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Petition of Reuben Brown and Others to the Macon County Commissioners' Court, 26 May 18301
To the Hon County Comrs Court for the County of Macon
We the undersigned qualified voters in Decatur Precinct earnestly request your honors to change the present place of holding Elections in said Precinct from Permenius Smallwoods to the Court house in Decatur2
26th May 1830
Reuben Brown
James Martin
David Miller H. J. Armstrong
Thomas [Lane?] Henry Ewing
Joseph Stevens
Saml B Dewees John Grimsley
Andrew W Smith
D. H. Stuart M. C. Shaw
S R Sheppard Charles Lewis
John Miller S. Sennitt
William Hall Robert Stewart
J. B. Brown John Dickey
Squire Hall William Dickey
William Hanks3 Thomas Cowan
Thomas Cole I. C. Pugh4
John Biglow James Miller5
Landy Harrell Philip D. Williams
Alfred Hall Buel Stevens
William Foren David Florey
John Pettyjohn Moses Harrel
<Page 2>
David Owen
Randolph Rose
Isaac Miller
Jas Johnson
John Ballard
Phillip Ballard
John Hankes
John D Johnston
A Lincoln6
[ docketing ]
06/07/1830
Granted this 7th June 1830
Filed this 7th June 1830
Change of place of voting in Decatur precinct
[ docketing ]
32.75
28[.]00
60.75
75
60.75
14[.]25
1Reuben Brown authored the petition. Abraham Lincoln signed only his own name.
2The Macon County Commissioners’ Court responded to the petition by ordering that “the elections hereafter shall be held at the Court house in Decatur.”
Minutes, 7 June 1830, Macon County Board of Supervisors’ Minutes, 1829-1840, 16, Illinois Regional Archives Depository, University of Illinois Springfield, Springfield, IL.
3This signer could be either William Hanks Sr. or William Hanks Jr. Both were related to Abraham Lincoln and lived in Macon County when Lincoln signed this petition.
4Pugh was not a member of the Macon County Commissioners’ Court when it considered this petition, but he took office at the next term in September 1830.
Minutes, 7 June 1830, 16; 6 September 1830, 18 Macon County Board of Supervisors’ Minutes.
5In addition to signing the petition, Miller was one of the three commissioners who made up the court to which the petition was addressed.
Minutes, 7 June 1830, 16, Macon County Board of Supervisors’ Minutes.
6Lincoln technically was not a “qualified voter” at the time, having resided in Illinois for fewer than the required six months.
Ill. Const. of 1818, art. II, § 27; The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, 1 March 1830, http://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1830-03-01.

Copy of Autograph Document Signed, 2 page(s), Abraham Lincoln Association Files, Lincoln Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (Springfield, IL).