Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Ozias M. Hatch, Abraham Lincoln, and Jesse K. Dubois to Newton Bateman, 20 November, 18581
Springfield Nov 20. 1858. Newton Bateman Esq.[Esquire]Dr[Dear] Sir.
Our State Central Committee find itself considerably in debt, and there is a necessity, for meeting it promptly.2 We have been taxing ourselves, pretty freely, and are compelled, reluctantly, to call upon some of our friends for assistance–3 If you can without great inconvenience assist in liquidating this debt, please do so. N. B. Judd, Chicago, is the Chairman as you know. He writes that the committee owe about twenty five hundred dollars.4
Yours very truly.O. M. HatchA. Lincoln–Jesse K Dubois

1Ozias M. Hatch wrote the body of this letter. Hatch, Abraham Lincoln, and Jesse K. Dubois signed their names.

2 The Illinois Republican Party had run a full slate of candidates in the state and federal elections of 1858 and was deep in debt in the aftermath of the election campaign. Lincoln was among the Republican candidates for election, having run against Stephen A. Douglas, the Democratic incumbent, for the U.S. Senate. Republicans had won the popular vote in the state elections by a count of 190,468 to 166,374 but gerrymandering of election districts, based as they were on the census of 1850, allowed pro-Douglas Democrats to retain control of the Illinois General Assembly, which elected U.S. senators in those days, allowing Douglas to retain his seat. Douglas victory was confirmed in the election held on January 5, 1859. See 1858 Federal Election; 1858 Illinois Republican Convention.
Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:458, 552; Harry E. Pratt, The Personal Finances of Abraham Lincoln (Springfield, IL: Abraham Lincoln Association, 1943), 105-6; Allen C. Guelzo, Lincoln and Douglass: The Debates that Defined America, (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2008), 285; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 3 November 1858, 2:1; 9 November 1858, 2:2; 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.

3On November 15, Norman B. Judd had requested Lincoln’s help in securing money from the others in the party to pay the debt. Lincoln replied on November 16 with a pledge of $250 toward the debt--an offer Judd promised not call upon Lincoln to fulfill “unless absolutely compelled to do it.” Judd instead reiterated his request that Lincoln write his colleagues urging them to contribute towards paying the indebtedness. “I think a letter from you to some of our friends who are wealthy would bring a contribution and that was my principal object in writing to you.”
Abraham Lincoln to Norman B. Judd; Abraham Lincoln to Norman B. Judd; Harry E. Pratt, The Personal Finances of Abraham Lincoln, 105-6.

4Newton Bateman’s response, if he wrote one, has not been located.