Abraham Lincoln to William Martin, 26 July 18511
Springfield, July 26. 1851Hon: Wm MartinDear Sir:I received yours of the 22nd yesterday–2 I went to the Telegraph office & found the despach[dispatch] as you say, of Jany[January] 25th3 It is in pencil; and the operator says he does not know whose handwriting it is;
but that he does know it is not the writing of the operator who was here at that date–4 I took Mr James L. Lamb to see it, who at first said it was not McCormack's nor his own writing; but that he thought he knew who wrote it, and would
enquire– Just now he has told me that the man he thought had written ^it,^ denies doing so, and that he, Lamb, now has no idea who did write it– He says it
is a much better hand than McCormack himself can write– I do not see any clew to the handwriting– Can you not set it up in pleading so as to be relieved from proving
it's execution unless McCormack denies it under oath?5
Yours as everA. Lincoln<Page 2>
SPRINGFIELD Ill.[Illinois]JUL[July] 27
5
Hon: Wm MartinAltonIllinois.1Abraham Lincoln wrote and signed this letter. He also wrote William Martin’s name
and address on the on the last sheet, which was folded to make an envelope.
3Martin wrote Lincoln on July 17 regarding a missing telegram. Lincoln wrote Martin on July 19 that he had taken Martin’s letter to the Springfield telegraph
office, but reported that the operator, after a thorough investigation, found no such
telegram had been sent from the office. Martin responded by writing the presumed
text of the telegram on the verso of Lincoln’s letter.
4The telegraph operator in Springfield in July 1851 has not been identified. C. M.
Wells had been the operator from May 1849 until his resignation in December 1850.
Lincoln wrote Martin on July 31 that he had learned that one C. P. Rosser was the operator in January 1851.
Illinois Daily Journal (Springfield), 5 May 1849, 3:3; 26 December 1850, 3:1.
5The presumed telegram text written by Martin identified “McCormack” as Michael McCormack.
He has also not been further identified.
Between February and August 1851, Lincoln wrote Martin an additional ten letters on
legal matters, most relating Martin’s legal work in the Madison County Circuit Court for the Alton & Sangamon Railroad Company, which had retained Martin and Lincoln & Herndon to collect balances due on shares of capital stock purchased by stockholders. None
of Martin’s letters to Lincoln from this period are extant. It appears that this
involves a separate legal issue, as neither Lamb, McCormack, or the other individuals
included in the presumed telegram text written by Martin on the verso of Lincoln’s
July 19 letter were principals in the railroad cases.
Martin continued to press Lincoln on the subject, and Lincoln investigated, relaying
the results of his inquiry in a letter to Martin on July 31. The final disposition of the case is unknown.
Alton & Sangamon RR v. Barret, 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=138164; Daniel W. Stowell et al., eds., The Papers of Abraham Lincoln: Legal Documents and Cases (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2008), 2:172-210; Roy P. Basler,
ed., The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1953), 2:106; Abraham Lincoln to William Martin; Abraham Lincoln to William Martin; Abraham Lincoln to William Martin; Abraham Lincoln to William Martin; Abraham Lincoln to William Martin; Abraham Lincoln to William Martin; Abraham Lincoln to William Martin; Abraham Lincoln to William Martin; Abraham Lincoln to William Martin; Abraham Lincoln to William Martin.
Autograph Letter Signed, 2 page(s), Box 4, Lincoln Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (Springfield, IL).