Abraham Lincoln to Jediah F. Alexander, 2 August 18581
Springfield, Aug. 2, 1858.J. F. Alexander, Esq[Esquire]My dear SirI should be with Judge Douglas at your town on the 4th had he not intimated in his published letter, that my presence would be considered
an intrusion–2 I shall soon publish a string of appointments following his present track, which
will bring me to Greenville about the 11th of Sept[September]–3 I hope to have Judge Trumbull with me–4
Yours trulyA. Lincoln<Page 2>
2Jediah F. Alexander wrote Lincoln on July 23 asking him to speak in Greenville, Illinois, on August 4 to counter
the scheduled speech that day of Stephen A. Douglas. Lincoln was the Republican candidate from Illinois for the U.S. Senate, running against Douglas, the Democrat incumbent. In the summer and fall of 1858, he crisscrossed Illinois delivering speeches
and campaigning on behalf of Republican candidates for the Illinois General Assembly. At this time the Illinois General Assembly elected the state’s representatives in
the U.S. Senate, thus the outcome of races for the Illinois House of Representatives and Illinois Senate were of importance to Lincoln’s campaign. See 1858 Illinois Republican Convention; 1858 Federal Election.
Early in the campaign, Lincoln followed Douglas on the stump, delivering speeches
either later in the evening after Douglas finished, or the next day. Both Republicans
and Democrats criticized this strategy, and it was of particular irritation to Douglas.
Lincoln had invited Douglas to a series of debates on July 24. Douglas’s response, published in the Illinois State Journal on July 29, offered several excuses to avoid the request, including his already scheduled
speeches. Douglas wrote, “These appointments have all been made for Democratic meetings
and arrangements have been made by which the Democratic Candidates for Congress, for the Legislature and other offices will be present and address the people. It is evident, therefore,
that these various candidates, in connection with myself, will occupy the whole time
of the day and evening and leave no opportunity for other speeches." In his response accepting Douglas's terms for the debates, Lincoln promised to no longer be at any
more of Douglas's "exclusive meetings." In addition to Alexander, Lincoln wrote Republicans
in other localities announcing that he would not present at the times of Douglas's
visits. Douglas’s published schedule included a visit to Greenville on Wednesday,
August 4.
Alexander had also invited Lincoln to Greenville on May 1, to which Lincoln responded on May 15 declining that invitation as well. Alexander was among the delegates representing
Bond County at the Republican State Convention.
Abraham Lincoln to Stephen A. Douglas; Abraham Lincoln to Stephen A. Douglas; Stephen A. Douglas to Abraham Lincoln; Abraham Lincoln to Stephen A. Douglas; Abraham Lincoln to Stephen A. Douglas; Abraham Lincoln to Joseph T. Eccles; Abraham Lincoln to Joseph Gillespie; Abraham Lincoln to Charles W. Michael and William Proctor; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:457-58; Allen C. Guelzo,
“Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of 1858,” The Journal of American History 94 (September 2007), 392; Robert W. Johannsen, Stephen A. Douglas (New York: Oxford University Press, 1973), 662; Daily State Illinois Journal (Springfield), 17 June 1858, 2:3; 29 July 1858, 2:2; Daily Islander and Argus (Rock Island, IL), 28 July 1858, 2:1.
4Although Lyman Trumbull was expected to accompany Lincoln to many of his speeches, he had a scheduled speech
himself on September 13 in Waterloo, Illinois, approximately a seventy-mile distance on modern roadways.
Alton Daily Courier (IL), 21 September 1858, 1:3.
Autograph Letter Signed, 2 page(s), Lincoln Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (Springfield, IL).