Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln to William H. Herndon, 5 January 18491
Washington, Jan. 5. 1849Dear William
Your two letters were received last night– 2 I have a great many letters to write, and so can not write very long ones– There must be some mistake about Walter Davis saying I promised him the Post-Office; I did not so so promise him– I did tell him, that if the distribution of the offices should fall into my hands, he should have something; and if I shall be convinced he has said any more than this, I shall be disappointed.3 I said this much to him, because, as I understand, he is of good character, is one of the young men, is of the mechanics, an always faithful, and never troublesome whig, and is poor, with the support of a widow mother thrown almost exclusively on him by the death of his brother– If these are wrong reasons, then I have been wrong; but I have certainly not been selfish in it; because in my greatest need of friends he was against me and for Baker–4
Yours as everA. LincolnP. S. Let the above be confidential5

[ endorsement ]
Herndon, William H.
To W H Herndon6

[ endorsement ]
Assassinated in W. City April 14^th 1865. Died ^^ this morning April 15^th 1865
L. J. C.7

1Abraham Lincoln wrote and signed this letter.

2William H. Herndon’s letters have not been located.

3Lincoln told Walter Davis his position on possible patronage opportunities in a letter dated January 5, 1849.

4Lincoln may have been referring to the 1844 congressional elections, when the Sangamon County Whigs endorsed Edward D. Baker over him for the U.S. House of Representatives. Davis was a delegate at the Whig convention in March that endorsed Baker’s candidacy.
Sangamon Journal (Springfield, IL), 21 March 1844, 2:5; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:215.

5Davis did not receive an appointment in the Post Office, but President Zachary Taylor named him receiver of the General Land Office in Springfield, a position he held until 1853. In April 1849, Lincoln wrote Secretary of Interior Thomas Ewing endorsing Davis for the job.
Register of all Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1849 (Washington, DC: Gideon, 1849), 137; Register of all Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1851 (Washington, DC: Gideon, 1851), 141; Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1853 (Washington, DC: Robert Armstrong, 1853), 139; Abraham Lincoln to Thomas Ewing; Abraham Lincoln to Thomas Ewing; Illinois Journal (Weekly) (Springfield), 6 June 1849, 2:1.

6Herndon wrote this endorsement.

7“L. J. C.” could not be positively identified.