100

Abraham Lincoln

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:10,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD
Abraham Lincoln

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Auction Date:2017 Oct 11 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:236 Commercial St., Suite 100, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
ALS signed “A. Lincoln,” one page, 7.75 x 9.75, November 1, 1859. Written from Springfield, Illinois, a letter to Kersey H. Fell, in full: "I know not that I shall be at Bloomington soon—I shall be here till Tuesday next; and will be glad to see you." Reverse bears docketing by an unknown hand. In fine condition, with faint foxing, intersecting folds, and a tiny tack-sized hole beneath the text.

This letter heralds from Lincoln’s legal heyday; in 1852, he had recoiled from the Whig Party, seeking solace as a ‘prairie lawyer.’ From 1851 through 1860 he would try 175 cases before the Illinois Supreme Court. It was also during this time that he gained the confidence of a substantial client—the Illinois Central Railroad. In the McLean County Circuit Court, November 1858, Lincoln represented plaintiffs Orville H. Browning and Nehemiah Bushnell, both prominent Illinois lawyers and railroad businessmen, against defendants Franklin Price and Kersey Fell, the latter serving as his own attorney; the plaintiffs were suing Price and Fell for their failure to pay on a note. The trial was decided in April 1859, and the court awarded the plaintiffs $370.82 in damages. This letter is one of several between Fell and Lincoln which relate to the former’s desire to pay his judgment fees in a series of installments. Interestingly, Fell’s brother, Jesse W. Fell, also a notable lawyer, was a close friend of Lincoln who urged him to challenge Stephen A. Douglas to their famous series of debates and, at the time of this letter, persuaded Lincoln to pen a brief autobiographical sketch that helped get him elected president the following year.