House refuses to reconsider petition to compensate witnesses for coming to Vandalia to testify in case of People v. Lamborn. Lincoln votes yea.House Journal.

Lincoln votes nay on bill distributing interest from loan of school funds, and with minority on adoption of Senate amendments to House resolutions in relation to improvement of Great Wabash River.House Journal.

Smith of Wabash proposes resolutions which become system of internal improvements. McClernand of Gallatin reports committee reply to Gov. Duncan's charges against President Jackson. Party fight ensues with Hardin of Morgan leading Whigs.House Journal.

Lincoln writes Stuart about lost deeds belonging to old Mr. Wright and $80 which Stuart is supposed to have paid Robert A. Kinzie. He notes that Douglas is in town "but he is not now worth talking about." In House, he takes part in debate on opening session with prayer.House Journal; Abraham Lincoln to John T. Stuart, 23 December 1839, CW, 1:158-59.

[House of Representatives meets only in morning and no roll calls are taken so it is not certain that Lincoln attends.House Journal].

Defendant files rejoinder in Napier v. Wooldridge in U.S. Circuit Court. Plaintiff, by Logan & Lincoln, files demurrer. Record. Judge Nathaniel Pope sentences Charles H. Chapman to five years in penitentiary. Logan & Lincoln fail to obtain new trial.Alton Telegraph, 28 December 1844.

Lincoln continues argument in Cunningham v. Fithian et al.Record.

[House hears obituary on late T. L. Hamer, representative-elect from Ohio. After adopting appropriate resolutions, it adjourns until December 28, 1847. Congressional Globe.]

Lincoln is appointed to select committee on erection of marble column at Yorktown to commemorate Cornwallis' surrender.Journal.

Lincoln and Bowman, representing plaintiff in Jones v. McLean in U.S. Circuit Court, secure verdict for their client in amount of $34.44 and costs. Record.

Special election is held to choose Lincoln's successor to legislature. Of 491 voters Lincoln is 38th to appear. Whig candidate, N. M. Broadwell, is defeated. Election Returns.

Lincoln loses Pike v. Shaffer when jury finds defendant not guilty. Court orders him discharged and assesses damages against plaintiff, Lincoln's client. Record.

Lincoln buys 5¢ worth of borax, at his drug store. Mrs. Lincoln buys cloth and silk thread at Smith's. Pratt, Personal Finances, 152, 161.

President signs bill to increase efficiency of navy, and bill to raise duty on tea, sugar, coffee, and molasses. N.Y. Tribune, 24 December 1861.

Transmits to House of Representatives report of secretary of state respecting Asiatic coolie trade. Abraham Lincoln to the House of Representatives, 23 December 1861, CW, 5:79.

Secs. Seward, Welles, and Chase call at White House to confer on "Trent" affair. Sen. Sumner (Mass.) urges Lincoln to surrender Mason and Slidell. Monaghan, Diplomat, 190-91.

[Irwin withdraws $99 from Springfield Marine Bank. Pratt, Personal Finances, 177.]

President sends for Asst. Sec. Fox before breakfast. Reason unknown. Fox, Diary, Gist-Blair Family Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Requests written opinions from members of cabinet on admission of West Virginia into Union. Abraham Lincoln to Members of the Cabinet, 23 December 1862, CW, 6:17.

Receives memorial from Mil. Gov. Andrew Johnson and prominent men of state asking that Emancipation Proclamation not apply to Tennessee. Washington Chronicle, 4 December 1862.

Considers proposal of Gen. Haupt to form military council of seven to plan campaigns and determine policies. Haupt to Lincoln, 22 December 1862, Edwin M. Stanton Papers, Library of Congress, Washington DC.

John Pitcher, boyhood friend, calls on Lincoln about son recovering from wound received at Battle of Cedar Mountain. Pitcher to Lincoln, 25 December 1862, Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Mrs. Lincoln prepares to serve Christmas dinner to wounded in hospitals. Philadelphia News, 24 December 1862.

[Irwin withdraws $9 from Springfield Marine Bank, interest on scholarship at Illinois State University. Pratt, Personal Finances, 177.]

Lincoln writes to Fanny McCullough, of Bloomington, Illinois, regarding Fanny's father Lieutenant Colonel William McCullough, who died on December 5, in a battle near Coffeeville, Mississippi. William McCullough had been clerk of the McLean County Circuit Court, where Lincoln frequently practiced law. Lincoln writes, "You can not now realize that you will ever feel better...You are sure to be happy again...I have had experience enough to know...The memory of your dear Father, instead of an agony, will yet be a sad sweet feeling in your heart, of a purer, and holier sort than you have known before." Abraham Lincoln to Fanny McCullough, 23 December 1862, CW, 6:16-17; Illinois Daily State Journal (Springfield), 10 December 1862, 2:1.

Lincoln interviews William H. Craft, corporal in Co. C., 82d New York Volunteers, who fears arrest as deserter, and gives him protection back to Army of Potomac. Abraham Lincoln to Whom It May Concern, 23 December 1863, CW, 7:89.

Confers with Sen. Lane (Kans.) about affairs in Missouri and Kansas and about nomination of Gen. Schofield to be major general. Hay, Letters and Diary.

Relates dream in which he is among plain people. One of them remarks: "He is a very common-looking man." President replies: "Common-looking people are the best in the world: that is the reason the Lord makes so many of them." Dennett, Hay Diaries and Letters, 143.

Lincoln has third interview with Sen. B. Gratz Brown (Mo.) concerning conditions in Missouri. Dennett, Hay Diaries and Letters, 140.

Transmits to Congress report regarding claims of Peruvian citizens. Abraham Lincoln to the Senate and House of Representatives, 23 December 1863, CW, 7:88.

Requests Sec. Stanton : "Please see this Lady who is a Sister to our gallant and brave friend, Gen. Reynolds, who fell at Gettysburg. Please oblige her if you can." Abraham Lincoln to Edwin M. Stanton, 23 December 1863, CW, 7:88.

Cabinet meets. Welles tardy. President and Secs. Seward and Stanton discuss Welles' presentation of case against Beverly S. Osborn, New York newspaperman. Welles, Diary.

President issues order for protection and safe conduct from New Orleans or Memphis, Tenn. to Red River and its tributaries to James Harrison, of St. Louis, trading under rules of Treasury Dept. Order Concerning James Harrison, 23 December 1864, CW, 8:178.