Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Thomas Ewing to Abraham Lincoln, 19 November 18491
D. of I. Nov. 19. 1849,Dear Sir:
I received your despatch yesterday. There is no such office as that you refer to, though it will probably be created at the coming session of Congress.2
I am &c[etc.]T. Ewing.Hon A. LincolnSpringfield, Ill.

1This letter is attributed to Secretary of the Interior Thomas Ewing but is not written in his hand.

2Abraham Lincoln sent Ewing a telegram on November 17, 1849, recommending Simeon Francis for appointment as surveyor general of the Oregon Territory. However, the first person appointed to this position was John B. Preston, who was appointed by President Millard Fillmore.
Prior to recommending Francis for this position Lincoln had recommended him for secretary of the Oregon Territory, a position President Zachary 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.

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 also 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.
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; 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.