Notes Regarding George Cheney’s Request, [1856-1857]1
George Cheney wishes me to investigate the question whether a purchaser, with bond, but not recorded,
but in actual possession of the premises, must be a party to the foreclosure of a
previous mortgage, made by the person of whom he purchased, & duly recorded– And whether,
if such person be not made a party, but afterwards yield possession to the foreclosure
title, and die, his heirs can open the foreclosure & redeem– I am to write him at
Cheneys Grove, McLean Co Ills.2
[ endorsement
]
12/22/1886
12/22/1886
This note or memorandum made by Mr Lincoln was written out by him about the year
1856-7[1856-1857] in order to keep him in mind of his promise given to Mr Cheny. Mr. Lincoln lived in the City
of Springfield Ills & Mr Cheny in McLain County. They lived
about seventy miles apart. Hence the note. It is in the handwriting of Mr Lincoln
and is true and
genuine.
Decr. 22d
1886Wm H. Herndon3<Page 2>
1Abraham Lincoln wrote this undated document. The editorially supplied date of 1856-1857
comes from William H. Herndon’s endorsement.
2No correspondence between Lincoln and George Cheney on this subject has been located,
nor has any evidence of further involvement by Lincoln in this legal question.
A possibly related legal matter involving Cheney was heard at the September 1857 term
of the McLean County Circuit Court. In that case, Jabez Dooley instituted a bill to foreclose a mortgage against George
Cheney’s father, Jonathan Cheney. The McLean County Circuit Court found in favor of
Dooley and issued a decree that a parcel of land in McLean County belonging to George Cheney be sold as a result.
The Weekly Pantagraph (Bloomington, IL), 14 October 1857, 2:6; E. Duis, The Good Old Times in McLean County, Illinois
(Bloomington, IL: Leader, 1874), 385-86.
Handwritten Document, 2 page(s), Lincoln Collection, Chicago Historical Society (Chicago, IL).