Lincoln, Abraham, as Sixteenth President

Autograph letter signed ("A. Lincoln"), 2 pages (8 x 5 in.; 202 x 126 mm) on a bifolium of Executive Mansion letterhead, Washington, 6 July 1864, to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, endorsed by Stanton and with file dockets on verso of second leaf; lightly soiled at vertical crease.

Philip D. and Elsie O. Sang, by bequest to — descendant of the Sangs, sold to — an undesignated consignor (Sotheby's, 12 December 2001, lot 372).

The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, ed. Basler, Supp.: 250

Autograph letter signed ("A. Lincoln"), 2 pages (8 x 5 in.; 202 x 126 mm) on a bifolium of Executive Mansion letterhead, Washington, 6 July 1864, to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, endorsed by Stanton and with file dockets on verso of second leaf; lightly soiled at vertical crease.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

President Lincoln overrides the efforts of David Wilmot, author of the Wilmot Proviso and a founder of the Republican party, to thwart an officer's commission.

Aware of the importance of Pennsylvania in the upcoming presidential election, Lincoln diplomatically asks Stanton to prefer the wishes of a sitting Pennsylvania representative over those of former Pennsylvania senator David Wilmot. "Hon. Mr. Tracy, of Pennsylvania, is here saying that a Col. Allen McKean has been nominated, and confirmed by the Senate, and that his commission is withheld, upon a charge presented and pressed by Judge Wilmot, which charge is rather old, and was well known to Judge Wilmot when, two years ago, he wrote a letter, urging McKean to be a candidate for Congress. I believe this Senate also had knowledge of this charge. My estimate of Judge Wilmot was shown by my appointment of him to the Claims Court; and yet I do think his irritability, proceeding from bad health, is leading him to give us a good deal of unnecessary trouble. I think in this case, Mr. Tracy's wishes better be followed, unless there be something more serious than I have heard of."

Congressman Henry Wells Tracy's representation of the case succeeded: one month later McKean's appointment as additional paymaster of volunteers was ordered as effective from 23 February 1864 until his resignation, 3 June 1865.

In 1846, as a Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania, David Wilmot attached an amendment to an appropriations bill for negotiating peace with Mexico that would prohibit slavery in any territory acquired with federal funds. The Wilmot Proviso did not pass then, or after any of its several reintroductions, and it effectively ended Wilmot's career in the Democratic Party. Wilmot served as a district judge in Pennsylvania for a decade, supporting the presidential candidacies of both John C. Frémont and Abraham Lincoln and unsuccessfully running himself as the Republican candidate in Pennsylvania's 1857 gubernatorial race. He was appointed to serve out the senatorial term of Simon Cameron when the latter was made Lincoln's Secretary of War. In 1863, Lincoln appointed Wilmot to the reorganized Court of Claims, where he was serving at the time of the controversy about McKean's commission—still, evidently, trying to play a role in internal Pennsylvania politics.