Alexander R. McKee to Abraham Lincoln, 12 February 18491
Lancaster KyFebruary 12th 1849Dear Sir
I enclose you some advertisements, in which you are perhaps interested, as also my
friend Ninian Edwars.–
Please inform me what the Commissioners are doing in regard to the state Bank of Illinois—what will be the result of the [...?] ^settlement^—will the stock be worth any thing or not—what are the certificates of indebtedness
worth?
Please advise me from time to time evry thing of interest relative to the concern–
I have some stock, and would like to realize something for it, if possible2
All well
Your friend trulyAlexr R McKee<Page 2>
LANCASTER K[y]FEB[February] 13
10
PAID
Ch.[Charge] 10
Hon Abram LincolnSpringfieldIllinois<Page 3>
[ enclosure
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[11]/[07]/[1848]List of Forfeited Lands in Kentucky
A. M. BARRET,
Agent for the Commonwealth.
[11]/[07]/[1848]List of Forfeited Lands in Kentucky
Sale of Forfeited Lands.
THE following is a list of non-residents' Lands lying in the county of Edmonson, forfeited to the State of Kentucky for the non-payment of taxes, interest and cost due thereon; and which, if not redeemed
by the former owner, his heirs or assigns, on or before the 7th day of May, 1849,
(being Circuit Court day,) will be offered for sale at the Court House door, in the
town of Brownville, in said county, viz:
| 6. Augustus Leffett,3 2 lots in Brownville, taxes 1830 to 1847; amount due, | $ 4 99 |
| 7. Abram Lincoln,4 1 lot in Brownville, taxes 1831 to 1847; amount due, | 3 89 |
| 8. William Reed,5 28,071 acres, lying on Green River and Nolin, taxes 1836 to 1847; amount due, | 700 02 |
| 10. James Alexander,6 2 lots in Brownville, taxes 1831 to I847; amount due, | 4 99 |
Agent for the Commonwealth.
Nov.[November] 7, 1848—839–2am6m.
The title of the State in the above lands, held for the non-payment of the taxes due, will not pass any
title, when the same comes in conflict with the provisions of an act, entitled, "an
act regulating sales of forfeited lands, and applying the statute of limitation in
certain cases; approved February 25, 1847."
THOS. S. PAGE, 2d Auditor.2In February 1842, the State Bank of Illinois had collapsed in the wake of the aftermath
of the Panic of 1837 and the state’s fiscal crisis associated with exorbitant spending on the internal improvement system. In January 1843, the Illinois General Assembly enacted legislation calling for the appointment of a bank commissioner to oversee
the bank’s liquidation. The act gave the bank four years to conclude its affairs.
Although the act stipulated that the bank was to go into immediate liquidation, it
merely commenced what would become a lengthy period of delays and false dawns. As
March 4, 1847--the date set for the end of the bank--approached, the institution was
far from ready to wind up its business, forcing the General Assembly to pass an act
extending the life of the bank until November 1, 1848. To avoid any unnecessary delays
or procrastination, the governor appointed three trustees to wrap up the business,
and the legislation included several provisions to ensure a speedy settlement. By
November 1848, affairs of the bank remained far from settled, so Governor Augustus C. French appointed Nicholas Ridgley, Uri Manley, and John Calhoun trustees to settle its business. Settlement of the bank’s affairs dragged on through
the late 1840s and 1850s, finally concluding in 1862.
Charles H. Garnett, “State Banks of Issue in Illinois” (essay, University of Illinois,
1898), 38, 40; Theodore Calvin Pease, The Frontier State: 1818-1848
(Chicago: A. C. McClurg, 1919), 314; “An Act to Diminish the State Debt, and Put the
State Bank into Liquidation,” 24 January 1843, Laws of Illinois (1843), 21-26; George William Dowrie, The Development of Banking in Illinois, 1817-1863 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1913), 119-23; “An Act for Finally Closing
the Affairs of the State Bank of Illinois,” 1 March 1847, Laws of Illinois (1847), 20-21.
Autograph Letter Signed, 3 page(s),
Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress (Washington, DC).