Abraham Lincoln to George B. Kinkead, 6 July 18531
Springfield, Ills. July 6. 1853.Geo.. B. Kinkead, Esq[Esquire]Lexington, Ky.Dear Sir:I feel some anxiety about the suit which has been gotten up against me in your court; and I therefore hope you will pardon my requesting you to write me when your court
sits—2 whether it is probable I shall have to take proof here &c.[etc.] &c– In the autumn of 1849 I was at Lexington several days, during which time I was almost
constantly with L. O. Todd;3 and ^if^ he shall, when this case comes on to be tried, think he remembers that I told him I had collected money for Oldham Todd &Co, the story would be plausable enough to require an answer– Such recollection would be an utter mistake; yet if
something of the sort is not relied on, I can not not conceive how Mr Hemingway was induced to swear to the truth of the Bill; for they can not, in any other way, make the slightest show of proof– I therefore think ^it^ safest to look to their making this proof, as, at least, possible, and to be prepared
for it– I have said before, and now repeat,
RespectfullyA. Lincoln–<Page 2>
that if they will name the man or men of whom, they say, I have collected money for
them, I will disprove it–4 I hope you will write me at once– I conclude with the remark that I expect you to
be compensated for your services in this case, in addition, to your compensation for
your attention to our business, in common there–5<Page 3>
<Page 4>
1Abraham Lincoln wrote and signed this letter. He did not, however, write the docketing
on the sheet shown in the fourth image.
2Kentucky’s Fayette County Circuit Court was part of the commonwealth’s Eleventh Judicial
District at the time and met on the first Monday in February and the first Monday
in August of each year, for a period of twenty-four days per session.
“An Act to Fix the Time of Holding Circuit Courts in this Commonwealth,” 22 March
1851, Laws of Kentucky (1851), 104.
3Lincoln traveled to Lexington in the fall of 1849 to attend to his late father-in-law,
Robert S. Todd’s estate, including a lawsuit in the Kentucky Fayette County Circuit Court related
to property that he and Mary Lincoln believed they were legally entitled to as Todd’s heirs. The Lincoln family departed
Springfield for Lexington sometime during the third week of October. They were en
route by October 18 and arrived in Lexington by October 28. They remained in Lexington
until about November 7.
The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, 18 October 1849, http://thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1849-10-18; 28 October 1849, http://thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1849-10-28; 7 November 1849, http://thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1849-11-07; For information on the lawsuit that Mary and Abraham Lincoln became involved in
as Robert S. Todd’s heirs, see Todd et al. v. Wickliffe, 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=141847.
4Lincoln is discussing the case Oldham & Hemingway v. Lincoln et al. In the case, Edward Oldham and Thomas Hemingway, the surviving partners of Oldham, Todd and Company, which had included Robert S.
Todd, claimed that the company had hired Lincoln and Ninian W. Edwards to collect some debts for them in Illinois. Oldham and Hemingway claimed that Lincoln, Edwards, and George B. Kinkead (who
was acting as Lincoln's attorney in Lexington) failed to pay them $472.54. In June
1853, Oldham and Hemingway sued Lincoln and others in a chancery action in the Fayette
County Circuit Court to recover the debt. In February 1854, after depositions Lincoln
took supported his version of events, Oldham and Hemingway dismissed the case.
Lincoln wrote Kinkead a letter in May 1853, enclosing a document responding to the claims Oldham and Hemingway made against him. He also wrote Kinkead
at least three more letters related to this case after this letter.
Oldham & Hemingway v. Lincoln et al., Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/Details.aspx?case=141851; Harry E. Pratt, The Personal Finances of Abraham Lincoln (Springfield, IL: Abraham Lincoln Association, 1943), 118; Abraham Lincoln to George B. Kinkead; Abraham Lincoln to George B. Kinkead; Abraham Lincoln to George B. Kinkead.
5Kinkead was involved in both the Oldham & Hemingway v. Lincoln et al. and the Todd et al. v. Wickliffe cases in Lexington. His reply to this letter has not been located.
Oldham & Hemingway v. Lincoln et al., Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/Details.aspx?case=141851; Todd et al. v. Wickliffe, Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/Details.aspx?case=141847.
Autograph Letter Signed, 4 page(s), Box 4, Lincoln Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (Springfield, IL).