Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Grant Goodrich to Abraham Lincoln, 28 May 18491
Chicago May 28^th/49Hon. A. Lincoln
Enclosed you will find secty[security]. for costs, Narr[narratio] & [other?] notes. Please file bond, & narr. The summons has been served in time, & I know of no defense. Please get judgt[judgment].2

I expect to start day after tomorrow east with my wife, who has been confined since novr.[november] last, in hopes travel may do her good– There may be some other matters the in court which I ought to attend to, if anything should come up, do me the favor to do what you can for me; get it con[continued] if possible to the July term– I have but an hour or so since got out of court & I have all my business to arrange to leave & I may have forgotten some thing in the US. Court which I ought to attend to.3
Yours &c[etc]Grant Goodrich

<Page 2>
A Lincoln Esqr[Esquire]Present

1Grant Goodrich wrote and signed this letter.

2Goodrich references the case between Zebulon Parker and Charles Hoyt. Parker sued Hoyt in the U.S. Circuit Court, District of Illinois, for violating Parker’s patent, obtained in October 1829, for a reaction percussion waterwheel. Goodrich first wrote to Abraham Lincoln about the case on May 24.
Newspaper Report, Document ID: 129692, Parker v. Hoyt, Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, 2d edition (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2009), http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/Details.aspx?case=137697; List of Patents for Inventions and Designs, Issued by the United States, From 1790 to 1847 (Washington, DC: J. & G. S. Gideon, 1847), 234; H.R. Exe. Doc. No. 59, 33rd Cong., 2nd Sess. (1855).

3Hoyt retained Goodrich, Lincoln, and George W. Meeker to argue his case. The suit came to trial on July 9, 1850, and concluded on July 24. The jury found for Parker, and Hoyt requested a new trial. The court granted Hoyt’s motion. In the second trial, the jury found for Hoyt, and Parker motioned for a new trial. The court granted his motion. The case lingered on through the early 1850s. In November 1854, Hoyt wrote Lincoln two letters asking for word on his suit. In July 1855, Lincoln succeeded in having the case dismissed in the U.S. Circuit Court, Northern Division of Illinois.
The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, 9 July 1850, http://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1850-07-09; 24 July 1850, http://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1850-07-24; Newspaper Report, Document ID: 129692; Newspaper Report, Document ID: 132922; Newspaper Report, Document ID: 129693, Parker v. Hoyt, Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/Details.aspx?case=137697; Charles Hoyt to Abraham Lincoln; Charles Hoyt to Abraham Lincoln; Abraham Lincoln to Charles Hoyt.