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Lot 84
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Abraham Lincoln’s Father, Stepbrother, & Cousin Are Defendants in Coles County, Illinois
Abraham Lincoln’s Father, Stepbrother, & Cousin Are Defendants in Coles County, Illinois
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Description:

Abraham Lincoln
Coles County, IL, September 22, 1836
Abraham Lincoln's Father, Stepbrother, & Cousin Are Defendants in Coles County, Illinois
ADS

[ABRAHAM LINCOLN.] Reuben Canterbury, Autograph Document Signed, Narratio in Jones et al. v. Lincoln et al., September 22, 1836, Coles County, Illinois. 3 pp., 8" x 9.875". Water stains along several folds; general toning.

This intriguing document from Coles County, Illinois, details a lawsuit against Abraham Lincoln's father Thomas Lincoln; William Moffett (1806-1838); Lincoln's stepbrother John D. Johnston (1810-1854); Squire Hall (1805-1851), who married Lincoln's stepsister; and Lincoln's cousin Dennis F. Hanks (1799-1892). These five partners, four of them related by blood and marriage, rented a saw and grist mill from the heirs of James Shaw on March 4, 1835. They agreed to pay $220.12½ for the use of the mill for one year, though up to $50 of that amount could be credited for improvements to the mill.

When the partners failed to pay anything more than $50 and $35.25 worth of repairs to the mill, Noel M. Jones and Benjamin F. Norton, the guardians of James Shaw's two minor children, sued the partners in the Coles County Circuit Court on June 6, 1836, and asked for damages of $220.12½, the full amount of the original lease agreement. Their attorney was Reuben Canterbury (1801-1840). Moffett could not be found, and the other four defendants were admitted to bail on a bond of $440.25 (twice the amount of the damages). This document, filed on September 22, 1836, was the narratio, which reinstituted the suit on the part of the plaintiffs. On October 7, Lincoln, Johnston, Hall, and Hanks confessed judgment for $138.67, and the next day, the court accepted the agreement and ended the case.

Complete Transcript
Of the October term 1836 of the Coles Circuit Court
County and Circuit of Coles towit
Noel M. Jones and Benjamin F. Norton guardians of the infant heirs of James Shaw deceased complain of Thomas Lincoln, William Moffett, John D. Johnston, Squire Hall and Dennis F. Hanks who are in custody &c of a plea of breach of covenant For that whereas heretofore towit on the 4th day of March in the year 1835 at the county and circuit aforesaid by a certain writing obligatory then and there made by the said defendants (which said writing obligatory signed with the hands and sealed with the seals of the said defendants the said plaintiff now bring here in to court the date where of is the same day and year aforesaid) they the said defendants Jointly and severally promised to pay unto the said plaintiffs guardians as aforesaid twelve months after the date of said writing obligatory the Just and full sum of two hundred and twenty dollars and twelve and a half cents lawful money of the United States In consideration of the of the saw and grist mill with the appurtenances for the aforesaid term of one year from the date of the said writing obligatory yet said writing obligatory was subject to condition in the words following "With this condition that fifty dollars of the above mentioned sum money be paid in any valuable repairs done on said saw or grist mill which shall tend to the value of said mill said work to be of as valuable a kind as the nature and amount of said repairs may require and to be valued at the time of us delivering up possession by two disinterested appraisers appointed or chosen one by each of us contracting parties and in case of disagreement they to choose a third one and should the repairs done not be considered to be worth the aforesaid sum of fifty dollars then that the actual value of said repairs to be taken from the aforesaid first mentioned rent; but in no case shall the repairs done exceed the said sum of fifty dollars" and the said plaintiffs in fact say that the said defendants did for the term of one year hen next following the date of the aforesaid writing obligatory enjoy the use & possession and occupancy of the aforesaid saw & grist mill with the premises and appurtenances thereunto appertaining towit at the county & circuit aforesaid. Yet the said defendants did not nor would pay unto the said plaintiffs guardians as aforesaid the aforesaid sum of two hundred and twenty dollars and twelve and a half cents (excepting fifty dollars which they payed according to the condition of the aforesaid writing obligatory) but to pay the same (excepting the aforesaid fifty dollars paid as aforesaid) they have hitherto neglected and refused and still neglect & refuse so to do and so have broken their covenant aforesaid although often requested so to perform the same towit at the county & circuit aforesaid to the damage of the said plaintiffs guardians as aforesaid of two hundred and twenty dollars 12½ cts dollars and therefore they bring their suit &c.
Canterbury p.q.
Pleges to prosecute / Jno Doe / Richd Roe

Thomas Lincoln (1778-1851) was born in Virginia and in May 1786 witnessed the murder of his father by Native Americans. His brother Mordecai killed a Native American who was going to capture or kill Thomas. Their widowed mother afterward moved the family to Kentucky. Thomas Lincoln served in the state militia at the age of 19 and in 1802, moved to Hardin County, Kentucky, where he purchased a farm. In June 1806, he married Nancy Hanks (1784-1818), with whom he had two children, including future president Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865). Thomas Lincoln bought successive farms in Kentucky before moving his family to Indiana in December 1816 to avoid slavery and Kentucky's convoluted land titles. Lincoln purchased land in Indiana and settled in the Little Pigeon Creek community. After his first wife died in October 1818, he married Sarah Bush Johnston, a widow from Kentucky, in December 1819. By 1827, he owned 100 acres of land in Indiana. In 1830, he moved his family to Illinois, settling in Coles County in eastern Illinois in 1831, where he remained for the rest of his life.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 8" x 9.875"
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