Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Peter Menard to Abraham Lincoln, 15 April 18491
Tremont April 15^th 1849Friend Lincloln
You will receive a small petition to which my name is appended2 This on the part of the friends of the person recommended Smells a little of the clendistineI could not well refuse to sign as I know the Doctor to bear, a good man, and the only objection I have, is that he is vastley impregnated ^with^ abolitionism this to me is an insufferable objection, Still as such I have no doubt he will, he will attend strikly to the duty of the office– One David Roberts is also an applicant, all I can say of him, and what any body else will vouch, that he ^is^ honest[,] capable– and needs the office more than any one else, having a large family to support, and very little help. The Briggs family goes for Robert–3 I have recd[received] a nother letter from my nephew Maxwell, I can only reherse, what already stated, that he is honest, and capable,4
your friendP Menard

1Peter Menard wrote and signed this letter.

2This petition has not been located.

3Dr. Alanson Stockwell and David Roberts were candidates for the office of postmaster in Tremont. Abraham Lincoln also preferred Roberts and recommended him for the position. Roberts received the appointment in May 1849 and held the job until 1860.
Fitz Henry Warren to Abraham Lincoln; Benjamin F. James to Abraham Lincoln; 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), *489; 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), 550*; 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), *520; 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), 346*; 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), 346*; 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), 74*; 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), 376*.

4Ferdinand Maxwell was seeking the office of register in the U.S. General Land Office in Kaskaskia, Illinois. On April 4, Menard wrote Lincoln soliciting his help on behalf of Maxwell. A day after his uncle wrote Lincoln, Maxwell wrote Lincoln inquiring about the appointment. Maxwell did not get the office in 1849; the incumbent Jacob Feaman retained his post until May 1850, when Maxwell received the job. Maxwell held the position until 1853.
Register of all Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1849, 135; Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1887), 8:178; Register of all Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1851, 139; Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1853, 138.