Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln to William H. Young, 19 July 18571
Springfield, July 19. 1857W. H. Young, Esq.[Esquire]Dear Sir.
M^r Herndon received yours of the 14^th addressed to him and me, and kept it for me to answer when I should return, which was only yesterday–2

We are willing to be ^with you^ in the case or cases of Alvis & Morrison, subject to the condition, however, that I shall have to be at Chicago during part— perhaps all— of the your next term–3 M^r Herndon will be on hand; and if this will do, send on a full statement of facts–4
Yours trulyA. Lincoln–

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[ docketing ]
A Lincoln
Springfield5

1Abraham Lincoln wrote and signed this letter.

2The letter from William H. Young to Lincoln and William H. Herndon has not been located.
Lincoln was in Chicago for the summer session of the U.S. Circuit Court, Northern Division of Illinois from at least July 7, 1857 until July 18, the day before he penned this letter.
The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, 7 July 1857, http://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1857-07-07, 18 July 1857, http://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1857-07-18.

3Lincoln references the case of Young et al. v. Alvis et al. In 1852, Andrew J. Morrison and William J. Alvis of Henderson County, Kentucky, contracted with Morrison's brother-in-law, William H. Young, to be their agent in land speculations in Logan County, Illinois. They agreed to allow Young to acquire $3,200 worth of land, chiefly through military land warrants. In 1857, Morrison and Alvis agreed to partition their 1,600 acres equally. Court records do not detail the nature of the suit, but Young and Morrison retained Lincoln and William H. Herndon and sued Alvis in the Logan County Circuit Court regarding the partition.
Young et al. v. Alvis et al. appeared on the judge’s docket for the September term of the Logan County Circuit Court, which commenced on September 21, 1857. On September 20, 1857, Mary Lincoln wrote of her husband, “Mr. L. is not at home, this makes the fourth week, he has been in Chicago.” Lincoln was occupied with the “Effie Afton” case--Hurd et al. v. Rock Island Bridge Co.---which opened in the U.S. Circuit Court, Northern District of Illinois, on September 8. Lincoln was back in Springfield on Saturday, September 26.

Judge’s Docket, Document ID: 41075, Young et al. v. Alvis et al., 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=136085; “An Act Declaring What Counties Shall Compose the Eighth Judicial Circuit, and Fix the Times of Holding the Courts and Regulate the Practice of Said Circuit,” 11 February 1857, Laws of Illinois (1857), 13; Carl Sandburg and Paul M. Angle, Mary Lincoln: Wife and Widow (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1932), 201; The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, 1 September 1857, http://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1857-09-01; 8 September 1857, http://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1857-09-08; 26 September 1857, http://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1857-09-26.

4When Young et al. v. Alvis et al. commenced, Alvis pleaded that he had been cheated and that the lands he received were worthless because Young had never secured title and had concealed the fraud to induce Alvis to agree to the partition. The case continued for several years. Morrison died in 1859, Young died in 1863, and the court struck the case from the docket in October 1865.
Young et al. v. Alvis et al., 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=136085.

5An unknown person wrote this docketing.