President recommends by proclamation that people celebrate Washington's Birthday publicly by listening to reading of his "Farewell Address." Evening Star (Washington, DC), 19 February 1862, 2d ed., 3:6; Proclamation for Celebration of Washington's Birthday, 19 February 1862, CW, 5:136-37.

President Lincoln writes to Superintendent in the Office of U.S. Army Nurses Dorothea Dix. Earlier in the day, Dix wrote to Lincoln, presumably to offer her assistance in caring for the Lincolns' eleven-year-old son, Willie, who is seriously ill. Lincoln writes, "The President's & Mrs L's thanks to Miss Dix for her kind inquiry by note of this morning. They do not, just now, need the nurse, but will preserve Miss Dix note, and call on her if occasion hereafter shall require." Abraham Lincoln to Dorothea L. Dix, 19 February 1862, Emory University, Atlanta, GA.

Willie continues critically ill though somewhat easier than yesterday. Evening Star (Washington, DC), 19 February 1862, 2d ed., 3:5.

President approves act prohibiting "coolie trade" by American citizens in American vessels. Stat. L., XII, 340.