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Nicholas H. Ridgely to Abraham Lincoln, 14 April 18561
Springfield, Ill April 14. 1856A Lincoln Esq[Esquire]Dear Sir
The Gas Works stand on lots Nos 21 & 22 in John Taylor's Addn[Addition] to Springf[Springfield].2 B. F. Jewett died while owning these lots. He had two daughters, one of whom married Jackson C Thompson and died having a daughter. The other is the wife of Geo. H. Orth. We bought the lots of Jackson C Thompson, to whom Orth & wife had previously conveyed their interest in them.3 Mrs. Jewett has, also, released her dower.4
There was a proceeding (I believe a decree) in the Tazewell circuit court for a division of the property entrusted of Jewett by Thompson & his daughter, by which Thompson acquired his daughter’s interest in these lots. We once obtained a copy of the papers in this matter, and they were submitted to Mr Stuart by Zimmerman who bot[bought] a lot of Thompson. Mr Stuart said that the matter appeared all right, but that there was no proof that Thompson’s daughter had had proper notice served on her, and suggested that we should get you to examine into it. Will you please do so?
I write from my memory, and probably do not state the circumstances correctly; but I presume you will be at no loss to find out what we require.5
Yours trulyN H Ridgely
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[ endorsement ]
05/01/1856Pekin, May 1. 1856N. H. Ridgely, EsqDear Sir:
I have just examined the papers and record of the partition case mentioned in your letter, and found them all right, except the Sheriff’s return of the service of process on the child; and as the old Sheriff, who made the service, was here, I got leave ^of^ the court, & had him to amend the return–6 It is all right now, I think.
Yours trulyA Lincoln–7
1Nicholas H. Ridgely wrote and signed this letter.
2These lots were located on the west side of Springfield, Illinois.
Illinois Daily Journal (Springfield), 27 June 1854, 3:1.
3Conveyance is the transfer of title to land from one person, or class of persons, to another by deed or other written instrument.
“Conveyance,” Reference, Glossary, 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/Reference.aspx?ref=Reference%20html%20files/Glossary.html.
4Dower was a form of estate that provided for a widow’s needs out of her husband's real and personal property, and such property was not subject to creditors’ demands. In antebellum Illinois, the widow of a man with children received one-third of the land that her husband owned at any time during their marriage for the rest of her life, unless she relinquished her dower rights in the prescribed manner. If her deceased husband had no children, the widow received outright ownership of one-half of the estate.
“Dower,” Reference, Glossary, Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/Reference.aspx?ref=Reference%20html%20files/Glossary.html.
5Ridgely is referring to decrees made by the Tazewell County Circuit Court after Jackson C. Thompson petitioned the court in April 1853 to divide lands in Christian, Sangamon, and Tazewell counties that were owned jointly by him and his minor daughter, Annie E. Thompson. The court granted his petition, appointed William D. Briggs guardian ad litem for Annie Thompson (to represent her legal interests in the matter), and appointed commissioners to divide the lands. The commissioners assigned half the lands to Jackson Thompson and half to Annie Thompson, and, in May 1854, the court approved the commissioners’ recommendations. For documents related to these proceedings, see Lincoln conducted legal research for Springfield Gas Light Co., 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=141317.
6Although it is unclear precisely when the “old Sheriff” completed the documentation in question, extant court records indicate that the documentation must have been completed in either 1853 or 1854. Since the Tazewell County Circuit Court oversaw the case, it is most likely that the Tazewell County sheriff completed the documentation in question. Voters in Tazewell County elected David Kyes sheriff in 1852, and elected Thomas C. Reeves as his successor in 1854. Lincoln is almost certainly, therefore, referring to either Kyes or Reeves.
Decree, Document ID: 127978; Decree, Document ID: 127983, Lincoln conducted legal research for Springfield Gas Light Co., 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=141317; History of Tazewell County Illinois (Chicago: Chas. C. Chapman, 1879), 713.
7Lincoln wrote and signed this endorsement.

Autograph Letter Signed, 3 page(s), Box 5, Lincoln Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (Springfield, IL).