1Abraham Lincoln wrote this document and Nathaniel Hay signed it. Another version of this document is extant, written in an unknown hand.
2In April 1849, Hay borrowed $200 from Lincoln. Hay gave Lincoln a promissory note
for $200 at six percent interest for the first six months and ten percent thereafter.
Over a period of six years, Hay repaid Lincoln with small amounts of cash and in-kind
services. Hay also paid Lincoln for legal fees in a number of cases in which Lincoln
was his attorney. On March 2, 1855, Lincoln and Hay settled the debt. Hay gave Lincoln
another promissory note and this due-bill for the balance of interest due. Hay died in February 1856, and
on June 9, Lincoln filed a claim for $240 against Hay’s estate, amounting to the principal of the promissory note plus interest. Joshua F. Amos, Hay’s brother-in-law and administrator of Hay’s estate, paid Lincoln $225 on May 16, 1857. Lincoln deposited $200 of the money into his account
at the Springfield Marine and Life Insurance Company.
Receipt, Document ID: 130074, Lincoln filed claim against Hay's estate, 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=141352; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 7 February 1856, 2:4; Harry E. Pratt, The Personal Finances of Abraham Lincoln (Springfield: The Abraham Lincoln Association, 1943), 72-73, 162.
Handwritten Document Signed, 1 page(s), Box 5, Lincoln Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (Springfield, IL).