John D. Johnston to Abraham Lincoln, 25 May 18491
friday morning Char– May 25th 1849Dear BrotherI hast to inform you That father is yet a Live & that is all & he Craves to see you all the time & he wants you to Come if you ar able to git hure, for you are his only Child that is of his own flush & blood & it is nothing more than natere for him to crave to see you, he says he has all most Despared of seeing you, & he wonts you to prepare to meet him ^in^ The unknown world, or in heven, for he Thinks that ower savour savour has a Crown of glory, prepared for him2 I wright this with a bursting hart, I came to town for the Docttor, & I won you to make an effort Come, if your ar able to get hure, & he wonts me to tell your wife that he Loves hure & wonts ^hur^ to ^hur^ prepare to meet him at ower Savours feet, we are all well,
Your Brother in hastJ, D, Johnston2The day before he wrote this letter, Johnston had Augustus H. Chapman write a letter to Abraham Lincoln informing Lincoln of his father’s wish to see him. A few days
later, Chapman wrote Lincoln again to apologize for any trouble the letter he wrote at Johnston’s request may have caused, since it turned out Lincoln’s father
was not dying.
Autograph Letter Signed, 1 page(s),
Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress (Washington, DC).