The actual date of this letter is unknown, but there is strong evidence that Perkins wrote it during the intense competition for patronage that dominated the first nine months of the presidency of Zachary Taylor. On May 4, 1849, Perkins first wrote Abraham Lincoln regarding John Lowry, and Edward D. Baker wrote Lincoln on June 8 regarding Perkins’ advocacy for Lowry, admitting that he could not “at the present moment ask anything” of President Taylor and his administration and suggesting that Lincoln might be more fortunate. Lincoln endorsed Perkins’ letter, and apparently sent it and other letters to Secretary of the Interior Thomas Ewing. Lincoln’s endorsement is undated, but docketing on the letter indicates that the U.S. Department of the Interior received the letter on or before June 23. Lincoln received no further correspondence on Lowry, and if he wrote another letter of recommendation, it is not extant. Perkins’ reference to Baker and “house proceedings” suggests that the U.S. House of Representatives, of which Baker was a member, was either already in session or preparing to begin its session. Lincoln’s correspondence indicates that the scramble for patronage receded as the opening of Congress approached, and the Thirty-First Congress convened on December 3, 1849, so editors believe that Perkins wrote the letter between May 5 and December 3, 1849.