William W. Bennett to Abraham Lincoln, 12 April 18491
Mt Vernon Apl. 12th 1849Dear LincolnAs I see from the Journal, You are at Home and I am of course very anxious to hear from Washington2will you be so good as to write me what you think of my prospects are for Registrar[Register] at Shawneetown or if I have any prospect for any thing Please answer me by return mail and oblige
your friendW. W. Bennett2Abraham Lincoln arrived in Springfield on March 31. The Illinois Daily Journal reported his return on April 2.
Illinois Daily Journal (Springfield), 2 April 1849, 2:2.
3This endorsement is attributed to Lincoln, but does not appear to be in his hand.
Lincoln’s reply has not been located.
Bennett did not get the appointment as register; Lincoln and Edward D. Baker instead endorsed Andrew McCallen for the position. McCallen received the appointment and held the job from June 1849
to May 1853. John W. Norton received the appointment as receiver, holding that position from June 1849 to 1853.
Bennett’s name does not appear in the official registers of the officers and agents
of the government for 1849, 1851, and 1853, so apparently he did not receive an appointment.
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).