The Fathers and Saviors of Our Country: A Presidential Sale

One page, folio (311 x 203 mm), separations along two of three folds, some staining. Accompanied by a partially printed check in the amount of $156.60 with minor marginal notations in Lincoln's hand and signed by Edward Dickinson Baker ("E.D. Baker"); docketed on verso by Lincoln.

LINCOLN ARGUES A CASE FOR HIS CLOSE FRIEND AND THE NAMESAKE OF HIS SECOND SON.

In full: "Zachery McComas, plaintiff complains of Edward D. Baker, defendant, in custody &c. of a plea in assumpsit; For that whereas the said defendant, heretofore towit on the 26th day of June A.D. 1841, at the county aforesaid, made his certain promissory note in writing (signing his name thereto "E.D.Baker.") bearing date the day and year aforesaid; and thereby then & there promised to pay, one day after the date thereof to the plaintiff (by the description of "Z. McComas") the sum of one hundred and fifty six dollars and fifty cents, for value received with interest at the rate of twelve per cent per annum from date until paid and then and there delivered said note to the said plaintiff -

"By means whereof and by force of the statute in such case made and provided the said defendant then and there became liable to pay to the said plaintiff the said sum of money in the said note specified according to the tenor and effect of said note; and being so liable he the said defendant, in consideration thereof, afterward, towit on the day and year & at the place aforesaid, undertook and then & there faithfuly promised the said plaintiff to pay him the said sum of money in the said note specified according to the tenor and effect thereof -

"Yet the said defendant (although often requested so to do) has not as yet paid to the said plaintiff the said sum of money in the said note specified or any part thereof; but so to do has hitherto wholly neglected & refused, and still does neglect and refuse. To the damage of the plaintiff of two hundred dollars and therefore he sues."

Edward Dickinson Baker (1811-1861) was an American lawyer and politician who first served as a congressman from Illinois and then as a senator from Oregon. Shortly after meeting Abraham Lincoln in 1835, he became involved in local politics, even defeating his friend in 1844 for nomination to the 7th U.S. congressional seat. The two remained close friends, often seen playing a version of handball together, then known as "Fives." Despite Baker's win in the 1844 election, he served only a few months because of a dispute over his eligibility, as his position as a military officer appeared to conflict with Article I, Section 6 of the Constitution, which prohibits an "officer of the United States" from serving in Congress. He was honorably mustered out of the United States Army in 1847. In 1860, he was elected to the Senate from Oregon. Following Lincoln's call for volunteers to defend Washington after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, Baker raised a regiment from New York and Pennsylvania, declining a commission as brigadier general to serve under his previous rank as colonel.

So close was the friendship between Lincoln and Baker that upon the birth of Lincoln's second son on 10 March 1846, Lincoln chose to name him after Baker rather than his father, Thomas. Lincoln and Baker met for the last time on 20 October 1861 when Baker visited his old friend at the White House. The two sat outside together on the northeast lawn for some time while Willie Lincoln played in the leaves nearby. As Baker prepared to leave, he picked Willie up, kissed him on the forehead, then shook Lincoln's hand. Just before departing, Mary Lincoln handed him a bouquet of flowers, prompting Baker to remark, "Very beautiful. These flowers and my memory will wither together."

He was killed at the Battle of Ball's Bluff the next day, and remains the only sitting U.S. Senator in history to die during a military conflict. A soldier serving under Baker would later say that his last words before the battle were, "The officer who dies with his men will never be harshly judged."

PROVENANCE:
The Roy P. Crocker Document Collection of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, Sotheby's New York, 28 November 1979, lot 226 (part of group)