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LINCOLN, Abraham. Autograph letter signed ("A. Lincoln"), to Thomas W. Sweney, Springfield, Illinois, 14 July 1860. 1 page, 8vo.
LINCOLN THANKS A PHILADELPHIA SUPPORTER FOR POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE: "Yours of the 11th giving an account of an interview with Hon. John Hickman is received; and for which, please accept my thanks." The 11 July letter to which Lincoln refers has not been recovered, but Sweney--a Philadelphia lawyer who kept Lincoln apprised of political developments in the state--most likely reported the news that Pennsylvania Congressman John Hickman (1810-1875) was switching party allegiance and joining the Republicans. Hickman had been elected in 1854 as an anti-Lecompton Democrat. But with the fracture of the Democratic Party into Southern and Northern factions in 1860, he was one of numerous anti-slavery Northern Democrats who decided to cast their lot with the Republicans. Once in office, Lincoln rewarded Sweney with an appointment as an Internal Revenue assessor in Philadelphia. Published Basler First Supplement 10:56.
LINCOLN THANKS A PHILADELPHIA SUPPORTER FOR POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE: "Yours of the 11th giving an account of an interview with Hon. John Hickman is received; and for which, please accept my thanks." The 11 July letter to which Lincoln refers has not been recovered, but Sweney--a Philadelphia lawyer who kept Lincoln apprised of political developments in the state--most likely reported the news that Pennsylvania Congressman John Hickman (1810-1875) was switching party allegiance and joining the Republicans. Hickman had been elected in 1854 as an anti-Lecompton Democrat. But with the fracture of the Democratic Party into Southern and Northern factions in 1860, he was one of numerous anti-slavery Northern Democrats who decided to cast their lot with the Republicans. Once in office, Lincoln rewarded Sweney with an appointment as an Internal Revenue assessor in Philadelphia. Published Basler First Supplement 10:56.