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ALS signed "A. Lincoln," one page both sides, 5 x 7.75, February 16, 1842. Handwritten letter to fellow attorney Garland B. Shelledy of Paris, Illinois, providing instructions on beginning cases in the federal court for bankruptcy. Lincoln and his senior partner, Judge Stephen Logan, handled at least 72 bankruptcy cases during 1842 and 1843, including many referred to them by other attorneys from around the state.
In full: "Yours of the 10th is duly received. Judge Logan & myself are doing bussiness together now and we are willing to attend to your cases as you propose. As to the terms, we are willing to attend each case you prepare and send us for $10. (where there shall be no opposition) to be sent in advance, or you to know that it is safe. It takes $5.75 of cost to start upon, that is, $1.75 to clerk, and $2 to each of two publishers of papers. Judge Logan thinks it will take the balance of $20 to carry a case through. This must be advanced from time to time as the services are performed, as the officers will not act without. I do not know whether you can be admitted an attorney of the Federal Court in your absence or not; nor is it material, as the business can be done in our names.
Thinking it may aid you a little, I send you one of our blank forms of Petitions. It, you will see, is framed to be sworn to before the Federal Court clerk, and in your cases, will have [to] be so far changed, as to be sworn to before the clerk of your circuit court, and his certificate must be accompanied with his official seal. The schedules too, must be attended to. Be sure that they contain the creditor's names, their residences, the amounts due each, the debtors names, their residences, and the amounts they owe, also all property and where located. Also be sure that the schedules are signed by the applicants as well as the Petition.
Publication will have to be made here in one paper, and in one nearest the residence of the applicant. Write us in each case where the last advertisement is to be sent—whether to you or to what paper. I believe I have now said everything that can be of any advantage." In very good to fine condition, with intersecting folds.
Passed in the aftermath of the Panic of 1837, the federal Bankruptcy Act of 1841 represented a major change in American law: for the first time, individuals could voluntarily petition a federal court for bankruptcy and obtain discharge from their debts. The law took effect on February 1, 1842, making this letter—written just fifteen days later—a remarkably early glimpse of Lincoln adapting his practice to the new system.
In partnership with the eminent Springfield attorney Stephen T. Logan, Lincoln became deeply involved in Illinois bankruptcy work, and this unusually detailed letter shows him functioning not merely as an advocate but as a practical guide to fellow lawyers around the state: setting fees, explaining court costs and publication requirements, providing petition forms, and specifying the schedules of creditors, debtors, and property necessary to initiate proceedings. The opportunity proved short-lived—the controversial act was repealed effective March 3, 1843—giving Lincoln and Logan only a narrow window in which to build this substantial aspect of their federal practice.
This is also believed to be one of the earliest Lincoln autograph letters in private hands; letters from the early Springfield law years are considerably scarcer than his later presidential correspondence, making an 1842 autograph letter especially desirable.
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