002 — A. Lincoln signed letter to Kersey Fell, 1859

A. Lincoln signed letter to Kersey Fell, 1859

Donated by the Merwin Foundation

 

This letter, dated Nov. 1, 1859, from Springfield, was written after the circuit court ruling and when Lincoln and Fell were negotiating a payment schedule for the judgment.

 

“My dear Sir,” Lincoln wrote in his unaffected cursive script. “I know not that I shall be at Bloomington soon. I shall be here till Tuesday next; and will be glad to see you.” The letter is signed, “Yours very truly, A. Lincoln.”

 

Although on opposing sides in this breach of contract case, Abraham Lincoln and Kersey Fell

were political allies and acquaintances due to Lincoln’s extended visits to Bloomington as an attorney on the 8th Judicial Circuit. He was known to frequent Kersey Fell’s office, located on an upper floor of 106 W. Washington St., a four-story brick Italianate commercial building dating to 1856. That building still stands, and today, Burpo’s Boutique occupies the first floor.

 

Brief and businesslike though it may be, this letter wonderfully exemplifies Lincoln’s career as a general practice attorney in litigious antebellum America. In a legal career that spanned nearly a quarter century, he handled more than 2,300 cases involving breach of contract. In fact, debt collection represented about half the caseload of Lincoln’s entire bustling practice.

 

The lack of hard currency, especially in still-developing states such as Illinois, led to the proliferation of promissory notes, which helps explain why debt collection cases were common in Lincoln’s time. These notes, convoluted by their very nature, were often exchanged and renegotiated by a succession of parties. In addition, the era’s boom-and-bust economic cycles of shady development schemes, real estate bubbles, and bankruptcies caused debt-related cases to fill the courts.

 

The letter was received by Fell at his office, located at 106 W. Washington Street.  The building is still there—across the street and less than 100 yards from it’s current home at the Museum.