Abraham Lincoln Stock Investor Sues to Help the Company! Signed 2x, 126 Words, PSA Slabbed Mint 9
Abraham Lincoln
Springfield, IL, ca. December 1850
Abraham Lincoln Stock Investor Sues to Help the Company! Signed 2x, 126 Words, PSA Slabbed Mint 9
ADS
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Autograph Document Signed, Praecipe and Bond for Costs in case of Alton & Sangamon Railroad v. Klein, December 1850, Sangamon County, Illinois. 2 pp., 8.375" x 6.75"; mounted to 8.875" x 7.375". PSA Mint 9 Slabbed; Tipped to a larger sheet. It is important to note that the slightly lighter areas of blue paper at bottom are in reality not lighter and this is just caused by the slabbing process which creates air within the plastic holder, it is quite pristine!
This document from Lincoln's law practice includes a praecipe and a bond for costs, both written and signed by Lincoln. It comes from a cluster of four cases that Lincoln's client, the Alton & Sangamon Railroad Company, filed against stock subscribers who refused to pay their subscriptions after the company changed the route of the railroad.
In February 1847, the Illinois General Assembly authorized the Alton & Sangamon Railroad to build a line from Alton on the Mississippi River through Carlinville and New Berlin to Springfield. The legislation allowed the company to sell from $500,000 to $1 million worth of stock in the form of individual shares of $100 each. Springfield stock dealer Joseph Klein purchased five shares, and Abraham Lincoln purchased two shares. In January 1851, the legislature authorized a change in the route that bypassed New Berlin to shorten the route. Klein and three other subscribers, including James A. Barret, refused to make their installment payments, and the Alton and Sangamon Railroad hired Abraham Lincoln and his partner William H. Herndon to file separate suits against the delinquent stockholders. In this case, Lincoln not only initiated the case by instructing the clerk to issue a summons against Klein, but he also signed a bond for costs to ensure that the defendant and the officers of the court would not incur any costs if Lincoln's client - the Alton & Sangamon Railroad - lost the case.
In mid-March 1851, the railroad dismissed its cases against two of the defendants, who had "caved in" and paid their subscription installments, but continued the cases against Barret and Klein. In November 1851, Judge David Davis ruled against Barret and Klein in separate cases, awarding $175. Barret and Klein appealed their cases to the Illinois Supreme Court, which heard their appeal in February 1852. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the lower court and awarded additional costs for the appeal to the railroad. The opinion in the Barret and Klein cases established a precedent in Illinois law that individual stockholder interests were subordinate to corporate charters considered beneficial to the public good. Lincoln even later lost a case where he represented the stockholders, because of the precedent he helped to establish in the Barret and Klein cases.
The document is entirely in Lincoln's hand and contains 126 words written by him, including the first file note on the verso.
Complete Transcript
[Praecipe:]
In the Circuit Court of Sangamon County—
March term A.D. 1851.
The Alton and Sangamon }
Rail Road Company }
vs. } Trespass on the case on promises
Joseph Klein } Damage $250—00—
The Clerk of the Sangamon county circuit court will issue a summons in the above entitled cause.
Lincoln & Herndon p.q.
[Bond for Costs:]
I do hereby enter myself security for costs in the above entitled cause, and acknowledge myself bound to pay or cease to be paid all costs which may accrue in this action either to the opposite party or to any of the officers of this court in pursuance of the laws of this state.
Dated this Decr 30th 1850- A. Lincoln
[File Note on verso, written by Lincoln:]
Alton & Sangamon
Railroad Company
vs } Precipe
Joseph Klein—
[File Note on v
Estimate
Reserve
Time, Location
Auction House
Abraham Lincoln
Springfield, IL, ca. December 1850
Abraham Lincoln Stock Investor Sues to Help the Company! Signed 2x, 126 Words, PSA Slabbed Mint 9
ADS
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Autograph Document Signed, Praecipe and Bond for Costs in case of Alton & Sangamon Railroad v. Klein, December 1850, Sangamon County, Illinois. 2 pp., 8.375" x 6.75"; mounted to 8.875" x 7.375". PSA Mint 9 Slabbed; Tipped to a larger sheet. It is important to note that the slightly lighter areas of blue paper at bottom are in reality not lighter and this is just caused by the slabbing process which creates air within the plastic holder, it is quite pristine!
This document from Lincoln's law practice includes a praecipe and a bond for costs, both written and signed by Lincoln. It comes from a cluster of four cases that Lincoln's client, the Alton & Sangamon Railroad Company, filed against stock subscribers who refused to pay their subscriptions after the company changed the route of the railroad.
In February 1847, the Illinois General Assembly authorized the Alton & Sangamon Railroad to build a line from Alton on the Mississippi River through Carlinville and New Berlin to Springfield. The legislation allowed the company to sell from $500,000 to $1 million worth of stock in the form of individual shares of $100 each. Springfield stock dealer Joseph Klein purchased five shares, and Abraham Lincoln purchased two shares. In January 1851, the legislature authorized a change in the route that bypassed New Berlin to shorten the route. Klein and three other subscribers, including James A. Barret, refused to make their installment payments, and the Alton and Sangamon Railroad hired Abraham Lincoln and his partner William H. Herndon to file separate suits against the delinquent stockholders. In this case, Lincoln not only initiated the case by instructing the clerk to issue a summons against Klein, but he also signed a bond for costs to ensure that the defendant and the officers of the court would not incur any costs if Lincoln's client - the Alton & Sangamon Railroad - lost the case.
In mid-March 1851, the railroad dismissed its cases against two of the defendants, who had "caved in" and paid their subscription installments, but continued the cases against Barret and Klein. In November 1851, Judge David Davis ruled against Barret and Klein in separate cases, awarding $175. Barret and Klein appealed their cases to the Illinois Supreme Court, which heard their appeal in February 1852. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the lower court and awarded additional costs for the appeal to the railroad. The opinion in the Barret and Klein cases established a precedent in Illinois law that individual stockholder interests were subordinate to corporate charters considered beneficial to the public good. Lincoln even later lost a case where he represented the stockholders, because of the precedent he helped to establish in the Barret and Klein cases.
The document is entirely in Lincoln's hand and contains 126 words written by him, including the first file note on the verso.
Complete Transcript
[Praecipe:]
In the Circuit Court of Sangamon County—
March term A.D. 1851.
The Alton and Sangamon }
Rail Road Company }
vs. } Trespass on the case on promises
Joseph Klein } Damage $250—00—
The Clerk of the Sangamon county circuit court will issue a summons in the above entitled cause.
Lincoln & Herndon p.q.
[Bond for Costs:]
I do hereby enter myself security for costs in the above entitled cause, and acknowledge myself bound to pay or cease to be paid all costs which may accrue in this action either to the opposite party or to any of the officers of this court in pursuance of the laws of this state.
Dated this Decr 30th 1850- A. Lincoln
[File Note on verso, written by Lincoln:]
Alton & Sangamon
Railroad Company
vs } Precipe
Joseph Klein—
[File Note on v
Estimate
Reserve
Time, Location
Auction House
