Abraham Lincoln to Thomas Ewing, 12 March 18491
Washington, March 12. 1849Hon: Secretary of the Home Department:Sir:The accompanying recommendation of Gov: Corwin, Hon. Truman Smith, and Hon: Caleb B. Smith, that Dr Anson G. Henry be appointed Receiver of Public monies at Minesota, has been made by them as a sort of compromise, he having been most respectably reccommended for Secretary of that Teritory, and they feeling bound to recommend a different man for that place. I am exceedingly
anxious, that Dr Henry shall have an appointment; and, in the present attitude, that it be one of
the Land-Offices in Minesota; but I would prefer it should be Register rather than Receiver, which I understand is a matter of indifference with the above named gentlemen.2
Your Obt Servt[Obedient Servant]A. Lincoln<Page 2>
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Anson G Henry Receiver ^or Register^ Springfield Ill ^Minesota^
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03/10/1849Washington 10 Mar 1849To the Hon Thos EwingSecy[Secretary] of the Department of the Interior
03/10/1849Washington 10 Mar 1849To the Hon Thos EwingSecy[Secretary] of the Department of the Interior
The undersigned respectfully recommend Dr Anson G Henry of Springfield Illinois for
appointment as Receiver of Public monies at the Land office in Minnesota
Tho. Corwin3Truman SmithCaleb B. Smith<Page 4>
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Recommendation of Anson G Henry of Springfield Illinois for Receiver of Land Office
in Minnesota
1Abraham Lincoln wrote and signed the letter. Enclosed with this is a letter of recommendation
written and signed by Thomas Corwin and so-signed by Truman Smith and Caleb B. Smith.
2Four days earlier, Lincoln had also recommended Henry for secretary of the Minnesota
Territory in a letter to Secretary of State John M. Clayton. On March 29, he recommended Henry for register of a land office in the Minnesota
Territory in a letter to Secretary of Navy William B. Preston. Despite these efforts, the Taylor administration did not appoint Henry to a federal position in 1849. Henry responded
by traveling to Washington, DC, with a letter of introduction from Lincoln to personally lobby for a position as an Indian agent in the Oregon Territory, which he received in 1850.
Harry E. Pratt, "Dr. Anson G. Henry: Lincoln's Physician and Friend," Lincoln Herald 45 (October 1943), 8; Harry C. Blair, Dr. Anson G. Henry: Physician, Politician, Friend of Abraham Lincoln (Harrogate, TN: Lincoln Memorial University, 1944), 8.
Autograph Letter Signed, 4 page(s), Box 372, 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, NAC.