George W. Rives to Abraham Lincoln, 22 May 18581
Paris Illinois. May 22th 1858.Hon A. LincolnSpringfieldIll.Sir your of recent date received.2 We have finally Settled down of T. A. Marshall— he is the man— & Jas Steele is our man for Rept[Representative]— & we can & will elect both– We are right in for the fight– I am more anxious to lick the doughfaced Democracy this time than I ever was at any time in my life–3
You may rest assured we in Edgar will do our whole duty– Our Convention to elect Delegates to your city on 16. June comes off this day week— (29.)— we shall have a full Delegation if possible–4
when we see other on that day we can there arrange any and all things that that may be necessary.– I am actively— engaged for Walkers benefit, at this time I dout him– But we know Constable & his anticedents & that is enough– we will give Walker a good vote in Edgar— perhaps a majority– Charly— is no favorite in this County. he is too lazy is the great objection, & too nice—
for the natives5
Your FriendG W Rives<Page 2>
P.S– as to Newman6 he is not known in this County— & could not run like Marshall We can elect Marshall by 300. and no mistake Stick a pin there– Linder Declared himself a candidate for senator yesterday in a pub.[public] Speech at Charleston.
Several of our boys were there & heard it if he continues to run it though— (& I hope
he may) Marshall will lead him 1000–7 We have got them–
G W Rives8<Page 3>
[Envelope]
PARIS Ill.[Illinois]
MAY 23Hon. A. LincolnSpringfieldIllinois
MAY 23Hon. A. LincolnSpringfieldIllinois
3Doughface was a pejorative label for northerners sympathetic to the South and the
institution of slavery prior to the American Civil War.
Rives references the elections for the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. At the time, Paris and the rest of Edgar County was part of Illinois’ Eighteenth
State Senate District and Twenty-Fourth State House District. Lincoln was vying to become the Republican candidate from Illinois for the U.S. Senate. At this time the Illinois General Assembly elected the state’s representatives in the U.S. Senate, thus the outcome of races
for the Illinois House and Illinois Senate were of importance to Lincoln’s campaign.
Rives had also written to Lincoln about the elections in these districts on May 14, 1858.
John Russell Bartlett, Dictionary of Americanisms: A Glossary of Words and Phrases Usually Regarded
as Peculiar to the United States (Boston: Little, Brown, 1860), 128; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008),1:446-57; John Clayton, comp.,
The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac, 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 219; The History of Edgar County, Illinois
(Chicago: Wm. Le Baron, Jr., 1879), 237-38; Allen C. Guelzo, “House Divided: Lincoln,
Douglas, and the Political Landscape of 1858,” The Journal of American History 94 (September 2007), 394.
4Edgar County elected seven delegates to the 1858 Republican State Convention.
Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 22 May 1858, 1:3.
5William Walker agreed to become the Republican candidate for the Illinois House representing
the Thirty-Fifth District, which included Mason and Logan counties. Democratic candidate George H. Campbell defeated Walker for the seat.
Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 13 September 1858, 3:1; 3 November 1858, 2:2; Illinois House Journal. 1859. 21st G. A.,
5.
6Rives may be referring to B. Newman, a delegate to the 1858 Illinois State Republican
Convention from Coles County.
Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 17 June 1858, 2:3.
7Thomas A. Marshall became the Republican Party’s candidate for the Eighteenth State
Senate District. James H. Steele did not receive the Republican nomination for the
Illinois House in the Twenty-Fourth District. Robert Moseley received the nomination. Edgar County voters sent Moseley to the Illinois House and
Marshall, to the Illinois Senate, but Democrats retained a majority in both chambers,
allowing Stephen A. Douglas to defeat Lincoln and retain his seat in the U.S. Senate.
Alton Daily Courier (Illinois), 3 November 1858, 2:5; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 29 September 1858, 2:4; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac, 1673-1968 , 222; Illinois House Journal. 1859. 21st G. A., 4-5; Allen C. Guelzo, “House Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the
Political Landscape of 1858,” 416-17; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:556-57
8Rives wrote Lincoln four additional letters related to the election campaign of 1858.
George W. Rives to Abraham Lincoln; George W. Rives to Abraham Lincoln; George W. Rives and Others to Abraham Lincoln; George W. Rives to Abraham Lincoln.
Autograph Letter Signed, 3 page(s), Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress (Washington, DC).