Robert A. Lacey to Abraham Lincoln, 22 January 18491
Sir:
Will you have the goodness to transmit the enclosed to some neighboring Postmaster, or other reliable person, (Mr Clark the present incumbent if you think proper) and request him to notify the Citizens interested to send an expression of their wishes respecting a new appointment at Beardstown.2
R. A. Lacey
acting 2nd, asst P. M. Ge[assistant Postmaster General]. . .
Hon. A LincolnHouse of Representatives.
[ endorsement ]
[01]/[23]/[1849]
Abraham Lincoln to Henry E. Dummer, [23 January 1849]3
Dear Dummer:
Your letter was received by me;4 and ^a copy of^ the body of it sent to the P. O. D.[Post Office Department] Then came the above & accompanying, which you will readily understand
A. Lincoln5
1Robert A. Lacey wrote this letter in its entirety.
2The enclosure referenced has not been located. Hulett Clark was the incumbent postmaster at Beardstown, having served since sometime after September 1845.
Register of all Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1845 (Washington, DC: J. & G. S. Gideon, 1845), *381; Register of all Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1847 (Washington, DC: J. & G. S. Gideon, 1847), *405.
3Abraham Lincoln wrote this endorsement in its entirety. Roy P. Basler, in The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, dated this endorsement January 23, 1849, without attribution. The actual date is unknown.
Roy P. Basler, The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1953), 2:24.
4Henry E. Dummer’s letter has not been located.
5Clark remained the postmaster in Beardstown until March, 1849, when the administration of President Zachary Taylor replaced him with Sylvester Emmons. Emmons held the position until 1851.
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), *467; 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), *523; 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), 496*.

Autograph Letter Signed, 1 page(s), Mary Todd Lincoln House (Lexington, KY).