Description:

Lincoln Abraham

Abraham Lincoln signed and engrossed check issued from the "Springfield Marine & Fire Insurance Company". Signed "A Lincoln", dated "Sept 28, 1857" and made payable to "John Hutchinson" for "$11.00", or "Eleven". Check has some soiling and wear, including a tear that appears to be repaired with tissue backing. Tiny chip at top left corner.

The check is accompanied by a notarized manuscript statement issued by the Springfield Marine Bank certifying the authenticity of the Lincoln check. The statement measures 8" x 3", and although undated, has a blind embossed notary stamp and is signed by bank president "B.H. Ferguson". Both pieces framed together with an ivory linen mat alongside a handsome print of Lincoln. Framed in a gilt toned rubbed wood framed to a completed size of 13" x 20.5". Not examined outside of frame.

The check is made out to John Hutchinson, an early settler of Lawrence, Kansas and anti-slavery advocate. As president, Lincoln appointed Hutchinson the first Secretary of the Dakota Territory in 1861, and later as U.S. Consul to Livorno, Italy from 1865-1869. The notarized statement, although undated would be circa 1880's per our research below:

The Springfield Marine Bank, the oldest banking institution in Illinois, was chartered as the Springfield Marine and Fire Insurance Company by the Illinois General Assembly on January 28, 1851. The special thirty-year charter, granted by the legislature, enabled the insurance company to perform all the functions of a bank except that of issuing currency. These banking powers included receiving money on deposit and loaning it at the legal rate of interest; purchasing and holding such real estate (not to exceed $30,000 in value) as might be necessary for the transaction of its business; holding real estate and securities mortgaged for the payment of debts; and buying and selling bills of exchange.

In its early years, when cattle-raising was one of the state’s great industries, the Springfield Marine and Fire Insurance Company was known as the “cattle bank”. Although the bank ceased to do any insurance business after 1855, it retained its original name until 1884, when the name Springfield Marine Bank was adopted.

For the first twenty-five years of its existence, the Springfield Marine Bank occupied the old State Bank Building. It was in this building that Abraham Lincoln, then a young Springfield attorney, opened his account on March 1, 1853, making a deposit of $310. He continued as a customer until his death.

The bank’s presidents have included Antrim Campbell (1851-1854), Thomas Condell (1854-1868), Reuben F. Ruth (1868-1881), Benjamin H. Ferguson (1881-1903), John W. Bunn (1903-1920), Jacob Bunn (1920-1926), with others thereafter.

Account Books, 1851-1895 (Oversize Volumes 1-28), consist of general and individual ledgers, debit and credit cash books, insurance policy statement books, statement books on the financial condition of the Springfield Marine and Fire Insurance Company, and a signature identification register.

Abraham Lincoln’s accounts are recorded in the Individual Ledgers, 1851-1855, 1855-1857 and 1864-1868 (Volumes 6, 7, and 8); the Depositors’ Daily Balance Book, 1862-1873 (Volume 10); and in Debit Cash Book D and Credit Cash Book D, 1859-1861 (Volumes 14 and 18).

An extremely scarce Lincoln signed check with a fantastic historical trail. Presents extremely well!

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