Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln to Archibald Williams, 1 March 18451
Springfield, March 1, 1845.Friend Williams:
The supreme court adjourned this morning for the term. Your cases of Reinhardt vs. Schuyler, Bunce vs. Schuyler, Dickhut vs. Dunell, and Sullivan vs. Andrews are continued. Hinman vs. Pope I wrote you concerning some time ago. McNutt et al. vs. Bean and Thompson is reversed and remanded.2

Fitzpatrick vs. Brady[Beatty] et al. is reversed and remanded with leave to complainant to amend his bill so as to show the real consideration given for the land.3

Bunce against Graves, the court confirmed, wherefore, in accordance with your directions, I moved to have the case remanded to enable you to take a new trial in the court below.4 The court allowed the motion; of which I am glad, and I guess you are.

This, I believe, is all as to court business. The canal men have got their measure through the legislature pretty much or quite in the shape they desired.5 Nothing else now.
Yours, as ever,A. Lincoln.

1The original of this document has not been located. This transcription is taken from a transcription published by Ida B. Tarbell in 1900. In The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, Roy P. Basler corrected both instances of “Bunce” to “Bruen,” but further research shows that the first instance likely read “Bruce.”
Roy P. Basler, ed., The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1953), 1:344; Bruce v. Schuyler et al., Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, 2d edition (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2009), http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/Details.aspx?case=137785.

2Robert Schuyler and others sued Lewis Rhinehart to eject him from 160 acres of land. A jury found Rhinehart guilty, and Rhinehart appealed the judgment to the Illinois Supreme Court. Stephen T. Logan represented Schuyler and the others during the appeal. At their December 1845 term, the Supreme Court affirmed the guilty verdict for Rhinehart.
Rhinehart v. Schuyler et al., Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/Details.aspx?case=137112.
Schuyler and others sued James Bruce in the Adams County Circuit Court to eject him from 160 acres of land. A jury found for Schuyler and Bruce appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court, which affirmed the judgment. Logan represented Schuyler during the appeal.
Bruce v. Schuyler et al., Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/Details.aspx?case=137785.

Dickhut v. Dunell could not be identified.

John H. Sullivan sued Lemuel Andrews and others in the Rock Island County Circuit Court to enforce the payment of money in exchange for a deed. Following a change of venue, the Warren County Circuit Court found for Sullivan. Andrews and others appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court, which at their December 1845 term reversed the decree and remanded the case back to the Warren County Circuit Court.
Andrews et al. v. Sullivan, 7 Ill. (2 Gilman) (1845), 327.

Reuben Pope sued William A. Hinman in the Brown County Circuit Court to recover possession of a certain parcel of land. At the court’s September 1844 term, a jury found for Hinman, and Pope subsequently appealed the judgment to the Illinois Supreme Court. At their December 1844 term, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the lower court.
Hinman v. Pope, 6 Ill. (1 Gilman) (1844), 131.

John M. Wiley sued John Bean and Lovey Thompson in the Adams County Circuit Court to eject them from a certain parcel of land. A jury found for Bean and Thompson, and Wiley appealed the judgment to the Illinois Supreme Court. Stephen T. Logan served as attorney for Bean during the appeal. At their December 1844 term, the Supreme Court reversed the judgment and remanded the case back to the circuit court. The circuit retried the case and the jury found for James McNutt, who had replaced Wiley as the plaintiff. Bean and others then appealed that judgment to the Supreme Court, which reversed the remanded the case back to the Circuit Court again. The Circuit Court then ruled for McNutt.
Bean et al. v. Doe ex dem. McNutt et al., Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/Details.aspx?case=137774.

3Henley H. Fitzpatrick sued Thomas T. Beatty in the Pike County Circuit Court for the specific performance of a deed. In April 1844, the court dismissed the case, and Fitzpatrick appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court.
Fitzpatrick v. Beatty, 6 Ill. (1 Gilman) (1844), 454.

4Matthias Bruen sued Willard Graves in the Adams County Circuit Court in order to recover 160 acres of land. A jury found for Bruen. Graves retained Abraham Lincoln and appealed the case to the Supreme Court, which affirmed the judgment at their December 1844 term.
Graves v. Bruen & Bruen, Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/Details.aspx?case=137108.

5In 1845, the State of Illinois negotiated a new loan for, and the General Assembly approved continued construction on, the Illinois and Michigan Canal.
“An Act Supplemental to “An Act to Provide for the Completion of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and for the Payment of the Canal Debt,’ Approved February 21st, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Forty-Three,” 1 March 1845, Laws of Illinois (1845), 31-32.