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** One of the Last Known Notes Abraham Lincoln Ever Wrote **
16th President.
Autograph note signed “A. Lincoln” AS PRESIDENT, Washington, April 12, 1865, almost surely to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, on small heavystock 3×2 card, in full:
I would be glad, if convenient, for Isaac G. Wilson of Illinois to be an examiner at West Point.
Isaac G. Wilson was a prominent attorney in Illinois when Lincoln was practicing law there, and he was well known to Lincoln. Just before leaving Illinois for Washington to serve his term in Congress in 1847, the two men cooperated as co-counsel in the case of Henderson vs. Welch. When Lincoln was President, Welch was judge of the Thirteenth Circuit in Illinois. He was eventually named appellate judge of the state court.
In the 19th century, West Point had examining committees as part of the Academic Board, and these examined the cadets one by one in a personal version of today’s final exams. Lincoln sought a temporary examiners position for Wilson for the June 1865 round of exams there.
Lincoln was assassinated two days after penning and signing this note. Our research suggests that this was one of the approximately 25 last known letters and notes Lincoln ever wrote, and it is one of a smaller number whose location (or continued existence) has been established.
A document from April 13, 1865 hammered at $30,000 from Sotheby’s in 2009. They indicated a total of 7 items from April 13 or 14 had surfaced over the previous 30 years.
More recently, an April 13, 1865 document sold at Heritage for $52,500 in December 2023.
A similar sized ANS from April 13, 1865 sold for $64,000 at Freeman’s in January 2026 which is probably the best comparable item to ours.
** One of the Last Known Notes Abraham Lincoln Ever Wrote **
16th President.
Autograph note signed “A. Lincoln” AS PRESIDENT, Washington, April 12, 1865, almost surely to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, on small heavystock 3×2 card, in full:
I would be glad, if convenient, for Isaac G. Wilson of Illinois to be an examiner at West Point.
Isaac G. Wilson was a prominent attorney in Illinois when Lincoln was practicing law there, and he was well known to Lincoln. Just before leaving Illinois for Washington to serve his term in Congress in 1847, the two men cooperated as co-counsel in the case of Henderson vs. Welch. When Lincoln was President, Welch was judge of the Thirteenth Circuit in Illinois. He was eventually named appellate judge of the state court.
In the 19th century, West Point had examining committees as part of the Academic Board, and these examined the cadets one by one in a personal version of today’s final exams. Lincoln sought a temporary examiners position for Wilson for the June 1865 round of exams there.
Lincoln was assassinated two days after penning and signing this note. Our research suggests that this was one of the approximately 25 last known letters and notes Lincoln ever wrote, and it is one of a smaller number whose location (or continued existence) has been established.
A document from April 13, 1865 hammered at $30,000 from Sotheby’s in 2009. They indicated a total of 7 items from April 13 or 14 had surfaced over the previous 30 years.
More recently, an April 13, 1865 document sold at Heritage for $52,500 in December 2023.
A similar sized ANS from April 13, 1865 sold for $64,000 at Freeman’s in January 2026 which is probably the best comparable item to ours.