Herndon William

Lincoln's Law Partner Herndon Signed 800-Word Legal Brief from August Term, 1861

4pp legal brief written in the hand of Abraham Lincoln's former law partner, William Herndon (1818-1891), and signed by Herndon as "Herndon / Zane" at the center of the last page. In all, the document is comprised of about 800 words in Herndon's hand. The legal brief is dated August Term, 1861 and was presumably written in Herndon's Springfield, Illinois law offices. On blue-ruled legal-sized laid cream paper. The first page flips up to reveal the attached second and third pages. Docketed on the last page and also signed by the Sangamon Circuit Court clerk. Expected paper folds, and some minor closed tears along those folds, else near fine. 8" x 12.375".

The legal brief concerns a 10-acre land transaction in Sangamon County, Illinois finalized between local residents Samuel N. King and James A. Barnett on or around January 15, 1856. Herndon refers to his client Samuel N. King throughout as the "Orator", or plaintiff. The case revolved around discrepancies in the terms of King's purchase involving a possible lienholder named Eliza Forsythe.

William Herndon was the junior partner in Abraham Lincoln's law practice in Springfield, Illinois between 1844 and the early 1860s. Herndon had met Lincoln when both shared a second-story room above Joshua Speed's store. Herndon later studied law at Lincoln's office when the future president still partnered with Stephen Logan. By all accounts, Lincoln and Herndon enjoyed a good working relationship and balanced out the other's extremes, temperamentally, professionally, and politically.

As Lincoln transitioned into political life, Herndon entered into an informal partnership with Charles S. Zane (1831-1915). David Donald writes in Lincoln's Herndon (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1948): "As early as July 1861 Herndon & Zane handled cases in the circuit courts and in September of that year their professional announcement was carried in a Springfield newspaper…In 1861 [Herndon] was listed as counsel in no fewer than fifty cases before the United States Circuit Court" (p. 157). Zane was later appointed a Chief Justice of Utah.

After Lincoln's assassination, William Herndon researched the early life of his former law partner. He co-authored a biography with Jesse W. Weik called Herndon's Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life (1889).

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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