496 résultats
18622923Washington D.C.: War Department 1862. Calf marbled boards. Very Good. FIRST OBTAINABLE PRINTING OF THE PRELIMINARY EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION setting a date for the freedom of more than three million enslaved in the United States and reframing the Civil War as a fight against slavery. Issued by the War Department to regimental commanders in the field during the Civil War in the week after the completion of President Lincoln’s official manuscript version. Contained is a set of three volumes of General Orders covering the full year 1862 July-Dec 1863 and the full year 1864. History of the Emancipation Proclamation:<br /> <br /> “The proclamation has been called by responsible persons one of the three great<br /> documents of world history ranking with Magna Carta and the Declaration of<br /> Independence†– Eberstadt<br /> <br /> “From the first days of the Civil War slaves had acted to secure their own liberty. The Emancipation Proclamation confirmed their insistence that the war for the Union must become a war for freedom. It added moral force to the Union cause and strengthened the Union both militarily and politically. As a milestone along the road to slavery’s final destruction the Emancipation Proclamation has assumed a place among the great documents of human freedom†– National Archives<br /> <br /> Following the Seven Days Battle and General McClellan’s retreat from the Peninsula at the end of June 1862 President Lincoln realized that there would be no early end to the war and found himself “as inconsolable as it was possible for a human to be and yet live.†Anxious for news from the army and needing to escape the constant interruptions at the White House he frequently visited the telegraph office in the War Department building to await dispatches. It was during one such visit early in July that he asked the chief of the telegraph staff Major Thomas Thompson Eckert for some paper to “write something special†and began the first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation completing it in a few weeks. Lincoln had long hoped to resolve the slavery issue through a congressional act of emancipation compensating slave owners for their loss of “property†but that approach was roundly rejected by representatives from the border states leaving the President who had decided upon the necessity of emancipation with a presidential proclamation as the only option. The extraordinary document he conceived would announce the liberation on January 1 1863 of all slaves in those states still in rebellion against the Union and promised compensation to slave owners in those states that returned to the fold before that time if they adopted “immediate or gradual abolishment of slavery.†This proclamation would be followed by a final proclamation issued on the 1st of January identifying those states still in rebellion and confirming the liberation of all slaves therein.<br /> <br /> On Tuesday July 22 Lincoln presented his draft to the Cabinet telling them that he had resolved firmly upon the course of action it specified and asking them not for advice but suggestions. The only observation he had not anticipated came from Secretary of State Seward who proposed that it might be best to wait for a military victory before issuing the Proclamation as it could otherwise seem like “the last measure of an exhausted government.†Immediately recognizing the wisdom of the suggestion Lincoln held back. On September 17 after an anxious wait of nearly two months he received the victory he needed at the bloody Battle of Antietam. Completing his final draft Lincoln presented it to his cabinet for refinement on September 22. Following the meeting Seward took the amended draft with him to the State Department where a formal manuscript copy was made then signed by Lincoln and Seward. The formal official “Emancipation Proclamation†was of course issued on January 1 1863 the day it became the law of the land.<br /> <br /> Printing History:<br /> <br /> This printing in the War Department’s official “General Orders†is the fourth printing overall but realistically the first obtainable printing. It is preceded by:<br /> <br /> -The first printing Eberstadt #1 a small three-page circular intended for distribution within the government and to the local press likely printed on September 22. At the time that Charles Eberstadt published his study of the Proclamation 1950 he was able to locate only one copy which he himself owned and as nearly as we have been able to determine no other copies have come to light since then.<br /> <br /> -The second printing Eberstadt #2 may be a phantom printing. Charles Eberstadt was not able to locate a copy but he inferred its existence from the standard State Department practice of printing a folio edition consisting solely of the text of the proclamation followed by another printing consisting of the text of a letter of transmittal from the Secretary of State as well as the text of the proclamation. While there may be a copy of Eberstadt #2 in the National Archives as he speculated it is not recorded in their online catalogue nor have we been able to find a copy in any other online catalogue including OCLC the Library of Congress and the Abraham Lincoln Library.<br /> <br /> -Eberstadt’s third printing is of legendary rarity. It consists of Secretary of State Seward’s one-page letter of transmittal addressed “To the Diplomatic and Consular Officers of the United States in foreign countries†and the text of the proclamation. Eberstadt located a total of only five copies in institutions at the Library of Congress the National Archives Yale the Clements Library and Brown. OCLC does not record any additional copies nor is it recorded in Monaghan. There has been one copy at auction $400000 in 2021 and that was described as the only copy in private hands. <br /> <br /> -The present copy General Orders No. 139 is Eberstadt’s fourth printing of the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation dated in print on September 24. Eberstadt surmises that this field order printing could have been accomplished as late as September 29 or 30. Although it may have been printed in as many as 15000 copies it is very rare in commerce likely due to the ephemeral nature of the printing and distribution.<br /> <br /> Additional General Orders and Provenance:
<br /> <br /> The three volumes once belonged to John G. Haskell A.Q.M. Chief Quartermaster and contain the General Orders for the year 1862 July-December only for the year 1863 and for the full year 1864. John Gideon Haskell 1832-1907 was a resident of Kansas and joined the Union Army when the war broke out. He enlisted with the 14th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry Regiment and later served as Assistant Quartermaster General of Kansas as quartermaster of the Third Kansas and the Tenth Kansas Volunteers as Captain and Assistant Quartermaster on the staff of General James G. Blunt and as Chief Quartermaster of the Army of the Frontier. After the war Haskell was named official state architect and worked on the state house the capitol the State University and more.<br /> <br /> In addition to the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation the three volumes also contain the Acts of Congress on many other subjects including pay discharge recruitment handling of troops etc.<br /> <br /> Washington D.C.: War Department Adjutant General’s Office 1862-64. Three volumes. Small octavo contemporary three-quarter brown morocco two volumes with cloth boards one with marbled boards. Some rubbing and wear to bindings pencil notations on endpapers with collation and highlighting certain orders and some internal pages. Dampstaining to general title of 1862 volume; internal text and Emancipation Proclamation generally fine. RARE AND IMPORTANT.<br /> <br /> References:<br /> <br /> Charles Eberstadt. “Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.†New York: 1950. War Department unknown
18638703<p>One partly-printed military commisssion on vellum signed by Lincoln as president and countersigned by Edwin M. Stanton as Secretary of War dated May 16th 1863. The document commissions Benjamin H. Geary as Second Lieutenant to the 13th Infantry Regiment on August 13th 1862. Accession note to top left.</p><p>The document measures 14.75 x 19.5 in</p>
18771812Grand-Saconnex Schweiz: Selbstverlag 1877. First edition. In publisher’s wrappers. Collection stamp and shelfmarks written in ink and pencil on the cover and the title-page. Distributor’s stamp on the cover. With traces of folding. Cover slightly dusted. Pages yellowed due to ageing. First five leaves with minor damage to the lower corners. Overall in fine condition. First edition. In publisher’s wrappers. 24 p. <p><br /> Scarce pamphlet reflecting on the debate on early Marxist communism countering Engels for Anti-Dühring.<br /> <p><p><br /> First and only edition of the socialist theorist Abraham Enss’ pamphlet in which he criticises Marx and his followers for “doing humbug with socialism†and virulently defending Dühring from Engels’ “pseudoscientific†diatribes on him. Since the editors of Berliner Freie Presse refused to accept his writing Enss self-published his open letter dated to February 4 1877 and supplemented by two postscripts dated to March 1 and March 18 respectively in the present pamphlet in Switzerland. In response to the appearance of his writings Engels called Enss the “Sancho Panza†of Dühring who he referred to as “modern Don Quixote†while Liebknecht wrote in his letters to Engels that “Enß is stupid and will soon go to the madhouse†and that he is “generally regarded as a donkey even an idiotâ€.<br /> <p><p><br /> Abraham Enss was a follower and friend of Eugen Dühring. From 1887 he edited Der Antikrat a Dühringian paper with anti-Semitic tendencies which appeared with the subtitle Gegen Parteigewalt und Hebräer-Einfluß. Für selbständige Geistesführung und sociale Gerechtigkeit. Against Party Violence and Hebrew Influence. For Independent Spiritual Leadership and Social Justice.<br /> <p><p><br /> Scarce WorldCat locates only one copy in institutional holding in the US in the Columbia University Library in New York. <br /> <p><p><br /> Literature: Engels F.; Marx K.: Marx & Engels Collected Works. Volume 25. London: Lawrence & Wishart 1987. p. 298.; Firedlaender B.: Der freiheitliche Sozialismus: im Gegensatz zum Staatsknechtsthum der Marxisten. Mit besonderere Berücksichtigung der Werke und Schicksale Eugen Dühring’s. Berlin: Freie Verlagsanschaft 1892. p. 71; Gay J.: The Blind Prometheus of German Social Science. Eugen Dühring as Philosopher Economist and Controversial Social Critic. Universität Erfurt 2012.; Liebknecht W.: Briefwechsel mit Karl Marx und Friedrich Engels. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter 2020. pp. 212–214.; Nettlau M.: Bibliographie de l’anarchie. Année 1897. — N° 8. Bruxelles: Bibliothèque des Temps Nouveaux 1897. p. 41.<br /> <p>. Selbstverlag unknown
18638667<p>One partially printed vellum leaf dated February 21 1863 of the appointment of James Alden Jr. as a Captain in the Navy. Signed by President Abraham Lincoln and the Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles. Orange embossed seal of the Department of the Navy to bottom. Previous owner's repair to upper right corner see image. Loses at folds see image. James Alden Jr. had an impressive career in the United States Navy having been appointed by Lincoln in aiding to split the Confederacy apart along the Mississippi River ultimately helping in the Battle of Vicksburg. Alden whose direct descendant came to America on the Mayflower assisted in the Mexican-American War before joining the Union during the Civil War.</p><p>The paper measures approximately 14.5 x 17.75 in 37 x 45 cm.</p>
18573563230/10/1857. <p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p><strong>Autograph document signed</strong> 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. <em>“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.â€</em></p><p>Lincoln adds below: <em>“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.â€</em> The case is listed at lawofficeofabrahamlincoln.org.</p><p>An interesting pleading where Lincoln’s client has already been acquitted of the same offense.</p><p><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"" /></p> unknown
186442820809<p>Oval albumen print 8 x 6 in. original printed mount trimmed at bottom removing caption signed "BRADY & CO. PHOTOGRAPHERS." Browning and offsetting to mount light toning to image. Very good. Matted and framed.</p><p><strong>The classic Brady $5 bill photograph.</strong> This celebrated portrait the basis for the five-dollar bill engraving used for most of the 20th century is one of seven poses taken by Anthony Berger at Mathew Brady's Washington D. C. studio on February 9 1864. The most prolific photographer of Lincoln Brady himself did not actually operate his cameras during the war years instead training and employing men like Alexander Gardner and his successor Anthony Berger who took this picture to operate the camera.</p><p><strong>Lincoln's son Robert Todd Lincoln declared this famous portrait to be "the most satisfactory likeness" of Abraham Lincoln.</strong></p> Mathew Brady Gallery
1863372898New York 1863. 8pp. printed in six columns on a single folded sheet. Large folio. Disbound. Natural paper flaw to first leaf not affecting text of the Gettysburg Address. Cloth portfolio. 8pp. printed in six columns on a single folded sheet. Large folio. The complete issue of the New-York Tribune printing the Gettysburg Address on the morning of Nov. 20 1863 the first possible date of the speech's printing. The previous day Lincoln delivered his great address 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 was preceded by an address from Edward Everett the most famous orator of his day. Everett's speech took between ninety minutes and two hours to deliver and today is largely forgotten. 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.<br /> <br /> 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 is taken largely from this New York Tribune printing.<br /> <br /> As it appears here the address corresponds closely to the transcription printed in the same day's edition of the New York Times with slight variations in punctuation and capitalization "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new Nation." in the Tribune versus "Fourscore and seven years ago our Fathers brought forth on this Continent a new nation." in the Times e.g. The address is printed on the first page at the bottom of the fifth column running to the top of the sixth. Significantly it notes the five places during Lincoln's speech where applause broke out thereby providing an important historical record of the reception of the speech as it was delivered by Lincoln. It is noted that the conclusion of the speech was met with "long continued applause" and that "three cheers were here given for the President and the Governors of the States." Lincoln's speech is preceded by the opening prayer of the Rev. Thomas H. Stockton and followed by Everett's speech which occupies the rest of the sixth column and the vast majority of space on page two. War news occupies the other column space on the front page.<br /> <br /> Together with examples from other newspapers of Nov. 20 1863 this issue of the New-York Tribune represents the first appearance of any version of the Gettysburg Address in print although at some variance with the version Lincoln eventually disseminated. The exact order in which the morning editions of November 20 were printed is practically impossible to determine at this point and as Carbonell states "will almost certainly never be known." Rightfully so Carbonell includes all November 20 morning newspaper printings of the Gettysburg Address as his first entry with no priority. Suffice to say this is as early a printing of one of the foundational documents of American life as one can ever encounter.<br /> <br /> "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. Carbonell 1. Grolier American 100 72 ref. Streeter Sale 1748 ref. PMM 351 ref. Howes E233 ref. Monaghan 192 ref. Paul M. Angle "Four Lincoln Firsts" in Papers of the Bibliographical Society 36 Spring 1942 pp.13-17 unknown
1868019219Chicago: Western Bank Note & Engraving Co. 1868. First Edition. Document. Recently backed with thin paper with several professional repairs of chips and tears. Very Good . Large folio 16-1/4" x 21-3/4" finely engraved and printed on good quality paper with elaborate decorative borders with a "US" monogram to upper corners a bold calligraphic heading with "ABOLISHING SLAVERY" in prominent decorated letters; at top center is a small vignette of the pyramid and all-seeing eye above an oval vignette of a slave family with child mourning over a cameo portrait of Lincoln. This is followed by the engraved signatures of President Lincoln Vice President Hamlin Schuyler Colfax and J. W. Forney Speaker and Secretary of the Senate and 164 Senators and Congressmen. An exceedingly rare and beautiful printing of the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude . Shall exist within the United States." This elaborately engraved Reconstruction-era broadside is based on the special "souvenir" copies on parchment signed by Lincoln and the others of which only a handful are known to have been made. The Thirteenth Amendment represents the first substantive change to how America interpreted those liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights since its ratification in 1791. The Emancipation Proclamation only freed the slaves in the openly rebellious states. The Amendment effectively put an end to slavery once and for all upon its passage on 1 February 1865. <br/><br/> Western Bank Note & Engraving Co. unknown
18623568928/02/1862. <blockquote><p>He was later promoted to Lt. Colonel for gallantry in action at the Battle of Groveton</p></blockquote><p><strong>Document signed</strong> 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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p><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"" /></p> unknown
18533514603/11/1853. <blockquote><p>The case is well known and illustrates Lincoln’s penchant for aiding women who had been unjustly treated</p></blockquote><blockquote><p>""Said answers are untrue uncertain and insufficient that her Bill is true certain and sufficient and he Lincoln will so prove it to be""</p><p> </p></blockquote><p>During his 25-year legal career in Illinois Abraham Lincoln was involved in a substantial number of cases involving women as litigants. He was known for seeking to represent women and working to get justice for them in an era when women’s cases were often shunned by lawyers or not taken seriously.</p><p>Lincoln handled some 147 divorce cases about 40% of all divorce cases in his home county of Sangamon. Importantly more than half of the litigants he represented were women. He handled these cases with ""tender consideration"" learning from experience that the law could be a dangerous place for women who had few rights under the legal doctrines of the time. Lincoln also represented women in cases involving land disputes and in slander lawsuits which often involved accusations of adultery and were important for maintaining a woman's community reputation.</p><p>Lincoln was known for taking cases for women where he felt justice was on his client's side. Notable examples include: Nance Legins-Costley - In 1841 Lincoln successfully represented this African American woman to prevent her from being sold into slavery arguing that slavery was illegal in Illinois; Melissa Goings - He defended Mrs. Goings an elderly woman charged with her abusive husband's murder in a case based on self-defense; Doshia Wyatt - In 1853 Lincoln took on the case of Mrs. Wyatt a widow whose claim was that she was being cheated out of her inheritance.</p><p>A petition for dower is a legal request filed by a surviving spouse typically a widow to claim a portion of their deceased spouse's estate such as in real property based on common law dower rights. This is a formal process that requires the surviving spouse to file a petition in court describing the property and naming the heir or person with the next immediate estate of inheritance. The court then holds a hearing to determine the rights to dower and the property.</p><p>Doshia Wyatt widow of Robert Wyatt retained Lincoln and sued for her dower. Thomas Wyatt died in 1847 and left all of his property to his son Robert. Robert Wyatt lost part of the land the Mill Farm to satisfy a judgment against him in the U.S. District Court of Illinois. Robert Wyatt sold another property the Prue Farm to George Brewner. After Robert Wyatt's death in 1852 Doshia Wyatt sued Leonard and Brewner's heirs. Leonard contested the petition claiming that he did not believe Doshia and Robert Wyatt had been legally married. Leonard also claimed that Robert Wyatt had already left Doshia Wyatt land in his will which Leonard claimed was recorded.</p><p>Hearing the case was Judge David Davis a friend of Lincoln whom as President he would appoint to the U.S. Supreme Court. Ward Hill Lamon Lincoln’s co-attorney on the case began his professional association with Lincoln in 1852 when they became law partners. Though they had different styles they remained close personal and professional friends. After the partnership dissolved in 1857 their friendship continued and Lamon would later become Lincoln's bodyguard and U.S. Marshal for the District of Columbia during Lincoln's presidency. As the bodyguard Lamon was not in Washington on the night of Lincoln’s assassination being on assignment in Richmond at Lincoln’s request. In his Recollections of Abraham Lincoln Lamon reveals that before he left for Richmond he implored the President not to ""go out at night after he was gone particularly to the theatre.""</p><p>This document relates to the case of Doshia Wyatt. In a petition to the Court filed by Lincoln Wyatt stated her case: “Your petitioner would further represent to your honor that she your petitioner is the widow of the said Robert Wyatt — that she has never relinquished her dower to the said aforesaid land or any part thereof - nor has her dower ever been set off - or assigned her in said premises - that said Robert Wyatt on or about the 28th of July AD 1852 departed this life leaving her the said Doshia widow as aforesaid…Your petitioner would further pray that this honorable court appoints commissioners to assign her dower in & to all of the above described tracts or parcels of land according to the statue in such cases made and approved. And your petitioner would pray for such & gather relief as may be according to equity and good conscience and as in duly abound your petitioner will ever pray.â€</p><p>This is a pleading in Lincoln’s hand which contains the answer of Wyatt to the defendants’ responses to her allegations. <strong>Autograph document signed</strong> Vermillion County Illinois Circuit Court November 3 1853. <em>“The replication response of Doshia Wyatt to the defendants’ answers filed in the case for her Petition for Dower in the Vermillion Circuit Court against Peter R. Leonard and others. This repliant respondent says that said answers are untrue uncertain and insufficient that her Bill is true certain and sufficient and he Lincoln will so prove it to be as this Honorable Court shall direct. Lincoln & Lamon for Repliant respondent.â€</em> On the verso Lincoln has docketed the document <em>“Dosha Wyatt vs Peter R. Leonard Replication.â€</em> The clerk of court Samuel Craig then notes that the plea was filed on November 3 1853.</p><p>An uncommon document in Lincoln’s hand concerning his representation of women. As for the case the parties likely reached a settlement as Wyatt ended up dismissing the case while Leonard paid the costs.</p><p><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"" /></p> unknown
18633619207/02/1863. <blockquote><p>This document has been in a private collection for a generation</p><p> </p><p>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.â€</p><p> </p><p>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</p></blockquote><p>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.</p><p>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.â€</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p><strong>Autograph note signed</strong> Washington February 7 1863 the day of the Act to Lorenzo Thomas expediting Grider’s ability to see Thomas. <em>“Adjutant General Please see and hear Hon. Mr. Grider. A. Lincoln.â€</em> 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.</p><p>This is a very scarce communication involving Lincoln aiding a Kentucky Unionist.</p><p><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"" /></p> unknown
1863172650Washington DC: 10 March 1863. Signed four months before the Battle of Gettysburg A military appointment signed by Abraham Lincoln at the height of the American Civil War. Such documents were instruments of authority and means of identification as soldiers crossed through military lines and took command. The document appoints James Gillette to the position of "Commissary of Subsistence of Volunteers with the rank of Captain". James Gillette 1838-81 enlisted as a private and rose quickly through the ranks. He served as Commissary of Subsistence for the 2nd Division XII Corps under General John W. Geary. For his meritorious service he was breveted lieutenant colonel U.S. Volunteers and for gallantry at the battle of Chancellorsville he was breveted major in the regular Army. A week earlier on 3 March Lincoln signed the Conscription Act mandating the impressment of able-bodied young men into the service of the Union Army. A clause allowing for exemption by paying a fee provoked national fury leading to riots in New York. Engraved military appointment 415 x 340 mm on vellum with the sections accomplished in manuscript attractive cartouche of the American eagle at the head and large trophy of arms at the foot engraved by J. V. N. and O. H. Throop blue wafer seal at left War Department docketing notations at upper left. Mounted and framed with UV conservation glazing framed size 64 x 53 cm. Originally folded into sixths leaving light creases as usual. Slightly discoloured at extremities ink a little faded but still clear. In very good condition. hardcover
1862190938Washington DC: 28 July 1862. Taxing the new state of Oregon to fund the Civil War Lincoln appoints Lawrence White Coe collector of federal taxes for the State of Oregon. In August 1861 Congress passed a new direct tax to fund the Civil War. Oregon's share was $35000 seven eighths of the state's annual revenue Bancroft p. 640. The measure marked both a substantial expansion of federal taxation and a wartime extension of presidential patronage through the appointment of tax officers. Oregon had become a state in 1859. Coe 1831-1897 resident in Wasco County had opened steam navigation on the upper Columbia River with the stern-wheeler Colonel Wright which was contracted to carry army supplies to Fort Walla Walla. His father Nathaniel Coe had been appointed by President Fillmore as the first postal agent in the Northwest. Printed document with manuscript additions 281 x 434 mm embossed seal of the US Treasury. Presented in a wooden frame with conservation acrylic glazing 555 x 425 cm. Minor chipping at extremities tape residue on verso from former framing minor soiling and light spotting. In very good condition. Hubert Howe Bancroft History of Oregon Vol. II 1888. unknown
18433570010/1843. <blockquote><p>Miles who was also a prominent Whig politico and part of Lincoln’s political circle used Lincoln’s legal services a number of times</p></blockquote><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p><strong>Autograph document signed</strong> 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. <em>“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.â€</em></p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p><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"" /></p> unknown
18643560801/08/1864. <blockquote><p>This appointment is listed in War Department General Orders no. 256</p></blockquote><p>According to the National Museum of Civil War Medicine and other sources Lt. Adam Miller of the 2nd Mass. Vols. aged twenty-three years was badly wounded August 9 1862 at the Battle of Cedar Mountain by an elongated musket ball which entered below the right eye socket and traversing the nasal cavity emerged through the left eye socket destroying the globe of the left eye and lacerating the left lower eyelid. He was made a prisoner and taken to a hospital at Charlottesville Va. where his wound ultimately formed a scar with great deformity. After being exchanged he entered the New York Eye Infirmary and on April 10 1863 a plastic surgical operation was performed by Dr. Henry B. Sands for the restoration of the eyelid. The operation was eminently successful and on April 22 1863 the parts were sufficiently healed to permit the insertion of an artificial eye. He thus survived a catastrophic facial wound and underwent pioneering plastic surgery.</p><p>Due to his injuries which made him unfit for active field duty but still capable of light service he was transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps in August 1863 with his commission dating back to June 27 1863. The Veteran Reserve Corps was a military organization of the Union Army created for partially disabled or otherwise infirm soldiers who could still perform simple duties such as guarding prisoners or patrolling cities. This appointment is listed in War Department General Orders no. 256.</p><p><strong>Document signed</strong> with engravings of an eagle flags and weapons Washington August 1 1864 naming Adam Miller a lieutenant in the Veteran Reserve Corps effective June 27 1863.</p><p>An extraordinary Lincoln appointment of a soldier who made medical history in the Civil War.</p><p><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"" /></p> unknown
18611571129/03/1861. <p>James E. Harrison though born in Virginia served the Union cause during the Civil War. He received his first appointment as a Second Lieutenant to the 2d U. S. Cavalry in June 1856 and was stationed in Texas and various forts in the West until December 1858 when he was assigned to scouting Indians. He returned East and with the Civil War imminent he was promoted to First Lieutenant 2d U.S. Cavalry in March 1861 and then to Captain 5th U.S. Cavalry in May of that year. Harrison was engaged in the Peninsular campaign and commanded a regiment in the Army of the Potomac from September 1862 to June 1863. During that time he served at the battles of Antietem Chancellorsville and Brandy Station among many others. He was Breveted Major U.S. Army for gallant and meritorious services at the battle of Hanover Court House and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel U.S. Army for gallant and meritorious services at the battle of Antietam. In July of 1864 Harrison was assigned to be Inspector-General of Cavalry in the Department of Arkansas and was later appointed as Special Inspector of Cavalry in West Mississippi.</p><p><strong>Document signed</strong> as President Washington March 29 1861 effective retroactively to February 27 1861 an ornate vignetted commission with an eagle cannons and flags appointing Harrison to the rank of “First Lieutenant in the Second Regiment of Cavalry.†The document is countersigned by Secretary of War Simon Cameron.</p> unknown
1864132067April 21 1864. American naval commission signed by Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States and Gideon Welles as Secretary of the Navy. Folio partially engraved on vellum the document is dated April 21 1864 and promotes Charles W. Tracy to the rank of Lieutenant. In near fine condition. Matted and framed with a portrait of Lincoln and engraved plate. The Commission measures 19 inches by 16 inches. The entire piece measures 34 inches by 29.5 inches. Abraham Lincoln served as the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War the country's greatest moral cultural constitutional and political crisis and in doing so preserved the Union of the United States of America abolished slavery and strengthened the federal government. Lincoln ran for President in 1860 sweeping the North in victory. The South was outraged by Lincoln's election and in response secessionists implemented plans to leave the Union before he took office in March 1861. War began in April 1861 when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina just over a month after Lincoln's inauguration and after years of deadly military conflict officially ended on April 9 1865 when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at the Battle of Appomattox Court House. On April 14 1865 just days after the war's end at Appomattox Lincoln was attending a play at Ford's Theatre with his wife Mary when he was assassinated by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln is remembered as the martyr hero of the United States and is consistently ranked as one of the greatest presidents in American history. hardcover
18771465621877-1880. Unique 19th-century autograph album containing the signatures of six American presidents fifteen senators several cabinet members and governors including Abraham Lincoln Ulysses S. Grant James Buchanan and Franklin Pierce. Narrow quarto bound in one quarter period dark brown cloth over stiff marbled wrappers the autograph album is a repurposed 19th-century caucus record dating from ca. 1870. The caucus book is alphabetically tab-indexed and filled out in ink voters are tracked by their name with caucus results appearing in the back. Although this is labeled “Ward 5†in the first page the term "Ward" was flexible in its usage. This could have been for a Ward election precinct caucus legislative congressional or state convention caucus. The autographs are mounted over the caucus records in their respective alphabetical tab. Also mounted at front are 6 printed pieces of 19th-century ephemera. The autograph album was assembled between 1877 and 1880 and can be dated by a contemporary pencil note that John Sherman had transitioned from the Senate to be Secretary of the Treasury. From the collection of a Mr. Boyd a 19th-century Ward politician in the upper Midwest Minnesota or Wisconsin. The Presidential autographs are primarily clipped from Presidential appointments and include: Abraham Lincoln James Buchanan Ulysses S. Grant Andrew Johnson Franklin Pierce and Rutherford B. Hayes. In very good condition. A very rare and unique collection. hardcover
18623341204/03/1862. <p>As 1862 opened the war was not going well for the Union. In the east Bull Run had been a disaster and led to the shake-up of command with no results yet to show for it. In the west the loss at Wilson’s Creek gave the Confederates the upper hand. The Federal armies in the west then turned their attention to implementation of the Anaconda Plan – to cut the Confederacy in half by securing the Mississippi River from St. Louis all the way to the Gulf of Mexico and clearing a maritime invasion route into the heart of the Confederacy by taking the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers which lay just to the east of the Mississippi. If successful these maneuvers would cut Texas Arkansas and Louisiana off from the main body of the South hold Kentucky and Missouri firmly in the Union and make it difficult for Tennessee to cooperate with her sister Confederate states. The first moves would be to take and hold commanding locations north on the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers and command of the operation was given to Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant an obscure and largely unproven officer.</p><p>On February 6 1862 Fort Henry commanding the Tennessee River was captured by Grant’s forces. It had a poor defensive position and was reduced mainly by the bombardment of gunboats on the river. Nonetheless its fall opened the Tennessee River to Union gunboats and shipping past the Alabama border and provided a real victory for Union arms. Grant next focused his attention on Fort Donelson eleven miles away on the more strategically important Cumberland River. This fort had a much stronger physical position and the Confederates had placed some 20000 men and a number of senior commanders on site to engage in its defense. They were not about to concede the fort and they were ready and waiting for Grant. Grant arrived at Fort Donelson late on February 12 and on the 13th established his headquarters near the left side of the front of the line. That day was spent in battle preparation with a few small probing attacks being carried out against the Confederate defenses.</p><p>Grant's headquarters was at Cairo Ill where the head of Ordnance was Stephen Lyford. Grant arrived at Fort Donelson late on February 12 and on the 13th established his headquarters near the left side of the front of the line. That day was spent in battle preparation with a few small probing attacks being carried out against the Confederate defenses.</p><p>The battle was severe with nearly 1000 soldiers on both sides killed and about 3000 wounded. When Simon Buckner the Confederate commander asked for surrender terms Grant famously replied “No terms except unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted“ adding “I propose to move immediately upon your works.†Buckner surrendered his command of about 15000 men; this was the first of three Confederate armies that Grant captured during the war.</p><p>The capture of Fort Donelson gave the North control of the Cumberland River which provided the road that opened the Deep South to Union invasion. It boosted morale in the North which now saw that the war could result in great victories and not just defeats. It gave President Lincoln the fighting general he was looking for and it made Grant’s career in the process; he was soon promoted to major general of volunteers.</p><p>Stephen C. Lyford had a long and distinguished career. He served from May to August 1861 in the defenses of Washington D. C. and in the Manassas Campaign participating in the Battle of Bull Run July 21 1861. He was Aide-de_Camp to Brig. General McDowell in the defenses of Washington D. C. August to October 1861 and Asst. Ordnance Officer at St. Louis Arsenal Mo. November 2 1861 to February 1 1862; in command of the Cairo Ordnance Depot Ill. February to May 1862 being detached to the Cumberland River and was present at the Surrender of Ft. Donelson. He was part of Gen. Halleck's Mississippi Campaign May to July 1862 being engaged in the Siege of Corinth May 1862 and was Chief of Ordnance for Department of the Tennessee July 11 1862 to September 6 1863 and fought in the Battle of Corinth. He would go on to teach at West Point and also serve as aide-de-camp for Gen. Halleck and as representative of the US to Japan to bring back information and technology relevant for American ordnance.</p><p><strong>Document signed</strong> with engravings of flags and weapons Washington March 4 1862 Naming Lyford a <em>“Second Lieutenant in the Ordnance Department.""</em></p><p><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"" /></p> unknown
18613521508/08/1861. <blockquote><p>""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""</p><p> </p><p>We have never before a document on the market referencing Bethel by name or referring to the battle as great</p><p> </p><p>Part of a private collection assembled at Sesslers more than a half century ago</p></blockquote><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.""</p><p><strong>Autograph document signed</strong> August 8 1861 on a detached leaf no recipient but likely Secretary of War Simon Cameron. <em>""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.""</em></p><p>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.</p><p>This was acquired from Mabel Zahn at Sesslers in the 1970s.</p><p><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"" /></p> unknown
1860149362Columbus: Follett Foster and Company 1860. First edition early issue of the most famous debates in American history which cemented Lincoln as a national presidential candidate. Octavo original cloth stamped in blind. Ownership bookplate of President Gerald R. Ford to the front pastedown. President Gerald R. Ford and Abraham Lincoln occupy distinct yet symbolically linked places in American presidential history united by their encounters with political violence and national division. Abraham Lincoln the 16th president led the United States through the Civil War and became the first American president to be assassinated when he was shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre in 1865—a moment that transformed him into a martyr for the Union and a symbol of democratic perseverance. Over a century later Gerald R. Ford the 38th president survived two assassination attempts within seventeen days in 1975 both carried out by women—Lynette “Squeaky†Fromme and Sara Jane Moore—amid the turbulence of the post-Watergate era. While Ford’s brush with assassination did not result in tragedy it echoed the lingering volatility of American political life that had claimed Lincoln’s. In near fine condition. An exceptional example with even better provenance. Running as a little-known candidate for the Illinois senatorship in 1858 Lincoln challenged incumbent and Democratic leader Stephen Douglas to a series of debates. The result was a memorable chain of lively arguments in front of cheering crowds. Though Lincoln lost the senatorial race “he began collecting a scrapbook of his best speeches particularly those from the just-concluded campaign against Douglas for possible inclusion in a book. Assiduously pasting newspaper accounts of the debates into the scrapbook Lincoln cast about for a publisher. Initial efforts failed mainly because Lincoln wanted the book printed in Springfield which had no local publishing or printing facilities. Eventually however the Columbus Ohio firm of Follett Foster & Company showed interest and he began preparing the first edition… Somewhat surprisingly for an attorney Lincoln did not seek Douglas’ permission to publish a book of their combined speeches although Douglas was later given the last-minute opportunity—he declined—to make corrections to his own remarks†Morris 121. Follett, Foster and Company hardcover
18643503129/10/1864. <blockquote><p>Journalist George D. Prentice's son was a Confederate officer captured by Union forces who would later be charged with murder</p></blockquote><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>“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.â€</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>Lincoln complied with Prentice’s request. <strong>Autograph note signed</strong> Washington October 29 1864.<em> “Allow George D. Prentice of the Louisville Journal to pass our lines go to Abingdon Va. and return.â€</em></p><p>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.</p><p>Thus did Lincoln intervene twice to aid his Kentucky advisor.</p><p>Clarence Prentice was acquitted of the murder charge. He continued to serve in the Confederate Army until the war ended.</p><p><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"" /></p> unknown
1862376858Boston: J.M. Forbes 1862. 7 1 blankpp. Miniature 3-1/4x2-1/8 inches. Original wrappers unstitched. Small repair to tears at gutter. Housed in a blue morocco backed box. 7 1 blankpp. Miniature 3-1/4x2-1/8 inches. The first and only contemporary printing of Lincoln's historic preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in separate pamphlet form. <br /> <br /> This small pamphlet was printed by John Murray Forbes a Boston industrialist and abolitionist for distribution by Union soldiers to African Americans in the south. In 1899 the publisher's daughter recalled the genesis of this pocket-sized edition: "With the view of placing the Proclamation of Emancipation in the hands of the negroes themselves my father had printed 1000000 copies on small slips one and half inches square put into packages of fifty each and distributed among the Northern soldiers at the front who scattered them about among the blacks while on the march. Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner approved the idea ." Sara Forbes Hughes Letters and Recollections of John Murray Forbes pp. 348-49. Indeed in a letter to Forbes on Christmas Day 1862 Sumner asked "Why not send to all the hospitals camps posts The more the better" However the diminutive printing's scarcity in institutions and in the market would seem to belie that notion as it is among the rarest of editions of the Proclamation no doubt in part because of its small size. <br /> <br /> The preliminary proclamation of the Emancipation Proclamation was issued on September 22 1862 shortly following the Battle of Antietam and declared the freedom of all slaves in any Confederate state that did not return to Union control by January 1 1863. The text of the final official proclamation was the result of Lincoln's consultation with his cabinet on the morning of Dec. 31 1862 in which many changes were suggested. Lincoln then retired to consider all the cabinet members' recommendations and compose the final proclamation which he completed late in the day just before it would take effect. <br /> <br /> A signal moment in American history and the ideological raison d'etre of America's bloodiest war. Eberstadt 7; Monaghan 147 J.M. Forbes unknown
1863192290Springfield Illinois: 22 January 1863. Lincoln intercedes for two runaway boys On the verso of a letter to Stanton from Illinois Governor Richard Yates 1815-1873 the president writes "The families to which these boys belong are among my old acquaintances. A. Lincoln. Jan. 22 1863". Yates 1815-1873 was a longtime friend of Lincoln's. His letter dated 12 January 1863 states that "Thomas E. Clark and Jonathan C. Bergen of Petersburg in this state respectively 17 and 16 years of age left home some time during the last month without the consent of their parents and joined the 2nd Reg't U.S Cavalry stationed at Carlyle Barrack Pa". Yates requests to Stanton that "Messrs Clark & Bergen are both respectable & loyal citizens and you will oblige me by discharging these boys from the service of the United States". Petersburg Illinois is near New Salem where Lincoln lived from 1831 to 1837. Lincoln also received letters from the fathers George S. Bergen and David Clark which he referred to the Adjutant General of the Army Lorenzo Thomas on 21 January Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln Vol. 8 1953 p. 509. Although no one under 18 could legally enlist without the written consent of a parent or guardian many did so. By one recent estimate underage enlistees accounted for roughly a tenth of the Union forces Clarke & Plant. Parents filed thousands of petitions with Union authorities and state courts to secure their children's discharge. Here the families were sufficiently well-connected to appeal at the highest level; Lincoln's endorsement implies that the request was granted. Provenance: Elsie O. and Philip D. Sang their sale at Sotheby Parke Bernet 1978 lot 484; Louise Taper Beverly Hills California; acquired by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Foundation as part of the Taper Collection 2007; sold by the Foundation at Freeman's Hindman in their Lincoln's Legacy sale 2025 lot 78. Single sheet on State of Illinois Executive Department letterhead 253 x 197 mm handwritten by Yates on recto endorsed by Lincoln on verso alongside a note it was forwarded to Stanton. Central folds repaired still in very good condition. The endorsement is published in Roy P. Basler The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln First Supplement 1974 page 175. Frances M. Clarke & Rebecca Jo Plant Of Age: Boy Soldiers and Military Power in the Civil War Era 2022. unknown
185316994Springfield Ill: Handwritten Letter 1853. ALS. Cloth. Very good. A two-page handwritten letter from Abraham Lincoln to fellow attorney Thomas J. Turner of Freeport Illinois addressing their future legal strategy since ".the Judge has already decided." The letter is dated June 27 1853 and is self-addressed. Octavo 4pp. Previously folded glue remnant along top edge. Several folds of the letter are weakened some partially separated. Small paper loss at intersecting fold with archival tissue repair. The letter is addressed in Lincoln's hand with "Springfield" and "Paid 3" stamped on cover. Housed in custom folding folio quarter blue morocco blue cloth title in gilt on the spine illustration of Lincoln on the front pastedown. This letter concerns the case of Kemper v. Adams & Bovey a land dispute in Freeport Illinois. Lincoln was retained by Adams and Bovey who after a series of losses and appeals prevailed in March 1858 by appealing to U.S. Circuit Court of Northern Illinois. Full letter reads: "Springfield June 27. 1853. / Hon. T. J. Turner: / Dear Sir: Your letter of the 20th. reached me day-before yesterday. I had the day before written to Adams to be on hand with his witnesses- but at the request of Judge Logan who is Kemper's attorney I put in a Post-script saying to Adams if he was agreed the cause should be continued over the summer term. On subsequent reflection I rather wish Adams may not agree. I have the case fresh in my mind and therefore wish to keep it going till it is finished. I have already drafted a Bill of Exceptions and my plan is to put the common lawsuit through the forms of a second trial up to a verdict which must be against us under Judge D's view of the law except & save all the points and then before judgment file our Bill and get an injunction. I shall begin preparing a Bill this afternoon which I which I wish to file during the evening term; and I believe I will do this Mr Adams must come down to swear to the Bill. In no event can we be ready for proof in the chancery suit at this time so that we will need no other witness than the one that was here last summer. I wrote Mr Adams about a Register's certificate & if he can find one or two missing tax receipts let him bring them. I should be glad to see you & shake you by the hand; but as there is no contested jury question I scarcely think you need be at the trouble & expense of coming. All the law questions which can arise at this term the Judge has already decided. Very truly yours A. Lincoln." Provenance: Originally the property of Claribel Mitchell of Freeport Illinois a principal at the Lincoln School until 1916. The letter was sold at auction by the American Art Association on January 30 1923 to Mr. George A. Ball of Muncie Indiana the namesake of the Ball Mason Jar Company. This letter was published in The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln by Roy Basler New Brunswick NJ: Rutgers University Press 1953 2:199-200. Handwritten Letter unknown
