Samuel D. Marshall to Abraham Lincoln, 6 April 18491
Shawnee Town April 6th/49Dear LincolnThere are divers Candidates for the Public offices here—of which you are aware– I
should like, exceedingly, if Eddy could get the office of Register– He has superior qualifications to his competitors
and is (I think) more deserving otherwise– Besides he has a large family & has been
sick all winter & is in very straightened circumstances–
I was desirous that McCallen should apply for the office but he utterly refused and know has thrown himself in Eddy's way which I think wrong– alle Will you inform me if you are pledged to Bennett as opposed to Eddy or said that if McCallen did not apply you would go for Bennett.
I should like to know for I had supposed you would have taken a decided part for Eddy
for many reasons especially as opposed by men unknown in this part of the State– Please write soon & let me know whether you would be willing to recommend Eddy–2
Yours trulySam D Marshall2Abraham Lincoln’s reply, if he penned one, has not been located.
Henry Eddy addressed a letter to Lincoln in January 1849, urging the appointment of Andrew McCallen as U.S. marshal
for California. In February, Lincoln received similar letters from Joseph T. Eccles, Marshall, and David Woodson. In March, Eddy wrote Lincoln again to ask about McCallen’s chances and to inquire if Lincoln had placed
him and John W. Norton before the proper department head--in this case, Secretary of the Interior Thomas Ewing--as applicants for the offices of register and receiver, respectively.
Eddy did not get the appointment; Lincoln and Edward D. Baker instead endorsed McCallen for the position of register. McCallen received the appointment
and held the job from June 1849 to May 1853. Norton received the appointment as
receiver, holding that position from June 1849 to 1853.
Joseph T. Eccles to Abraham Lincoln; Samuel D. Marshall to Abraham Lincoln; David M. Woodson to Abraham Lincoln; Niles' National Register (Philadelphia, PA), 6 June 1849, 1:1; 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), 135, 137; 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, 141; 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), 138, 139; John W. Norton to Abraham Lincoln; Arthur Charles Cole, ed., The Constitutional Debates of 1847, vol. 14 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library, Constitutional Series
(Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1919), 2:969.
Autograph Letter Signed, 1 page(s) ,
Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress (Washington, DC).