Abraham Lincoln to Thomas Ewing, 22 July 18491
Springfield, Ills. July 22. 1849Hon: Secretary of the InteriorDear Sir:My friend Geo. H. Holtzman, now of the District of Columbia, is an applicant for a clerkship– I can not recommend him as an Illinoian; because applicants now resident here would have just cause to complain of me– Still,
if it will be of any service to him, I with pleasure say, he once resided in this
place; and while here was a good citizen, and a true and active whig– I take it, his gentlemanly deportment, and business qualifications can not be in question, in Washington City, where I believe he is well and extensively known–2
Your Obt Servt[Obedient Servant]A. Lincoln<Page 2>
SPRINGFIELD Ill.[Illinois]JUL[July] 23
Free.
A. Lincoln M.C[Member of Congress] FREE
Geo. H. Holtzman, Esq[Esquire]WashingtonD.C[District of Columbia]1Abraham Lincoln wrote and signed this letter, including the address on the second
sheet, which was folded to create an envelope.
2George H. Holtzman does not appear in the official register for 1849, but his name
does appear in the registers for the years 1851 through the Civil War and beyond as
a clerk in the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Indian Office.
Register of all Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of
the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1849 (Washington, DC: Gideon, 1849); Register of all Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of
the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1851 (Washington, DC: Gideon, 1851), 145; Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the
United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1865 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1866), 132; Official Register of the United States, Containing a List of the Officers and Employees
in the Civil, Military, and Naval Service on the First of July, 1895 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1895), 1:735.
Autograph Letter Signed, 2 page(s), Box 3, Lincoln Collection , Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (Springfield, IL).