Abraham Lincoln to Lyman Porter, 2 August 18581
Springfield, Aug. 2, 1858.Col[Colonel] Lyman PorterMy dear SirYou are quite aware, no doubt, of the contest I am engaged in; and I suppose you equally well know, I would be glad of your help–2 If you can not give it, burn this, and think no more of it– If you can give it, I shall be very
grateful; and, in which case I will thank you to consult with friends, and try to
fix up about Representatives in your county–3
Please write me at all events4
Yours trulyA. Lincoln<Page 2>
[Envelope]
[?] Ill. [?] 1858Col. Lyman PorterMackinawtownTazewell CoIllinois–
2 Lincoln was nominated 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 and Douglas both focused their
campaign efforts on the former Whig stronghold of central Illinois, where the state legislative races were the closest.
See the 1858 Federal Election.
Allen C. Guelzo, “Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of
1858,” The Journal of American History 94 (September 2007), 394, 400-401; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1: 458, 476-77.
3Lyman Porter resided in Tazewell County, which comprised the Thirty-Ninth Illinois
House of Representatives District. Thomas J. Pickett wrote Lincoln on August 3 suggesting that Porter would be a good nominee for the Illinois
House. David Davis informed Lincoln on August 9 that Porter had been nominated for the Legislature several times but had continuously declined to run.
When the Tazewell County Republican convention was held in Tremont on August 30, 1858, Richard N. Cullom was selected as the party’s candidate for the race. Cullom ultimately received 1,783
votes in the election, losing to Democrat Robert B. M. Wilson, who earned 1,955 votes.
John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 220, 222; Summary of Speech at Tremont, Illinois; Summary of Speech at Tremont, Illinois; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 4 November 1858, 3:2; The Weekly Chicago Times (IL), 11 November 1858, 2:5.
Copy of Autograph Letter Signed, 2 page(s), Lincoln Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (Springfield, IL).