Nathaniel Pope to Abraham Lincoln, 3 February 18491
Springfield
Feby 3rd 1849
SirIt gives me pleasure to bear testimony to the moral worth and mental competency of
Cyrus
Edwards Esquire for the office of Commissioner of the General Land office, for which he will be presented to the President– There is
no man haveig greater claims or who would give greater satisfaction2
I am Dear SirYr Obt Servt[Your Obedient Servant]Nathl PopeAbr. Lincoln Esqr[Esquire]Washington City
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2An Illinois man would get the job of commissioner, but it would not be Cyrus Edwards; Justin H. Butterfield received the appointment and held the job until 1852. Ironically, Abraham Lincoln
would become embroiled in a hotly contested race in the spring and summer of 1849
to become commissioner. 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, 1849 (Washington, DC: Gideon, 1849), 128; 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), 134; Alfred Theodore Andreas, History of Chicago
(New York: Arno Press, 1975), 1:434.
Autograph Letter Signed, 2 page(s), Box 31,
RG 48, Entry 14: Records of the Office of the
Secretary of the Interior, 1833-1964, Divisional Records, 1843-1943, Records of the Appointments
Division, 1817-1922, Central Office Appointment Papers, 1849-1907, NACP.