To Whom It May Concern1Jump to section
To whom it may concern Washington, October 9, 1863.
In pursuance of a Resolution of the Senate and Assembly of the State of New-York, in the words following, towit:
Resolved, That the Governor be and hereby is empowered and requested to invite the President of the United States to select and detail a competent engineer in behalf and at the expense of the General Government, to consult with the engineers so to be appointed by the Canal Board, in respect to the surveys mentioned in the preceding resolution, and as to the mode of constructing the work so as most effectually to promote the national interests.2Jump to section
and in response to the invitation of the Governor of said State of New-York, made in virtue of said Resolution, I do hereby select and detail Charles B. Stuart, of Geneva, in said State,3Jump to section to perform the duties contemplated in and by said resolution, it being understood by said Stuart that he is to rely upon an appropriation hereafter to be made by congress, for any compensation he may receive.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Annotation
[1] ADfS, DLC-RTL. On October 5, Governor Horatio Seymour enclosed a copy of the joint resolution and requested the president to ``select and detail a competent engineer for the purpose. . . .'' (DLC-RTL). On October 6 Seymour wrote again, ``I understand that Col. Charles B. Stewart, late Engineer in Chief of the United States Navy, has been, or will be recommended to you as a fit person to be designated for this duty, in which I heartily concur, believing him to be abundantly qualified and eminently fitted by experience and knowledge of our public works, for the position.'' (Ibid.). On October 8, Stuart wrote from Willard's Hotel, enclosing recommendations from Edwin D. Morgan and Millard Fillmore: ``Governor Morgan advised me to remain in the City until you could act upon my application, in view of the limited time allowed for making the surveys & report for the action of Congress.'' (Ibid.).
[2] The resolution is in the form of a printed clipping.
[3] ``Of Geneva, in said State,'' inserted in a different handwriting.