Lincoln, Abraham | Autograph endorsement concerning the appointment of a paymaster, 1862

Lincoln, Abraham

Autograph endorsement signed ("A. Lincoln") as sixteenth President, [Washington], 22 April 1862, on the verso of the integral blank of a letter to Colonel Larned, Paymaster General, from John McCalla, 2 pages (244 x 197 mm), Washington, 21 April 1862; splits and complete separations at horizontal folds, panel with endorsement separated from the letter leaf, some soiling; letter leaf hinged to a larger sheet.

McCalla's letter seemingly continues an earlier appeal he had made to Paymaster General Larned seeking the appointment of Colonel Ezra Webb to one of three paymaster positions. The letter made its way to Lincoln, and the president endorsed the verso of the integral blank: "If Fayette Brown of Ohio, was a paymaster of volunteers, & has resigned, let Col. Ezra Webb, of Cincinnati be appointed to fill the vacancy. …" A secretarial docket below Lincoln's endorsement records that Webb was nominated for the position on 14 June 1862. Ezra Webb's appointment as Additional Paymaster, dated 2 July 1862, was sold at Profiles in History, 15 November 2012, lot 136.