Abraham Lincoln to Peyton L. Harrison, 23 September 18491
P– L– Harrison, Esq[Esquire]Dear Sir:
Your letter has been forwarded to me here–2 I would be very glad to oblige you but I have not had any P. M.[Postmaster] removed at the request of a single man– Get up a petition, stating your objections to Smith, and asking the appointment of Glenn, have it signed by the whigs of the neighborhood, forward it to me, and I will then get the thing done– This is the right way, and the way the Department wishes pursued–3
Your friend as everA. Lincoln
1Abraham Lincoln wrote and signed this letter.
Lincoln was in Tazewell County attending the Tazewell County Circuit Court.
The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, 20 September 1849, http://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1849-09-20; 25 September 1849, http://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1849-09-25.
2Peyton L. Harrison’s letter to Lincoln has not been located.
3The petition Lincoln references has not been located.
Lincoln writes Harrison related to the position of postmaster at Pleasant Plains, Illinois.
In November 1849, James M. Glynn supplanted Henry Smith as postmaster, holding the job until April 1853, when Smith would replace him.
Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832-1971, NARA Microfilm Publication, M841, 145 rolls, Records of the Post Office Department, RG 28, 1845-1855, 18:172, National Archives Building, Washington, DC; 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), *485; 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), *545.

Autograph Letter Signed, 1 page(s), Alfred White Van Sinderen Collection, MS 1095, Yale University, Sterling Memorial Library, Manuscripts and Archives (New Haven, Connecticut).