Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln to William Bachop, 8 February 18531
Springfield, Ills. Feb. 8. 1853Dr. W. Bachop.Dear Sir
Your letter of the 20th of Jany.[January] inclosing some papers in rela-

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tion to a suit of yours in Vermillion county & desiring to engage me in it, was received some time since.2 I will assist your other lawyers in the case, and, as I understand the facts, I expect we will gain the suit.3
Yours &c[etc.]A. LincolnDr. W. BachopAllegheny City, Penn.

1This letter is attributed to Abraham Lincoln but the original in Lincoln’s hand has not been located. Roy P. Basler, editor of The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, saw the original and presumably copied it, but the copy is not extant.
Roy P. Basler, ed., The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln (Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1974), 10:24.

2William Bachop’s letter of January 20, 1853, is not extant.

3Lincoln references a lawsuit between William Bachop and William M. Lamm. In January 1853, Bachop and Lamm agreed to arbitration to resolve an outstanding land dispute. Lamm agreed to relinquish a quitclaim deed on 360 acres of land in return for a $125 promissory note from Bachop. Bachop failed to pay the note, and in May 1853, Lamm sued Bachop in an action of assumpsit in the Vermilion County Circuit Court for payment of the note. Bachop retained Lincoln, Ward Hill Lamon, and Oliver L. Davis; Lamm retained John H. Murphy. Lincoln, Lamon, and Davis pleaded that Bachop had made no written agreement with Lamm. In October 1853, the court ruled for Bachop.
Affidavit, Praecipe, Document ID: 59827; Narratio, Document ID: 59818; Order, Document ID: 59835, 59836, Lamm v. Bachop, Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, 2d edition (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2009), http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/Details.aspx?case=137268.