Ethelbert P. Oliphant to Abraham Lincoln, 8 May 18491
Union TownMay 8th 1849.Dear Sir
I have the pleasure to be informed by your letter of Jany[January] 24th ult. that "it will afford you great pleasure to aid me with the matter I have in
view, to wit the charge to Denmark.2 That aid would come very seasonably at this time, as I am about to visit Washington City, to see something in relation to that matter. If you and Mr Stuart could feel at liberty to do me the favour to write to Genl. Taylor & forward it to him or the Secy of State direct from, your place, you will place me under lasting obligations.3
with the highest regardI am truly
Yr[your] friend &c[etc]E. P. Oliphant
3On May 16, Lincoln wrote Secretary of State John M. Clayton endorsing Oliphant for the position. Oliphant
did not get the appointment; in November, President Zachary Taylor gave the post to
Walter Forward, who held the job until October 1851. Miller Grieve would succeed Forward.
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), 7; Biographical Directory of the American Congress 1774-1996
(Alexandria, VA: CQ Staff Directories, 1997), 1049; The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge, for the Year 1853 (Boston: Little, Brown, 1853), 130.
Autograph Letter Signed, 1 page(s),
Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress (Washington, DC).