Details
LINCOLN, ABRAHAM, President. Autograph letter signed ("A. Lincoln") as President, to Quarter Master General, [Brigadier General Montgomery C. Meigs], Washington D.C., 29 October 1863. 1 page, 8vo, Executive Mansion stationery, integral blank, slight fold separations.
LINCOLN ASKS A FAVOR FOR A LADY, "IF...CONVENIENT WITH LAW AND THE PUBLIC INTEREST"
"Please see and hear Mrs. Hutter, who is vouched to me as a most estimable Lady. She wishes to submit proposals in regard to Army clothing, about which I can properly say no more than that I desire she may have a fair hearing, and shall be glad if you find it convenient with law and the public interest, to oblige her...."
The letter probably refers to Mrs. Elizabeth E. Hutter, wife of a prominent Philadelphia physician and president of the Northern Home for Friendless Children and the Associated Institute for Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans. She had invented an earmuff for Union soldiers in the field, which Lincoln recommended to Meigs on October 16: "I certainly would prefer having it over my ears in cold weather, to their being naked" (Basler, 6:519). Lincoln wrote again to Meigs the following day to urge adoption of the device (Basler, 6:523). A year later, in a letter to Stanton, Lincoln referred to her as "one of the very best friends of the soldiers" (Basler 8:90). The present letter is apparently unpublished. It appears Lincoln wrote another brief note on the same day as the present letter, also urging Meigs to see the lady (Basler Supplement 10:208). It is not known whether her earmuffs were adopted.
LINCOLN ASKS A FAVOR FOR A LADY, "IF...CONVENIENT WITH LAW AND THE PUBLIC INTEREST"
"Please see and hear Mrs. Hutter, who is vouched to me as a most estimable Lady. She wishes to submit proposals in regard to Army clothing, about which I can properly say no more than that I desire she may have a fair hearing, and shall be glad if you find it convenient with law and the public interest, to oblige her...."
The letter probably refers to Mrs. Elizabeth E. Hutter, wife of a prominent Philadelphia physician and president of the Northern Home for Friendless Children and the Associated Institute for Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans. She had invented an earmuff for Union soldiers in the field, which Lincoln recommended to Meigs on October 16: "I certainly would prefer having it over my ears in cold weather, to their being naked" (Basler, 6:519). Lincoln wrote again to Meigs the following day to urge adoption of the device (Basler, 6:523). A year later, in a letter to Stanton, Lincoln referred to her as "one of the very best friends of the soldiers" (Basler 8:90). The present letter is apparently unpublished. It appears Lincoln wrote another brief note on the same day as the present letter, also urging Meigs to see the lady (Basler Supplement 10:208). It is not known whether her earmuffs were adopted.