Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Alfred H. Grass to Abraham Lincoln, 19 January 18491
Springfield Ill Jan 19^th 1849Dear Sir
I wish to inform you that the friends of Benj Bond have recomended him to the President Elect for the appointment of Marshal if you would lend your influence to secure his appointment you would be only carrying out the wish of the whigs of Illinois I have known M^r Bond long and well and pronounce him a gentleman and qualified2

it is not worth my while to attempt to give you the news here as you will get it in advance of anny thing I could write

I have never received a document or letter from you since you was a member of congress

will douglass resign or obey instruction3

I would be glad to receive a few lines from you
with sentiments of respect I remain your friendA H Grass,Hon A Lincoln

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Marshal Illinois,
1849,
Bond Benjamin–
Recommended by, A. H. Grass, of Springfield, Illinois.

1Alfred H. Grass wrote this letter in its entirety.

2Benjamin Bond received the appointment and held the job until 1853. In March 1849, Abraham Lincoln wrote several letters soliciting government officials on Bond’s behalf, though he preferred that the appointment go to another.
Abraham Lincoln to John M. Clayton; Abraham Lincoln to John M. Clayton; Abraham Lincoln to John M. Clayton; Abraham Lincoln to John M. Johnson; 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), 247; 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), 267; 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), 259.

3While stumping in the South for Lewis Cass during the presidential election of 1848, Stephen A. Douglas delivered a speech in early June in New Orleans where he affirmed that he would resign his seat in the U.S. Senate if the Illinois General Assembly passed a resolution instructing him to vote for the Wilmot Proviso. The Democratic Party won huge majorities in both houses of the General Assembly in the state elections of 1848, but many Democrats from the northern part of the state sympathized with the Free Soil Party, and hoped to convince their brethren from the southern part of the state to adopt the free soil cause. Disaffected Democrats, together with the Whigs, launched a campaign to test Douglas’ resolve on the Wilmot Proviso in hopes of unseating him. In January 1849, the General Assembly adopted a resolution instructing the state’s senators to use all the means in their disposition to enact legislation for the territories acquired from Mexico “as shall contain the express declaration, that there shall be neither slavery, nor involuntary servitude in said territories...” Douglas dutifully introduced the resolution in the Senate, where it was tabled. He did not resign, arguing that the resolution did not go as far as the Wilmot Proviso, and reasoning that it was his duty to remain, as his resignation would only result in a freesoiler succeeding him.
Illinois Journal (Springfield), 22 June 1848, 2:5; 15 November 1848, 4:1; Robert W. Johannsen, Stephen A. Douglas (New York: Oxford University Press, 1973), 232-33, 251-54; Illinois Senate Journal. 1849. 16th G. A., 1st sess., 38, 42-43, 50; Illinois House Journal. 1849. 16th G. A., 1st sess., 52, 55.