Army starts up Rock River, regulars taking cannon and supplies by keelboat. Camp is made 12 to 14 miles from Dixon's Ferry.Stevens, Black Hawk War, 146-47; Elliott, Services of Illinois Soldiers, xvii; IHi—BHWC, Atkinson Order Book, Johnston Journal.

In Popejoy v. Wilson, Lincoln asks clerk to issue summons returnable next term.Photocopy.

Lincoln writes and files plaintiff's demurrer in Fithian v. Cunningham.Photocopy.

Lincoln, along with attorneys John J. Brown and Joseph Peters, represents Vermilion County sheriff Samuel Frazier Jr., in Wilson v. Frazier. The attorneys for plaintiff John M. Wilson file an affidavit regarding the absence of a material witness and ask the court to continue the case. The court continues the case until the next term. Order, 19 May 1842, Wilson v. Frazier, Circuit Court Record B, 345, Vermilion County Circuit Court, Vermilion County Courthouse, Danville, IL.

Lincoln pays $1.50 for "Leghorn" (straw) hat.Irwin Ledger.

[Edgar County Circuit Court, now part of Eighth Judicial Circuit, is in session this week at Paris.]

Lincoln's client Lester is found guilty, and he draws up petition for pardon.Petition for Pardon of Sigler H. Lester, 19 May 1847, CW, 1:394.

The House takes up private calendar. Lincoln votes aye on bill granting $280 to legal representatives of Cornelius Manning, deceased, for slave carried away by British fleet in 1814. It passes, 125-28, abolitionists opposing it.Globe.

Lincoln is doing everything in his power to prevent appointment of Butterfield. He writes to Joseph Gillespie asking him to request Senator John J. Crittenden of Kentucky to do what he can to block appointment. "He can control the matter." Abraham Lincoln to Joseph Gillespie, 19 May 1849, CW, 2:50.

[Shelby Circuit Court convenes.]

In the Edgar County Circuit Court, Lincoln, representing defendants George K. Larkin and Daniel G. Burr, appears before Judge David Davis to request a continuance in the case of Jaquith v. Larkin and Burr, a dispute over the sale of a drugstore. Lincoln files an affidavit to support his request. Judge Davis approves the continuance until the next court term and orders Larkin and Burr to pay the court costs for that term. In a dispute involving a sale of hogs, Lincoln and Usher F. Linder represent defendants John S. Hite and Alexander Mann in the case of Dudley & Sutherland v. Hite and Mann. Judge Davis sets the case for trial and calls a jury. After witnesses testify and each side makes closing arguments, Lincoln submits instructions for Judge Davis to read to the jury. The jury finds in favor of Dudley & Sutherland and awards them $150 in damages. Linder submits a motion for a new trial, and Judge Davis grants the new trial and sets the hearing for the next court term. Lincoln files a plea for John Duck in the gold-mining-contract case of Noblitt v. Duck. Judge Davis calls a jury for the trial, and after hearing testimony and arguments, the jury decides in Duck's favor. Noblitt's attorneys request a new trial, and Judge Davis approves the motion and continues the case until the fall term. In Sizemore v. Moke, Conservator of Sizemore, an assumpsit case, Lincoln and his co-counsel Milton M. Dill file an agreement for plaintiff John Sizemore with the attorney for George Moke to continue the case until the next term. Judge Davis renders a verdict against Lincoln's client Jesse K. Dubois in the ejectment suit of Dubois v. Nabb. Lincoln requests a new trial, and Judge Davis approves the motion. Lincoln signs the judge's docket and appears in court on behalf of his client Daniel M. Triplett in the assumpsit case of Triplett v. Neff. William Neff's attorney applies for a continuance, and Judge Davis continues the case until the next term. Order, 19 May 1852, Jaquith v. Larkin and Burr, Order Book 3, 300, Edgar County Circuit Court, Edgar County Courthouse, Paris, IL; Affidavit, 19 May 1852, Jaquith v. Larkin and Burr, Herndon-Weik Collection, Library of Congress, Washington, DC; Order, 19 May 1852, Dudley & Sutherland v. Hite and Mann, Order Book 3, 301, Edgar County Circuit Court, Edgar County Courthouse, Paris, IL; Jury Instructions (copy), 19 May 1852, Dudley & Sutherland v. Hite and Mann, copy files, Henry Horner Lincoln Collection, IHi, Springfield, IL; Judge's Docket Entry, May 1852 term, Noblitt v. Duck; Order, 19 May 1852, Sizemore v. Moke, Conservator of Sizemore, Order Book 3, 302; Order, 19 May 1852, Dubois v. Nabb, Order Book 3, 302; Judge's Docket Entry, May 1852 term, Triplett v. Neff, Judge's Docket; Order, 19 May 1852, Triplett v. Neff, Order Book 3, 302, all in Edgar County Circuit Court, Edgar County Courthouse, Paris, IL.

Murder case of People v. Loe comes to trial. Jury brings in verdict of manslaughter against Lincoln's client. Court sentences him to eight years in Alton penitentiary, three months to be served in solitary confinement and remainder at hard labor. Record.

[Four years later (August 18, 1857) Lincoln writes petition for pardon. Endorsement on Petition for Pardon of Moses Loe, [18 August 1857], CW, 2:414.]

Lincoln is again busy with Illinois Central litigation. Seven cases against railroad come before court. In four demurrers are argued, and trespass suit brought by William H. DeBoice is tried by jury. Verdict is for plaintiff, damages assessed at $45. Register, 27 May 1854; Record.

Lincoln writes, signs "Moore & Lincoln p.d.," and files pleas in Hill v. Illinois Central RR and Weaver v. Illinois Central RR et al.. In Rupert v. Meservey and McKinney he files power of attorney. Photocopy.

Lincoln files defendant's pleas in Fairchild v. Madden. Jury finds Madden guilty. He files defendant's answer in Warner & Moore v. Slatten et al., and executes bond of James Kelly in Kelly v. Evans, executor of Jesse D. Blackledge, deceased. Record; Photocopy.

Circuit Court of Champaign County convenes for spring term, with larger attendance of lawyers than usual. "Hon. A. Lincoln of Springfield" heads list. Urbana Union, 22 May 1856.

Mrs. Lincoln buys 36 yards of "Buff Linen" and "1¾ yds. Bobbinet," charging $9.44 to Lincoln's account at John Williams & Co. Pratt, Personal Finances, 148.

Mrs. Lincoln buys $2 silk "mitts" at Smith's. Pratt, Personal Finances, 157.

Lincoln receives a delegation that traveled from Chicago to Springfield to personally inform Lincoln that the Republican Convention selected him to be the party's candidate for President of the United States. Lincoln remarks, "[I am] deeply, and even painfully sensible of the great responsibility which is inseparable from this high honor—a responsibility which I could almost wish had fallen upon some one of the far more eminent men and experienced statesmen whose distinguished names were before the Convention." Reply to Committee of the Republican National Convention, 19 May 1860, CW, 4:51; Illinois Daily State Journal (Springfield), 21 May 1860, 2:1; New York Daily Tribune, 25 May 1860, 6:4-5.

President attends church service. William O. Stoddard, Lincoln's Third Secretary: The Memoirs of William O. Stoddard, ed. by William O. Stoddard, Jr. (New York: Exposition Press, 1955), 84.

Sec. Seward, Gen. Montgomery C. Meigs, and Lincoln drive to Great Falls, Va., returning about dark. Extracts from Meigs Diary, John G. Nicolay Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

[Mrs. Lincoln in Cambridge, Mass., with Robert. Baltimore Sun, 20 May 1861]

President declares Gen. Hunter's General Orders No. 11 freeing slaves in Dept. of South void, and "that neither General Hunter, nor any other commander, or person, has been authorized by the Government of the United States, to make proclamations declaring the slaves of any State free." [See May 9, 1862.] Proclamation Revoking General Hunter's Order of Military Emancipation of May 9, 1862, 19 May 1862, CW, 5:222-24.

Congressional delegation from Maryland, with 50 constituents from Prince George's County, visits President regarding Fugitive Slave Law. Lincoln assures delegation that Gen. Wadsworth will enforce law in District of Columbia. Reply to Maryland Slaveholders, 19 May 1862, CW, 5:224; N.Y. Tribune, 20 May 1862; Boston Advertiser, 20 May 1862.

Appoints Asst. Sec. of Treasury George Harrington "to discharge the duties of Secretary of the Treasury, during the absence of Salmon P. Chase." Appointment of George Harrington, 19 May 1862, CW, 5:221.

President proclaims convention with Peru whereby settlement will be made on two captured ships. Washington Chronicle, 29 May 1863.

President declares null and void exequatur heretofore given Charles Hunt as consul of Belgium at St. Louis. Washington Star, 20 May 1864; Proclamation Revoking Recognition of Charles Hunt, 19 May 1864, CW, 7:352.

Lincoln writes to staunch abolitionist U.S. Senator Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts. Lincoln introduces Mary Elizabeth Booth, whose husband, Major Lionel Booth, a black officer, was killed in battle on April 12, at Fort Pillow, Tennessee. Lincoln writes, "She makes a point . . . very worthy of consideration which is, widows and children infact, of colored soldiers who fall in our service, be placed in law, the same as if their marriages were legal, so that they can have the benefit of the provisions made the widows & orphans of white soldiers. Please see & hear Mrs. Booth." Abraham Lincoln to Charles Sumner, 19 May 1864, CW, 10:243-44; Roy P. Basler, "And for His Widow and His Orphan," Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress 27, no. 4 (October 1970): 291-94.