Elihu B. Washburne to Abraham Lincoln, 5 December 18541
House of Reps.Dec. 5, 1854.My Dear Sir:
We learn here that Jim Allen is elected by one vote in the 7th District over Archer.2 As it had been conceded that Archer was elected this election of Allen looks suspicious,
under the circumstances. It is hoped our friends at S– will see there has been no gouging, for if there has, the next House will correct it– Much interest is felt for your election to the Senate.3
Yours Truly,E. B WashburneHon. A. Lincoln.<Page 2>
[Envelope]
WASHINGTON. D.C.
DEC[December] 6
FREEE B Washburne
M C[Member of Congress]Hon. A. Lincoln,Springfield,Illinois.
DEC[December] 6
FREEE B Washburne
M C[Member of Congress]Hon. A. Lincoln,Springfield,Illinois.
2Democrat James C. Allen received 8,452 votes to Republican William B. Archer’s 8,451 in the race to see who would represent the Seventh Illinois Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. 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.
3Passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and its effective repeal of the Missouri Compromise had reawakened Abraham Lincoln’s passion for politics, and he threw himself into
the congressional 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 reluctantly at first). As the election campaign reached its climax, Lincoln’s
name began to circulate as a possible nominee for one of the state’s U.S. Senate seats.
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. See 1854 Federal Election.
Lincoln and Washburne carried on an extensive correspondence during the senatorial
campaign and exchanged numerous letters related to Lincoln’s candidacy for the U.S.
Senate.
David Herbert Donald, Lincoln (New York: Touchstone, 1995), 167-73; Autobiography of Abraham Lincoln Written for John L. Scripps; William H. Randolph to Abraham Lincoln; 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; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:392, 401-2; 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; Illinois Senate Journal. 1855. 19th G. A., 242-55; Elihu B. Washburne to Abraham Lincoln; Elihu B. Washburne to Abraham Lincoln; Abraham Lincoln to Elihu B. Washburne; Elihu B. Washburne to Abraham Lincoln; Abraham Lincoln to Elihu B. Washburne; Abraham Lincoln to Elihu B. Washburne; Elihu B. Washburne to Abraham Lincoln;Elihu B. Washburne to Abraham Lincoln; Elihu B. Washburne to Abraham Lincoln; Elihu B. Washburne to Abraham Lincoln; Abraham Lincoln to Elihu B. Washburne; Elihu B. Washburne to Abraham Lincoln; Elihu B. Washburne to Abraham Lincoln; Elihu B. Washburne to Abraham Lincoln; Abraham Lincoln to Elihu B. Washburne.
Autograph Letter Signed, 2 page(s),
Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress (Washington, DC).