Thomas S. Mather to Abraham Lincoln, 23 July 18581
Springfield Illinois July 23d 1858Hon A LincolnChicagoDear SirGen John Cook has tendered his resignation as Quartermaster General of the State and some of my friends have advised me to become an applicant for the office2 I should be happy to have you reccommend me to the Governor as a suitable person for that office and as he may desire to make an appointment
very soon I would like to have you write him upon the receipt for this3 Messrs[Messieurs] Hatch Dubois Miller Butler Herndon Baker and Jayne join in the reccommendation
Truly YoursT S Mather<Page 2>
[Envelope]
SPRINGFIELD Ill.[Illinois]
JUL[JULY] 2[3?] 1858Hon A LincolnTremont HouseChicago
JUL[JULY] 2[3?] 1858Hon A LincolnTremont HouseChicago
2John Cook resigned his position as Quartermaster General of Illinois in 1858 to organize an independent military company called the Springfield Zouave
Grays and to lead it as captain. Mather did not replace Cook; Governor William H. Bissell selected Josiah Francis as Quartermaster General in Cook's stead. Bissell appointed Mather as Adjutant General
of the State of Illinois on October 28, 1858, to fill the vacancy caused by the death
of William C. Kinney.
John Carroll Power and S. A. Power, History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois
(Springfield, IL: Edwin A. Wilson, 1876), 436; Chicago Daily Press and Tribune (IL), 11 September 1858, 1:1; Biennial Report of the Adjutant General of Illinois to the Governor and Commander-in-Chief.
1889 and 1890 (Springfield, IL: H. W. Rokker, 1891), 227; The Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 10 November 1858, 1:2; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 10 December 1857, 2:2.
Autograph Letter Signed, 2 page(s), Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress (Washington, DC).