Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Anson G. Henry to Abraham Lincoln, 14 June 18491
Springfield June 14, "49Dear Lincoln
I have just recd.[received] a letter from Danville– They had sent on a recommendation urging your appointment–2

They seem anxious to have Daniel Clapp appointed Register– The contest is now between Old Man Vance and Clapp– Vance looks to Ohio for his support– Clapp is backed by the leading Whigs of Vermilion and should be appointed in my Opinion–

You can have it settled while in Washington Whether you remain or not– You know Samuel Huffman is my man for Reciever– I have no personal prefferences to gratify– I look alone to the interests of the party in Old Vermilion– Vance' appointment would be ruinous–3

I see our friend A. M^cCallan has been appointed–4 Things here are now very quiet– Your Patent case has been on hand since Tuesday Morning and will probably occupy the balance of the week. Bushnell gives Logan all sorts of Tribulation– Your client I think, is well satisfied with him–5 All well–
Yours TrulyA. G. Henry

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SPRINGFIELD Ill.[Illinois]
JUN[JUNE] 15
FREE
FREE
Hon. A. LincolnWashingtonD.C.

1Anson G. Henry wrote and signed this letter.

2This is a reference to Abraham Lincoln seeking appointment as commissioner of the U.S. General Land Office. Originally, only Justin H. Butterfield, James L. D. Morrison, and Cyrus Edwards were vying to become commissioner. Lincoln entered the competition after learning that Butterfield was favored over Morrison and Edwards. See the General Land Office Affair.
Henry wrote Lincoln two other letters about the Land Office position several days before this letter.

Henry wrote to Lincoln at Washington, DC because, as competition for the job intensified, William H. Henderson and Josiah Lucas, Lincoln supporters living in Washington, DC, urged Lincoln to come to the nation’s capital to personally lobby for the position. On June 9, Butterfield wrote Lincoln suggesting that neither go to Washington. Lincoln did not respond to this suggestion, and on June 10, both set out for the capital. Lincoln arrived on or before June 19. Ultimately, neither Morrison, Edwards, nor Lincoln received the appointment; the job went to Butterfield instead. See the General Land Office Affair.
Anson G. Henry to Abraham Lincoln; Anson G. Henry to Abraham Lincoln; William H. Henderson to Abraham Lincoln; William H. Henderson to Abraham Lincoln; Josiah M. Lucas to Abraham Lincoln; The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, 10 June 1849, http://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1849-06-10; 19 June 1849, http://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1849-06-19.

3On April 5, 1849, Daniel Clapp wrote Abraham Lincoln, requesting a letter of recommendation for his appointment as register of the Danville, Illinois Land Office. Lincoln’s answer to Clapp has not been located. Lincoln’s letter of recommendation, if he penned one, has also not been located, but Clapp received the appointment as register in July 1849 and held the job until March 1853.
Samuel Huffman was not appointed receiver of the Danville Land Office. Incumbent Lunsford R. Noel retained the office of receiver until October 1849, when John H. Murphy replaced him. Murphy remained receiver until March 1853.
Illinois Journal (Springfield), 3 October 1849, 3:2; Lottie E. Jones, History of Vermilion County Illinois (Chicago: Pioneer, 1911), 1:153-54; 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), 135, 137; 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), 140, 141; 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), 138, 139.

4In 1849, Andrew McCallen was appointed register of the land office in Shawneetown, Illinois.
Register of all Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1849, 135.

5This is a reference to 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. Grant Goodrich first wrote to Lincoln about the case on May 24, 1849.
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), Document ID: 129692, 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.