August 18 & 19, 2020 Edged Weapons, Armor, & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/18/2020
This impressively presented document contains a scarce signed statement by Abraham Lincoln while he was a congressman. There are many, many notes and signatures from Lincoln’s time as a lawyer and even as President, but he served only 1 term in Congress, from December 1847 to January 1849. In this petition, dated December 7, 1847, at Washington, the newly elected Illinois Representative adds his name to those backing the reappointment of John Raub as a laborer employed by the House of Representatives. The petition consists of 2 sheets joined top to bottom, forming 1 long page. It bears the signatures not only of Lincoln, but other notables of the time, including D.W. Barringer, who shared a desk with Lincoln, Robert Schenk, a general in the Civil War, Washington Barrow, who was arrested by Tennessee Governor Andrew Johnson and released by Lincoln in the Civil War, and, not least, future Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens. Addressed to the Doorkeeper of the House of Representatives, R.E. Horner, the petition is written and signed by Chester Butler, a Whig congressman from Pennsylvania: “The bearer Mr. Raub has been employed under your predecessor as a labourer and wishes to retain his situation. I was acquainted with his father who formerly resided in my District, but is now dead leaving his widow dependent upon this son. Mr. R. is a worthy young man and has been I am informed very obliging and attentive in the discharge of his duties. If you can with propriety, you would oblige me by retaining him in his present position.” Butler then signs the petition. 50 other congressmen then add their own signatures, a few with short statements. 48 of them, like Butler, are members of the Whig party. Below Butler’s signature, additional congressmen have added their names. A heading above this group seems to have been written by the first signer, J.W. Farrelly and reads, “The undersigned concur in the above request.” Farrelly then signs at lower left and 10 additional representatives sign in 2 columns. In addition to Farrelly these are: JE Brady; John Dickey, and Geo. N. Eckert in the left column, and JR Ingersoll, Jas. Pollock, A. Stewart, John Freedley, John Strohm, Alexander Irvin, and John Blanchard. The petition is lengthened by the addition of a second sheet pasted to it at bottom. Written across the top of this lower portion is, “I fully concur in this request– as I have long known Mr. Raub to [be] a most faithful and honest officer.” This seems to be written and signed by D.W. Barringer. Below this is a single line: “The undersigned concur in the above request,” apparently written and signed by Caleb B. Smith. Names below that are again divided in 2 columns, with Smith at the upper left, followed by Washington Barrow, Geo. G. Dunn, Geo. P. Marsh, Artemas Hale, Truman Smith, Henry W. Hilliard, Wm. M. Cocke, A. Lincoln, Jno. Crozier, J.G. Hampton, Henry Nes, Robt. C. Schenck, John W. Houston, CS Morehead, J.H. Tweedy, Bannon G. Thibodeaux J.G. Chapman, Dav. Outlaw, H. White. The right hand column contains, R. Donnell, John A. Rockwell, Alex. H. Stephens, James Dixon, James Thompson, S.D. Hubbard, J.L. Taylor, James A. Black, Danl. P. King, David Fisher, JR Giddings, RS Canby, Saml. F. Vinton, M. Hampton, John Crowell, N. Evans, R.W. Thompson, Amos Abbott. Lincoln is one of the few congressmen who have written short statements over their signatures. Most are testimonials to Raub. Although new to congress, Lincoln shows his political instincts in a characteristically cautious statement: “I concur, on the faith of what the above named gentlemen have said. A. Lincoln.” There was obviously some party favoritism and loyalty involved in the petition and Lincoln was willing to go along, but wanted to make clear he had no first hand knowledge of the man. Interestingly, one of the few other signed individual statements is by Alexander H. Stephens, seconded by James Dixon: “I should be pleased to see the applicant retained,” a statement that also avoids any outright testimonial for Raub. Stephens became the Vice President of the Confederacy just fourteen years later. A proponent of the expansion of slavery and author of the famous Cornerstone Speech linking the Confederacy to it, 18 years later Stephens would meet with Lincoln in a vain effort to reach some compromise peace proposal to end a war that cost 600,000 lives. The petition is presented impressively and ready to display. The overall frame is matted with subsidiary interior frames holding a large portrait of Lincoln and printed biography along with the document at right, and with 25 smaller framed images of other signers with name plates below each at left. (One portrait may actually be that of Jared Ingersoll instead of J.R. Ingersoll.) A certificate of authenticity is enclosed in sleeve attached to the reverse of the frame. CONDITION: Excellent. Minor folds, a few period ink blots. Lincoln’s statement and signature are well positioned in the middle of the left hand column on the lower sheet. The page has some added pencil notations of the states represented by the various signers, but these are not obtrusive. 1 very small hole at the intersection of 2 fold lines. If there are separation lines, they are not evident. We have not disassembled the frame. A slight bleed-through at upper left may indicate a docket on reverse. The signatures have good color and solid lines. SR
Item Dimensions: Frame: 56 - 1/4" x 37" x 1 - 1/4".