Abraham Lincoln to Whom it May Concern, 25 January 18591
Springfield, Illinois, Jany 25. 1859.Whom it may concern.My friend, Mr Samuel ^M^ Hitt, the bearer of this, visits the Eastern States, with some pecuniary objects–2 Mr Hitt and myself reside more than a hundred miles apart; so that I am but little acquainted
with his private affairs–3 I know him to have the possession, and apparant ownership, of a large, and well stocked, and improved landed estate–4 Besides this, his long established, and well sustained character for honor and integrity,
does not permit me to doubt that any representation of his own, will be strictly correct,
and may be safely relied upon–5
Abraham Lincoln.2Pecuniary means, “consisting of or given or exacted in money,” or “of or pertaining
to money”.
Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language (New York: Dilithium Press, Ltd., 1989), 1062.
3Samuel M. Hitt was living in Mount Morris, in the northern part of the State of Illinois, while Abraham Lincoln was a resident of Springfield in the central part of the state.
These two towns are just over 150 miles apart. However, Samuel Hitt had connections
with Springfield due to his time in the Illinois House of Representatives and his role as one of the delegates to the 1858 Republican State Convention, which had met in Springfield and nominated Lincoln for U.S. Senate. See 1858 Federal Election.
Harry G. Kable, Mount Morris: Past and Present, An Illustrated History of the Village of Mount Morris
Ogle County, Illinois
(Mount Morris, IL: Kable Brothers, 1938), 15-16; Harvey J. Kable and Harry G. Kable,
Mount Morris: Past and Present
(Mount Morris, IL: Mount Morris Index Print, 1900), 80;
Daily Illinois State Journal
(Springfield), 17 June 1858, 2:4, 5; Louis L. Emmerson, ed.,
Blue Book of the State of Illinois, 1919-1920
(Springfield: Illinois State Journal, 1920), 534.
4Between 1836 and 1853, Hitt purchased thousands of acres of public land in Ogle, Carroll, and Macon counties. For an exhaustive list of Hitt's land purchases, search "Hitt Samuel M,"
https://apps.ilsos.gov/isa/landsrch.jsp
Copy of Autograph Letter Signed, 1 page(s), Abraham Lincoln Association Files, Lincoln Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (Springfield, IL).