Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Isaac N. Onstott to Abraham Lincoln, 30 May 18491
Havanna Ill^s May 30^th 1849Hon A LincolnDear Sir
We are all well & Kicking aboutThe German Peas are growing finelyAnd theres been no cases of Cholera in this vicinity up to the present time2I would also state that the Post Office in Havanna is held by an uncompromising New Hampshire Loco foco– A man that wrote the petition to turn out M^r Rockwell a whig Post master solely because he was a Whig & ought not to hold a office under M^r Polk & had himself appointed in his place3 you once in writing to me said that turn about was fair playSo I think that it o would be fair play to turn out of the post Office M^r J Dearborn in this town & appoint a whig in his place.

I would most respectfully ask you to use your influence to have him turned out & get the place for your humble Servant

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from the Position you occupied in advocating the claims of the present Administration I feel certain that it would only be necessary for you to make the suggestion to the appointing Power & it will be attended to.

Will you do it?

If you will you'll oblige an old friendplease write when you receive this & let me Know what you will do4
Yours &c[etc]I N OnstotP SI expect to enclose this in a letter to B F Dychas

1Isaac N. Onstott wrote and signed this letter.

2There were several major outbreaks of cholera in the United States in the nineteenth century, including in 1849. The outbreak reached Illinois in the spring of 1849.
Charles E. Rosenberg, The Cholera Years: The United States in 1832, 1849, and 1866 (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1987); G. F. Pyle, “The Diffusion of Cholera in the United States in the Nineteenth Century,” Geographical Analysis, 1:1 (January 1969), 65-67.

3In December 1845, Jonathan Dearborn replaced Northcup J. Rockwell, who became postmaster of Havana in February 1844.
Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832-1971, NARA Microfilm Publication, M841, 145 rolls, Records of the Post Office Department, RG 28, 1832-1844, 12B:542; 1845-1855, 18:132, National Archives Building, Washington, DC; Register of all Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1845 (Washington, DC: J. & G. S. Gideon, 1845), 388*; Register of all Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1847 (Washington, DC: J. & G. S. Gideon, 1847),*413.

4Abraham Lincoln’s response, if he penned one, has not been located.
Dearborn would remain postmaster until November 1849, when the Taylor administration removed him and appointed Philo Noble as his successor. Noble held the job until November 1850, when Onstott succeeded him. Onstott remained postmaster until Nathan Powell replaced him in June 1851.
Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832-1971, NARA Microfilm Publication, M841, 145 rolls, Records of the Post Office Department, RG 28, 1845-1855, 18:132, National Archives Building, Washington, DC; Register of all Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1847, *413; 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), 476*; 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), *533; 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), *505.