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Samuel D. Marshall to Abraham Lincoln, 10 February 18491
Shawneetown Feb 10th 1849Dear Lincoln,
Our friend A McCallan, a noble fellow– now distressed in his private affairs seeks the appointment of Marshal of California. You know him well & know his worth– It is therefore unnecessary for me to speak of his peculiar qualifications for the post he asks or to request your kind offices in his behalf–2
I have recd[received] a great many letters requesting me to [...?] [...?] write to this that & the other one recommending the writers for different offices, I have not any answered any such letters– but this is a different case– it is an office to be filled, Our old friend Dubois has also written to me– I have no influence and can only recommend to those who have, You know Dubois as well as I do– He is honest & competent. He does not state what office he wants– Perhaps you will recommend him for the office he held at Palestine– 3Genl[General] Taylor knew his father well–4 No News here– Shawnee has been overflowed three times this winter, I have joined the Sons of Temperance– we have a flourishing society here. Send me the report of the Commr[Commissioner] of Patents, I would not give it for a whole library of novels–5
Yours trulySam D Marshall
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Marshal
California
1849
A McCallen Recommended by S. D. Marshall
1Samuel D. Marshall wrote the letter in its entirety.
2Andrew McCallen did not become marshal of California; Abraham Lincoln and Edward D. Baker instead endorsed McCallen for the position of register of the General Land Office at Shawneetown. McCallen received the appointment and held the job from June 1849 to May 1853.
Niles National Register (Philadelphia, PA), 6 June 1849, 1:1; 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; 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), 139; 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; John W. Norton to Abraham Lincoln; Arthur Charles Cole, ed., The Constitutional Debates of 1847 (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1919), 969.
3In 1841, President William H. Harrison appointed Jesse K. Dubois as register of the U.S. General Land Office at Palestine. He served in that post for one year before being elected to the Illinois General Assembly representing Lawrence County.
Joseph Wallace, Past and Present of the City of Springfield and Sangamon County, Illinois (La Crosse, WI: Brookhaven, 2001), 1:57.
4Dubois’ father was Toussaint Dubois, a pioneer of the Indiana Territory and veteran of the War of 1812. President Zachary Taylor appointed Jesse K. Dubois receiver of the General Land Office at Palestine, a position he held until 1853.
Joseph Wallace, Past and Present of the City of Springfield and Sangamon County, Illinois, 1:57; Register of all Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1849, 137; Register of all Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1851, 141; Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1853, 139.
5Perhaps an oblique reference to Lincoln’s plan to submit an application for a patent for a buoy to lift steamboats over shoals--an application he submitted to the U.S. Patent Office on March 10, 1849.
Patent Application of Abraham Lincoln.

Autograph Letter Signed , 2 page(s), Box 109, 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.