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Abraham Lincoln

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:8,000.00 - 10,000.00 USD
Abraham Lincoln

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Auction Date:2018 Jan 10 @ 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
Lengthy ADS, signed “Bush & Lincoln p.q.,” three pages on two sheets, 8 x 12, April 1850. Legal brief almost entirely in Lincoln's hand, in part: "Josiah Matthews, plaintiff, complains of William L. Saltonstall, defendant, being in custody &c of a plea of Trespass…with force and arms, broke and entered the close of the said plaintiff, situate in the county aforesaid, and then and there forced, broke open, threw down damaged and spoiled, divers fences of the said plaintiff of great value…and with feet in walking, trod down, trampled upon, consumed and spoiled the grass and corn…and with the feet of the said horses, mares, geldings, sheep, cattle and oxen; and with the wheels of the said carts, wagons, and other carriages, tore up, subverted, damaged and spoiled the earth and soil of the said close; and thereby and therewith, during all the time aforesaid, greatly encumbered the close aforesaid, and hindered and prevented the said plaintiff from having the use, benefit, and enjoyment thereof, in so large and ample a manner as he might otherwise would have done." But for a few blanks filled in by a clerk (particularly in the township range of the property, and the date of one offense), the document is penned entirely by Lincoln, featuring approximately 670 words in the future president's hand. In fine condition, with general handling wear.

On September 20, 1849, William L. Saltonstall began building a road through Josiah Matthews's land, southwest of Tremont, Illinois. Matthews objected and retained Abraham Lincoln and local attorney John Bush to file suit against Saltonstall in the Tazewell County Circuit Court on March 9, 1850. Matthews sued in the action of trespass and requested $500 in damages. For his defense, Saltonstall retained Lincoln's former partner John T. Stuart and local attorney Benjamin F. James. After various legal proceedings and arbitration in which a right of way was granted, the case came before Judge David Davis—later Lincoln's close friend and de facto campaign manager—who dismissed it and ordered Matthews to pay $2.40 in court costs. Some years later, while preparing notes for a potential law lecture, Lincoln offered some advice: 'Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can…As a peacemaker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good man.' Lincoln's sense of duty to do good is evident in the resolution of this court case through arbitration, and this was a trait that served him well as the nation's commander-in-chief during its most trying times.