Certification of Examination for Admittance of Hiram W. Beckwith and George W. Lawrence to the Practice of Law, 27 May 18541
We have examined Hiram W. Beckwith and George W. Lawrence touching their qualifications to practice law; and find them sufficiently qualified to commence the practice, and therefore recommend that Licenses be allowed them2
Danville May 27, 1854
A. LincolnL Swett
1Abraham Lincoln wrote this document. Lincoln and Leonard Swett signed the document.
2Illinois did not have an organized statewide bar association until 1877. Aspiring lawyers were required to pass an oral examination conducted by at least two attorneys.
J. Gordon Hylton, “The Bar Association Movement in Nineteenth Century Wisconsin,” Marquette Law Review 81, No. 4 (1998): 1030; “An Act Concerning Attorneys and Counselors at Law,” 1 March 1833, Revised Laws of Illinois (1833), 99-102.

Autograph Document Signed, 1 page(s), Lincoln Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (Springfield, IL).