Manuscript document written in the hand of John D. Bevans's attorney, Abraham Lincoln, and attested and signed by William Butler, Clerk of Sangamon County and the attorney with whom Lincoln lodged during this period.
The case discussed relates to John Bevans's provision for his second wife, Margaret (Jones) Bevans. John Bevans died in March 1837. The document is signed by his son, John D. Bevans.
John Bevans died leaving an estate with two hundred acres of land and some personal property. In his will, John Bevans left his second wife, Margaret Bevans, a bed and bedding and some food supplies. Margaret Bevans renounced her bequest and asked James N. Brown, the executor of John Bevans's estate, to assign her dower. Brown refused, and Margaret Bevans retained Stephen A. Douglas and John D. Urquhart to represent her. She sued Brown and the heirs of John Bevans for her dower. John D. Bevans, one of the heirs, retained John Todd Stuart and Abraham Lincoln and argued that Margaret Bevans's renunciation was insufficient and that his father had given his mother two enslaved girls, which she accepted in lieu of dower. The parties reached an agreement, and Judge Samuel H. Treat dismissed the case. Cf. From courtroom to classroom : the Lincoln legal papers curriculum / Dennis E. Suttles and Daniel W. Stowell, editors. Springfield Ill. : Papers of Abraham Lincoln : Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, c2002, page 48.
This item is part of a collection of letters and legal documents of Abraham Lincoln; see main record for MA 810 for more information.
Answer in the hand of Abraham Lincoln on behalf of defendent John D. Bevans to the petition of Margaret Bevans, plaintiff, in the case of to Bevans v. Brown et al., arguing that the plaintiff's renunciation of her bequest was insufficient to justify her claim for the return of her dower as his father had given his mother "two negro girls", which she accepted in lieu of dower.