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ADS signed "Abraham Lincoln, Commissioner," one page, 8 x 11.25, no date but circa 1849. Handwritten page from a deposition by Thomas Lewis, taken as part of a lawsuit involving the sales of a butter-churning invention and penned entirely in Abraham Lincoln's hand. Lincoln writes, in full: "In answer to the Second interrogatory said witness says 'I was a resident of Springfield in the State of Illinois in the year 1848, and have been a resident of said Springfield constantly from the first day of August 1837 till the present time. My acquaintance has been tolerably extensive during the period above mentioned. I think most of that time I have personally known very voter in Springfield'—
In answer to the third interrogatory said witness says, 'Some five or six years ago, and not since, there was a man residing here, by the name of Osgood, whose Christian name I have forgotten. He was a printer by trade, and worked in the office of the State Register. He left here five or six years ago. I have never known any other man in Springfield by the name of Osgood'—
In answer to the fourth interrogatory said witness says, 'I never sold or transferred any interest in our Atmospheric Churn, to any person by the name of Osgood, and I never heard, and do not believe that either of my partners ever did. When I speak of my partners, I allude to the fact that Mr. Johnson and I had taken in one John B. Moffett as a partner in interest in said churn'—
In answer to the fifth interrogatory said witness says, 'I have never had any personal knowledge of George Gilbert, or any correspondence with him. We have had many letters from other persons, representing that a man by the name of George Gilbert, is claiming to be a purchaser, sometimes from us, and at others, though Osgood, from us, of some interest in said churn.'" Neatly signed at the conclusion in ink by Abraham Lincoln, and countersigned by Thomas Lewis. Mounted, triple-matted, and framed with a portrait and plaque to an overall size of 32.5 x 24. In fine condition.
This case is discussed in some detail in Lincoln the Lawyer by Brian R. Dirck (p. 89): "In 1849 Lincoln was hired by John Moffett, part of a three-man partnership to market and sell an ‘atmospheric churn,’ a device that created butter more quickly than conventional churns by injecting air directly into the cream. Moffett was not the churn’s designer; that honor belonged to his partner Willis Johnson, a creative and busy Springfield inventor who also came up with new ways of processing flax and hemp, pumping water, and mixing cement. Moffett and a third party, Thomas Lewis, did the sales work, selling churns in Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Lewis racked up over $50,000 worth of sales. St. Louis had been particularly fertile ground, where he displayed the churn in front of a saloon and on the sidewalk by his hotel.
Moffett’s understanding was that the partners’ arrangement called for selling the machine without him or Lewis earning any commission. He was therefore dismayed to learn that Lewis paid himself a $4,000 commission from the proceeds of his efforts. Moffett had Lincoln ask the court for an accounting of Lewis's earnings. For his part, Lewis argued that he acted not as a partner but rather as an agent for the partnership—a fine hair to split—and then demanded another $12,000 in compensation for his work. The court was not persuaded by the amount, but it did allow Lewis to keep $1,000, while paying Moffett $1,300. Lewis appealed the matter to the state supreme court, which ruled that he did not need to pay Moffett anything at all…
Willis Johnson did not get anything out of the lawsuit (he tried to bring his own case against Lewis, but failed). The churn itself was worthless. During the appeal, the chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court marveled at Lewis's ingenuity in earning so much money from peddling what was a dismal failure of a machine."
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