Abraham Lincoln to Thomas Ewing, 7 April 18491
Springfield, Ills, April 7. 1849Hon: Secretary of the Home Department:Dear Sir:I recommend that William Butler be appointed Pension Agent, for the Illinois agency, when the place shall be vacant– Mr Hurst, the present incumbent, I believe has performed the duties very well.2 He is a decided partazan, and, I believe, expects to be removed– Whether he shall, I submit to the Department. This office is not confined to my District, but pertains to the whole state; so that Col Baker has an equal right with myself to be heard concerning it– However, the office is
located here; and I think it is not probable any one one would desire to remove from a distance to take it–
Your Obt Servt[Obedient Servant]A. Lincoln32Charles R. Hurst served as agent for the U.S. Bureau of Pensions in Springfield.
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), 139.
3Lincoln had represented the Seventh Congressional District, which included Sangamon County and Springfield. He had pledged to serve only one term, but many Whigs in the district
favored his renomination. Lincoln was not averse to running again, but Stephen T. Logan received the nomination. In August 1848, Logan would lose to Thomas L. Harris in a close race.
In the August election, Edward D. Baker had won election in the Sixth Congressional
District.
Lincoln also recommended William S. Wallace and Orville Paddock for the position. Hurst resigned as agent in June 1849, and Wallace replaced him
on June 30. Wallace would hold the position until 1853.
Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:271; Howard W. Allen and Vincent
A. Lacey, eds., Illinois Elections, 1818-1990 (Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1992), 8, 126;
Memorandum concerning Orville Paddock and William S. Wallace; Illinois Journal (Springfield), 13 June 1849, 3:1; 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), 140; 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), 151; 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), 152.
Autograph Letter Signed, 1 page(s),
Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress (Washington, DC).