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Abraham Lincoln to George T. Brown, 19 January 18581
CATON LINE.
Illinois and Mississippi Telegraph Co.,
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Alton January 19th1858
The following dispatch has just been received,
Dated,Springfield 19th1858To Hon Geo T Brown
Send Jo Gillespie up here at once–2 Don’t fail
A Lincoln3
<Page 2>
[ endorsement ]
Dr[Dear] Jo.
Have just recd[received] this telegraph. I know nothing further– I send a buggy for you.
Brown4
1This telegram is attributed to Abraham Lincoln but is not written in Lincoln’s hand.
2On this date Lincoln had also written related letters to Joseph Gillespie and to Gustave P. Koerner requesting their presence in Springfield to consult on the case of People ex rel. Lanphier & Walker v. Hatch.
In this case, Illinois Secretary of State Ozias M. Hatch was being sued in the Illinois Supreme Court to furnish state printers Lanphier & Walker of the Democratic Illinois State Register with a true copy of an 1857 bill apportioning representation in the Illinois General Assembly. The bill had been drafted and supported by the Democrats with an eye towards maintaining their party’s majority in the General Assembly. The Illinois House of Representatives passed the bill on February 16, 1857, and the Illinois Senate concurred on February 18. Republican Governor William H. Bissell mistakenly signed the bill then cancelled his signature after his secretary had already reported his approval to the House. Hatch retained Lincoln, Orville H. Browning, and Jackson Grimshaw for his defense. Neither Gillespie nor Koerner were attorneys of record on the case. The Illinois Supreme Court ruled in Hatch’s favor in February 1858.
Abraham Lincoln to Joseph Gillespie; Abraham Lincoln to Gustave P. Koerner; People ex rel. Lanphier & Walker v. Hatch, 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=139920; Daniel W. Stowell et al., eds., The Papers of Abraham Lincoln: Legal Documents and Cases (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2008), 4:64-91; Illinois House Journal. 1857. 20th G. A., 909-10, 1004, 1018; Illinois Senate Journal. 1857. 20th G. A., 760.
3No response to this telegram from George T. Brown has been located. On February 7, 1858 Lincoln again wrote to both Gillespie and Koerner to apprise them that the case had been resolved in Hatch’s favor.
Abraham Lincoln to Joseph Gillespie; Abraham Lincoln to Gustave P. Koerner.
4Brown wrote and signed this endorsement.

Copy of Handwritten Telegram Signed with a Representation, 2 page(s), Abraham Lincoln Association Files, Lincoln Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (Springfield, IL).