Norman B. Judd to Abraham Lincoln, 1 June 18581
Chicago June 1st 1858Hon. A. LincolnDear sir–Your favor was duly received–2 I delayed answering it for a day or two in order to enquire– We have certainly
received some injury by the N.Y. Tribune, but not enough to alarm us–3 There is no trouble immediately at home, but rumors from the rural districts show
that some of the brethern, have thought the puffing of Douglass meant something– These things are not serious enough to alarm us but will bear watching–
If D. should come home— denounce Dred Scottism and the South and modify Squatter Sovereignty some he might effect us some, but
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still I believe he cannot hurt us seriously– If that is done the Buchanan organization will have additional strength– If the two wings of the democracy coalesce we shall loose more of our friends— and seperate we can beat them any how4I see no cause for alarm– our Springfield convention will set all right both here and at the East Unless we do something very rash we have got them I think certainly but my opinion is always given subject to your better information
as to the Center and the South
Say to Mr Johnson that the matter he wrote about will be attended to at the convention5
Yr[Your] friendN B Judd6<Page 3>
[Envelope]
[CHICAG]O Ill[Illinois]
[JUNE 2] 1858Hon. A. LincolnSpringfieldIlls.[Illinois]
[JUNE 2] 1858Hon. A. LincolnSpringfieldIlls.[Illinois]
3On this same date Lincoln wrote to Charles L. Wilson that although Horace Greeley denied direct involvement on behalf of Steven A. Douglas’ bid for reelection to the
U.S. Senate in the election of 1858, Greeley’s preference for Douglas was evident in the New York Tribune, of which he was editor. Lincoln asserted that the newspaper was widely read in Illinois and described Greeley’s positive feelings for Douglas as conveyed in the publication
as an ongoing “drag” on the Republican Party in Illinois.
Erik S. Lunde, “Greeley, Horace,” American National Biography, ed. by John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999),
9:467-70.
4Douglas had criticized the Lecompton Constitution and President James Buchanan’s support of it in December 1857, causing a rift in
the Democratic Party. Douglas’ repudiation of the Lecompton Constitution led some Republicans to consider
supporting him in the U.S. Senate race in Illinois in 1858. Although Douglas later
denied it, he courted Republican support—meeting in person with prominent eastern
Republicans such as Greeley and hinting in correspondence that he was finished with
the Democratic Party. Lincoln and other Republicans were concerned by these developments
and urged fellow party members to remain loyal in the upcoming election. In Lincoln’s
view, Douglas disagreed with the Buchanan administration over whether the Lecompton
Constitution accurately represented the will of Kansans, but did not repudiate the
overall goal of admitting Kansas as a slave state.
Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:445-50.
5Possibly a reference to John O. Johnson, who at or around this time was secretary to the Illinois Republican State Central Committee, of which Judd was currently chairman. During his tenure in Illinois in the 1850s,
Johnson acted as a correspondent for the New York Tribune as well as a private correspondent of Greeley’s.
Delegates to the Illinois Republican Convention held on June 16, 1858, unanimously
nominated Lincoln to challenge Douglas for a seat in 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 of Representatives and Illinois Senate were of importance to Lincoln’s campaign. With the counties of northern Illinois
leaned strongly Republican and those of the southern part of the state leaned Democratic,
the outcome of elections in central Illinois became pivotal. Lincoln and Douglas
both focused their efforts in the 1858 election campaign on central Illinois, a former
Whig stronghold, where the state legislative races were the closest.
Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 17 June 1858, 2:2; John O. Johnson to Abraham Lincoln; Allen C. Guelzo, “House Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of
1858,” The Journal of American History 94 (September 2007), 392-94, 400-401.
6No direct response to this letter has been located. The next extant letter between Judd and Lincoln relates to arranging the Lincoln-Douglas Debates.
Autograph Letter Signed, 3 page(s), Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress (Washington, DC).