Abraham Lincoln to Anson L. Brewer regarding the trial of James Kelly and Jesse D. Blackledge - American History 1493-1945 - Adam Matthew Digital

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Field name	Value
Collection Reference Number	GLC00606
From Archive Folder	Documents Relating to 1855
Title	Abraham Lincoln to Anson L. Brewer regarding the trial of James Kelly and Jesse D. Blackledge
Date	27 July 1855
Author	Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865)
Recipient	Brewer, Anson L.
Document Type	Correspondence; Legal document
Content Description	Writes to fellow attorney Brewer about the status of James Kelly v. Jesse D. Blackledge in the Logan County Circuit Court. Describes how the judge delayed the suit by taking the case under advisement. He questions the trial, "if it could be called a trial," and is astounded by the judge's eventual ruling against him. At the time this letter was written Lincoln and his partner Herdon were appealing the ruling. They later won. Basler, Roy P. The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1953), Vol. II 1848 - 1858 p. 315-316
Subjects	Law President Judiciary
People	Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865) Brewer, Anson L. (fl. 1855) Kelly, James (fl. 1855) Blackledge, Jesse D. (fl.1855)
Place written	Springfield, Illinois
Theme	The Presidency; Law
Sub-collection	The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1493-1859
Additional Information	Notes: Basler 2: 315-316, with some errors, reprinted from Commercial Law Journal 54 (2), Feb. 1949. Brewer was an attorney from new Lisbon, Ohio who represented a building contractor. The case was James Kelly v. Estate of Jesse D. Blackledge. An appeal of the case favored Lincoln's client in November 1856. Since no appeal was filed by Blackledge's estate, the suit was probably settled, although no record confirms it.
Copyright	The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Module	Settlement, Commerce, Revolution and Reform: 1493-1859
Transcript	Show/hide Springfield, Ills. July 27. 1855 A. L. Brewer, Esq. Dear Sir: Yours of the 21st is received. When I wrote you in March, I explained to you the causes of the delay so far. When I went to that county in April, I did give the case my special attention. I commenced a suit in the Probate court; and as the executor would waive nothing, the time for trial extended beyond the term of the circuit court, and of course [struck: have] came on when I had to be elsewhere. However, my partner went up especially to attend to it, and when the trial (if it could be called a trial) was over, the Judge declined deciding then, but took the case under advisement. There was really nothing to decide, only the grave question whether the record, with the certificates, (which last, you remember we got ourselves) proves the debt. And yet the Judge finally decided that against us!!! When the decision was made, we were notified by letter, and we sent up an appeal bond, to take the case to the Circuit court, which sits again in September. Thus stands the case now. Yours &c. A. Lincoln

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