Abraham Lincoln to John W. Henderson, 17 November 18491
Springfield, Ills. Novr. 17th. 1849John W. Henderson, Esq.[Esquire]Dear Sir:I understand you desire a clerk-ship in some of the Departments at Washington,2 and I write this to say, to whom it may concern, that I most willingly stand as one
of your endorsers for such a post.3
Yours trulyA. Lincoln1This letter is attributed to Abraham Lincoln, but the original letter in Lincoln’s
hand is not extant.
3John W. Henderson’s name does not appear in the official registers of the officers
and agents of the federal government for 1849, 1851, and 1853, so apparently he did
not receive an appointment.
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); Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the
United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1853 (Washington, DC: Robert Armstrong, 1853).
Printed Transcription, 1 page(s), Roy P. Basler, ed., The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln (Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1974), 10:17.