Guy W. Smith to Abraham Lincoln, 5 February 18491
Crawford Coty IllFeb. 5. 1849.Dear Sir
Your being the only Whig Representative from this State must be my apology for troubling you with a communication– And as the time approaches
when a distribution of the spoils is expected by the Locos– it may not be considered obtrusive to say to you our only reliable friend there
a word upon the Subject–
Dr N. L. Wilson2 who has resided in this County some year & a half or more will possibly make application for an appointed to one
of the Offices of the Palestine Land District– should ^that^ be the case may I take the liberty to solicit your aid in his behalf,– I know him
to be well qualified to perform the duties of either Office or any other Office, the
duties of which he would undertake– The Dr is cousin to the Wilsons of this Coty who all belong to the opposite party, but he came here a Whig & so continues– He also suffered the mortification of removal
from a subordinate situation in the P. Off. Dept on Mr Polk’s accession to Power– and they are the men, who I think should be restored–
I had some thought of soliciting the Office of Recorder of the Genl L. Off, or Register at Palestine, but shall withhold for fear of embarrassment in an arrangment which I think has probaly been made for those Offices–3
Yr[Your] FriendG. W. SmithHonble[Honorable] A. Lincoln<Page 2>
[ docketing
]
3Wilson did not receive appointment either as register or receiver of the General Land
Office at Palestine. President Zachary Taylor appointed Jesse K. Dubois receiver and James M. McLean register. They held these positions until 1853.
Joseph Wallace, Past and Present of the City of Springfield and Sangamon County, Illinois (Chicago: S. J. Clarke, 1904), 57; 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.
4The author of the docketing no doubt assumed that the “G” in “G. W. Smith” was George,
though it was most likely "Guy" for Guy W. Smith.
Autograph Letter Signed, 2 page(s), Box 252, RG 48, Entry 15: Records of the Office of the
Secretary of the Interior, 1833-1964, Divisional Records, 1843-1943, Records of the Appointments
Division, 1817-1922, Field Office Appointment Papers, NACP.