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Ransom H. Gillet to Abraham Lincoln, 28 January 18481
Office of the Solicitor of the Treasury January 28– 1848 Sir,
I have looked over the accounts & vouchers of A L William Thomas concerning which you called at this office yesterday. I enclose you a copy of my
letter to him of this date in relation thereto2
Respectfully your obt servt[obedient servant]R H Gillet SolicitorHon A LincolnHouse Reps
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R H Gillet Solicitor of the Treasury To Hon A. Lincoln House of Reps[Representatives]
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01/28/1848
01/28/1848
Dated at Office Jany 28/48[January 28 1848].
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Recd vol[Received volume] p 545 [Mn?].
918.
918.
1This handwritten transcription comes from a copy of a letter written and signed by Ransom H. Gillet. The original letter was in the possession
of the Putnam Museum, Davenport, Iowa, but was reported lost as of February 2006.
2The enclosed copy of Gillet’s letter to William Thomas has not been located.
Circumstantial evidence suggests that Thomas charged the federal government for his
time and expenses associated with settling the estate of former Illinois Governor
Joseph Duncan. Named administrator of Duncan’s estate after the latter’s death, Thomas spent much
of the 1840s attempting to resolve debts Duncan incurred by becoming a surety for
his brother-in-law William Linn. Stephen T. Logan defended Duncan and Linn in the case in the U.S. Circuit Court, and he also appealed the case on their behalf before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Elizabeth Duncan Putnam, “The Life and Services of Joseph Duncan, Governor of Illinois,
1834-1838,” Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society 26 (1919), 176-77; Julia Duncan Kirby, Biographical Sketch of Joseph Duncan, Fifth Governor of Illinois (Chicago: Fergus, 1888), 63-64; William G. Myer, Federal Decisions. Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme, Circuit and District
Courts of the United States (St. Louis, MO: Gilbert, 1887), 18:832-46; United States v. Linn 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=137752.
Handwritten Transcription, 2 page(s), Box 25, RG 206, Entry 129: Case Files and Suit Papers, 1805-1926, Treasury Transcript Suits, 1830-1900, NACP.