Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln to William Fithian, 3 September 18581
Bloomington, Sep^t 3. 1858Dear Doctor
Yours of the 1^st was received this morning, as also one from M^r Harmon, and one from Hiram Beckwith on the same subject–2 You will see by the Journal that I have appointed to speak at Danville on the 22^nd of Sep^t—the day after Douglas speaks there– My recent experience shows that speaking at ^the^ same place the next day after D. is the very thing— it is, in fact, a concluding speech on him– Please show this to Messrs[Messieurs]. Harmon & Beckwith; and tell them they must excuse me from writing seperate letters to them–
Yours of as everA. LincolnP. S. Give full notice to all surrounding counties–3 A. L.

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[Envelope]
BLOOMINGTON Ill[Illinois]
SEP[SEPTEMBER] 4D^r W^m FithianDanvilleIllinois–

[ docketing ]
A Lincon4

1Abraham Lincoln wrote and signed this letter. He also wrote William Fithian’s name and address on the envelope shown in the second image.

2Fithian’s September 1 letter to Lincoln has not been located. Oscar F. Harmon actually wrote Lincoln two letters in 1858 prior to September 3: one on August 23 and another on September 1. Hiram Beckwith wrote Lincoln on August 31. In their letters, both Harmon and Beckwith requested that Lincoln come to Danville, Illinois, or at least some place within Vermilion County, Illinois, to deliver a public address in support of the Republican cause. At the time Lincoln was running as the Republican Party’s candidate to replace incumbent Democrat Stephen A. Douglas in the U.S. Senate. Because members of the Illinois General Assembly elected the state’s representatives in the U.S. Senate, both Lincoln and Douglas were highly attuned to local races for the Illinois House of Representatives and Illinois Senate during the campaign of 1858. See the 1858 Illinois Republican Convention.
Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:458; Allen C. Guelzo, “Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of 1858,” The Journal of American History 94 (September 2007), 392-94.

3For 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. In early August, Lincoln noted in correspondence to multiple recipients that Douglas had indicated that “my presence, on the days or evenings of his meetings would be considered an intrusion.” He nevertheless continued scheduling public addresses following Douglas for some time, although he also publicly challenged Douglas to a series of debates, which Douglas eventually accepted and which became the renowned Lincoln-Douglas Debates.
Tensions ran high among each candidate’s supporters, and the close proximity of Lincoln’s speeches to Douglas’s sometimes nearly led these tensions to spill over. A brawl almost erupted in Sullivan, Illinois, on September 20, for instance, when the two men’s speeches nearly overlapped and their supporters crossed paths while delivering Lincoln to a rally. Persons unknown also vandalized a carriage provided for Douglas “in a manner unmentionable” the eve before his Danville address. Douglas gave his speech in Danville on September 21, as scheduled. Lincoln also delivered a speech in Danville, on September 22, as scheduled, after staying at Fithian’s home the previous evening.

In Illinois’s local elections of 1858, Republicans ultimately won a majority of all votes cast in the state, but pro-Douglas Democrats retained control of the Illinois General Assembly and Douglas won reelection to the U.S. Senate. 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.
Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:483-85, 556-57; Abraham Lincoln to Jediah F. Alexander; Abraham Lincoln to Joseph T. Eccles; Abraham Lincoln to Joseph Gillespie; Abraham Lincoln to Charles W. Michael and William Proctor; Daily Illinois State Register (Springfield), 2 August 1858, 2:1; 23 September 1858, 2:1; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 2 September 1858, 3:1; The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, 20 September 1858, https://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-09-20; 21 September 1858, https://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-09-21; 22 September 1858, https://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-09-22; Allen C. Guelzo, “Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of 1858,” 414.

4An unknown person wrote this docketing.