Abraham Lincoln to Zachary Taylor, 15 March 18501
Springfield, Ills– March 15. 1850His Excellency the President &c.[etc.]Dear Sir:I understand some one of our Ohio friends will probably be appointed Minister to Brazil; and if so, I hope Hon: Robert C. Schenck may be the man– In expressing a preference for Mr Schenck over others of his own State, I do not mean to say he is less worthy than any out of his state; but were I to
not limit myself as I do, I should probably come in collision with some recommendation
of my own, formerly made; or, perhaps with the interests of some friend of my own
state–2
Your Obt Servt[Obedient Servant]A. Lincoln2Robert C. Schenck received the appointment and was minister to Brazil from 1851 to
October 1853. Later in 1853, William Trousdale of North Carolina replaced Schenck as minister to Brazil.
Roy P. Basler, editor of The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, asserts, without attribution, that Schenck was “also accredited to Uruguay, Paraguay,
and the Argentine, 1851-1853,” but the editors found no evidence to support this.
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), 13; 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), 14; Allan Peskin, "Schenck, Robert Cumming,"
American National Biography, ed. by John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999),
19:370; Roy P. Basler, ed., The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1953), 2:78.
Autograph Letter Signed, 1 page(s), RG 59, Entry 760: Appointment Records, Applications and Recommendations for Office, Applications and Recommendations for Public Office, 1797-1901, NACP.