the Executive Mansion." The procession began with the firing of guns from St. John's Church City Hall and the Capitol and the ringing of church bells throughout Washington Georgetown and Alexandria. Monaghan 654. OCLC 10408587 13 as of July 2026. unknown books
1864rif. 42194New York: J.F. Feeks Publisher 1864. Stitched. 46 2 publ. advts. Original printed wrappers the front wrapper and title page illustrated with a grotesque caricature of a Negro's face. Very Good plus. An unusually disgusting anti-Lincoln campaign document capitalizing on northern racist sentiments. Lincoln is called 'Abraham Africanus I'. His Emancipation Proclamation is ridiculed; the shifting focus of the War from a struggle to preserve the Union to a crusade against slavery is condemned; and the expansion of executive power to curtail civil liberties is denounced. The text includes "questions and sarcastic answers intended to defeat Lincoln" Monaghan. "What are the Ten Commandments Thou shalt have no other God but the negro. Thou shalt make an image of a negro and place it on the Capitol as the type of the new American man." "Strongly opposed to the election of Abraham Lincoln" Sabin Feeks the publisher was a Copperhead closely aligned with Chauncy Burr and other northern publishers of pro-slavey material. New York was "home to vigorous defenders of slavery who viewed African Americans as inferior and warned that abolition would hurt the nation's economy. Both sides took advantage of New York's role as center of publishing and the arts using the city's printing presses theaters and music halls to advocate for an end to slavery or for white supremacy" online Mus. of the City of New York ABOLISHING SLAVERY. FIRST EDITION. Monaghan 324. Bartlett 2734. Sabin 41204. J.F. Feeks, Publisher unknown books
1860rif. 41018np 1860. 8pp caption title as issued. Untrimmed and uncut. A single folio leaf folded. Very Good plus. Lincoln's great Cooper Union Address argues that the Framers and early Congresses contemplated a narrow and ever-diminishing role for slavery. Examining Constitutional and early Congressional debates he demonstrates that contemporary statesmen viewed slavery "as an evil not to be extended but to be tolerated and protected only because of and so far as its actual presence among us makes that toleration and protection a necessity." Lincoln's argument fusing the interests of all anti-slavery men whether abolitionists or not ranks among his greatest contributions to American political thought. It received wide press coverage catapulting him into presidential contention for it transported the new Republican Party into the center of American constitutional and legal thinking. He thus made it easy for moderate Northern Democrats Whigs and Know-Nothings to vote Republican in 1860. Monaghan 55. LCP 5944. unknown books
1863rif. 40887New York: Office of the Metropolitan Record 1863. Original printed wrappers. Stitched. 29 1 blank 1- advertisement for 'The Washington Despotism Dissected' 1 blank pp. Light wear and fox. About Very Good. The Metropolitan Record whose Prospectus is printed on the rear wrapper calls itself "an unswerving opponent of fanaticism in every form and an advocate of constitutional liberty and the rights of the citizens against despotic usurpation." This pamphlet is "A mock trial wherein Lincoln was charged with treasonable intent purposes and designs and of having committed among other unconstitutional acts the following: 'Declared War against Sovereign States under pretence of repossessing himself of certain forts and other property; arresting citizens without process of law; suppressed liberty of speech; stopped publication of certain newspapers; placed the military power above the civil power; overthrown State Sovereignty; forced unconstitutional acts through Congress.' At the conclusion of the trial the Court addressed the 'Criminal' as follows: 'You have been tried and found wanting. You have been given the opportunity of saving a nation but you have stabbed it to the heart. You have converted your country into a despotism'." Eberstadt. "Quotations from Lincoln and others selected to discredit his administration" Monaghan. A second edition was printed in 1867. Sabin Monaghan and LCP do not collate the advertisement at page 31. FIRST EDITION. 111 Eberstadt 332. Monaghan 252. Sabin 41234. LCP 10399. Office of the Metropolitan Record unknown books
1861rif. 39392Springfield: Charles H. Lanphier 1861. 4 pp. Folio. 16-1/4" x 23-1/2.". Lightly chipped blank inner edge. Each page printed in six columns each separated by a rule. Very Good. The Register no friend of Abraham Lincoln was a Democratic Paper supporting the Crittenden Compromise. Reporting on State and National issues the Register notes "The Crittenden Resolutions have strong friends but the ultra republicans will not take them." Lincoln had insisted that his allies hold firm against Crittenden's Compromise. The Register rebukes Lincoln for his famous declaration that "the Union could not endure permanently part slave and part free." Developments in the fracturing Union are reported. Lincoln had been elected President nearly three months before the appearance of this issue. His inauguration would occur five weeks later. Paid advertisers include John McClernand and John Stuart who advertise their legal services in the first column of page 1. The large number and variety of advertisements for an array of medical complaints about four columns are surprising- - and a little disturbing. This issue also reports an incident involving the John Brownites at Boston who were snubbed by British Lord Brougham after inviting him to attend a convention discussing the abolition of slavery. Charles H. Lanphier unknown books
1910rif. 38289San Francisco: Phillips & Van Orden Co. 1910. Original green title wrappers. 10 261 3 blanks xxxv 1 blank pp as issued. Text on glossy paper. Mild wrapper wear Near Fine. Ruef was indicted and convicted of offering a bribe to a San Francisco Supervisor in order to grant the United Railroads of San Francisco a franchise for building an electric trolley system in the City. This is his brief on appeal. A hard-fought contentious case OCLC records facsimiles only of this document and a few originals of several other printed arguments and appeals "Abraham Ruef born to Jewish merchants in San Francisco in 1864 became one of the most compelling and controversial figures in the history of politics in the city as the infamous founder and boss of the Union Labor Party for the Eugene Schmitz mayoral administration from 1902-1906 before his conviction on charges of bribery and extortion and sentencing to the maximum penalty of fourteen years in jail albeit he served five before he could arrange for his release. While Ruef admittedly engineered the backdoor graft and scheming that helped establish the funds and almost total power the Union Labor Party and its administration exerted in San Francisco politics in the early twentieth century he was ultimately the only man convicted for any criminal wrongdoing. The other politicians and prominent businessmen involved including Schmitz himself either successfully won their appeals or otherwise avoided conviction altogether." "The Conviction of Abraham Ruef A Notorious 'City Boss'" Historical Essay by Daniel Shiferaw accessed at FoundSF website March 2022. Phillips & Van Orden Co. unknown books
1834rif. 35602Rochester Boston MA 1834. A collection of six letters ranging in size from 8-1/2" x 11" to 8-1/2" x 12-3/4" five complete and one partial letter. All in ink manuscript on unlined paper. Old folds light toning occasional light foxing two on untrimmed paper. Most are addressed on final blank page and have wax seal remnants with the usual tear where wax was torn open occasional loss to a few letters. Overall Very Good. Abraham Holmes was a Massachusetts legislator and attorney. Opposing ratification of the Constitution he was allied with the Anti-Federalist Otis family of Barnstable and Freeman family of Sandwich. He was an Anti-Federalist delegate from Rochester MA to the Massachusetts Ratifying Convention of 1788. He served as Sergeant in Capt. Barnabas Doty's company Col. Ebenezer Sproat's regiment during the Revolutionary War. He was admitted to the Plymouth County Bar in April 1800 at the age of forty-six. Though he had no formal legal education his admission to the Bar was permitted in consideration of his respectable official character learning and abilities and on the condition that he study three months in an attorney's office. He served as president of the Court of Sessions prior to his bar admission practiced law in Rochester until the early 1830s was a member of the State Constitutional Convention of 1820 and a member of the Executive Council from 1821 to 1823. Davis William T.: BENCH AND BAR OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS IN TWO VOLUMES VOLUME II. Boston: 1895. Page 235; Daughters of the American Revolution: LINEAGE BOOK VOLUME 12 1900 Page 15. William Baylies 1776-1865 and Francis Baylies 1783-1852 were brothers and partners in a Massachusetts law firm. William served as a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts in 1809 1813-1817 and 1833-1835; was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1808-1809 1812-1813 and 1820-1821; and a member of the Massachusetts Senate from 1825-1826 and 1830-1831. Francis was a Congressman from 1821-1827; a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1827-1832 and in 1835; and the United States Charge d'Affaires Argentina in 1832. Holmes's Letters are as follows: 1 Letter to Francis Baylies Member of Congress dated at Boston January 19 1822. Holmes then member of the Massachusetts Executive Council awaits reports of the State legislative committees the incorporation of Boston "which will serve to procrastinate the session" the "suspense of the acceptance of office of the Judge of the Municipal Court" and issues such as criminal trials and the death sentence. "We pass our time here in Boston. the frequent application for appointments of both proper and improper candidates is rather an uncomfortable circumstance; but not so distressing as in affixing the time when convicts shall live no longer. to determine whether a convict shall die or not. It is probable we shall have the trial of both soon as there has been three capital convictions since I was here; one for murder and two for highway robbery. Those trials I attended; a Mr. Simmons formerly of Taunton as I am told managed the Defence; I can not record him as possessing great oratorical abilities but for integrity of arrangement and strength and argument perhaps no man of his years stands higher." Boston was incorporated March 4 1822 and the same year the Boston Police Court for criminal cases and Justice's Court for the County of Suffolk for civil claims were established. 2 Holmes's Letter to Francis Baylies dated at Boston March 28 1822. Holmes notes that the State legislative session is coming to a close. He anticipates orations which would "cause Tully to wish that he hadn't ever learned to speak; and all this for the good of the Nation." 3 Letter to William Baylies Counsellor at Law dated at Rochester MA October 24 1828 docketed October 25. An interesting three pages for lawyers anyway written in small yet legible hand on legal size paper. Holmes discusses with "great anxiety" and detail strategies and implications of the case entitled Rounseville Spooner versus Davis et ux. presentation of which had just concluded in the Massachusetts Supreme Court. Holmes and Baylies had represented Rounseville. Judge Wilde issued his decision on the following day October 25th. The case involved land in Fairhaven conveyed by Alden Spooner to Walter Spooner which later descended to Humphrey Davis's wife; but Alden Spooner later conveyed it again to Rounseville Spooner. What will be done in the case Holmes says "God only knows." Judge Wilde's Opinion reported at page 147 of Pickering's Reports Boston: 1830 gives the victory to Holmes and Baylies. 4 Letter to William Baylies Nov. 21 1828. Holmes discusses his excitement over a favorable verdict. "I rode into the yard. Mr. Bassett's son met me and informed me that the verdict of the jury was in favour of our client. Do you think I was sorry My heart jumped to my throat and with some difficulty I prevented my immortal spirit from bursting thro' the clay tenement. I am glad now that we did not use Joshua Vincent's Deposition for they would have objected and the point next word illegible for the Whole Court./ The next enquiry is Compensation. But I must stop with my hearty congratulations." Docketed on final page in part "Thomas v. D. & wife Nov. 21 1828." 5 Letter to William Baylies dated Rochester MA April 11 1834. A lengthy poignant letter discussing his advanced age and retirement. He no longer views political issues with the same interest; despite his overall good health he is troubled with lameness and currently lives with his son and his son's wife. "Some of my old customers are not willing to apply to anyone else." 6 Partial Letter to Francis Baylies December 1821. ". I dread the power of some of your colleagues. Mr. Saltonstall whose abilities are competent to make white and black synonymous terms I understand -which God forbid is strongly intrenched in a. Battery of Bankruptcy. unknown books
1793rif. 34890Newburyport: Printed by Blunt and Robinson 1793. 34 2 blanks pp with the half title. Disbound rubberstamp in blank upper corner of half title. Good. A scarce Sermon. "The constitution of man is truly mysterious." Evans 25835. ESTC W15570 recording nine institutional locations as of April 2018. Printed by Blunt and Robinson unknown books
1786rif. 26305Boston: Printed and Sold by John W. Folsom 1786. 12 leaves as issued. Stitched light to moderate wear. Two closed tears no loss. Good Folsom's edition is one of three printings of this almanac all from Boston. The almanac includes a "Brief Account of General Washington" and a listing of Connecticut courts. Not in Evans. Bristol B6383. Shipton & Mooney 45017. Drake 3385. Printed and Sold by John W. Folsom unknown books
1771rif. 25148Boston: Richard Draper. 1771. Half title 31 1 blank pp. Disbound. Lightly foxed. Very Good. "As we are made rational and accountable creatures the care of ourselves and of our own happiness is the first natural and reasonable concern of every man. A rational self love though distinct from is not inconsistent with the more noble principles but subserves and promotes them." A footnote states that Hilliard succeeded Reverend Joseph Green who served the Barnstable church from 1725 until his death in 1770. FIRST EDITION. Evans 12289. 664 NUC 0319346 6. Richard Draper... unknown books
1800rif. 25051Newark: Pennington and Gould 1800. 71 1 blank pp. Pages 61-68 are misnumbered 53-60 as issued. Disbound with moderate spotting. Good. One of six contemporary printings this is the only one which does not begin with the phrase 'Connecticut Republicanism.' Bishop was a Jeffersonian and outspoken anti- Federalist which made him an unusual figure in Connecticut politics. "Learning that he would give this Republican campaign speech as the Phi Beta Kappa orator the Yale Corporation withdrew Bishop's invitation. Speaking to 1500 people at a local meeting-house Bishop in rousing rhetoric denounced the state and national Federalist party for its leadership social assumptions and class prejudices. He argued that the Federalists were deluding the people in order to enslave them under a monarchy and castigated the union of church and state in Connecticut charging the clergy with preaching Federalist propaganda. The two-hour harangue ended with a call for the election of Republicans to preserve the liberty so dearly and recently won." Sheidley. Evans 36980. Felcone 18. Sheidley 132. Pennington and Gould unknown books
rif. 24234NP ND. Two identical plates each measuring 2.5" x 2.75" and mounted side by side on yellow cardboard backing measuring 6.75" x 3.25". Very Good. unknown books
1800rif. 23651Philadelphia 1800. 2 leaves versos blank. Disbound Very Good. The Committee refuses "to interfere with the rule prescribed by the Secretary of War for granting warrants for bounty land." Evans 38901. NAIP 021935 9. unknown books
1603rif. 299306Antwerp: Abraham Ortelius 1603. unbound. Map. Engraving with beautiful original hand color. Image measures 14" x 18 3/4" This map depicts several islands in the Mediterranean including Sicily Sardinia Elba Malta Corfu and Djerba. Towns are noted as well as topographic features such as mountains and rivers. Light staining and toning but otherwise is good condition. Abraham Ortelius 1527-1598 a Flemish cartographer and geographer is widely regarded as one of the important and influential cartographers in history. He is known for his "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum" which was the first modern atlas. Van den Broecke #141 Abraham Ortelius unknown books
1584rif. 299318Antwerp: Abraham Ortelius 1584. unbound. Map. Uncolored engraving. Image measures 14" x 18 3/4" This map depicts several islands in the Mediterranean including Sicily Sardinia Elba Malta Corfu and Djerba. Towns are noted as well as topographic features such as mountains and rivers. Some discoloration at right margin and toning throughout. Creasing along original centerfold otherwise very good condition. Abraham Ortelius 1527-1598 a Flemish cartographer and geographer is widely regarded as one of the important and influential cartographers in history. He is known for his "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum" which was the first modern atlas. Van den Broecke #141 Abraham Ortelius unknown books
1950rif. 17314Worcester MA: Achille J. St. Onge 1950. Limited Edition. Leather bound. Near fine. The Selected Writings of Abraham Lincoln President of the United States in miniature published in 1950 by Achille J. St. Onge. Miniature volume vii 76pp 2. Blue morocco title in gilt on spine and front panel with decorative gilt illustrations. All edges gilt. Book measures 2 x 3 inches. From a limited edition of 1500 copies produced by The Chiswick Press of London. Light shelf wear to covers minor sunning to spine and front cover. An attractive and unique example of Lincoln's writing. Achille J. St. Onge unknown books
1861rif. 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
1861rif. 3768907/08/1861. He names G.A. Pierce an assistant quartermaster with the rank of Captain who would serve under General Ulysses S. Grant at Fort Donelson Shiloh and Vicksburg Gilbert Ashville Pierce was a Union Army officer during the Civil War who later became a U.S. Senator and Governor of the Dakota Territory. He served as a captain assistant quartermaster and eventually lieutenant colonel and inspector in the Quartermaster's Department. Pierce entered the service as a second lieutenant in Company H 9th Indiana Volunteer Infantry on April 23 1861. He was promoted by President Abraham Lincoln to captain and assistant quartermaster on August 7 1861. Pierce served under General Ulysses S. Grant at Paducah Fort Donelson Shiloh Grand Gulf and Vicksburg. He was advanced to lieutenant colonel in the Quartermaster's Department on September 12 1863 and later served as a colonel and inspector until mustering out in October 1865. After the war he was admitted to the bar in 1865 and then served in the Indiana House of Representatives starting in 1869. He was appointed Governor of the Dakota Territory by President Chester A. Arthur in 1884 serving until 1886. Pierce was elected as a Republican senator from North Dakota serving from 1889 to 1891. He died in 1901 at age 62. This is the document that launched Pierce’s remarkable career. Document signed by President Lincoln with engravings of flags cannons and an imposing eagle Washington August 7 1861 being Pierce’s original commission as “Assistant Quartermaster with the rank of Captain.” <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
1861rif. 3767609/09/1861. He also served at Bull Run and Gettysburg It is early in the war and bears the signature of Simon Cameron one of the original members of the Team of Rivals It has never before been offered for sale In May 1861 just after the outbreak of the Civil War Eugene B. Beaumont son of noted politician of the Jacksonian Age Andrew Beaumont graduated from the Military Academy at West Point. He initially trained soldiers in Washington D.C until June 1861 when he became aide-de-camp to General Ambrose Burnside. With Burnside he participated in the First Battle of Bull Run. In September he became aide-de-camp to General John Sedgwick and served with him in the Peninsula Campaign of early 1862. In August 1862 he worked as an aide-de-camp this time to General-in-Chief of the Union Army Henry Halleck. Beaumont requested to be sent back to the field and in May 1863 he rejoined General Sedgwick as a captain. He served with Sedgwick for just over a year and took part in a series of battles including Gettysburg Mine Run the Wilderness Spotsylvania Court-House and Cold Harbor. He later participated in the battle of Nashville in the pursuit of Hood. On December 17 1864 he was a major serving as the Assistant Adjutant General of the Army of the Mississippi’s Cavalry Corps. On that day at the Harpeth River in Tennessee he took command of the 4th Cavalry and led the regiment in an assault on Confederate fortifications. He was with his corps in its march through Alabama and Georgia taking part in the battles of Montevallo Ebenezer Church storming of Selma and capture of Montgomery Columbus and Macon Georgia. This march was one of the most brilliant and successful of the war. For his actions during this period he was promoted to Bvt. Colonel; after the war Beaumont served in the Indian Wars in the West. Then on March 30 1898 in recognition of his Civil War service he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Beaumont's official Medal of Honor citation reads: “Obtained permission from the corps commander to advance upon the enemy's position with the 4th U.S. Cavalry of which he was a lieutenant; led an attack upon a battery dispersed the enemy and captured the guns. At Selma Ala. charged at the head of his regiment into the second and last line of the enemy's works."" Document signed WashingtonSeptember 9 1861 appointing Eugene B. Beaumont “Second Lieutenant in the First Regiment of Cavalry” effective on the 6th day of June 1861. The document is countersigned by Secretary of War Simon Cameron. A great rarity this being our first Lincoln appointment of a Medal of Honor winner. It has never before been offered for sale. <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
1851rif. 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
1862rif. 3568928/02/1862. He was later promoted to Lt. Colonel for gallantry in action at the Battle of Groveton Document signed with fine engravings of an eagle flags and cannons Washington February 28 1862 naming Percy B. Spear a Commissary of Subsistence of Volunteers with the rank of Captain effective November 30 1861. The document is countersigned by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. The appointment is listed in the U.S. Army Register. The Civil War Commissary Department was responsible for procuring storing and distributing food to soldiers. The rations managed by the department included such things as pork beef bread coffee and soap. But Spear did not serve solely as a Commissary for the entire war. He would soon serve an aide-de-camp in the Fifth Corps in the Gettysburg campaign with Gen. James Barnes mentioning him with distinction in dispatches. Spear ended the war as a Brevet Major. In July 1865 he was appointed Lt. Colonel of Volunteers for meritorious service and for gallantry in action at the Battle of Groveton in 1862. After the war he was again named Commissary of Subsistence this time at the recommendation of Gen. George G. Meade. <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
1857rif. 3563230/10/1857. John V. Drake and John C. Moses practiced law in Danville Illinois. They worked on cases appearing before the Vermilion County Circuit Court. When Abraham Lincoln had a case appearing in that court he would sometimes affiliate himself with Drake and Moses. Lincoln was before that court in October and November 1857. Hezekiah Ballah sued John Deck and Zachariah Deck in a case heard in the Vermilion County Circuit Court. This was an action of trespass for castrating seventeen buck sheep and cutting up eight other ewes wethers and lambs. The Decks retained Lincoln who worked together with Drake and Moses in the case in October 1857. The Decks pleaded not guilty. Moreover John Deck also pleaded that he had been acquitted of the charge in Justice of the Peace court. The jury found the Decks not guilty. Hearing the case was Judge David Davis who Lincoln would one day name to the U.S. Supreme Court. Autograph document signed a draft pleading completely in Lincoln’s hand Vermilion County Circuit Court October 1857 being the pleading informing the Court that Deck had previously been acquitted of the same offense. The name of the case was John Deck impleaded with Zachariah Deck ads vs Hezekiah Ballah and it was filed In Trespass. “And the said defendant John Deck comes and defends the force and injury…and says plaintiff actio non fails to act when there is a duty to act because he defendant says he is not guilty in manner and form as is in the declaration alleged; and of this he puts himself upon the country etc. citizens in a court or jury. Moses & Drake & Lincoln p.d.” Lincoln adds below: “And for further plea in this behalf defendant John Deck says plaintiff actio non because he says that heretofore to wit on the __ day of __ in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty seven at the county of Vermillion in the state of Illinois before Joseph Peters a Justice of the Peace of said county and before commencement of this suit said defendant John Deck in a suit against him by the plaintiff herein was lawfully judged to be not guilty of the same identical supposed trespass in this declaration mentioned and this he is ready to verify therefore he prays judgment etc. Moses & Drake & Lincoln p.d.” The case is listed at lawofficeofabrahamlincoln.org. An interesting pleading where Lincoln’s client has already been acquitted of the same offense. <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
1843rif. 3570010/1843. Miles who was also a prominent Whig politico and part of Lincoln’s political circle used Lincoln’s legal services a number of times Abraham Lincoln and Stephen T. Logan formed a prominent Illinois law partnership called Logan & Lincoln from 1841 to 1844 during which Logan an experienced attorney mentored Lincoln and introduced him to complex areas of the law. During his partnership with Logan Lincoln also increased his caseload before the Illinois Supreme Court and handled appeals from all areas of the state. Logan and Lincoln handled many cases together not merely at their Springfield office but around the state. This ls because Lincoln had a circuit law practice that involved riding the Eighth Judicial Circuit in Illinois covering 14-15 counties including Menard County on horseback or buggy. Logan remained in Springfield while Lincoln traveled the Circuit. As a general practitioner Lincoln handled diverse cases including property disputes debts torts. slander and criminal law. The Logan & Lincoln partnership ended amicably in 1844 after which Lincoln partnered with William H. Herndon who was a clerk in the Logan & Lincoln law office and whose father had been a Lincoln friend for many years. George U. Miles was Herndon’s father-in-law. He came to Illinois in 1816 at age 20 settling first in St. Clair County and then in White County where he married Jane McCoy on November 18 1821. They had three children. Miles removed to Logan County and then in 1836 he went to Sangamon County where he lived on a farm six miles north of Springfield. In 1839 he moved to Petersburg in Menard County where he served as public administrator from 1845 to 1849. Miles was a Whig and a Menard County delegate to conventions that chose Whig candidates. Miles and Lincoln knew each other as neighbors and fellow Whigs and also because of Miles’ family relationship to Lincoln’s friend and partner Herndon. In early 1843 Lincoln sought a nomination for Congress and hoped for Miles’ political support. Miles used Lincoln as an attorney a number of times both before and after Herndon became Lincoln’s partner. In late 1843 Miles retained Logan & Lincoln and sued John Webb and Thomas Rogers to collect a $368.60 debt on a promissory note. Autograph document signed all in Lincoln’s hand Menard County Illinois October-November 1843 being a petition in the county court in which Miles asks for judgment for a debt. “George U. Miles plaintiff states that he holds a note on the defendants John Webb and Thomas Rogers in substance as followeth: ‘$368.60. One day after date we or either of us promise to pay George U. Miles or order three hundred and sixty eight dollars and sixty cents with twelve percent interest from date for value received. Our hands & seals: John Webb and Thomas Rogers Petersburg Ill. April 20th 1843.’ Yet the same debt remains unpaid wherefore he prays judgment for his debt and damages for the detention of the same together with his costs. Logan & Lincoln.” Lincoln won the case. The defendants were found to have defaulted and the court awarded Miles $392.67 counting costs. The case was decided November 1 1843. It is listed at lawofficeofabrahamlincoln.org. After Lincoln’s assassination Miles acted as one of Herndon's key investigators. Miles famously interviewed individuals including Ann Rutledge’s aunt to gather information about Lincoln's early life and relationships serving as a vital source for Herndon's research. Herndon would write a famous biography of Lincoln in the 1880s. <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
1863rif. 3619207/02/1863. This document has been in a private collection for a generation Kentucky Unionists were important to Lincoln a Kentucky native as he famously said ""I hope to have God on my side but I must have Kentucky.” The Congressman Henry Grider apparently needed to see Thomas to discuss the Act its impact on Kentucky and the details of how the recruitment would be handled Kentuckian Henry Grider was a Whig who served in Congress from 1843-1847 and then as a Unionist from March 4 1861 until 1865. For the Thirty-ninth Congress 1865–1867 Grider shifted to the Democratic Party but retained his commitment to the Union serving from March 4 1865 until his death in office on September 7 1866. Grider represented a Kentucky pro-slavery but Union-loyal constituency and he retained that point of view throughout the Civil War. Kentucky Unionists like Grider were particularly important to Abraham Lincoln a Kentucky native who had famously said ""I hope to have God on my side but I must have Kentucky.” Lincoln is known to have consulted with Grider about Kentucky affairs and relied on his support and that of the Kentucky delegation to Congress. On February 7 1863 Congress passed an Act providing that “the Governor of the State of Kentucky by the consent and under the direction of the President of the United States shall have power to raise and organize into regiments a volunteer force not exceeding twenty thousand rank and file to be raised within the State of Kentucky to serve for the term of twelve months to be employed within the limits of Kentucky in repelling invasion suppressing insurrection and guarding and protecting the public property: Provided That at any time it may be necessary in the discretion of the President of the United States these troops may be employed out of the limits of Kentucky against the enemies of the United States.” Thus the Governor of Kentucky would raise a force of 20000 volunteers to serve in Kentucky but President Lincoln had the authority to order them used outside the state. This Act was received with mixed reviews in Kentucky and on the very day it was enacted Grider’s son Benjamin C. Grider a slave-holding Unionist resigned from the Union Army. From the timing of his resignation one can surmise that he disapproved of the Act. He had commanded the 9th Kentucky Volunteers. Lorenzo Thomas was the Adjutant General of the U.S. Army at that time and his job was to maximize operational effectiveness of the army by manning recruiting for and sustaining military operations. Autograph note signed Washington February 7 1863 the day of the Act to Lorenzo Thomas expediting Grider’s ability to see Thomas. “Adjutant General Please see and hear Hon. Mr. Grider. A. Lincoln.” It seems clear that Grider needed to see Thomas to discuss the Act its impact on Kentucky and the details of how the recruitment would be handled and managed. Not in Basler. A separation running vertically archivally mended. This is a very scarce communication involving Lincoln aiding a Kentucky Unionist. <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
