Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Ephraim Gilmore Jr. to Abraham Lincoln, 12 February 18491
Millersburg Ill Feb 12^th 1849Hon LincolnD^r[Dear] Sir
You will perhaps be some what Surprised to receive a Letter from one who does not reside in your District, but I trust your Whig Nature will forgive this intrusion You are aware that we are represented by a Loco, (T J Turner) Who pays no regards to the Whigs in his District & never Sends us any Documents

If you have time & inclination, I should be pleased to have some Public Documents

Our friend H W Thornton is an Applicant for a station in the Land Office at Dixon. If you can consistently lend your assistance, the Whigs will take it as a favour in this County.

We want all the Loco P[Post] masters removed in this County, They always take an active part against us!2 I and all the Whigs want them removed especially in N Boston & Millersburg–3 We will take the necessary steps shortly & recommend good Whigs– I should be pleased when You have time to receive a Line from You
Yours RespectfullyE Gilmore Jnr 4

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Feb[February] 14

Hon A Lincoln ^M. C.[Member of Congress] ^Washington CityD. C.

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Register
Dixon Ill
Hiram W Thornton
Mercer Co Ill
Letter of E Gillmore Jr

1Ephraim Gilmore wrote the letter in its entirety.

2Since the mid-1830s, Whigs argued that federal officeholders who received their jobs through loyalty to the Democratic Party rather than merit gave the Democrats an advantage in elections. This became a common theme in the presidential campaign of 1840. The Whigs had good reasons to fear: the number of federal officeholders had been greatly expanded by the system to take the 1840 census, and the officeholders did involve themselves in advancing the Democratic cause. This was particularly true of postmasters, who distributed copies of the Extra Globe, the official Democratic campaign sheet and, according to some, blocked distribution of Whig campaign literature. Gilmore believed that the postmasters in Mercer County were censuring the mails to benefit the Democrats--a claim he makes explicit in his last paragraph.
Major L. Wilson, The Presidency of Martin Van Buren (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1984), 197; Michael F. Holt, The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party: Jacksonian Politics and the Onset of the Civil War (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), 111.

3The incumbent postmasters were Thomas L. Doughty and Joseph W. Lloyd in New Boston and Millersburg, respectively. Gilmore did not get his wish in the spring and summer of 1849; Doughty and Lloyd still held their respective appointments in September 1849. In 1850, Joseph O. Allen replaced Lloyd. In November 1850, John B. Beeson replaced Doughty.
Table of Post Offices in the United States on the First Day of October, 1846 (Washington, DC: John T. Towers, 1846), 135, 147; 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), 418-19; 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), 482, 483; Edward Tremayne, Tremayne’s Table of the Post-Offices in the United States (New York: W. F. Burgess, 1850), 39; 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), 542.

4Hiram W. Thornton did not get an appointment in the U.S. General Land Office at Dixon; Silas Noble received appointment as register, and Cyrus Aldrich as receiver. Both held these positions until 1853. In April 1851, Thornton replaced Allen as postmaster of Millersburg, holding that position until May 1857.
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, 540; 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, 511; Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1855 (Washington, DC: A. O. P. Nicholson, 1855), 339; Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1857 (Washington, DC: A. O. P. Nicholson, 1857), 339.