Spring did not date this letter. However, context from the letter reveals that he wrote it sometime after the 1858 White County Republican Convention on May 28 but before the 1858 Illinois Republican Convention on June 16. Although he most likely wrote the letter in the first part of June 1858, the editors give this letter the date range of May 29 to June 15, 1858 since it is unclear when Spring decided he could not attend the Illinois Republican Convention in Springfield, Illinois, as well as how far in advance of that convention he wrote Lincoln.

James I. Ferree represented the Republicans of White County during the 1858 Illinois Republican Convention. At the convention, Ferree was one of ten delegates nominated for Illinois superintendent of public instruction. He received just three votes during the initial round of voting and was not included in subsequent rounds. Newton Bateman won the nomination during the third round of voting. During the local elections, Illinois voters awarded him the position.

Despite traveling the state extensively throughout the fall and summer of 1858, delivering public speeches in support of candidates for the Illinois General Assembly (since members of the General Assembly voted for and elected the state’s representatives in the U.S. Senate at the time), as well as participating in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, Lincoln ultimately lost the 1858 Federal Election to Douglas. Although Republicans won a majority of all votes cast in the state in the local elections, pro-Douglas Democrats retained control of the General Assembly and Douglas won reelection to the U.S. Senate. Nevertheless, through the campaign and his participation in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, Lincoln gained recognition and respect within the national Republican Party, contributing greatly to his victory in the presidential contest of 1860.