Lincoln writes to Emmons: "I shall be entirely satisfied for you to receive the appointment you desire; still I know . . . [the marshal] will look to the wishes of the people of your county, rather than to mine, as to who shall have the appointment. Therefore as your friend, I advise you to get the recommendation of some of your prominent whigs— . . . and I will most cheerfully present them to the Marshall when he shall be here." Abraham Lincoln to Sylvester Emmons, 9 February 1850, CW, 2:72-73.