The above letter purported to come from a poor
widow who, though supplied with State Bank paper, could not obtain a
receipt for her tax bill. This, and another subsequent letter by Mary
Todd, brought about the "Lincoln-Shields Duel."
LOST TOWNSHIPS
August 27, 1842.
DEAR Mr. PRINTER:
I see you printed that long letter I sent you a spell ago. I 'm quite
encouraged by it, and can't keep from writing again. I think the
printing of my letters will be a good thing all round--it will give me
the benefit of being known by the world, and give the world the advantage
of knowing what's going on in the Lost Townships, and give your paper
respectability besides. So here comes another. Yesterday afternoon I
hurried through cleaning up the dinner dishes and stepped over to
neighbor S______ to see if his wife Peggy was as well as mout be
expected, and hear what they called the baby. Well, when I got there and
just turned round the corner of his log cabin, there he was, setting on
the doorstep reading a newspaper. "How are you, Jeff?" says I.
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