Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln to Norman B. Judd, 15 November, 18581
Springfield Nov 15 1858Hon N B JuddMy dear Sir
I have the pleasure to inform you that I am convalescent and hoping these lines may find you in the same improving state of health. Doubtless you have suspected for some time that I entertain a personal wish for a term in the US Senate;2 and had the suspicion taken the shape of a direct charge I think I could not ^have^ truthfully denied it. But let the past as nothing be. For the future my view is that the fight must go on. The returns here are not yet completed,3 but it is believed that Doughertys vote will be slightly greater than Millers majority over Facy 4 We have some hundred and twenty thousand clear Republican votes That pile is worth heeping[keeping] together It will elect a state trustee 2 years hence.5

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In that day I shall fight in the ranks, but I shall be in no ones way for any of the places. I am especially for Trumbulls reelection's and by the way this brings me to the principal object of this letter. Can you not take your draft of an apportionment law, and carefully revise it till it shall be strictly & obviously just in all particulars, & then by an early & persistent effort get enough of the enemies men to enable you to pass it.6 I believe if you & Peck make a job of it begin early & work earnestly & quietly, you can succeed in it. Unless something be done Trumbull is eventually beaten two years hence. Take this into serious consideration
Yours as everA Lincoln

1This letter is attributed to Abraham Lincoln but is not in Lincoln’s hand. A letter in Lincoln’s hand is extant.

2Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas debated at seven Illinois towns as candidates for the U.S. Senate. Lincoln, the candidate of the Republican Party, was challenging Douglas, the Democratic incumbent. Republicans had won the popular vote in the local and state elections held on November 2, 1858 but pro-Douglas Democrats retained control of the Illinois General Assembly, which elected U.S. senators in those days, allowing Douglas to retain his seat. Douglas victory was confirm in the election held on January 5, 1859. See 1858 Federal Election; 1858 Illinois Republican Convention.
Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 3 November 1858, 2:1; George Fort Milton, "Lincoln-Douglas Debates," Dictionary of American History, rev. ed. (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1976), 4:155-56; Allen C. Guelzo, “Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of 1858,” The Journal of American History, 94 (September 2007), 392-94, 415-16; Illinois Senate Journal. 1859. 21st G. A., 30; Illinois House Journal. 1859. 21st G. A., 32.

3Although the election was held on November 2, 1858, Douglas’ victory was not officially confirmed by the Illinois General Assembly until January 5, 1859.
Allen C. Guelzo, “Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of 1858,” 301.

4James Miller, the Republican incumbent, won the reelection for Illinois treasurer over William B. Fondey, the Douglas Democratic candidate, and John Dougherty, Buchanan Democratic candidate. Miller’s majority over Fondey was 3,573; Dougherty received 5,021 votes .
Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 14 November 1856, 2:3; The Weekly Chicago Tribune (IL), 25 November 1858, 2:1, 2.

5Miller received 125,462 votes to 121,889 for Fondey and 5,021 for Doughtery. The final vote total in the overall state legislative elections in Illinois was 190,468 for Republicans and 166,374 for Democrats.
By “state trustee” Lincoln could be referencing the race for governor in 1860. Republican Richard Yates would defeat Democratic challenger James C. Allen in the gubernatorial election of 1860, registering 172,218 votes to Allen’s 159,293.
Allen C. Guelzo, “Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of 1858,” 415; The Weekly Chicago Tribune (IL), 25 November 1858, 2:1, 2; Howard W. Allen and Vincent A. Lacey, eds., Illinois Elections, 1818-1990 (Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1992), 11.

6Apportionment of seats in the Illinois General Assembly cost Lincoln the election. The voting districts in Illinois were created using the 1850 census and the northern, Republican voting districts increased much quicker in population than the southern, Democratic voting districts in the eight years between the census and the election of 1858. Republicans received 50 percent of the popular vote and 46 percent of the Illinois General Assembly while Democrats won 48 percent of the popular vote and 54 percent of the Illinois General Assembly. According to the Sangamo Journal, “The thirty five Lincoln members of the House represent a larger population than the forty Douglas members; and the eleven Lincoln Senators represent a larger constitnency than the fourteen Douglas and Buchanan senators. ...In the Republican districts it requires on an average a population of 19,635 inhabitants to elect a representative, and 58,900 for a Senator, while in the Democratic districts 15,675 for a representative and 47,100 for a Senator suffices. On a fair apportionment, Douglas would have been beaten seven in the House and three in the Senate.” Republicans in the state were frustrated with the loss in the election and fearful of losing future elections for the same reason.
In the state elections of 1860, Republicans won control of both the Illinois House and Senate, gaining a one seat majority in the Senate and five seat majority in the House, allowing Lyman Trumbull to win reelection to the U.S. Senate.
Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:1546-47; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 9 November, 1858, 2:1; Illinois Daily State Journal (Springfield), 11 December 1860, 2:3; Ottawa Free Trade (IL), 15 December 1860, 1:6; Illinois Senate Journal. 1855. 19th G. A., 255; Illinois Senate Journal. 1861. 22th G. A., 32; Illinois House Journal. 1861. 22th G. A., 31.