Eliab B. Kirby to Abraham Lincoln, 27 April 18491
Winchester 27 April 1849Hon A LincolnDr Sir,We want a new Post master in our Town and are determined to have it possible, We forwarded a Petition some time since but
have not heard from it, will you advise as to the best course, we can sustain such
charges of active Political interferance as would satisfy any reasonable man,–2 If you have a copy of comms Patent Office report 1848 to spare, Please send me one3
Yours TrulyE B Kirby<Page 2>
5
Hon A LincolnSpringfieldIlls[Illinois]1Eliab B. Kirby wrote and signed this letter. The addresses written on the second
sheet, which was folded to create an envelope, are in a different hand.
2John Argust was the incumbent postmaster of Winchester, having received the appointment
in July 1845.
Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832-1971, NARA Microfilm Publication, M841, 145 rolls, Records of the Post Office Department,
RG 28, 1845-1855, 18:178, National Archives Building, Washington, DC; Register of all Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of
the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1847 (Washington, DC: J. & G. S. Gideon, 1847), 426*.
3Abraham Lincoln’s response, if he penned one, has not been located.
Argust remained postmaster until September 1849, when Richard C. Cumbey replaced him.
Cumbey would hold the position until June 1853, when Argust regained the office.
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), 492*; Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832-1971, NARA Microfilm Publication, M841, 145 rolls, Records of the Post Office Department,
RG 28, 1845-1855, 18:178, National Archives Building, Washington, DC; 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), *553; 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), 522*.
Autograph Letter Signed, 2 page(s) ,
Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress (Washington, DC).