Abraham Lincoln to Joseph T. Eccles, 2 August 18581
Springfield, Aug. 2. 1858 J. T. Eccles, Esq[Esquire]My dear SirI should be at your town to-day with Judge Douglas, had he not strongly intimated in his letter, which you have seen in the newspapers,
that my persence presence, on the days or evenings of his meetings would be considered an intrusion–2 Before I long I shall publish a string of appointments following upon his present track, which
will bring me to Hillsborough about the 9th of September–3
Yours truly A. Lincoln<Page 2>
2At the time of this letter, Lincoln was running as the Illinois Republican Party’s candidate to supplant Democrat Stephen A. Douglas in the U.S. Senate. For the first part of the election campaign of 1858, Lincoln often followed Douglas on the trail, delivering speeches either later in
the evening after Douglas finished, or the next day. On July 24, however, Lincoln
challenged Douglas to a series of formal debates. The Illinois press published much
of the correspondence between Douglas and Lincoln on the subject. The letter Lincoln
references above is mostly likely Douglas’ July 24 reply to him, in which Douglas stated that he and the Democratic State Committee had already
made speaking arrangements for Douglas through October and that the arrangements scheduled
“will occupy the whole time of the day and evening and leave no opportunity for other
speeches.” See 1858 Illinois Republican Convention.
Douglas indeed delivered a campaign address in Hillsboro, Illinois, on August 2.
Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:458, 483-85; Abraham Lincoln to Stephen A. Douglas; Abraham Lincoln to Stephen A. Douglas; Stephen A. Douglas to Abraham Lincoln; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 29 July 1858, 2:2; 31 July 1858, 2:1; 2 August 1858, 2:2; 6 August
1858, 2:2; Chicago Daily Press and Tribune (IL), 28 July 1858, 1:2; Daily Illinois State Register (Springfield), 2 August 1858, 2:1.
3The Daily Illinois State Journal published a list of Lincoln’s speaking appointments for August and September in its
August 6 issue.
Lincoln and Douglas eventually agreed to a debate schedule, and these debates became
the Lincoln-Douglas Debates.
Lincoln and Eccles corresponded at least once more during the election of 1858. Lincoln
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 received forty-six votes in the General Assembly,
but Douglas received fifty-one votes and retained the 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.
Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 6 August 1858, 2:1; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:484, 556-57; 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.
Autograph Letter Signed, 2 page(s), Lincoln Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (Springfield, IL).