Abraham Lincoln to Buckner S. Morris and John J. Brown, 19 October 18471
Springfield, Octr 19. 1847Friends Morris & Brown:Your letter of the 15th was received this morning–2 The Governor is not here, and will not be, it is thought, for about ten days–3 Unfortunately for my attending to the business you sent, I start for Washington, by way of Kentucky, on next monday–4 I will try, however, to have the only objection that can be made, presented to the
Governor– I suppose it is the true construction of the act of Congress, for the Governor, on whom the requisition is made, to look to the sufficiency of
the affidavit; otherwise the provision of the act, that a copy of the indictment or
affidavit, shall accompany the requisition, is mere foolishness–5 What view, however, our Governor will take, no man can tell– If he shall make the
order surrendering the defendants, you will have, then, to do the best you can by
a Habeas Corpus–6
Yours in haste,A. Lincoln3Morris and Brown were representing clients in Chicago who were fighting extradition to New York. Morris and Brown hoped that Illinois Governor Augustus French would deny the extradition request.
Morris & Brown asked Lincoln to present objections to governor, 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=141526; Abraham Lincoln to Buckner S. Morris and John J. Brown.
4Lincoln was planning to visit Mary Lincoln’s family in Lexington, Kentucky, before going to Washington to begin his service in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, 25 October 1847, http://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1847-10-25.
5The act to which Lincoln refers states that a governor may demand of another governor
the delivery of a fugitive from justice upon production of an indictment or affidavit
charging the person with “treason, felony, or other crime.” The act makes it the
duty of the governor of the state to which the fugitive fled to arrest and deliver
the fugitive back to the state from which he fled.
“An Act Respecting Fugitives from Justice, and Persons Escaping from the Service of
Their Masters,” 12 February 1793, Statutes at Large of the United States 1 (1845):302-5.
6In the event that the governor signed the extradition warrant, then a writ of habeas
corpus, demanding justification for the detention of their clients, would be their
only remedy.
John Bouvier, A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States of America, 15th ed. (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1892), 1:732-35.
Copy of Autograph Letter Signed, 1 page(s), Abraham Lincoln Association Files, Lincoln Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (Springfield, IL).