Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Henry Riblet to Abraham Lincoln, 13 December 18541
Pekin Ills Dec^r 13^th 1854Hon A LincolnDr[Dear] Sir
Yours of Last week came duly to hand2 & my only apology for not attending ^to answering it^ sooner is that I am pressed with Business in closig so that I can leave home

In answer would say that I have not heard any other name ^except your name^ spoken of in connixion with the Office & I shall try and do my part towards Electing a Whig as I now & always have been with that Party3
Respectfully YoursH Riblet

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[Envelope]

5
A Lincoln Esqr[Esquire]SpringfieldIllsPEKIN Ills[Illinois]
DEC[December] 14

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Abraham Lincoln

Henry Riblett–4

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Dec 13/54[1854]5

1Henry Riblet wrote and signed this letter, including the address on the envelope.

2Abraham Lincoln’s note to Riblet has not been found. However, he was undoubtedly writing to gain support for his U.S. Senate run. Passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and its effective repeal of the Missouri Compromise reawakened 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 unwillingly 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. In November and December 1854, Lincoln wrote confidential letters to political allies seeking support for his candidacy and information about his prospects. Lincoln won election to the Illinois House of Representatives in the 1854 election, but declined the seat in late November in order to run for U.S. Senate.
David Herbert Donald, Lincoln (New York: Touchstone, 1995), 167-73; William H. Randolph to Abraham Lincoln; 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; Illinois Daily Journal (Springfield), 10 November 1854, 2:5.

3When the General Assembly met in a joint session on February 8, 1855, ten rounds of voting were needed to finally determine Lyman Trumbull as the victor. Riblet cast his vote for Lincoln on nine ballots before switching to Trumbull on the final ballot. See 1854 Federal Election.
Illinois Senate Journal. 1855. 19th G. A., 242-55.

4Lincoln wrote this docketing.

5An unknown person wrote this docketing.