Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln to Stephen A. Douglas, 20 September 18581

Understanding that Judge Douglas would speak before dinner, I announced that I would address our friends at Freeland's Grove, at 2. P.M–2 As he does not begin till 1 o clock, if he will announce the fact, so that I can understand it, I will post pone to 3. o clock3
A Lincoln

[ endorsement ]
Henry, Bushrod W.Grim, JohnKnight, CamHill, John Z.

We certify that we saw Mr. George Lynn Jr. deliver this paper to Judge Douglas in his room at Sullivan House ^he^ stating at the time that he did so at the request of Mr. Lincoln & renewing the request verbally on behalf of Mr. Lincoln that Judge Douglas would make

<Page 2>
such announcement, to which request Mr. Douglas replied that he would make the announcement as desired, which we heard him do before he commenced his speech.4
Bushrod W Henry5John Grim6Cam Knight 7Jno Z Hill8 A M9

1Abraham Lincoln wrote and signed this note.

2Freeland’s Grove was a grove in Sullivan, Illinois.
Daily Illinois State Register (Springfield), 23 September 1858, 2:3.

3Knowing that Stephen A. Douglas “considered it an intrusion” when Abraham Lincoln appeared in a town on the day or evening of a Douglas meeting, a correspondent with the Democratic Illinois State Register was “astonished” to learn that Lincoln was also speaking in Sullivan on September 20. Lincoln’s list of appointments as early as September 4, however, had included the stop at Sullivan, whereas Douglas’s list of appointments did not include a stop at Sullivan.
Abraham Lincoln was the Republican candidate from Illinois for the U.S. Senate. 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. He ran against, and lost to, Douglas, the Democrat incumbent. See 1858 Illinois Republican Convention; 1858 Federal Election.
Abraham Lincoln to Joseph T. Eccles; Daily Illinois State Register (Springfield), 15 December 1858, 2:1; 16 December 1858, 2:1; 23 September 1858, 2:3; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 4 September 1858, 2:1; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:458, 486-87, 556-57; Allen C. Guelzo, “Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of 1858,” The Journal of American History 94 (September 2007), 392.

4Sullivan House was the hotel where Douglas presumably stayed the night of the speeches, September 20. That morning, Douglas had traveled from Mattoon to Sullivan.
Lincoln altered his speech time from 2 to 3 p.m. When Lincoln’s supporters escorted him to the rally, they interrupted Douglas’s speech. According to the Illinois State Register, Lincoln’s uncourteous behavior almost caused a riot, but Douglas kept the audience calm and avoided the worst. The Daily Illinois State Journal disagreed with that assessment, calling the story false and created by Douglas’s friends to divert any negative attention away him.
Daily Illinois State Register (Springfield), 23 September 1858, 2:3-5; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 27 September 1858, 2:1; The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, 20 September 1858, https://thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-09-20.

5Bushrod W. Henry signed his name.

6John Grim could not be positively identified. A contemporary newspaper identified him as John Gwin.

7Camden Knight signed his name.

8John Z. Hill could not be positively identified. A contemporary newspaper identified him as John Y. Hill.

9The meaning of these initials could not be determined. One contemporary newspaper identified the four witnesses above with no mention of an A.M. It could possibly be referring to the morning hours.