1863 Lincoln-signed IRS Appointment
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GUEST:
This is a document that's been in my family for about 150 years. My great-great-grandfather, Lewis Ellsworth, was the first I.R.S. agent for the District of Illinois, Illinois state. And it's signed by Abraham Lincoln.
APPRAISER:
I knew immediately it was a document signed by Lincoln. But when I read the text, I was a little bit surprised to see that it was for a collector for Internal Revenue.
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
I actually, like a lot of people, thought we didn't have an income tax until 1913, when the 16th Amendment was passed.
GUEST:
Mm-hmmm.
APPRAISER:
So I did a little research, and found out that actually, during the Civil War, during Lincoln's administration, he appointed the first commissioner of the Internal Revenue.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And Congress enacted the first income tax in 1862, and it lasted for about ten years until it was repealed. It was obviously incredibly unpopular.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
So your ancestor would have been one of those very first appointees. It's also signed by Salmon P. Chase as secretary of the Treasury. I'm very excited, because it seems like a lost bit of history.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
We've sort of lost the fact that there was an income tax, then it went away, and then it came back.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
These actually sell for a little bit less...
GUEST:
Hm.
APPRAISER:
...than your average Lincoln document.
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
And I think it's because of all of this horrible connotation that we have for the I.R.S.
GUEST:
(chuckling): Oh.
APPRAISER:
A traditional Lincoln document, a military commission, let's say, might sell today for $5,000 to $7,000.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
These sell for more in the range of $3,500 to $4,500.
GUEST:
Oh, yeah.
APPRAISER:
Thank you very much, though, for bringing it in.
GUEST:
Sure, thank you. Thank you.
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