PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE NEW YORK COLLECTION
LINCOLN, Abraham. Autograph endorsement signed ("A. Lincoln"), to unidentified, n.d. on verso of autograph letter from J. Mayo to Harry Wilton, Paris, Illinois, 15 December 1857. 1 page, folio, blue legal paper, tape repairs to creases on verso.
Details
LINCOLN, Abraham. Autograph endorsement signed ("A. Lincoln"), to unidentified, n.d. on verso of autograph letter from J. Mayo to Harry Wilton, Paris, Illinois, 15 December 1857. 1 page, folio, blue legal paper, tape repairs to creases on verso.
LINCOLN AND PARIS (ILLINOIS)
Lincoln passes along a report from the Deputy U.S. Marshall to the U.S. Marshall at the small Illinois hamlet of Paris, concerning the execution on some foreclosed property in that area. "The within letter explains itself; and is of especial interest to you," Lincoln writes. The land in question--"a blue grass pasture under a good fence, a country road running on the south line of it...worth $20.00 per acre"--was owned by a David S. Curtis and George Hoge. 1857 was a recession year, and hard times pushed many farmers into foreclosure. It was also a year of intensifying political conflict with the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision in March that tore apart the Missouri Compromise; and the ongoing battles between pro- and anti-slavery forces in Kansas. Lincoln--here riding the Illinois circuit--kept one eye on his practice and the other on how he might join the growing anti-slavery movement. Within six months he was in the thick of the fight, in his 1858 election contest against Stephen A. Douglas.
LINCOLN AND PARIS (ILLINOIS)
Lincoln passes along a report from the Deputy U.S. Marshall to the U.S. Marshall at the small Illinois hamlet of Paris, concerning the execution on some foreclosed property in that area. "The within letter explains itself; and is of especial interest to you," Lincoln writes. The land in question--"a blue grass pasture under a good fence, a country road running on the south line of it...worth $20.00 per acre"--was owned by a David S. Curtis and George Hoge. 1857 was a recession year, and hard times pushed many farmers into foreclosure. It was also a year of intensifying political conflict with the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision in March that tore apart the Missouri Compromise; and the ongoing battles between pro- and anti-slavery forces in Kansas. Lincoln--here riding the Illinois circuit--kept one eye on his practice and the other on how he might join the growing anti-slavery movement. Within six months he was in the thick of the fight, in his 1858 election contest against Stephen A. Douglas.