Jesse K. Dubois to Abraham Lincoln, 21 November 18541
Nov 21st 1854
Lawrenceville Ill,Dear Lincoln
This is one of the times that I am powerless so far as helping you to the U.S. Senate. 2Our
member is Heath, a locofoco of the meanest order and no sense withall and brought out by Ficklin to
support him. I look upon it as useless for you to spend time after him. McClure of Clark is the
nearest Whig and he is a good and reliable man nothing impur in his politicks his address is Martinsville. Dulany or Step Archer or
some of the boys will make him right. I am
for
you
against
the
world, but you know that is all I can do. Archer has undoubtedly beaten Allen about 100 and so far as
Allen is concerned, it is the worse beat in the state "poor line" how bad he feels,
we lain it on him so nice3 I regret Yates and Williams
defeat very much. But Douglas is he not a great used up man write me whenever
you want me to do any thing for you as your draft will never be protested4
Yours TrulyJ. K Dubois<Page 2>
[Envelope]
LAWRENCEVILLE Ill[Illinois]
NOV[November] 21Hon A. LincolnSpringfieldSangamon CoIll,
NOV[November] 21Hon A. LincolnSpringfieldSangamon CoIll,
2Dubois references the movement to draft Abraham Lincoln for a seat in the U.S. Senate
in the aftermath of the 1854 congressional elections. Passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and its effective repeal of the Missouri Compromise had reawakened Lincoln’s passion for politics, and he threw himself into the election
campaign in the fall of 1854, crisscrossing Illinois to deliver speeches against the Kansas-Nebraska Act and in support of anti-Nebraska candidates. He even allowed himself to become a candidate for the Illinois General Assembly (albeit unwillingly at first). As the election campaign reached its climax, Lincoln’s
name began to circulate as a possible nominee to supplant James Shields, the incumbent senator running for reelection. Lincoln began quietly seeking support
for a Senate candidacy, writing confidentially to Dubois and other political allies
and friends.
David Herbert Donald, Lincoln (New York: Touchstone, 1995), 167-73; Autobiography of Abraham Lincoln Written for John L. Scripps; Abraham Lincoln to Hugh Lamaster; Abraham Lincoln to Joseph Gillespie; Abraham Lincoln to Horace W. Fay.
3In the congressional contest in the Illinois Seventh Congressional District, Democrat James C. Allen defeated Republican William B. Archer by a single vote, Allen receiving 8,452 votes to Archer’s 8,451.
Allen received the certificate of election, but Archer contested the outcome. Congress nullified the results and left the seat vacant until a new election could be held.
In August 1856, Allen defeated Archer in a special election.
Newton Bateman and Paul Selby, eds., Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Clark County, ed. by H. C. Bell (Chicago: Middle West, 1907), 22; Howard W. Allen and Vincent
A. Lacey, eds., Illinois Elections, 1818-1990 (Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1992), 10, 11.
4Archibald Williams and Richard Yates failed in their bids to win the electoral contests
in the Illinois Fifth and Sixth Congressional districts, respectively, Williams losing
to William A. Richardson, and Yates to Thomas L. Harris.
The state’s voters sent an anti-Nebraska majority to the Illinois General Assembly,
in which Lincoln also won a seat. However, in late-November 1854, he declined to serve
in order to run for the U.S. Senate. Ultimately, Lincoln did not win election to
the U.S. Senate; the Illinois General Assembly selected anti-Nebraska Democrat Lyman Trumbull instead. Thomas R. McClure cast his ballot for Lincoln until the ninth ballot, when
he switched to Trumbull. Raymond Heath did not cast any ballots in the senate election.
See the 1854 Federal Election.
Howard W. Allen and Vincent A. Lacey, eds., Illinois Elections, 1818-1990, 10; David Herbert Donald, Lincoln, 167-73; Autobiography of Abraham Lincoln Written for John L. Scripps; William H. Randolph to Abraham Lincoln; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:392, 401-2; Abraham Lincoln to Noah W. Matheny; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac, 1673-1968
(Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 220-21; Illinois Daily Journal (Springfield), 10 November 1854, 2:5; Stephen Hansen and Paul Nygard, “Stephen A.
Douglas, the Know-Nothings, and the Democratic Party in Illinois, 1854-1858,” Illinois Historical Journal 87 (Summer 1994), 114; Illinois Senate Journal. 1855. 19th G. A., 242-55.
Autograph Letter Signed, 2 page(s),
Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress (Washington, DC).