Abraham Lincoln to Unknown, 25 September 18581
My old friend Henry Chew, the bearer of this, is in a straight for some furniture to commence house-keeping–
If any person will furnish him, Twenty-five dollars worth, and he does not pay for
it by the first of January next, I will
Sept 25. 1858 .A. Lincoln1Abraham Lincoln wrote and signed this document. Samuel H. Littler enclosed this document
in a letter he wrote to Lincoln on February 16, 1859. The Library of Congress has kept this document
and that letter together. The editors of this project, however, treat each document
separately.
2Chalmers M. Sherfy wrote this script and signed his name, as seen in the bottom-left
corner of the image.
3Lincoln wrote this script vertically on the right side of the document, over the existing
script he originally wrote on the document on September 25, 1858. See the image.
Littler wrote Lincoln on January 11, 1859, asking Lincoln to honor his pledge to pay $25.00 on
behalf of Henry Chew since Chew failed to pay the funds himself. It does not appear
that Lincoln responded to that letter, as Littler wrote Lincoln again on February 16, 1859, repeating his request for Lincoln to remit payment.
On February 21, 1859, Lincoln drew $25.00 to pay Littler, “for guaranty to Henry Chew.”
Lincoln may therefore have written this note about paying Littler the same day that
he drew the $25.00; however, since it is not possible to be certain of that fact,
the editors date this endorsement with the broader date of February 1859.
Harry E. Pratt, The Personal Finances of Abraham Lincoln (Springfield, IL: Abraham Lincoln Association, 1943), 167.
Autograph Document Signed, 2 page(s), Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress (Washington, DC). .