REV. R. L. McCORD,
Of Lake City, Iowa, who named Lincoln as his candidate for President after hearing him speak at Springfield, Illinois, in 1854.
CHAPTER XIV.
Unpublished Official Documents
A Discovery—Documents of Historic Value—Lincoln Owned Land in Iowa—Copy of Letters Patent from United States, under James Buchanan, to Abraham Lincoln, in 1860—Copy of Deed Executed by Honorable Robert T. Lincoln and Wife in 1892—Other Transfers—The Present Owner.
A few months ago I learned through a newspaper that Abraham Lincoln, at the time of his death, owned land in the State of Iowa, by virtue of his having served in the Black Hawk War of 1832. He was given a land script, good for one hundred and twenty acres, which he located in what is now Crawford County, Iowa. Having never heard of this before, I went to Denison, the county-seat, and, through the law and abstract office of Shaw, Sims & Kuehnle, obtained the information where the records could be found in the county recorder's office. The above-named Shaw is the Honorable Leslie M. Shaw, ex-Governor of Iowa and ex-Secretary of the United States Treasury under President Roosevelt.
Through the kindness of the county recorder, W. E. Terry, I was allowed to copy the records in the case. Probably Abraham Lincoln never saw the land, but because of their historical value the records are here given. The first is the letters-patent from the United States to Abraham Lincoln. Record D, page 18. Original Entry, page 125.