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92

Abraham Lincoln

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:12,000.00 - 13,000.00 USD
Abraham Lincoln

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Auction Date:2011 Nov 09 @ 18:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, 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
Handwritten war-dated endorsement, signed as president, “A. Lincoln,” dated June 4, 1863, on the reverse of the second integral page of a two-page letter (lightly-lined) to him from Samuel A. Foot, dated June 4, 1863. Foot writes, in full: “Under the new arrangements, which it is understood are about being made in respect to South Carolina, the Government may need the services of some one as U. S. District Judge for the District of that State. I offer my services for that purpose, with the understanding and pledge on my part, to resign whenever the Government can find a suitable person, a citizen of that state, to take the position.” On the reverse Lincoln has forwarded Foot’s letter to his Attorney General, Edward Bates, writing, in full, “Attorney General, please preserve–Judge Foot is cousin to the Admiral, & is vouched as an excellent man. A. Lincoln, June 4, 1863.” Letter is also docketed in unknown hand: “South Carolina District Judgeship, June 4, 1863.” In very good to fine condition, with intersecting folds, scattered light soiling, a thin line of toning through endorsement (and Lincoln’s “A”), and scattered light creasing.

Foot, a former US Court of Appeals of New York justice, had a long-standing relationship with the 16th president when he contacted him to offer his services in the first state to withdraw from the Union. His mention of “the new arrangements…being made in respect to South Carolina” refers to the mounting issue with the new federal laws regarding emancipated slaves. On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in the rebellious states, including the Cradle of the Confederacy. Many of the former slaves—including more than 700 freed by Harriet Tubman and Colonel James Montgomery during a military raid the same week as this correspondence—had crossed over to Union lines making their quest for freedom a reality. However, earlier legislation required individuals to return runaway slaves to their owners, and federal judges would have to rule on the new law, encouraging abolitionists like Foot to render their services to the cause, as federal law would have to be enforced. Interestingly, despite Lincoln’s endorsement, the Attorney General’s office left the judgeship vacant, as no district judges are listed for South Carolina in the US Official Register for 1863 or 1865.
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