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Lincoln Proclaims Himself “Always for the Man Who Wishes to Work” in Fantastic Endorsement
Lincoln Proclaims Himself “Always for the Man Who Wishes to Work” in Fantastic Endorsement
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Abraham Lincoln
Washington, D.C., August 15, 1864
Lincoln Proclaims Himself "Always for the Man Who Wishes to Work" in Fantastic Endorsement
AES
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Autograph Endorsement Signed, to [Col. James A. Ekin?], August 15, 1864, Washington, D.C. 1 p., 2.25" x 5". General toning; repaired tear in Lincoln endorsement with no loss of text; very good.

This oft-quoted endorsement is one of the most concise statements of Lincoln's value of labor found among his writings. It is nearly on par with an equally brief letter Lincoln wrote early in his presidency to Major George D. Ramsay, commander of the Washington Arsenal, on October 17, 1861: "The lady—bearer of this—says she has two sons who want to work. Set them at it, if possible. Wanting to work is so rare a merit that it should be encouraged." This item sold for $666,000 in 2002 and is probably worth several million dollars today!

President Abraham Lincoln wrote this brief but powerful endorsement, likely on a now-missing letter recommending someone for employment. Lincoln may have directed this endorsement either to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton or Colonel James A. Ekin. In either case, Lincoln or Stanton referred the matter to Ekin, who was efficiently administering the cavalry depot at Giesboro Point on the eastern side of the Potomac River. With the following endorsement by his chief clerk, Colonel Ekin promptly referred the applicant to Captain Moore, his trusted employee, who had accompanied him from Indianapolis. Because the cavalry depot employed as many as 1,500 men in 1864, it seems likely that the man "who wishes to work" found employment there handling the thousands of horses acquired and forwarded to the cavalry and artillery forces of the Union Army. As many as a quarter of the employees of the cavalry depot were freedmen, and this endorsement may have referred to a former slave.

It is interesting to note that President Lincoln fell into the somewhat common error of confusing "Cavalry" with "Calvary" and wrote the latter in this brief endorsement. Lincoln certainly knew the difference, and he wrote the term "Cavalry" scores of times during the Civil War. This endorsement is the only recorded instance of his confusing the two words or of his writing the word "Calvary."

Complete Transcript

[Endorsement by Lincoln:]
"I am always for the man who wishes to work; and I shall be glad for this man to get suitable employment at Calvary Depot, or elsewhere.
A. Lincoln
August 15, 1864."

[Endorsement:]
"Respectfully referred to Capt. L. Lowry Moore AQM Gisboro D.C. who will give this man suitable employment if he can.
By order Col. Ekin
W H Hay / C C."

Historical Background

In July 1863, the War Department established the Cavalry Bureau to "systematize and regulate the purchase and supply of horses to the cavalry." Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton ordered the bureau's new chief, Major General George Stoneman, to establish six cavalry depots, including one near Washington. Stoneman selected the farm of George Washington Young, the District of Columbia's largest slaveowner, at Giesboro Point on the Potomac River, south of the capital city, as the most suitable site.

The Army rented the 624-acre tract for $6,000 per year from 1863 to 1866 and quickly built wharves, thirty-two stables, and other buildings designed to hold 30,000 horses, although it never held more than 21,000 at any one time. From January 1864 until the end of the war, the Giesboro Cavalry Depot handled more than 170,000 cavalry horses, sending nearly 100,000 forward for use by the army and selling nearly 50,000 as unfit for military service. The Depot's staff grew to 1,500, of whom 400 were freedmen. More than 100 blacksmiths were employed in the horseshoeing shop, and the veterinary hospital had stalls for 2,500 invalid horses. Adjacent to the depot was Camp Stoneman, established to house troopers as they waited for remounts.

In the fall of 1864, the government was offering $175 for cavalry horses and $180 for artillery horses. With so many horses together, there were constant dangers of illness and stampedes. One stampede in 1863 cost the government more than $150,000 when one thousand horses drowned in the Potomac River and Eastern Branch. Such losses weighed heavily on President Lincoln. When a brigadier general was captured by the Confederates, he was reputed to have remarked that "he did not so much mind the loss of the Brigadier as of the cavalry horses—he could easily make a Brigadier, but horses cost money."

Just two weeks before Lincoln penned this endorsement, the employees of the Quartermaster's Department at the cavalry depot at Giesboro, D.C., were organized and armed for the defense of that post. Officers for the regiment included Colonel James A. Ekin, Lieutenant Colonel L. Lowry Moore, and Adjutant William H. Hay, all represented on this document. This hasty organization was undoubtedly a reaction to Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Early's raid on Washington, D.C., earlier in July 1864.

Just over a week after writing this endorsement, Lincoln was firmly convinced his own work as President would soon be ending. In his famous "Blind Memorandum," he wrote on August 23, "This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable that this Administration will not be reelected. Then it will be my duty to so cooperate with the President elect as to save the Union between the election and the inauguration; as he will have secured his election on such ground that he cannot possibly save it afterward." Lincoln had the members of his cabinet each sign the back of the memorandum without revealing its contents. As expected, the Democrats nominated General George B. McClellan for president on August 30, but the vice-presidential nominee was a Copperhead peace Democrat, George H. Pendleton, and the Democratic platform called the war a favor and urged an immediate ceasefire and negotiations. General William T. Sherman's capture of Atlanta on September 2 reversed the perception of Union military fortunes, and Lincoln was overwhelmingly reelected, capturing the electoral votes of every state except Delaware, New Jersey, and Kentucky.

James Adams Ekin(1819-1891) was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and began a career as a merchant and then as a steamboat- and ship-builder in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania. He was a member of the Free Soil National Convention in 1848 and the Republican National Conventions of 1856 and 1860. In April 1861, he received a commission as regimental quartermaster for the 12th Pennsylvania Volunteers. In August, he received a commission as captain and assistant quartermaster at Pittsburgh and then Indianapolis. In March 1863, he transferred to the regular army, and in December of that year transferred to Washington, D.C., where he served as chief quartermaster of the cavalry bureau. He was in direct supervision of the cavalry depot located at Giesboro, District of Columbia. In February 1864, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and given the additional responsibility of chief quartermaster of the cavalry corps of the Army of the Potomac. In early August 1864, Ekin was promoted to the temporary rank of colonel. Known for his administrative ability, he was on several occasions assigned as acting quartermaster-general of the army during the temporary absences of Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs. In March 1865, he was promoted to brevet brigadier-general of the U.S. Volunteers. Ekin served as a member of the honor guard that accompanied President Abraham Lincoln's body to Springfield, Illinois, and he served as a member of the court that tried the Lincoln conspirators. After more promotions, he was assigned in 1870 as chief quartermaster of the Department of Texas and in 1872 as chief quartermaster of the Department of the South in Louisville, Kentucky. He retired from the Army in 1883.

Lazarus Lowry Moore (1823-1894) was born in Pennsylvania and from 1855 to 1860, he managed Maria Forges in Blair County, Pennsylvania. He entered the service at the beginning of the Civil War, rising to the rank of assistant quartermaster of volunteers with the rank of captain at Indianapolis. In January 1864, he was transferred to Washington, D.C., where he served as the depot quartermaster of the Cavalry Depot at Giesboro, D.C. After the war, he was tasked with selling the remaining horses at the cavalry depot. In September 1866, he was brevetted major and lieutenant colonel. Moore remained in the Quartermaster's Department for the rest of his life, serving for nearly twenty years under General James A. Ekin. He died in New Albany, Indiana.

William H. Hay (1832-1921) was born in Indiana. He married Sarah Dewey in 1856, and they had at least five children. He served for three years as chief clerk for Colonel James A. Ekin in the Quartermaster's Department in Indianapolis and the Cavalry Bureau in Washington, D.C. At the end of and after the war, Hay served as a representative for military claims.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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    Provenance:

  • - Sotheby's New York, October 17, 1988, lot 123.
    - Christie's 2002.
    • Dimensions:
  • 2.25" x 5"
    • Artist Name:
  • Abraham Lincoln
    • Medium:
  • AES

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