Promissory Note of Daniel E. Ruckel to Abraham Lincoln, 15 August 18511
Springfield, August 15– 1851On or before the 25th day of December 1854, I promise to pay Abraham Lincoln three hundred dollars, together with interest thereon at the rate of ten per cent per annum, from the 25th day of December next until paid, the interest payable annually, and on any default
in the payment of interest, the principal to be due, for value received–2
D. E. Ruckel<Page 2>
[ endorsement
]
01/03/1854
01/03/1854
Received, Jany 3. 1854– on settlement of D. E. Ruckel; account against me, seventy nine dollars– ($79–00–)
A. Lincoln[ endorsement
]
12/25/1854
12/25/1854
Dec: 25– 1854– Received nine dollars and ten cents, leaving remainder of interest now due to restore
the original principal of $300–
A. Lincoln[ endorsement
]
01/26/1856
01/26/1856
Jany 26. 1856. Received of R. H. Beach, administrator thirty, dollars, being entered up to Christmas last
A Lincoln[ endorsement
]
01/02/1857
01/02/1857
Jany 2, 1857. Received of R. H. Beach, administrator, &c[etc.], thirty dollars, being interest up to Christmas last
A. Lincoln1Abraham Lincoln wrote this promissory note, but Daniel E. Ruckel signed it. Lincoln
also wrote each of the four entries in the second image, related to the repayment
of this debt.
2This loan constituted a mortgage for several lots of land Ruckel wished to purchase
in Springfield. He made one payment to Lincoln in January 1854, but died on April
9, 1854, before he could repay the remainder of this debt. Shortly after his death,
his brother, Jacob Ruckel, and Richard H. Beach became the administrators of his estate.
On July 7, 1853, Lincoln released lots nine, ten, eleven, and twelve of “Allen’s addition
to Springfield” from the mortgage Daniel E. Ruckel had owed him. As the administrators
of Daniel’s estate, Jacob Ruckel and Beach likely made the payment noted on the verso
of this promissory note (shown in the second image) for December 1854. On September
28, 1857, Lincoln noted that he had received $300 from Jacob Ruckel, the principal
of the mortgage he had given to Daniel. This settled the mortgage. Lincoln noted that
he would hand over the original mortgage and note, and that Beach would settle the
remaining interest due to Lincoln on the loan. As also noted on the verso of this
promissory note (shown in the second image), Beach indeed made two additional payments—one
in 1856 and another in 1857.
Also, on September 28, 1857, Jacob and Laura A. Ruckel mortgaged to Lincoln, for $500, four lots of land that Jacob had acquired from his
brother’s estate. They agreed to repay this mortgage, plus ten percent interest for
the year, within one year. This mortgage was extended, but eventually paid in full.
Illinois, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1772-1999,
17 April 1854, Sangamon County (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 2015); Release of Mortgage Taken from Daniel E. Ruckel; Receipt of Abraham Lincoln to Jacob Ruckel; Mortgage Deed from Jacob Ruckel and Laura Ruckel to Abraham Lincoln, Promissory Note
from Jacob Ruckel to Abraham Lincoln; Harry E. Pratt, The Personal Finances of Abraham Lincoln (Springfield: The Abraham Lincoln Association, 1943), 74-75.
Handwritten Document Signed, 2 page(s), Lincoln Collection, Brown University (Providence, RI).