Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln to Abraham Jonas, 2 August 18581
Springfield, Aug: 2. 1858–A. Jonas, Esq[Esquire]My dear Sir
Yours of the 30^th July is just received– My mind is at once made up to be with you at Augusta on the 25^th of August,2 unless I shall conclude it will prevent my being at Freeport on the 27^th when and where, by appointment, I am to meet Judge Douglas–3 I suppose there will be no difficulty in getting from Augusta to Freeport in due time–4
Yours very trulyA. Lincoln–

1Abraham Lincoln wrote and signed this letter.

2Abraham Jonas had written Lincoln on July 30, 1858, requesting that Lincoln give a speech in Augusta on August 25 following the Republican Fifth Congressional District Convention. Lincoln had been nominated in June at the 1858 Illinois Republican Convention to run against incumbent Stephen A. Douglas to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate. 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. Lincoln campaigned extensively in Illinois in the summer and fall of 1858, delivering speeches and campaigning on behalf of Republican candidates for the General Assembly. He and Douglas both focused their campaign efforts on the former Whig stronghold of central Illinois, where the state legislative races were the closest.
Lincoln accepted Jonas’ invitation and spoke in Augusta for two hours on August 25, to a crowd that was estimated to consist of 1,200 people, roughly two thirds of whom were former Henry Clay Whigs.
Allen C. Guelzo, “Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of 1858,” The Journal of American History 94 (September 2007), 392-94, 400-401; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:457-58, 476-77; Summary of Speech at Augusta, Illinois; The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, 25 August 1858, https://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-08-25.

3Lincoln left Augusta on August 25 following his speech, and arrived in Freeport on August 27 for the second Lincoln-Douglas Debate.
The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, 25 August 1858, https://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-08-25; 26 August 1858, https://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-08-26; 27 August 1858, https://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-08-27; Second Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Freeport, Illinois; Second Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Freeport, Illinois; Second Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Freeport, Illinois.

4Jonas responded to Lincoln on August 5, 1858, to reassure him that it would be possible to travel from Augusta to Freeport in time for the Lincoln-Douglas Debate in the latter city.