Stephen A. Hurlbut to Abraham Lincoln, 29 May 18581
Belvidere Boone Co29 May 1858Hon A LincolnSpringfieldDr[Dear] Sir
A full delegation from this County will attend the State Convention on 16th June.2 If it is desirable that any Expression should be formally given of the feeling of
the party upon the Senatorial Question we at this end of the state are fully prepared so to do.3
There is no defalcation in our ranks in the 1st Dist.[District] but on the Contrary the clear & as I believe unanimous opinion of the party is as
fully adverse to Douglas, as if he still stood in full fellowship in Democracy4
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With very few exceptions the voice of the people here indicates your self as successor.
At the same time we are careful not to attach unnecessary abuse to Douglas & his faction,
but pat them on the back, insist upon their virtue & in all ways keep up & widen the
schism. In the 1st Congl[Congressional] Dist– the old Whig element prevails & constitutes the strength of the Republicans— so that there is no question about us.5 In the 2d there is more of the Democratic element & their tendency is considerably toward Douglas–6 It takes an old Democrat some years of independent action to forget obedience to
the word of command. I hope to see you at Springfield & confer further7
Yours S. A. Hurlbut<Page 3>
[Envelope]
BELVIDERE ILL[Illinois]
MAY 29Hon. Abraham LincolnSpringfield Illinois
MAY 29Hon. Abraham LincolnSpringfield Illinois
2Boone County’s delegation to the 1858 Republican State Convention comprised five representatives, including Hurlbut.
Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 27 May 1858, 1:2; 17 June 1858, 2:3.
3Hurlbut is referring to the 1858 Federal Election and Lincoln’s bid for the U. S. Senate against the incumbent, Stephen A. Douglas.
Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:445-57.
4Hurlbut is referencing the recent split of the Democratic Party into pro-James Buchanan and pro-Douglas factions. The split occurred after Douglas, in December 1857, spoke
out against the Lecompton Constitution and criticized President Buchanan for supporting it.
Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:445.
5The first Congressional district in Illinois comprised the counties of Jo Daviess, Stephenson, Winnebago, Boone, McHenry, Lake, Carroll, and Ogle in the northernmost portion of the state.
Howard W. Allen and Vincent A. Lacey, eds., Illinois Elections, 1818-1990 (Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1992), 141-42.
6The second Congressional district in Illinois comprised the counties of Rock Island, Whiteside, Lee, DeKalb, Kane, Du Page, and Cook, also in the northern portion of the state.
Howard W. Allen and Vincent A. Lacey, eds., Illinois Elections, 1818-1990 , 142.
7Lincoln responded to Hurlbut on June 1, 1858.
Lincoln would become the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate against Douglas. Although
Lincoln lost the election, the race lifted him to national prominence. See the 1858 Federal Election.
In the electoral contests in the first and second Congressional districts, Republican
candidates Elihu B. Washburne and John F. Farnsworth, respectively, swept to victory with large majorities.
Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:457-58, 547, 555-57; Howard W. Allen and Vincent A. Lacey, eds., Illinois Elections, 1818-1990, 11.
Autograph Letter Signed, 3 page(s), Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress (Washington, DC).