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: : :- :: litis mmfi mmmmmmmi :: THE PERSONAL FINANCES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN HARRY E. PRAT1 4d 421 -vT [#*<*** •*; u.<T, - LINCOLN ROOM UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY MEMORIAL the Class of 1901 founded by HARLAN HOYT HORNER and HENRIETTA CALHOUN HORNER THE PERSONAL FINANCES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign http://www.archive.org/details/personalfinancesOOprat Lincoln on June 3, i860. Photo by Alexander Hesler. Courtesy of the Illinois State Historical Library. THE PERSONAL FINANCES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN BY HARRY E. PRATT Springfield, Illinois The Abraham Lincoln Association 1943 COPYRIGHT, 1943, BY THE ABRAHAM LINCOLN ASSOCIATION All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form. PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA THE LAKESIDE PRESS, R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY CHICAGO, ILLINOIS To the Memory of Logan Hay Foreword Linkinf oh yes, I knoxued him. Knowed his folks too. They were torn-down poor. He wasn't much up to the War; that was what made him. Tell ye what, they wouldn't let on so much 'bout him now, 'f he hadn't been killed. That helped him, powerful. People kind o' sympathized with him, ye know. It made him pop'lar. He saved suthin' while he was President, but I don't reckon he left much propity. Oh yes, I knowed Linkin. Wm. O. Stoddard, "Lincoln's Vigil." Nearly twenty years ago the Abraham Lincoln Association began a systematic investigation of all sources which seemed to promise new light on the life of Lincoln. In the course of that investigation items contradicting the general impression of Lincoln's thriftlessness began to turn up—a mortgage in his favor here, a suit for fees there, a bank account showing substantial balances. Impressed by the implica- tions of these discoveries, Mr. Logan Hay, the Association's President, suggested that the subject of Lincoln's finances be thoroughly examined. This book is the result of that suggestion and the research which fol- lowed it. The reader who seeks in these pages the answer to every possi- ble question will be disappointed, but at least it can be said that much of the material presented here has not been available before. The author hopes that the study will contribute to a better understanding of a phase of Lincoln's life which until now has been lost in legend, and that that better understanding will further illuminate a character which is not yet fully revealed. Lincoln did not begin life in abject poverty, and his childhood was spent in a home whose head was in better-than-average financial circum- stances. The years of his boyhood were lean ones, and his start in life was marked by financial failures which burdened him with a debt of approx- imately $1,100. Soon, however, he began to earn money—by surveying, by odd jobs, and by service in the Illinois legislature—and the evidence vii viii Foreword indicates that the debt was retired long before his election to Congress, which is generally supposed to have marked his escape from the finan- cial morass. As a young lawyer, Lincoln's fees were small, but even so, they prob- ably added up to an annual income of from $1,500 to $2,000 during the first dozen years of his practice. By 1849 ne nac^ saved enough money so that he was able to lend it at interest by way of investment. During the fifties his practice became large and relatively lucrative, and his income increased—to $3,000 a year on the average, and at least once to $5,000. By the time of his election to the Presidency, he had more than $9,000 invested in interest bearing notes and mortgages, while his real estate, principally his home, was worth $5,000 at a conservative valuation. Instead of borrowing money for his inaugural journey, as many fondly believe, he simply withdrew $400 from his bank account, leaving a balance of $600. As President, Lincoln's estate grew from $15,000 in 1861 to $90,000 at the time of his death, mainly from savings from his annual salary of $25,000. Through the expert handling of the administrator, David Davis, $21,000 was added to this amount before 1867, when it was dis- tributed to the three heirs, Mrs. Lincoln, Robert Todd Lincoln, and Thomas Lincoln. A net estate of $1 1 1,000 is not a small one even by present standards; in 1867, as real wealth, it was several times larger. Certainly it disproves the general belief that Lincoln was indifferent to money and lax in his care of it. On the contrary, as the following pages show in detail, he perceived that one could accumulate property with- out making it a fetish, and carefully and wisely sought to provide secur- ity for himself and his family. Acknowledgments In writing this book I have incurred many obligations. Five people read the entire manuscript and offered criticisms and suggestions which improved it throughout: Miss Mary Humphrey, then Acting President of the Abraham Lincoln Association, Miss Margaret Flint, Reference Librarian of the Illinois State Historical Library, Ernest E. East, author of Abraham Lincoln Sees Peoria, Benjamin P. Thomas, Ex- ecutive Secretary of the Association, 1932-1936, and author of Lincoln's New Salem, and Paul M. Angle, Librarian of the Illinois State Histori- cal Library, and author of "Here I Have Lived," and other books listed in the bibliography. Mr. Angle gave time and keen, helpful criticism in the several revisions of the manuscript. Mr. Logan Hay, President of the Abraham Lincoln Association from 1920 until his death, June 2, 1942, read four chapters and suggested material for others. Mr. F. Lauriston Bullard, Boston, Massachusetts, and James Monaghan, of the Illinois State Historical Library suggested improvements in several chapters. Mr. William H. Townsend, Lexington, Kentucky, gave access to material on Robert Smith Todd's financial gifts to his daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Lincoln. Examination of the records of the Auditor of Public Accounts for data on Lincoln's legislative salary was made possible by James Hardie, Chief Clerk. Other legislative records were examined in the Archives Department of the Illinois State Library, and help was received from Miss Margaret Norton, State Archivist, and S. Ambrose Wetherbee, Document Archivist. The chart showing Lincoln's disposition of his presidential salary warrants was prepared by Miss Betty Jane Gehlman. Mrs. Edna Orendorff Macpherson, daughter of General Alfred Orendorff, law partner of William H. Herndon, graciously allowed the author to examine and quote from the Stuart Sc Lincoln fee book. ix x Acknowledgments A photostat of President Lincoln's account at Riggs & Co., Washing- ton bankers, was presented to the Abraham Lincoln Association by the late Mrs. Robert Todd Lincoln. Mr. George W. Bunn, Jr., President of the Springfield Marine Bank, made available Lincoln's account at the Springfield Marine and Fire Insurance Co. from 1853 to 1865. This account is given in the Appendix. Mr. David Davis, Bloomington, Illinois, great-grandson of Justice David Davis, the administrator of Lincoln's estate, allowed photostats to be made of his great-grandfather's private records and correspondence with Mrs. Lincoln and Robert Todd Lincoln dealing with the adminis- tration of the President's estate and the guardianship of Thomas Lincoln. To all these I express my gratitude. Harry E. Pratt Contents Foreword .... vn Acknowledgments ix I. Financial Start in Life 3 II. Income From the Law 25 III. Land Holdings 58 IV. The Money Lender 7i V. Family Expenses 83 VI. The Cost of Politics 99 VII. Financial Views and Business Methods VIII. Savings During the Presidency 124 IX. Administration of the Estate Appendix Salary in the Illinois Legislature .... 143 Purchases from John Williams & Co., 1851-1860 145 Purchases from Corneau & Diller, 1855-1860 . 151 Purchases from CM. & S. Smith, 1859 154 Bank Account—Springfield Marine and Fire Insurance Co 162 Drafts Purchased from Springfield Marine and Fire Insurance Co. ..... !79 Purchase of Books for Executive Mansion . 180 Disposition of President Lincoln's Salary Warrants 182 The Estate of Thomas Lincoln .... 184 Mrs. Lincoln's Finances, 1865-1882 . 184 Bibliography ........ 187 Index ......... l 9* XI 1 Illustrations Lincoln in i860 ....... Frontispiece Lincoln's last salary warrant . 21 Bill of Stuart & Lincoln . 28 Page from Lincoln & Herndon fee book ..... 34 David Davis .......... 40 Promissory note for a fee ........ 47 Advertisement of Lincoln's lecture ...... 55 Contract for purchase of the Lincoln Home . .64 Receipt for payment on the Lincoln Home .... 65 Fire insurance policy on Lincoln Home . 70 Washington Monument, Treasury Colonnade, and State Department ...... 74 Memorandum of papers left with Robert Irwin 80-1 Riggs & Co., bankers ...... 86 Advertisement of John Williams & Co. 90 Advertisement of CM. & S. Smith 9i Lincoln's check for pew rent .... 94 Salmon P. Chase ...... 102 Receipt for 1 860 campaign contribution . 1 1 Sangamon County Court House and Springfield Marine and Fire Insurance Company .... 118 First National Bank ...... 118 Robert Irwin . 122 Lincoln's memorandum of his savings 128 Robert T. Lincoln's telegram to David Davis . *33 Tad Lincoln's letter to "Dear Gumpert" . 138 Xlll THE PERSONAL FINANCES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN I Lincoln's Financial Start in Life / was raised to farm work, which I continued till I was twenty-two. Abraham Lincoln On numerous occasions, after he had attained prominence, Lincoln referred to the limited advantages of his youth. But he never apologized for them, and never indicated that they had seriously handi- capped him. The fact of the matter is that he had little reason to make excuses for his early surroundings, and no occasion for any feeling of inferiority because of them.

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