Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Check of Abraham Lincoln to Reuben F. Ruth, 28 September 18571

No
Springfield Sep^t 28. 1857.
Springfield Marine & Fire Insurance Company,

Pay to R. F. Ruth. or Bearer
Fourteen ⁷⁰/100 Dollars,

IN CURRENT BANK NOTES.

$14–702
A. Lincoln–

1Abraham Lincoln filled in the blanks of this partially printed check and signed it.

2It is unknown what this payment from Lincoln to Reuben F. Ruth was for, but it may have been related to Ruth’s business as a harness-maker, saddler, and trunk manufacturer. The funds were withdrawn from Lincoln’s account at the Springfield Marine & Fire Insurance Company on September 30, 1857. He wrote another check to Ruth in 1859.
Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 21 August 1857, 4:1; Harry E. Pratt, The Personal Finances of Abraham Lincoln (Springfield, IL: Abraham Lincoln Association, 1943), 166.