Abraham Lincoln to Edwin W. Bakewell, 1 August 18501
Springfield, Augt 1– 1850E. W. Bakewell, Esq[Esquire]Dear Sir:I have at last found time to draw up a Bill in your case– Inclosed you have it–2 Get from the Recorder's office a copy of Cole's deed to Campbell,3 mark it thus: (A) and put it with the Bill, as part of it– Then fill properly the
blank date in the bond at the end of the Bill, have some good man to sign his name
to the bond, and file the whole with the clerk of the circuit court–4
Yours trulyA. Lincoln4Alexander Campbell sued James Allin in the McLean County Circuit Court for an injunction concerning a deed to certain property. Campbell retained Lincoln;
Allin retained Asahel Gridley. In April 1853, Campbell dismissed his bill of injunction.
Editors of The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition listed Edwin W. Bakewell as a plaintiff attorney alongside Lincoln, but Bakewell
was most likely a plaintiff alongside Campbell. In a letter to Robert E. Williams in August 1857, Lincoln references that he recollected a transaction between Bakewell
and Allin which probably refers to the case in 1850.
Editors of The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition identified the defendant as James Allin Jr., but the alphabetical docket of judgments
and executions listed the defendant as James Allin, Sr., father of James Allin, Jr., who was the clerk of the McLean County Circuit Court.
For documents related to this suit, see Campbell v. Allin, Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, 2d edition (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2009), http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/Details.aspx?case=136840.
Autograph Letter Signed, 1 page(s), Private Collection, Chris and Christa Bellmare, Newington, NH.