Abraham Lincoln to Joseph T. Eccles, 25 July 18581
Springfield, July 25. 1858J. T. Eccles, Esq[Esquire]My dear SirYour two letters are received–2 I shall try to visit Hillsboro,, this canvass; but I can not yet say when.3
As I have made two speeches at Springfield— one June 16 & one July 17— I am not sure
which it is you want– I shall go to the Journal office to-morrow, and see what can be done for you–4
Yours very trulyA. Lincoln<Page 2>
2Joseph T. Eccles wrote Lincoln on July 21, 1858. No other letter has been located from Eccles to Lincoln
between this July 21 letter and one Eccles wrote Lincoln on August 4. In his July 21 letter, Eccles asked Lincoln if he could deliver
a campaign address in Hillsboro, Illinois. Lincoln was then running as the Illinois Republican Party’s candidate to replace Democratic incumbent Stephen A. Douglas in the U.S. Senate. See 1858 Illinois Republican Convention; 1858 Federal Election.
Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:458.
3One of the primary reasons Lincoln was unable to commit to a schedule at the time
of this letter was that, on July 24, he had challenged Douglas to a series of formal debates as part of the senatorial campaign and was still negotiating with Douglas. He and Douglas eventually agreed to a schedule,
and these debates became the Lincoln-Douglas Debates.
Abraham Lincoln to Stephen A. Douglas; Stephen A. Douglas to Abraham Lincoln; Stephen A. Douglas to Abraham Lincoln; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:484.
4Lincoln’s June 16 address was the acceptance speech that he delivered at the 1858 Illinois Republican Convention. In this address, which became known as the “House Divided” speech, Lincoln accepted
the Illinois Republican Party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate. Lincoln also gave
a campaign speech in Springfield, Illinois on July 17. The Daily Illinois State Journal printed Lincoln’s June 16 speech in its June 18 issue and printed his July 17 speech
in its July 20 issue. Lincoln also had his July 17 speech published in pamphlet form
for distribution.
Lincoln and Eccles corresponded at least twice more during the election of 1858. Lincoln also traveled to Hillsboro on September 8, stayed at Eccles’ home, and delivered
a campaign speech on September 9.
At the time, members of the Illinois General Assembly voted for and elected the state’s representatives in the U.S. Senate; hence, the
outcome of races for the Illinois House of Representatives and Illinois Senate would decide the senatorial contest. In the local elections of 1858, Republicans
won a majority of all votes cast in Illinois, but pro-Douglas Democrats retained control
of the General Assembly. Lincoln ultimately received forty-six votes in the General
Assembly, and Douglas received fifty-one votes and retained the U.S. Senate seat.
Through the campaign, however, and in particular through his participation in the
Lincoln-Douglas Debates, Lincoln gained recognition as well as standing within the
national Republican Party.
Report of Speech at Springfield, Illinois; Report of Speech at Springfield, Illinois; Fragment of A House Divided Speech at Springfield, Illinois; Report of Speech at Springfield, Illinois; Speech at Springfield, Illinois; Report of Speech at Springfield, Illinois; Report of Speech at Springfield, Illinois; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 18 June 1858, 2:2-4; 20 July 1858, 2:1-6; Abraham Lincoln to Gustave P. Koerner; Speech of Hon. Abraham Lincoln, Delivered in Springfield, Saturday Evening, July 17,
1858 ([Springfield?]: n.p., [1858?]); Abraham Lincoln to Joseph T. Eccles; Joseph T. Eccles to Abraham Lincoln; The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, 8 September 1858, https://thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-09-08; 9 September 1858, https://thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-09-09; Illinois House Journal. 1859. 21st G. A., 32; Illinois Senate Journal. 1859. 21st G. A., 30; Allen C. Guelzo, “Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the
Political Landscape of 1858,” The Journal of American History 94 (September 2007), 394, 414-16; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:556-57.
Autograph Letter Signed, 2 page(s), Lincoln Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (Springfield, IL).