THE REAL LINCOLN

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On March 1, 1847, when he had gone through the various steps and become a fully accredited practitioner by the action of the clerk of the Supreme Court in entering his name on the roll of attorneys in the State, Lincoln was still a resident of the village of New Salem. A month and half later he had removed to Springfield. Years ago Herndon gave me the papers, in Lincoln’s handwriting, containing the  history of the first suit or court proceeding in which Lincoln figured or with which he seems to have had any connection. As it was his first venture in that line and naturally throws more or less light on his evolution as a lawyer, it is noteworthy enough to warrant a brief account of its origin and termination. It was an action or, more strictly speaking, three actions growing out of one episode or transaction, and was brought by James P. Hawthorn through his attorneys, Walker & Hewitt, in the circuit court of Sangamon County, Illinois. Of the three causes one was what is known among lawyers as an action on assumpsit’s, or breach of contract, another for trespass vi et armis, and

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… the third in replevin. With the exception of the replevin suit, which was not brought till in the fall, the declaration or complaint in each case - which was the initial proceeding in a lawsuit of that day -- was filed July 1, 1836. This was before Lincoln had appeared before the two justices of the Supreme Court to secure his license to practice. John T. Stuart, looking forward to an election to Congress and who was soon to invite Lincoln to enter a partnership with him, had been retained by the defense; but, although the pleadings in one or two instances bear Stuart’s signature, they are almost without exception in Lincoln’s characteristic and legible handwriting. Stuart soon became absorbed in his race for Congress; at any rate, it was but a brief time until Lincoln assumed active charge of the defendant’s interests. Stephen T. Logan, destined also several years later to become a partner of Lincoln, was the judge, and William Butler, at whose home Lincoln was a boarder and so continued till his marriage to Mary Todd, was the clerk.

The suit in assumpsit’s was based on Wooldridge’s failure to furnish Hawthorn, the plaintiff, “two yoke of oxen to break up twenty acres of prairie sod-ground” ; also because of his refusal to allow Hawthorn to have access to a tract of ground on which the later had contracted with him to raise a crop of “corn or wheat at the option of the plaintiff”; for all of which he demanded a hundred dollars. The trespass case was of greater weight and importance. The declaration sets out in detail what happened when Hawthorn, despite the threats and protests of Wooldridge, undertook to reach the disputed cornfield. The situation became more or less dramatic. It was charged of Wool-

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..dridge, Lincoln’s client, that “He struck, beat, bruised and knocked him (Hawthorn) down; plucked, pulled and tore out large quantities of hair from his head; that with a stick and his fists  he struck plaintiff a great many violent blows and strokes on and about his face, head, breast, back shoulders, hips, legs, and divers other parts of his body; that he struck, shook, pulled, pushed and knocked plaintiff to the ground; violently hit, kicked, struck and beat him a great many other blows and strokes; and also then and there, with great violence, forced, pushed, thrust and gouged his fingers into plaintiff’s eyes; by means of which assault and consequent illness, injuries, loss of time and expense for medical attention said plaintiff demands damages in the sum of five hundred dollars and other proper relief.” The replevin suit demanded the return of “one block and white yoke of steers, one black cow, and calf and one prairie plow,” together with twenty dollars damages for the unlawful detention of the same. The exceedingly modest demand for money reparation in all these cases would seem to indicate that the modern damage suit, which has gradually attained such profitable proportions, had not yet com into vogue.

With three suits against his first client on  hand at one time we may well imagine that Lincoln, the young barrister, was in many respects a busy man. The record shows, as  his first step, a plea filed October 5, 1836, containing t he conventional denial of the alleged trespasses in support of which he puts himself “upon the country.” On the same day, with a view either to gain time or in some way embarrass the plaintiff, or both, he files an affidavit of his client reciting the fact that, as the plaintiff is a young man without family or property, and the court officers are in danger of losing their fees, he should therefore be required to furnish bond for costs. On the following day, much to the surprise of the defendant and his counsel, the required bond for costs was duly executed and filed. The skirmish for vantage-ground was now becoming brisk and animated. The next move on Lincoln’s part was to draw up and file an account which he undertakes to “exhibit and prove as an offset” to the demand on assumpsit’s containing sundry items illustrative of commercial values then current on the frontier. With the exception of one line added by Stuart the entire account is in Lincoln’s hand as follows:

James P. Hawthorn to David Wooldridge Dr.

What next followed before the final encounter we do not know, for the record is silent. The cases were now at issue, but for some reason, which even Mr. Herndon did not know, the term of court was suffered to adjourn without conclusive action. The next term found the combatants still apart and seemingly reluctant to measure arms. But meanwhile the peacemaker had not been idle, for March 17, 1837, the parties by their counsel came into court with a report of the settlement of all pending litigation and asked

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that the case be dismissed. The record shows that this was promptly done. In the assumpsit’s case judgment by agreement was entered against the plaintiff for costs; in the replevin  case against the defendant; and in the trespass case that item was equally divided between the two. The judge duly signed the record, the parties in all probability withdrew from the old court-house in Hoffman’s Row, and thus ended Abraham Lincoln’s first lawsuit.

 

Source: THE REAL LINCOLN, A PORTRAIT, by Jesse W. Weik
Copyright 1922
The Riverside Press
Cambridge Massachusetts
Printed in the U.S.A.