Wilson, Douglas L., ed; Davis, Rodney O., ed. 'Register of Informants' in 'Herndon's Informants: Letters, Interviews, and Statements About Abraham Lincoln' . Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1998. [format: book], [genre: history]. Permission: University of Illinois Press
Persistent link to this document: http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/file.php?file=herndon737.html

A prominent Kentucky lawyer and jurist, Pirtle was a partner of James Speed, who served in AL's cabinet, and whose brother, Joshua Fry Speed, was perhaps AL's closest friend. (National Cyclopedia of American Biography; Biographical Encyclopedia of Kentucky)