Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

James M. Morse to Abraham Lincoln, 17 May 18391
Office of Sec[Secretary] of State
Vandalia 17^th May 1839Sir
Yours has been duly rec'd[received] The said bill was laid on the table of the Council of Revision.2
Yours RespectfullySec State
by J. M. Morse

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[Envelope]

Dep^t[Department] State
1 Sheet
VANDALIA ILL^s
MAY 24Hon Abr^m LincolnSpringfieldIllinois

[ docketing ]
Letter from Secretary State

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Paid [12?]

1James M. Morse wrote the text of the letter and the address and “Dep^t State 1 Sheet.”

2Abraham Lincoln had introduced HB 272 in the House of Representatives on February 6, and the House and Senate passed it and laid it before Council of Revision on March 2. The Council did not have time to act on the bill before the session ended in March 4, so it did not appear in the laws for first session of the Eleventh General Assembly. Lincoln queried Alexander P. Field, the secretary of state, about the disposition of the bill in a letter on May 11. By law, ten days not having intervened before the adjournment of the 1st session, and the Council having no objections, the act became law on December 9, the first day of the special session.
Illinois House Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 353, 410, 435, 492, 595, 597; Illinois Senate Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 407, 485, 491-92, 498, 507; “An Act for the Relief of the Clerks of the Circuit Courts of Sangamon, Clinton, Fayette and Franklin counties,” 9 December 1839, Laws of Illinois (1840), 156.