Abraham Lincoln Autograph Endorsement Signed as President. One page, 3.25" x 8", n.p. [Washington, D.C.], December 8, 1864. ...

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Abraham Lincoln Autograph Endorsement Signed as President. One page, 3.25" x 8", n.p. [Washington, D.C.], December 8, 1864. Upon the expulsion of Trusten Polk from the United States Senate in 1862, John Brooks Henderson was appointed to fill the vacancy for the state of Missouri. In 1863, he was elected for a full term, serving as chairman on the Committee on Indian Affairs. Henderson was one of the seven Republican senators whose votes defeated the impeachment of Andrew Johnson.

In December 1864, Senator John Brooks Henderson penned a brief note to President Lincoln making a recommendation for the promotion of Capt. Frank Eno, Assistant Adjutant-General for the Department of the Missouri. Henderson's note is headed "Senate Chamber" and reads in full: "Resp'y referred to the President with the hope that Capt. Eno may be promoted. He is a good and reliable man. I would esteem his promotion a personal favor to myself. J.B. Henderson."

Upon receipt, the President penned his endorsement beneath Henderson's request: "If this is consistent, I shall be glad for it to be done. A. Lincoln. Dec. 8, 1864."

With the President's approval, Henderson then contacted Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, recommending that Capt. Eno be promoted to Major or Lieutenant Colonel. With Stanton's tacit approval, Henderson then sent a more formal request to the President on December 24th. That letter was also signed by President Lincoln on December 28, 1864, and countersigned by Lincoln's personal assistants John Hay and John George Nicolay as witnesses. The matter was then turned over to Secretary of War Stanton, who approved Eno's promotion to Major. Letter is faintly age toned and in very fine condition.