Saturday,
June 19, 1841.Springfield, IL. | Lincoln writes to Joshua F. Speed, of Louisville, Kentucky, about a
Sangamon County Justice of the Peace case. Lincoln represents brothers
Archibald and William Trailor, who stand accused of Archibald Fisher's murder.
Dr. Gilmore claimed that Fisher was still alive, and the court released the
Trailors. Lincoln writes, "Thus stands this curious affair now. When the
doctor's story was first made public, it was amusing to scan and contemplate
the countenances, and hear the remarks of those who had been actively engaged
in the search for the dead body. Some looked quizical, some melancholly, and
some furiously angry." Lincoln adds that one observer "said it was too
damned bad, to have so much trouble, and no hanging after all."
Abraham Lincoln to Joshua
F. Speed, 19 June 1841, CW, 1:254-58. |