In the U. S. District Court, Lincoln & Herndon represent the Wiggins Ferry Company, the plaintiff in the case of Wiggins Ferry Co. v. Steamer Ocean Spray. The plaintiff seeks the salvage rights to the cargo of a steamer called the "Ocean Spray." John Trendley, an employee of the ferry company, rescued the steamer which had caught fire while on the Mississippi River. Lincoln & Herndon ask Judge Samuel H. Treat to assign one of the court's commissioners "to take the testimony of witnesses...and to report thereon with all convenient speed." Judge Treat grants the request.Libel, Affidavit of John Trendley, 29 April 1858, Wiggins Ferry Co. v. Steamer Ocean Spray, Record Group 21, case file 20; Order, 21 June 1858, Wiggins Ferry Co. v. Steamer Ocean Spray, Record Group 21, General Record, Vol. 1, 151, both in U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois, National Archives and Records Administration, Great Lakes Region, Chicago, IL.