Abraham Lincoln to Thomas Ewing, 7 April 18491
Springfield, Ills. April 7, 1849Hon: Secretary of the Home Department:Dear Sir:I recommend that Turner R. King, now of Pekin, Ills be appointed Register of the Land-Office at this place, whenever there shall be a vacancy– I do not know that Mr Barret, the present incumbent, has failed in the proper discharge of any of his duties in
the office–2 He is a decided partazan, and openly and actively opposed the election of Gen: Taylor– I understand, too, that since the election of Gen: Taylor, Mr Barret has received a re-appointment from Mr Polk, his old commission not having expired– Whether this be true, the records of the
Department will show– Whether he should be removed I give no opinion; but merely express the
wish that the Department may act upon some proper general rule, and that Mr Barret's case may not be made an exception to it.
Your Obt Servt[Obedient Servant]A. LincolnP. S. The land district to which this office belongs is very nearly if not entirely
within my district; so that Col Baker, the other whig representative, claims no voice in the appointment.A. L.3<Page 2>
[ docketing
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A Lincoln as to Receiv Register at Springfield Illinois
[ docketing
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Turner R. King of Pekin Illinois.
For Register Land office at Springfield Ill.[Illinois] Whigs want Incumbent removed.
For Register Land office at Springfield Ill.[Illinois] Whigs want Incumbent removed.
1Abraham Lincoln wrote and signed the letter and the postscript. Lincoln made and retained
a copy of this letter.
2James W. Barrett became register of the General Land Office in Springfield in 1844.
Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 31 October 1844, 2:3.
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.
From December 1848 to February 1849, Lincoln received several letters urging him to
help Turner R. King secure a job at the U.S. General Land Office. On April 13, 1849,
he wrote another letter reversing himself, recommending King for the job of receiver. On May 10, Lincoln
reversed himself again, penning a letter recommending King for register. In late May, President Zachary Taylor removed Barrett
and King received the appointment as register, holding the job 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;
Niles’ National Register (Philadelphia, PA), 23 May 1849, 1:2; 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), 135; 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), 140; 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), 138; Philo H. Thompson to Abraham Lincoln; Samuel R. Baker to Abraham Lincoln; William B. Doolittle to Abraham Lincoln; Richard T. Gill to Abraham Lincoln.
Autograph Letter Signed, 2 page(s),
Rosenbach Museum and Library (Philadelphia, PA).