_Who canvassed Illinois with Lincoln for State Prohibition in 1854-55, and was associated with Mr. Lincoln till the day of his death. Major Merwin now resides at Middleburg, Conn._] [Illustration: 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 Unpublished Official Documents A Discovery—Documents of Historic Value—Lincoln Owned Land in Iowa—Copy of Letters Patent from United States, under James Buchanan, to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. "THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. "_To All Whom, These Presents Shall Come, Greeting_: "WHEREAS, In pursuance of the Act of Congress, approved March 3, 1855, entitled An Act, in addition to certain Acts, Granting Bounty Land to certain officers and soldiers who have been engaged in the military service of the United States, There has been deposited in the General Land Office, Warrant No. 68645, for 120 acres of land in favor of Abraham Lincoln, Captain Illinois Militia, Black Hawk War, with evidence that the same has been duly located upon the east half of the northeast quarter, and northwest quarter of the northeast quarter of section eighteen, in Township eighty-four, north of Range thirty-nine west, in the district of Lands subject to sale at Council Bluffs, Iowa, containing one hundred and twenty acres, according to the official plat of the survey of the said land returned to the General Land Office by the Surveyor General, the said tract having been located by the said Abraham Lincoln. "Know ye, That there is, therefore, granted by the United States unto the said Abraham Lincoln, heirs, and assigns forever.