Certificate of Discharge for Joseph Dobson, 8 August 18321
I do hereby certify that Joseph Dobson volunteered & served as a private in the company under my command. in the regiment Commanded by Colonel Samuel M. Thompson of the Brigade of Mounted Volunteers Commanded by Brigadier General Samuel Whitesides— on an expedition directed against the Sac– & fox– Indians in the Rock River Country— and that he was enrolled on the 21st day of April—1832— & discharged on the 8th day of June, of the same year– haveing served forty eight & two thirds days—
A. Lincoln. Captain
August 8—1832.<Page 2>
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Regnier, John D.
Test[Attest]
John D. Regnier1Abraham Lincoln wrote and signed page one of this document.
At the outbreak of the Black Hawk War, Lincoln volunteered for the Illinois state militia. On April 21, 1832, Lincoln and other men from the New Salem area were mustered into a company in the 4th Regiment of Illinois Mounted Volunteers, and the members of the company elected Lincoln as their captain. When his month
of service ended, Lincoln re-enlisted twice, for twenty and thirty days respectively,
serving as a private both times. He was discharged finally on July 10, 1832.
Muster Roll of Abraham Lincoln’s Company of Mounted Volunteers; Muster Roll of Captain Elijah Iles’ Company of Mounted Volunteers; Muster Roll of Captain Jacob M. Early’s Company of Mounted Volunteers; Ellen M. Whitney, comp., The Black Hawk War, 1831-1832: Illinois Volunteers, vol. 35 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1970), 1:176-78, 227-30, 544-46.
Autograph Document Signed, 2 page(s), Box 183, RG 92, Entry 2118: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1792-1929, Part II, Philadelphia Supply Agencies, 1795-1858, Correspondence, Reports, Returns, Bills, Accounts Current, Statements, Receipts, Vouchers, and Contracts (Coxe and Irvine Papers), 1794-1842, NAB.