Special Collections Department
Autograph Abraham
Lincoln Documents
from the
Lincoln Collection
at the
University of Delaware
Manuscript Collection Number: 465 VAULT
Extent: 18 items (13 of which are autograph
Lincoln documents)
Content: Letters, documents, photographs
Access: The collection is open for research.
Processed: April 2003, by
Carrie L. Foley
Special Collections, University of Delaware Library
Newark, Delaware 19717-5267
(302) 831-2229
Table of Contents
Introductory Note
The following list of material includes all of the documents in the University of Delaware’s Lincoln Collection that contain Abraham Lincoln’s original signature or other autograph writing. These documents, housed in the Special Collections Department of Morris Library, are part of a much larger collection of Lincolniana that came to the University from the Lincoln Club of Delaware in 1972. The collection includes over two thousand books and pamphlets, photographs, artwork, sculpture, artifacts, historic documents, and miscellaneous material pertaining to the life and career of Abraham Lincoln. There are thirteen documents in this collection signed by Lincoln or written in his hand, as well as several related letters and photographs. Included are a signed broadside edition of the Emancipation Proclamation (Item #8), a signed copy of the resolution proposing the Thirteenth Amendment (Item #11), and a small collection of documents related to Lincoln’s contact with Civil War veteran and Delaware native Ashland B. Swiggett (Item #4).
The items are listed below in chronological order, according to the date of the Lincoln document. The material, most of which is framed, is contained in six boxes; the box number for each item is listed at the end of the item’s description. Where practical, a full transcription accompanies the item description.
Related Sources:
: The Lincoln Collection - The University of Delaware and the Lincoln Club of DelawareContents List
Item # Description
1. Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865).
Autograph manuscript signed, 1p., Clinton, Ill., 15
October 1855. Note on David Miller.
Transcription: “It is thought the David Miller, mentioned in
this letter, now lives in Sangamon County, Illinois;
and is connected by marriage with the family of the
late Francis Taylor – Clinton, Oct. 15, 1855 A.
Lincoln”
Verso: David Pearce.
Autograph letter signed, 1p., Springfield, Ill., 24 May
1855. To Abraham Lincoln regarding the firm Jackson &
Miller.
Location: Box 2
2. Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865).
Document signed, 1p., Washington, D.C., 27 February
1863. Appointment of Thomas W. Sweney to serve as
Assessor of Internal Revenue for the Second Collection
District of Pennsylvania. Co-signed by Secretary of
the Treasury Salmon P. Chase.
Verso: William J. [Dellehn].
Autograph document signed, 1p., Philadelphia, Pa., 5
March 1863. Notarized oath of Thomas W. Sweney to the
office of Assessor of Internal Revenue for the Second
Collection District of Pennsylvania.
Location: Box 6
3. Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865).
Document signed, 1p., Washington, D.C., 4 March 1863.
Appointment of Thomas J. Emerson to serve as Collector
of Internal Revenue for the First Collection District
of Wisconsin. Co-signed by Secretary of the Treasury
Salmon P. Chase.
Location: Box 6
4. Six items related to Ashland B. Swiggett of Georgetown,
Delaware.
Ashland B. Swiggett (b.[ca. 1845]) served in the Union Army
during the Civil War as a private in the First Delaware
Infantry. He suffered permanent disabilities after
sustaining six wounds at the battle of Antietam. In the
spring of 1863, the veteran appealed to Delaware politicians
William Cannon and John W. Houston to help him obtain a
government job. The two men wrote letters on his behalf,
which Swiggett personally presented to President Lincoln.
Lincoln provided him with a letter of introduction,
recommending that he receive a post as a messenger
(“messengership”) at a federal bureau or department. The
letter proved to be useful, as Swiggett secured a position
at the Pension Office.
4a. Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865).
Autograph letter signed, 1p., 20 April 1863. To
unknown recipient recommending the appointment of
Ashland B. Swiggett to a messengership.
4b. William Cannon (1809-1865), Governor of Delaware, 1863-
1865.
Autograph letter signed, 1p., Bridgeville, Del.,
10 April 1863. To Abraham Lincoln, requesting a
messengership for Ashland B. Swiggett.
4c. John W. Houston (1814-1896), United States
Representative from Delaware, 1845-1851.
Autograph letter signed, 2pp., 4to., Georgetown,
Del., 14 April 1863. To Abraham Lincoln,
requesting a messengership for Ashland B.
Swiggett.
4d. Ashland B. Swiggett (b. [ca. 1845]).
Autograph letter signed, 1p., Chicago, 13 December
[1887?]. To an unknown recipient describing two
photographs.
Note: One of the pictures, taken in February of
1863, is included in this collection and is
described below. Swiggett also describes a
picture taken of him and his brother, Francis C.
Swiggett, in 1864, which is not part of this
collection.
4e. Ashland B. Swiggett (b. [ca. 1845]).
Cartes-de-visite, 2½” x 4”. Published by William
H. Curry, Wilmington, Del., February 1864.
Autograph note on verso reads, “[I] was just 17
[years] 6 mos old when this was taken, Received
Feb 1863.”
4f. Ashland B. Swiggett (b. [ca. 1845]).
Signed cartes-de-visite, 2½” x 4¼”. Published by
Henry Ulke & Bro., Washington D.C., 1870.
Signature on recto reads, “Yours, as long as you
like. A.B. Swiggett.”
Location: All six items are in a folder in Box 1
5. Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865).
Document signed, 1p., Washington, D.C., 14 January
1864. Presidential warrant to pardon J. B. Evans.
Location: Box 2
6. Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865).
Document signed, 1p., Washington, D.C., 25 April 1864.
Presidential warrant approving a supplementary treaty
with the Chippewa Indians.
Location: Box 2
7. Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865).
Autograph document signed, 1p., 28 May 1864. Pass
authorizing the release of an unknown boy.
Transcription: “Let this boy be discharged, on refunding any
bounty received. A. Lincoln May 28, 1864.”
Location: Box 1
8. Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865).
Document signed, 1p., Philadelphia, printed by
Frederick Leypoldt, [ca. 6 June 1864]. A Proclamation,
known as the “Emancipation Proclamation.” Co-signed by
Secretary of State William H. Seward and attested to by
Lincoln’s private secretary, John G. Nicolay.
Note: This signed broadside edition of the
Emancipation Proclamation is one of forty-eight copies
originally printed to be sold as fundraisers at the
Great Central Sanitary Fair held in Philadelphia, June
7-29, 1864. Only about twenty are known to exist
today.
Location: Box 5
9. Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865).
Autograph document signed, 1p., 13 September 1864.
Pass for John Ehler to travel to City Point, Virginia.
Postmark on verso.
Transcription: “Let this boy, John Ehler, have
transportation, food, and whatever is necessary, to get
him to his Uncle Dr. Ehler, at Cavalry Corps Hospital
at City Point, Va. Sep. 13, 1864. A. Lincoln”
Location: Box 1
10. Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865).
Document signed, 1p., Washington, D.C., 30 September
1864. Appointment of Friedrich Kuhne to serve as Consul
of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, at New
York. Co-signed by Secretary of State William H.
Seward.
Location: Box 3
11. Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865).
Document signed, 1p., [Washington, D.C.], 1 February
1865. “A Resolution,” submitting the Thirteenth
Amendment to the States. Co-signed by Vice-President
Hannibal Hamlin and Speaker of the House Schuyler
Colfax and attested to by John W. Forney, Secretary of
the Senate, and Edward McPherson, Clerk of the House.
Note: This is one of four known signed copies of this
resolution. It is a partly-printed document, completed
in manuscript. The Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing
slavery, was officially adopted on December 6, 1865.
Location: Box 4
12. Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865).
Autograph document signed, 1p., 15 February 1865. Pass
authorizing the release of an unknown man. The pass is
written on a piece of paper addressed to Lincoln.
Transcription: “Let this man be discharged. A. Lincoln
Feb. 15, 1865.”
“Hon. A. Lincoln President U. States”
Location: Box 1
13. Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865).
Autograph document signed, 1p., 7 March 1865. Pass
authorizing the release of an unknown number of men
under the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction.
Transcription: “Let these men be released on taking the
amnesty oath of December 8, 1863. A. Lincoln March 7, 1865.”
Location: Box 1
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