Annotation
[1] ADfS or ALS copy, DLC-RTL. Lincoln's authorship of this letter is not certain. The fact that the postscript bearing Hatch's initial is in Lincoln's hand, initial included, suggests that the document may be only a copy made by Lincoln for his file. The financial tangle in which the state treasurer, James Miller, found himself led to his resignation on September 3, 1859.
[2] The McCallister and Stebbins [Charles Macallister and Henry Stebbins of New York] bonds were hypothecated in 1841 as a guarantee of a loan of $321,600, to be applied on the interest on the state debt. Upon failure of the state financial system in 1842, the bonds dropped to thirty cents on the dollar. In 1859, under a misapprehension of the law for refunding old indebtedness, Governor Bissell gave instructions which resulted in the issuance of new bonds for the old.
[3] February 3, 1858.
[4] Jesse K. Dubois, state auditor, whose signature might have been expected by Miller.