Henry F. Luckett to Abraham Lincoln, 15 June 18491
Springfield June 15th 1849Mr LinconDr[Dear] SirI have enclosed an address or petition to the department for the removal of Goodrich from the Post office at Mt. Auburn which you will hand over to the proper authority if you please and use your influence
if it be needed to secure our object–2
Not knowing to whom we should address ourselves we have left that blank for you to
do it for us if you think it necessary.
Your respectfullyH. F. LuckettP. S. We could have gotten twenty more signers to the petition but did not think
it necessary.H. F. L.3<Page 2>
SPRINGFIELD Ill.[Illinois]JUN[June] 16
FREE
Abraham Lincon Esqr[Esquire]Washington Cty.D.C.2The enclosed correspondence that Luckett references was not found with this letter,
and it has not been located.
Montgomery P. Goodrich received appointment as postmaster of Mount Auburn in June
1844; he officially took the position in July 1845.
Luckett addressed Abraham Lincoln in Washington, DC, because Lincoln, at the urging
of William H. Henderson and Josiah Lucas, Lincoln supporters living in Washington, DC, had decided to travel to the nation’s
capital to personally lobby for the position of commissioner of the U.S. General Land Office. Justin H. Butterfield, James L. D. Morrison, and Cyrus Edwards were among the early contestants to replace Richard M. Young, the incumbent. Lincoln entered the competition after learning that Butterfield was
favored over Morrison and Edwards. 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. See the General Land Office Affair.
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), 392*; 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), 418*; Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832-1971, NARA Microfilm Publication, M841, 145 rolls, Records of the Post Office Department,
RG 28, 1832-1844, 12B:572, National Archives Building, Washington, DC; William H. Henderson to Abraham Lincoln; William H. Henderson to Abraham Lincoln; Josiah M. Lucas to Abraham Lincoln; Abraham Lincoln to Robert C. Schenck; 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.
3Goodrich remained postmaster until June 1849, when John Benson replaced him. Benson
held the job until 1853.
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), *541; 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), *511; Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832-1971, NARA Microfilm Publication, M841, 145 rolls, Records of the Post Office Department,
RG 28, 1845-1855, 18:24; 1855-1865, 20A:16, National Archives Building, Washington,
DC.
Autograph Letter Signed, 2 page(s),
Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress (Washington, DC).