Abraham Smith to Abraham Lincoln, 31 May 18581
Ridge Farm Ill. 5th Mo.[Month] 31. 1858Abram LincolnThere is a report in circulation in this section of Country that thou and some others
are conspiring to defeat the election or rather the nomination of Lovejoy–2 This may seem a small matter to thee and one that is none of my business— for surely
thou hast a perfect right to electioneer for whom thou please but there are some things
involved in this matter that I feel quite an interest in, in which I suppose we are
mutualy interested— first I am anxious that Lovejoy should be reelected to Congress and next I am very anxious that Lincoln should succeed Douglas in the senate3 I am more anxious for the election of Lincoln than for Lovejoy— tho[though] I dont like Lincoln personaly— have much reason to dislike thee— and did once lend my influence to defeat thee
and perhaps added the feather that turned the scale but that was between thee & Trumbul4 but when the election is between thee and Douglas I am for Lincoln decidedly
The mischief that I want to advise thee of is that an attempt is making to exite a jealousy between the old freesoilers & the old whigs and Americans of this senatorial district— and thereby elect a democrat to the state senate— and a democrat representative from Edgar County— and one or two votes may turn the scale between thee & Douglas5
<Page 2>
<Page 3>
If the democrats can manage to create a jealousy between the Abolitionists and old whigs they may succeed in electing a democrat senator in this district and
a democrat representative from Edgar County I greatly desire that thy name may not become implicated in such a family quarrel–
I am certainly partial to the freesoil element of the repup^b^lican party— and expect recruits from the whig & democrat parties— to be partial their own immediate
families— but we look for honorable dealing– I fear nothing dishonorable from thee—
but I fear thy name may become involved with some who we know are not acting honorable
We the Abolitionist— supported Norton twice before the Repup^b^lican party was formed6 and to my knowledge no leading freesoiler has since bolted a republican nomination—
because the candidate was from the whig or democrat party—therefore I deem it meanness
in some whig & lawyers to pursue the vindictive course they have and we feel indignant at their
u meanness– And I am anxious that thy name be kept clear of so mean— company— for
I am anxious that thou should succeed Dug not as I said before that I love thee much— but because I think thee trust worthy— & that thy principles are correct Whilst we know Douglass is rotten to the core— & but we must all act not only honorably but wisely if we beat him
Thy friendAbraham Smith7<Page 4>
I presume that I need make no apology for asuming that— the campaign of 1858. will be— for Lincoln— or Douglas— as senators<Page 5>
[Envelope]
Hon. Abram LincolnSpringfieldIllinois
2Smith is referencing the Third Congressional District of Illinois, of which his home
county of Vermilion was a part, and where Owen Lovejoy was up for reelection to the U.S. House of Representatives in the election of 1858. Some of the more conservative Republicans of the district sought to replace Lovejoy,
whom they labeled an abolitionist. Among those who opposed Lovejoy’s reelection were
Lincoln’s friends and allies David Davis, Leonard Swett, T. Lyle Dickey, and Ward H. Lamon. Lincoln, however, recognized the importance of Lovejoy’s supporters to his own ambition
to be elected to the U.S. Senate, and had himself warned Lovejoy as early as March 1858 to be wary of the possibility of Democrats recruiting
a Republican to run against him. Attempts from conservative Republicans and Democrats
to either replace Lovejoy as the Republican candidate or challenge him with an independent
opponent continued to be a concern throughout the campaign of 1858. Despite these
efforts, Lovejoy was unanimously nominated for reelection at the district Republican
convention in Joliet on June 30, and was returned to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1858 with 57.7
percent of the vote, defeating Douglas Democrat George W. Armstrong who garnered 38.8 percent and Buchanan Democrat David Le Roy who received 3.4 percent.
Howard W. Allen and Vincent A. Lacey, eds., Illinois Elections, 1818-1990 (Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1992), 10, 11,
142; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:456-57; Edward Magdol, Owen Lovejoy: Abolitionist in Congress (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1967), 189-99; Stephen G. Paddock and John H. Bryant to Abraham Lincoln; Abraham Smith to Abraham Lincoln; Abraham Lincoln to Charles H. Ray; Abraham Lincoln to the Editors, Chicago Tribune; David Davis to Abraham Lincoln; James W. Somers to Abraham Lincoln; Henry C. Whitney to Abraham Lincoln and William H. Herndon; Abraham Lincoln to Burton C. Cook; Joseph O. Glover to Abraham Lincoln; Owen Lovejoy to Abraham Lincoln; The Daily Pantagraph (Bloomington, IL), 2 July 1858, 2:1-3; 9 October 1858, 2:2.
3Not long after the date of this letter, Lincoln was nominated on June 16 at the 1858 Illinois Republican Convention to run against incumbent Stephen A. Douglas to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate. See the 1858 Federal Election.
Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 17 June 1858, 2:5; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:457-58.
4Lincoln had also been an aspirant to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate in the
election of 1854 but lost due to the intransigence of a handful of supporters of Lyman Trumbull in
the Illinois General Assembly. When the General Assembly met in joint session on February 8, 1855 to elect the
state’s next U.S. senator, Lincoln received a plurality of votes in the first two
ballots. Five anti-Nebraska Democrats, however, refused to vote for him or for a Douglas Democrat, and instead
backed their fellow anti-Nebraska Democrat Trumbull. Several more rounds of voting
ensued, but after nine rounds of voting no candidate had achieved a majority and Democrat
Joel A. Matteson had the highest number of votes. At this juncture, Lincoln urged his remaining supporters
to vote for Trumbull to ensure that an anti-Nebraska candidate won the seat. In the
tenth round of voting Trumbull received a majority of votes and was declared the winner.
Illinois Senate Journal. 1855. 19th G. A., 242-55; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:400-402; David Herbert Donald, Lincoln
(New York: Touchstone, 1995), 179-85.
5Because the Illinois General Assembly elected the state’s representatives to the U.S.
Senate, the outcome of races for the Illinois House of Representatives and Illinois Senate would be of importance to Lincoln’s campaign. Lincoln and Douglas both campaigned
extensively in 1858 and focused their efforts on the former Whig stronghold of central
Illinois, where the state legislative races were the closest. Among the former Whigs
whose votes were courted were those who had moved into the American Party following the dissolution of the Whig Party.
While Vermilion County was considered to be safely Republican in the 1858 election,
neighboring Edgar County was one of the former “Whig belt” counties that was important
to securing a Republican majority in the General Assembly. Despite Smith’s fears,
the Eighteenth Illinois Senate District, which included Coles, Cumberland, Edgar, and Vermilion counties, and the Twenty-Fourth Illinois House District, which
was contiguous with Edgar County, both returned Republicans to the General Assembly
in 1858. In the Eighteenth Illinois Senate District, Republican Thomas A. Marshall, formerly a Whig, defeated Democrat Usher F. Linder. In the Twenty-Fourth Illinois House District, Republicans nominated Robert Moseley, also a former Whig, as their candidate at a September 1858 convention at which it
was said that “The utmost harmony and good feeling prevailed.” Moseley earned 1,453
votes and defeated Democrat Charles Summers, who received 1,400 votes. When the election for U.S. senator was held in the General
Assembly in January 1859, both Marshall and Moseley voted for Lincoln. While Lincoln
received forty-six votes in the General Assembly, Douglas received fifty-one votes
and retained the seat.
Allen C. Guelzo, “Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of
1858,” The Journal of American History 94 (September 2007), 392-94, 400-401; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:476-77; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac 1673-1968
(Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 219, 222; Chicago Daily Press and Tribune (IL), 1 November 1858, 2:4; The History of Coles County, Illinois
(Chicago: Wm. Le Baron, Jr., 1879), 526; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 4 October 1858, 3:1; The History of Edgar County, Illinois
(Chicago: Wm. Le Baron, Jr., 1879), 346; The Weekly Chicago Times (IL), 11 November 1858, 4:2; Illinois Senate Journal. 1859. 21st G. A., 30; Illinois House Journal. 1859. 21st G. A., 32.
6Lovejoy’s predecessor in the U.S. House of Representatives from the Third Congressional
District of Illinois, Jesse O. Norton, had been elected in 1852 as a Whig, and was
reelected in 1854 as a member of an anti-Nebraska coalition, with the support of abolitionists. The Republican Party was effectively
founded in Illinois at the 1856 Illinois Anti-Nebraska Convention, and in that year Lovejoy defeated Norton for the Republican Party’s nomination in
the Third Congressional District.
Biographical Directory of the American Congress 1774-1996
(Alexandria, VA: CQ Staff Directories, 1997), 1594; The Daily Alton Telegraph (IL), 16 October 1854, 5:2; Illinois Daily Journal (Springfield), 9 November 1854, 2:1; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:415-21; Lewis E. Lehrman, Lincoln at Peoria: The Turning Point (Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2008), 159; Edward Magdol, Owen Lovejoy: Abolitionist in Congress, 154-55.
7No response to this letter by Lincoln has been located. Smith wrote Lincoln again
on the subject of the election of 1858 on June 4 and July 20, 1858.
Autograph Letter Signed, 3 page(s), Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress (Washington, DC).