Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Samuel H. Littler to Abraham Lincoln, 11 January 18591
Urbana Jan 11 1859Hon. Mr Abraham LincolnSpringfield Ill.My Dear old Friend
I Take pleasure to Inform you that your old friend Shew has faild to Comply with your Request to pay us for furniture which you gave him an order to Buy Twenty Five Dollars worth of Furniture to Commence House Keeping2

we have Not See him for Some Time But I dont Think H he will pay it I hope you will Send us the Mony as we are Not Trusting No furniture out and we Exspected it would be paid at the Time as you was an old friend Republican of ours

this is a True Coppy3 My old friend Henry Shew 4 the Bearer of This is in a Straight for Some furniture to Commence House Keeping if Any person will furnish him Twenty five Dollars worth and if he dont5 pay for it by the first day of January Next I will Sept 25 18586

A. Lincoln

witness
C. M. Sherfy 7
I am yours very RespectfullyS. Littler

1Samuel H. Littler wrote and signed this letter.

2On September 25, 1858, Abraham Lincoln wrote a note on behalf of Henry Chew, pledging to pay $25.00 for “some furniture” if Chew used the note to purchase furniture but did not pay the debt himself by January 1, 1859.

3This is not an exact, verbatim copy of Lincoln’s words in the guaranty he wrote for Chew. See the instances noted below.

4In his original guaranty, Lincoln spelled Chew’s surname correctly, as “Chew” rather than “Shew”.

5Lincoln actually wrote “does not” in the original guaranty.

6If Lincoln responded to this letter, his response has not been located. It does not appear that he responded, as Littler wrote Lincoln again February 16, repeating his request for payment. On February 21, 1859, Lincoln drew $25.00 to pay Littler, “for guaranty to Henry Chew.” He also penned a brief note about this payment on the original guaranty that he wrote for Chew, which Littler had enclosed in his February 16 letter to Lincoln.
Harry E. Pratt, The Personal Finances of Abraham Lincoln (Springfield, IL: Abraham Lincoln Association, 1943), 167.

7This text appears in the original guaranty that Lincoln wrote for Chew.