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Please file. I have sent to the Senate a nomination of Richard W. Thompson of Indiana to fill the vacancy. A. LINCOLN
Feb. 10. 1865.
Annotation
[1] AES, DNA RG 60, Papers of Attorney General, 1865, Box 125. Lincoln's endorsement appears on a letter of resignation signed by James Hughes, Judge of the U.S. Court of Claims, February 3, 1865. On February 13, Richard W. Thompson wrote from Terre Haute, Indiana: ``I learned, on Saturday, by telegram from Messrs [Henry S.] Lane & [John D.] Defrees, that you had appointed me Judge of the Court of Claims. Since then I have given the subject much reflection, and am constrained, by a sense of duty to my family, to decline it. The office would require me to be away from home a greater part of the time, which is so contrary to all the calculations I have made for the future, that I could not discharge its duties without violating others which I have no right to disregard. . . .'' (DLC-RTL).
On February 21, Lincoln nominated Charles C. Nott in place of Thompson, and the Senate confirmed Nott's appointment on February 22, 1865.