AE Monthly

Article Archives Search

AE Articles


Long Missing Lincoln Letter Returns Home - By Michael Stillman Long lost Lincoln letter from shortly before his Gettysburg Address. By Michael Stillman An interesting Lincoln letter, missing from the National Archives for many decades, perhaps longer, made its way home recently, a gift from a collector who purchased it from an online auction in 2006, unaware of its history. The letter was written on November 14, 1863, just five days before the President delivered his Gettysburg Address. While this letter is not so momentous, and is even briefer still than the famed, brief address, it too must have elicited sad emotions for the President. It related to an unpleasant event concerning the son-in-law of a great friend and colleague of Lincoln who had died in battle during the Civil War. To see this relative of a deceased close friend under an ethical cloud could only have been painful to a president in the midst of the terrible burdens of a terrible war. The letter was written to Secretary of the Treasury Salmon Chase, and it pertains to charges made against the Superintendent of the San Francisco Mint, Robert Stevens. A special agent had been sent to San Francisco to investigate corruption charges against Stevens. He came back with a series of claims, such as hiring unqualified individuals, overpaying some employees and paying others for no-show jobs, overpaying for inferior supplies, encouraging insubordination by workers, and being arrogant and discourteous to his managers. Chase responded by firing Stevens. Stevens protested, and demanded to see the evidence against him. Evidently, he was not satisfied with Chase's response, as several months later, he wrote Lincoln asking help in seeing the evidence. Lincoln thereby wrote this letter to Chase, which states: My dear Sir Mr. Stevens, late Superintendent of the Mint at San Francisco, asks to have a copy, or be permitted to examine, and take extracts, of the evidence upon which he was removed. Please oblige him in one way or the other. Yours truly, A. Lincoln Lincoln had appointed Stevens in 1861, a patronage job undoubtedly offered as a result of Lincoln's friendship with his father-in-law, Edward Baker. Baker had emigrated to America from Britain as a young child, lived during his teens in the utopian community of New Harmony, Indiana, and then moved to Illinois, where, like Lincoln, he became a lawyer in the early 1830s. Their paths crossed as a result of their legal careers and interest in politics. In 1844, Baker opposed Lincoln for the Whig nomination for Congress from their local district, and defeated the future president. However, the contest did not have any adverse effect on their relationship, as two years later, Lincoln named his second son, Edward Baker Lincoln, after Baker (young Eddie Lincoln died shortly before his fourth birthday).
Long Missing Lincoln Letter Returns Home - By Michael Stillman Long lost Lincoln letter from shortly before his Gettysburg Address. While Lincoln proceeded to settle into local politics, Baker was more of a wanderer. He declined to seek re-election in 1846, leaving the door open for Lincoln's one term in the House of Representatives. Baker went off to fight in the Mexican War, returned to Illinois to serve a term in Congress from a different district, and in 1851, moved to San Francisco to practice law. He moved to Oregon in 1860, and was quickly elected to the U.S. Senate as a Republican. However, once the Civil War started, Baker volunteered to form a brigade. In October of 1861, six months after his son-in-law's appointment to run the San Francisco Mint, Baker was killed in battle. He was the only sitting U.S. Senator to so give his life. Lincoln was devastated. Under the circumstances, this situation could only have been terribly painful to the President, who would shortly have to appear at the dedication of the bloody battlefield at Gettysburg. So, he asked his Treasury Secretary to give his friend's son-in-law every due recourse, undoubtedly knowing that his behavior was miles removed from the standards set by his father-in-law. The National Archives monitors online auctions for documents they believe belong to the government. The nature of this one, communication between government officials, raised questions. Searching led to a series of treasury records where it was believed this letter might belong. When the volume was opened, it revealed a page had been torn from the location where this letter should appear. It is not known when it was removed, nor even whether the tearing was intentional or accidental, nor was it known how it then made its way to private hands. The Archives believes it was most likely removed in the 1880s, when the volume was bound, or the 1940s, when it was transferred to the National Archives. A thorough collection of Lincoln letters published in the 1950s, which does not contain this one, indicates it was gone by then. The 2006 purchaser was Lawrence Cutler, an attorney and private collector from Scottsdale, Arizona. When first contacted by the National Archives, he was uncertain it was a public document, as it was not the same height as the part of the letter remaining with the Archives. However, further examination revealed the letter had been trimmed, and the remaining edge matched the edge of the letter. With identity established, Cutler gave the letter to the Archives in an official presentation a few weeks ago. In presenting the letter, Cutler said, "It is both a great honor and a pleasure for me to give this very important Abraham Lincoln letter back to the citizens of the United States of America, especially during this bicentennial year of Lincoln's birth." Cutler did not reveal the price he paid.

Long Missing Lincoln Letter Returns Home

- By Michael Stillman

Long lost Lincoln letter from shortly before his Gettysburg Address.

By Michael Stillman

An interesting Lincoln letter, missing from the National Archives for many decades, perhaps longer, made its way home recently, a gift from a collector who purchased it from an online auction in 2006, unaware of its history. The letter was written on November 14, 1863, just five days before the President delivered his Gettysburg Address. While this letter is not so momentous, and is even briefer still than the famed, brief address, it too must have elicited sad emotions for the President. It related to an unpleasant event concerning the son-in-law of a great friend and colleague of Lincoln who had died in battle during the Civil War. To see this relative of a deceased close friend under an ethical cloud could only have been painful to a president in the midst of the terrible burdens of a terrible war.

The letter was written to Secretary of the Treasury Salmon Chase, and it pertains to charges made against the Superintendent of the San Francisco Mint, Robert Stevens. A special agent had been sent to San Francisco to investigate corruption charges against Stevens. He came back with a series of claims, such as hiring unqualified individuals, overpaying some employees and paying others for no-show jobs, overpaying for inferior supplies, encouraging insubordination by workers, and being arrogant and discourteous to his managers. Chase responded by firing Stevens. Stevens protested, and demanded to see the evidence against him. Evidently, he was not satisfied with Chase's response, as several months later, he wrote Lincoln asking help in seeing the evidence. Lincoln thereby wrote this letter to Chase, which states:

My dear Sir

Mr. Stevens, late Superintendent of the Mint at San Francisco, asks to have a copy, or be permitted to examine, and take extracts, of the evidence upon which he was removed. Please oblige him in one way or the other.

Yours truly,
A. Lincoln

Lincoln had appointed Stevens in 1861, a patronage job undoubtedly offered as a result of Lincoln's friendship with his father-in-law, Edward Baker. Baker had emigrated to America from Britain as a young child, lived during his teens in the utopian community of New Harmony, Indiana, and then moved to Illinois, where, like Lincoln, he became a lawyer in the early 1830s. Their paths crossed as a result of their legal careers and interest in politics. In 1844, Baker opposed Lincoln for the Whig nomination for Congress from their local district, and defeated the future president. However, the contest did not have any adverse effect on their relationship, as two years later, Lincoln named his second son, Edward Baker Lincoln, after Baker (young Eddie Lincoln died shortly before his fourth birthday).

Long Missing Lincoln Letter Returns Home

- By Michael Stillman

Long lost Lincoln letter from shortly before his Gettysburg Address.

While Lincoln proceeded to settle into local politics, Baker was more of a wanderer. He declined to seek re-election in 1846, leaving the door open for Lincoln's one term in the House of Representatives. Baker went off to fight in the Mexican War, returned to Illinois to serve a term in Congress from a different district, and in 1851, moved to San Francisco to practice law. He moved to Oregon in 1860, and was quickly elected to the U.S. Senate as a Republican. However, once the Civil War started, Baker volunteered to form a brigade. In October of 1861, six months after his son-in-law's appointment to run the San Francisco Mint, Baker was killed in battle. He was the only sitting U.S. Senator to so give his life. Lincoln was devastated. Under the circumstances, this situation could only have been terribly painful to the President, who would shortly have to appear at the dedication of the bloody battlefield at Gettysburg. So, he asked his Treasury Secretary to give his friend's son-in-law every due recourse, undoubtedly knowing that his behavior was miles removed from the standards set by his father-in-law.

The National Archives monitors online auctions for documents they believe belong to the government. The nature of this one, communication between government officials, raised questions. Searching led to a series of treasury records where it was believed this letter might belong. When the volume was opened, it revealed a page had been torn from the location where this letter should appear. It is not known when it was removed, nor even whether the tearing was intentional or accidental, nor was it known how it then made its way to private hands. The Archives believes it was most likely removed in the 1880s, when the volume was bound, or the 1940s, when it was transferred to the National Archives. A thorough collection of Lincoln letters published in the 1950s, which does not contain this one, indicates it was gone by then.

The 2006 purchaser was Lawrence Cutler, an attorney and private collector from Scottsdale, Arizona. When first contacted by the National Archives, he was uncertain it was a public document, as it was not the same height as the part of the letter remaining with the Archives. However, further examination revealed the letter had been trimmed, and the remaining edge matched the edge of the letter. With identity established, Cutler gave the letter to the Archives in an official presentation a few weeks ago. In presenting the letter, Cutler said, "It is both a great honor and a pleasure for me to give this very important Abraham Lincoln letter back to the citizens of the United States of America, especially during this bicentennial year of Lincoln's birth." Cutler did not reveal the price he paid.