Our Collection

At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865) to Isaac Onstott

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03108 Author/Creator: Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865) Place Written: Springfield, Illinois Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 6 November 1850 Pagination: 1 p. ; 24.5 x 19.3 cm. Order a Copy

Informs Onstott that he supports his appointment as postmaster and has already written to the department about it. Onstott was appointed postmaster of Havana, Illinois, on 7 November 1850.

Springfield, Nov: 6. 1850

Dear Issac:
I have been absent on the circuit several weeks, only getting home to the election; so that I could not answer your letter of the 16th of Octr till now. I am for you; and have written to the Department, that if the recommendations from your own county place you on very nearly equal ground with the best of your competitors, I desire that you may be appointed. I send this letter directly to the Department, thinking it may be best not to lose the time of sending it to you first.
Your friend as ever.
A Lincoln

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865
Onstott, Isaac, fl. 1850

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