1835 United States Presidential land grant for acreage near Springfield, Illinois, signed “Andrew Jackson” by presidential secretary, Andrew Jackson Donelson, President Jackson’s stepson.

This particular grant, issued to a Mississippi speculator named Nathaniel A. Ware, conveyed Ware land in the area of New Salem, Illinois. Lincoln scholars will recognize that location as the place where Abraham Lincoln and his new wife Mary Todd lived when he was in his 20s. In 1841, Robert Todd, Mary Todd Lincoln’s father, purchased this land from Ware. He then gifted portions of it to Mary and her sisters in 1844. Ten tears later, the Lincolns sold the land to another speculator. The Lincolns did not live on this land, but it was indeed part of their “financial portfolio”, so to speak. Of additional intrigue is that Mr. Todd eventually sued Ware, a case argued by Lincoln. If the dispute was about the land Todd purchased from Ware, there is a possibility Lincoln himself examined this document. The grant is in very good condition for its age, with unobtrusive vertical fold marks and some light soiling. This is an intriguing document with an interesting Lincoln connection.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Abraham Lincoln]