Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln to Thomas M. T. McKennan, 21 August 18501
Springfield, Illinois, August 21. 1850Hon: Thomas, M. T. M^cKennonSecretary of the InteriorSir
I think it probable you have no recollection of me; altho[although], I had the honor of an introduction to you so in the Hall of the Hall of the H. R. soon after Gen: Taylor’s nomination at Philadelphia–2 I am the last Whig representative that has been, though ^we^ hope, not the last, that is to be from this District–3 I thus state who I am, as an appology for addressing you as I now do–

Simeon Francis is an applicant for Surveyor General of Oregon, when the office shall be created, as it probably will be soon– I personally desire he shall have it; and besides, his appointment would aid us in redeeming our District, which we lost at the last election–4 He is every way capable and worthy of the office. The twentieth year that he has conducted a whig newspaper in this Democratic State of ours is now nearly completed–5 There are testimonials in his favor now on file in your office; some of them, I think, written by myself–6
Your Ob^t Serv^t[Obedient Servant]A. Lincoln

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2
Surveyor General
Oregon
Simeon Francis
Recommended by A. Lincoln

1Abraham Lincoln wrote and signed this letter.

2The Whig Party held its 1848 national convention in Philadelphia on June 7, 1848, and nominated Zachary Taylor as its candidate for president in the federal election of 1848.
Elbert B. Smith, President Zachary Taylor: The Hero President (New York: Nova History, 2007), 141.

3Lincoln represented the Seventh Congressional District, which included Sangamon County and Springfield, as a Whig in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1847-1849. He had pledged to serve only one term, but many Whigs in the district favored his renomination. Lincoln was not averse to running again, but Stephen T. Logan received the party’s nomination. In August 1848, Logan lost to Democrat Thomas L. Harris by a narrow margin.
Lincoln was not the last Whig to serve the Seventh Congressional District, however. At a district convention held in Pekin, Illinois, on August 5, 1850, the Whig Party nominated Richard Yates of the Seventh Congressional District as its congressional candidate. By leveraging opposition to the Compromise of 1850 to his political advantage, Yates won a narrow victory over Democratic incumbent Harris. Yates served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1851 until 1855.
Biographical Directory of the American Congress 1774-1996 (Alexandria, VA: CQ Staff Directories, 1997), 1395; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:271; Howard W. Allen and Vincent A. Lacey, eds., Illinois Elections, 1818-1990 (Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1992), 8-9, 126; Illinois Daily Journal (Springfield), 2 August 1850, 2:2; 7 August 1850, 2:1; Biographical Directory of the American Congress 1774-1996 (Alexandria, VA: CQ Staff Directories, 1997), 2099; Michael F. Holt, The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party: Jacksonian Politics and the Onset of the Civil War (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 566-67.

4This is a reference to the aforementioned election of 1848, in which Illinois’ Seventh Congressional District Whig candidate Logan lost to Democrat Harris.

5This is a reference to Francis’ work as editor of the Springfield Whig newspaper, the Illinois Daily Journal.

6In November 1849, Lincoln sent the previous secretary of the interior, Thomas Ewing, a telegram recommending Simeon Francis for appointment as surveyor general of the Oregon Territory. Ewing replied, noting that such a position had not yet been created, but probably would be soon. President Millard Fillmore appointed Thomas M. T. McKennan secretary of the interior shortly after the death of President Taylor. Lincoln likely sent this letter to McKennan to reassert his desire for Francis to receive the appointment, in the event that the position was created while McKennan was in office. Lincoln also sent a letter to Thomas Corwin, Fillmore’s new secretary of the treasury, on Francis’ behalf, requesting that Corwin help introduce Francis to McKennan.
Prior to recommending Francis for this position, Lincoln had also recommended him for secretary of the Oregon Territory, a position Taylor awarded Lincoln on August 9, 1849, but which Lincoln declined. Other Illinois Whigs also pressed for Francis to receive the secretary appointment, but Taylor ultimately appointed Edward Hamilton of Ohio secretary of the Oregon Territory.

The U.S. Congress did not pass legislation creating the office of surveyor general of the Oregon Territory until September 27, 1850, and the first person appointed to the position was John B. Preston. Francis’ name does not appear in the official registers of the officers and agents of the government for 1849, 1851, 1853, 1855, 1857, or 1859, so apparently, he did not receive any other appointment during this period. The 1861 official register shows Francis worked in Oregon as a printer for the U.S. government and as a paymaster for the U.S. Army. In July 1861, he wrote Lincoln requesting appointment as commissioner of Indian Affairs. Francis did not receive this appointment either, but, by 1863, he was a paymaster in Oregon.
Sylvia Larson, “McKennan, Thomas McKean Thompson,” American National Biography, ed. by John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 15:108-9; Appointment of Abraham Lincoln as Secretary of the Territory of Oregon; Abraham Lincoln to John M. Clayton; Petition of John T. Stuart and Others to John M. Clayton; “An Act to create the Office of Surveyor-General of the Public Lands in Oregon, and to provide for the Survey, and to make Donations to Settlers of the said Public Lands,” 27 September 1850, Statutes at Large of the United States 9 (1862):496; 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), 250; 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), 139; 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); Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1855 (Washington, DC: A. O. P. Nicholson, 1855); Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1857 (Washington, DC: A. O. P. Nicholson, 1857); Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1859 (Washington, DC: William A. Harris, 1859); Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1861 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1862), 118, 199; Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1863 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1864), 151.