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Check of Abraham Lincoln to Jacob Ruckel, 29 September 18571
No
SpringfieldSept 291857.
Springfield Marine & Fire Insurance Company,
Pay toJacob Ruckelor Bearer
Two hundred—/100 Dollars,
IN CURRENT BANK NOTES.
$200–2
A. Lincoln
Richards & Smith, Printers.
1Abraham Lincoln wrote the handwritten portions of this check and signed his name.
2This check is almost certainly partial disbursement of a $500 loan that Lincoln gave Jacob Ruckel and Laura A. Ruckel on September 28, 1857 in connection with a mortgage on four lots of land in Springfield, Illinois that they wished to purchase. Jacob had acquired the east parts of lots thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen in block four of the Elijah Illes’ addition to Springfield from the estate of his brother, Daniel E. Ruckel (whom Lincoln had also loaned money in August 1851 and whose estate Jacob helped administer). Jacob and Laura agreed to repay the $500 mortgage to Lincoln, plus ten percent interest for the year, within one year. The mortgage was extended multiple times, but eventually paid in full in January 1864.
Harry E. Pratt, The Personal Finances of Abraham Lincoln (Springfield: The Abraham Lincoln Association, 1943), 74-75; Receipt of Abraham Lincoln to Jacob Ruckel; Mortgage Deed from Jacob Ruckel and Laura Ruckel to Abraham Lincoln; Promissory Note of Daniel E. Ruckel to Abraham Lincoln; Release of Mortgage Taken from Daniel E. Ruckel.

Copy of Partially Printed Document Signed, 1 page(s), Abraham Lincoln Association Files, Lincoln Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (Springfield, IL).