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Tabulation of Votes in Sangamon County for State Representatives 1832-1836, [9 September 1842]1
Elections in Sangamon county Illinois, for state Representatives, in the years 1832. 1834 & 1836–2
1832
E. D. Taylor—Elected Dem. 1127 } Elected
J. T. Stuart Whig. 991
Achs Morris. Dem.[Democrat] 945
Peter Cartwright Dem. 8153
A. G. Herndon Dem. 806
Wm Carpenter Dem. 774
John Dawson Dem. 717
A. Lincoln Whig: 657
T. M. Neale Whig. 5934
Richard Quinton Dem. 485
Zach. Peter Whig 2165
Edwd Robinson Whig. 169
Wm Kirkpatrick, Dem. 44–
1834–
John Dawson– Dem. 1390 } Elected–
A. Lincoln. Whig 1376
Wm Carpenter Dem. 1170
J. T. Suart. Whig 11646
Richd Quinton Dem. 1038
Andw M’Cormick Whig. 694
Wm Alvey Whig– 613
T. M. Neale Whig– 514
S. J. Campbell. Dem. 192
James Shepherd Dem. 154
James Baker Whig 130
Jehu Durley Whig 92
Wm Kendoll Whig– 42.
1836–
(Over)
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1836
A. Lincoln, Whig– 1716 } Elected
W. F. Elkin Whig. 1694
N. W. Edwards– Whig– 1659
John Dawson Whig. 1641
Dan Stone– Whig. 1438
R. L. Wilson Whig. 1353
Andw M.’Cormick. Whig. 13067
John Calhoun Dem. 1278
J. M. Early Dem.– 1194
Richd Quinton. Dem.– 1137
Thos Wynne. Dem. 972
Aaron Vandaveer Dem. 922
Uriah Mann Dem. 913.
Geo. Power Dem. 905
James Baker– Whig–8 101
J. L. Thompson Dem.– 38.
T. Young.9 Whig– 12–
[ certification ]
09/09/1842
State of Illinois }
Sangamon County
I Noah W. Matheny Clerk of the County Commissioners Court for Sangamon County do hereby certify that the foregoing Statement contains a true abstracts of the votes given for Representatives from the County of Sangamon to the Legislature of the State of Illinois at the Elections in the years therein named as appears from the Poll Books on file in my office, and that their Politics are correct as marked in the foregoing statement as they were understood in this County10
In Testimony whereof I have
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here unto Subscribed my name and affixed the Seal of my office at Springfield in said County this 9th day of September In the year of our Lord One thousand Eight Hundred and Forty two
 seal N W Matheny Clerk Co Coms Court[County Commissioners' Court] Sangamon Co Illinois
1This document was written by Abraham Lincoln. Although the Sangamon County Circuit Court clerk certified the document on September 9, 1842, it is unknown when Lincoln prepared it. It was written on two sheets of paper that were then affixed together at the top with wax and a ribbon. In the The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, Roy P. Basler asserted that the document was prepared in September 1842 as part of Lincoln’s courtship of Mary Todd. However, there is no evidence to prove that; and in fact, recent scholars have questioned whether the two were courting at that point. If Lincoln prepared this in 1842, it is curious that he omitted the results of the 1838 election, in which he earned more votes than any other candidate in Sangamon County, and the 1840 election, in which Sangamon County elected a straight Whig ticket, including Lincoln, to the legislature.
Roy P. Basler, ed., Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1953), 1:297-99; Douglas L. Wilson, Honor’s Voice: The Transformation of Abraham Lincoln (New York: Vintage Books, 1999), 272-73; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:194; Theodore C. Pease, ed., Illinois Election Returns, 1818-1848, vol. 18 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1923), 321, 344.
2The standard source for election results for this period is Theodore C. Pease, ed., Illinois Election Returns, 1818-1848, vol. 18 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1923), which was prepared directly from the manuscript election returns in the Illinois State Archives. Differences between the document and the information given in Pease are noted.
3The top four entries are enclosed by the bracket.
4Pease ascribes 571 votes to Neale.
Theodore C. Pease, ed., Illinois Election Returns, 1818-1848, 262.
5Pease ascribes 214 votes to Peter.
Theodore C. Pease, ed., Illinois Election Returns, 1818-1848, 262.
6The top four entries are enclosed by the bracket.
7The top seven entries are enclosed by the bracket.
8Pease identifies Baker as an “anti-junto Whig.” The “Springfield junto” was the name given to an informal group of Springfield Whig legislators and lawyers who dominated Illinois politics during this time period. Lincoln was a member of the junto.
Theodore C. Pease, ed., Illinois Election Returns, 1818-1848, 299; Douglas L. Wilson, Honor’s Voice: The Transformation of Abraham Lincoln, 210-11; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:161.
9This individual could not be identified. The Sangamo Journal did not include him in their publication of the election results. Pease lists “Yancy” (no first name) instead of Young.
Theodore C. Pease, ed., Illinois Election Returns, 1818-1848, 299; Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 6 August 1836, 2:2.
10Prior to 1832, Illinois politics was dominated by local issues and alliances and less by national parties and national issues. From 1832 to 1836, Whig and Democrat party identity became stronger and national issues and policies increased in importance in state politics and elections. The process was gradual, and although Lincoln here ascribed either “Whig” or “Democrat” to each candidate, the actual political affiliation of many of them at the time was more complicated.
Theodore Calvin Pease, The Frontier State, 1818-1848, vol. 2 of The Sesquicentennial History of Illinois (Springfield: Illinois Centennial Commission, 1918), 136, 140-43; Theodore C. Pease, ed., Illinois Election Returns, 1818-1848, 262, 275, 299.

Handwritten Document, 3 page(s), Gilder Lehrman Collection (New York, New York).