LOT #43021 |
Current Bid: $1,550
Abraham Lincoln Autograph Declaration, Affidavit and Litigation Notes Signed...
Click the image to load the highest resolution version.
Description
Abraham Lincoln Sues the Illinois Central Railroad: His $5,000 Fee Complaint and Trial Strategy in the Most Famous Case of His Legal Career
Abraham Lincoln Autograph Declaration, Affidavit and Litigation
Notes Signed ("Lincoln, per se," "Abraham
Lincoln," and "A. Lincoln"). Three autograph documents
comprising: a two-and-a-half-page bifolium legal declaration, with
integral fold at top edge; one page of litigation notes entitled
"Proof"; and a one-page affidavit letter. Each 12 3/8 x 7
3/4 inches; dated January-April, 1857. Signed by Lincoln seven
times throughout, including four signatures appearing within the
body text. Together, these documents offer a rare firsthand view of
Lincoln's effort to secure payment after his celebrated victories
on behalf of the Illinois Central Railroad before the Illinois
Supreme Court.Lincoln's representation of the Illinois Central Railroad in the McLean County tax litigation stands among the most significant, lucrative, and frequently discussed cases of his legal career. To encourage construction of a trans-state railway, the Illinois legislature's 1851 charter exempted the company from ordinary county and state property taxes, instead requiring it to pay a percentage of its gross earnings directly to the state. McLean County nevertheless attempted to levy a $428.57 property tax on 118 acres of railroad-owned land. The railroad sued George Parke, the McLean County tax collector, to prevent collection, retaining Lincoln as its lead counsel. Lincoln successfully argued that the state legislature had constitutional authority to exempt the railroad from local taxation in exchange for the gross-receipts arrangement, and that the charter operated as a binding corporate contract. The decision protected the railroad's financial structure and established an important precedent.
Following that victory, Lincoln submitted a bill for his services. The company objected, claiming that his original $2,000 fee was excessive, and refused to pay. In January 1857, Lincoln brought suit in McLean County for $5,000-more than twice his initial charge, and an extraordinary attorney's fee by mid-nineteenth-century standards. The first document in this group is Lincoln's "Declaration," the equivalent of a modern legal complaint, setting forth his claim against the Illinois Central Railroad Company. He writes, in full:
"State of Illinois / McLean County ss. Abraham Lincoln, plaintiff, complains of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, defendants, being in custody &c. of a plea of trespass on the case, on promises:
For that whereas heretofore, towit, on the first day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty seven, at the county aforesaid, in consideration that the said plaintiff, at the special interest and request of the said defendants, had before that time, done, performed, bestowed, and given his work and labor, care, diligence, attendance and skill, as an attorney and solicitor of and for the said defendants, and upon their retainer, in and about the prosecuting, defending, and soliciting of divers causes, suits, and business for the said defendants, they, the said defendants, undertook, and then and there faithfully promised the said plaintiff to pay him so much money as he therefor reasonably deserved to have of the said defendants, when they, the said defendants should be thereunto afterwards requested. And the said plaintiff avers, that he therefore reasonably deserved to have, of the said defendants, the sum of five thousand dollars, to wit, at the county aforesaid, whereof the said defendants, afterwards, to wit, on the day and year aforesaid, had notice.
Yet the said defendants (although often requested so to do) have not as yet paid the said sum of money, or any part thereof; but so to do have hitherto wholly neglected and refused, and still do neglect and refuse. To the damage of the said plaintiff of Six thousand dollars; and therefore he brings his suit &c.
Lincoln, per se
(Copy of account sued on) The Illinois Central Railroad Company To A. Lincoln Dr. To professional services in the case of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, against the County of McLean, twice argued in the Supreme Court of the State of Illinois, and finally decided at the December Term 1855. $5000.00
Abraham Lincoln v The Illinois Central Railroad Company Trespass on the case on promises. Damage $6000.00.
The Clerk of the McLean County circuit court will please issue a summons in the above entitled cases.
Lincoln per se."
Accompanying the complaint is a remarkable survival: Lincoln's own outline of the argument he would later make in court, captioned "Proof" in the top margin, detailing his defense of the $5,000 fee. As stated above, $5,000 was more than most lawyers could reasonably expect to be paid for a single case in the 1850s. Rufus Choate, among the most celebrated American lawyers of the mid-nineteenth century, reportedly never received more than $2,500 in a single case; and when Lincoln presented his bill, representatives of the railroad are said to have objected that not even Daniel Webster would have demanded such a sum. Lincoln's notes show the ambition and the legal acuity of a lawyer who understood the magnitude of what he had achieved. He did not treat the fee as compensation for time alone. Instead, he identified the professional elements that justified value: labor, difficulty, risk, result, and the broader pecuniary importance of the principle secured for the client. He wrote: "Are, or not the amount of labor, the doubtfulness and difficulty of the question, the degree of success in the result; and the amount of pecuniary interest involved, not merely in the particular case, but covered by the principle decided, and thereby secured to the client, all proper elements, by the custom of the profession to consider in determining what is a reasonable fee on a given case. That $5000 is not an unreasonable fee in this case."
Also present is an autograph copy of an affidavit related to the case, listing a number of individuals who could provide depositions in Lincoln's favor. These men were some of Lincoln's closest legal and political colleagues, and his purpose was to ask them to aver that the proposed $5,000 fee was a reasonable one. Those named were Norman B. Judd, Isaac N. Arnold, and Grant Goodrich of Chicago; Archibald Williams and Orville Browning of Quincy; Norman K. Purple of Peoria; and Stephen T. Logan of Springfield, Illinois. Although Lincoln prepared his case for the spring 1857 term of the McLean County Circuit Court, the murder trial of People v. Wyant, in which he assisted as a prosecutor, consumed the term. His suit against the Illinois Central Railroad was ultimately heard at a special term of the McLean County Circuit Court in June 1857. A jury awarded him the full $5,000, later reduced to $4,800 to account for a retainer Lincoln had previously received from the railroad. The company paid him that amount in August 1857.
As a group, the declaration, affidavit, and litigation notes provide an exceptionally complete documentary record of a defining episode in Lincoln's antebellum career. They preserve his legal language, his strategic reasoning, and his personal insistence that his work be measured not only by hours or appearances, but by consequence. In this respect, the documents offer a fascinating and intimate look at an underrepresented period of Lincoln's public life.
Condition: All pages in overall similar and good condition with legible script and evidence of light, standard handling. For the bifolium, one light stain surrounding "A" of April, and an ink blot at bottom of page, likely done in the writing process, as well as minor ink smudges. Light soiling along the top edge and fold lines. The fold lines with minor splits at the edges. The verso with light pencil inscription "Lincoln vs. Central RR" and light soiling. The Affidavit and legal notes in similar condition, with negligible staining, soiling, and splits at fold lines.
References: Brown, Charles Leroy. "Abraham Lincoln and the Illinois Central Railroad, 1857-1860," Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (1908-1984), Vol. 36, NO. 2, pp. 121-163.
Literature:
Basler, Roy P., ed. The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Vol. 2, 1848-1858. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1953, p. 392;
Declaration in Abraham Lincoln v. Illinois Central Railroad. [1857-03-30]. /documents/D200946. The Papers of Abraham Lincoln Digital Library.
Exhibition:
R. R. Donnelley Gallery, The Newberry Library, Chicago, Illinois, Honest Abe of the West, October 10, 2009-February 15, 2010;
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., The Americans: The Democratic Experience, November 14, 1975 - May 30, 1976.
Provenance:
Lincoln & Herndon Law Office (w. 1844-1861);
Herndon & Zane Law Office (w. 1861-c. 1868);
Herndon & Orendorff Law Office (w. c. 1867-c. 1877);
Alfred Orendorff (1845-1909);
Lydia Edna Orendorff Macpherson (1885-1977);
John F. Macpherson (1916-1999) and Julia Orendorff Macpherson Webster (1913-1995), co-owners after 1977;
Present owners, living descendants of Alfred Orendorff.
Estimate: $50,000-$100,000.
No minimum bid.
Auction Info
2026 July 30 The Alfred Orendorff Archive: Treasures from the Law Offices of Abraham Lincoln Manuscripts Signature® Auction #6342 (go to Auction Home page)
Proxy Bidding Ends
July
30th
Thursday
10:50 am CT
Auction Dates
July
30th
Thursday
Proxy Bidding Time Remaining
24 Days
41m 40s
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 8
Lot Tracking Activity: 24
Page Views: 232
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
25% of the successful bid (minimum $49) per lot.
This lot is in: 1 -
Signature® Floor Session (Live Floor, Live Phone, Mail, Fax, Internet, and Heritage Live):
(Lots 43001-43030) - 11:00 AM Central Time, Thursday, July 30, 2026.
[Proxy bidding ends ten minutes prior to the session start time. Live Proxy bidding on Heritage Live now starts within 2 hours of when the auction opens for proxy bidding and continues through the live session.]
Exhibition Viewing Times, Title Page, Floor Session and License Information
Additional Location Info:
Heritage Auctions - Dallas
2801 W. Airport Freeway
Dallas, TX 75261
Shipping, Taxes, Terms and Bidding
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms
Important information concerning Sales Tax and Resale Certificates. Learn More
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms