Abraham Lincoln to Ignatius R. Simms, 4 March 18481
Washington, March 4– 1848–Major SimmsDear Sir:Whenever I am directing documents to persons at Jacksonville, I am annoyed at not being able to remember the Christian name of your son who formerly resided at Metamora in Woodford county–2 I esteem him as one of my best friends; and you will oblige me by handing him this
letter, and telling him to write me at once about any thing he pleases, so that I
can get his name right–
It is considered doubtful whether the Senate will ratify the treaty now under advisement; but whether they shall or not, all hands seem to agree that
the war is substantially ended–3
Yours trulyA Lincoln2The editors concur with Roy P. Basler, editor of The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, that this was most likely Chatham H. Simms, who resided in Metamora two years before Lincoln penned this letter.
Roy P. Basler, ed., The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1953), 1:455; Ignatius Robert Simms
to Chatham Hooe Simms, 10 April 1846, Martin Van Buren Culver Letters, Spared and Shared 4: Saving History One Letter at a Time, https://sparedshared4.wordpress.com/letters/1846-ignatius-robert-simms-to-chatham-hooe-simms/, accessed 3 December 2019.
3The Senate would ratify the treaty ending the Mexican War in mid-March. For the terms of the treaty and ratification process, see: Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo.
Autograph Letter Signed, 2 page(s), Box 3, Lincoln Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (Springfield, IL).