Sathoff, Lewis (Saathoff)

Died: 1857-01-XX Menard County, Illinois

Alternate name: Saathoff

Lewis Sathoff lived and owned land in Menard County, Illinois. Sometime in 1856, Sathoff subscribed for two shares of stock in the fledgling Tonica & Petersburg Railroad Company. By subscribing, he pledged to pay a total of $200 for the stocks. Sathoff died before the Illinois General Assembly incorporated the railroad in January 1857, still owing a balance on his subscription. The railroad company sued William McNeely, the administrator of Sathoff's estate, to force payment. The case made its way to the Illinois Supreme Court after being tried in lower probate and circuit courts. In November 1858, McNeely asked Abraham Lincoln to represent him before the Supreme Court. Lincoln initially agreed before learning that his law partner, William Herndon, already planned to represent the railroad. The court ultimately ruled in the railroad's favor in January 1859.

Illinois, U.S., Probate Records, 1819-1988, 13 January 1857, Menard County (Salt Lake City, UT: FamilySearch.com, 2024); Illinois, U.S., Probate Records, 1819-1988, 6 April 1858, Menard County (Salt Lake City, UT: FamilySearch.com, 2024); Tonica & Petersburg Railroad Company, Plaintiff in Error, v. William McNeely, Administrator, etc., Defendant in Error, 21 Ill. (Peck) (1860) , 71-72; “An Act to Incorporate the Tonica and Petersburg Railroad Company,” 15 January 1857, Private Laws of Illinois (1857), 9-16; William McNeely to Abraham Lincoln; Tonica & Petersburg RR v. McNeely, Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, 2d edition (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2009), https://lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/Details.aspx?case=138001.