In response to letter from T. J. Pickett, Rock Island editor, asking permission to propose his name as presidential candidate, Lincoln writes: "I must, in candor, say I do not think myself fit for the Presidency. I certainly am flattered, and gratified, that some partial friends think of me in that connection; but I really think it best for our cause that no concerted effort, such as you suggest, should be made." He writes Williams and Packard, Bloomington lawyers, about law case. Abraham Lincoln to Thomas J. Pickett, 16 April 1859, CW, 3:377-78; Abraham Lincoln to Robert E. Williams and Major W. Packard, 16 April 1859, CW, 2:378.

Mrs. Lincoln charges 16 yards silk at Smith's store. Pratt, Personal Finances, 155-56.