| Wednesday, May 16, 1849.Springfield, IL.
| Lincoln writes to Secretary of the Navy William B. Preston and
objects to the impending appointment of Justin Butterfield, of Chicago, to the
Commissioner of the General Land Office post. Lincoln seeks the office for
himself and he notes Butterfield's minimal efforts to help elect President
Zachary Taylor. Lincoln writes, "[W]hen you and I were almost sweating blood to
have Genl. Taylor nominated, this same man was ridiculing the idea . . . and
when Gen: T. was nominated, if [Butterfield] went out of the city of Chicago to
aid in his election, it is more than I ever heard, or believe. . . . If there
is one man in this state who desires B's appointment to any thing, I declare I
have not heard of him." Abraham Lincoln to William B.
Preston, 16 May 1849, CW,
2:48-49; Thomas F. Schwartz, "An Egregious Political Blunder: Justin
Butterfield, Lincoln, and Illinois Whiggery," Papers of the Abraham
Lincoln Association 8 (1986): 9-19. Lincoln writes to
Secretary of State John M. Clayton and recommends Ethelbert P. Oliphant, who
seeks a diplomatic post. Lincoln writes, "Oliphant, of Union Town, Pa. is a
candidate for the appointment of Charge to Denmark." Lincoln informs Clayton
that Oliphant, with whom Lincoln served in the Black Hawk War, once lived in
Springfield. Lincoln closes, "His success would afford me sincere
satisfaction." Ethelbert P. Oliphant to Abraham Lincoln, 8 May 1849,
Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC; Abraham
Lincoln to John M. Clayton, 16 May 1849, CW, 2:48;
Ethelbert P. Oliphant to Abraham Lincoln, 28 July 1859, Abraham Lincoln Papers,
Library of Congress, Washington, DC. |