Lincoln, Abraham, sixteenth President

Autograph letter signed ("A. Lincoln"), 1 page (9 3/4 x 7 1/2 in.; 248 x 190 mm) on lined letterhead "Executive Mansion," Washington, DC, 20 April 1863, to Calvin Truesdale, Port Martin, Rock Island, Illinois, with hand-addressed envelope; formerly folded, lightly browned with slight soiling, envelope torn at top edge. Matted, glazed, and framed with an engraved portrait.

John H. Hauberg of Rock Island, Illinois

J.G. Nicolay & J. Hay, eds., Complete Works (1894), 8:251; R.P. Basler, ed., Collected Works (1953) 6:182

formerly folded, lightly browned with slight soiling, envelope torn at top edge. Matted, glazed and framed with an engraved portrait.
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.

The President comes to the aid of an old friend.

Thomas J. Pickett (1821-1891) as editor of the Rock Island Register was a close political supporter of Abraham Lincoln for more than two decades. After his election, the President wrote the Secretary of War Simon Cameron: "Thomas J. Pickett, the bearer of this, and an Illinois State Senator, resides at the City of Rock-Island, in that State, and in the immediate vicinity of the Island of that name. The Island belongs to the U.S; and Mr. Pickett thinks there is an agency for it, in charge of your Department, worth some $700. If this be true, I wish Mr. Pickett could have the agency" (Complete Works 4:297). Pickett was appointed as the resident quartermaster in Rock Island. In April 1863, Pickett was removed from that post as the result of charges levelled by J.B. Danforth, editor of the local Democratic newspaper the Rock Island Argus, that he was selling timber and stone on the island for his private benefit.

President Lincoln wrote the present letter to a local official in (and former mayor of) Rock Island: "Thomas J. Pickett, late agent of the Quarter-Master's Department for the Island of Rock-Island, has been removed, or suspended from that position, on a charge of having sold timber and stone from the Island for his private benefit. Mr. Pickett is an old acquaintance and friend of mine; and I will thank you if you will set a day or days, and place, on & at which, to take testimony on the point; notify Mr. Pickett, and one J. B. Danforth Jr. (who, as I understand, makes the charge) to be present with their witnesses; take the testimony in writing, offered by both sides, and report it in full to me. Please do this for me."