John Wentworth to Abraham Lincoln, 6 June 18581
Chicago, June 6. 1858.Dr[Dear] sirI write you to advise that your Journal look out & counteract the efforts of the Register to depreciate the coming Buchanan convention The Journal should report proceedings at large, beginning with announcing their arrivals.
It should also refer to the number of respectable men present, Colonels, Judges, Honorables,
&c. &c.[etc etc]
There are thousands of men ready to come out from Douglass the moment that they are satisfied that the Buchanan men are in earnest & can even
arise to the dignity of a party.
It is only through the Journal that the people can ever find out how numerous a party
that of Buchanan is in Illinois. All depends on this. Now let the Journal do justice to the
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immense gathering.2The extension of the time for the session of Congress, will do us good, as it keeps Douglass away from here.3 Give us a good Buchanan convention & ^it^ will confirm all our wavering friends.
My article against the conspiracy to beat you had its desired effect. They are all
writing me to stop & promise to do so themselves. I am confident that we shall have
no more trouble from without.4
The celebrated F. J. Grund is here & is doing all he can to get possession of the Buchanan party. I fear he
is a sort of umpire between the Douglass & Buchanan forces.5
If I do not go East before the Convention, I shall so soon after that I fear that I shall not be able go to attend it. But,
after all, we ^have^ more at stake in the
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Buchanan convention than in our own.6The Editors of the Journal must put on their magnifying glasses. If I go East, I shall return again soon; certainly
as soon as I am needed.
In great hasteYr obt St[Your obedient Servant]John Wentworth7Hon A Lincoln
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[Envelope]
CHICAGO Ill[Illinois]
JUN[June] 7 1858Hon A LincolnSpringfieldIllinois
JUN[June] 7 1858Hon A LincolnSpringfieldIllinois
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TREMONT HOUSE,
CHICAGO.
GAGE, BRO. & DRAKE, Proprietors.
CHICAGO.
GAGE, BRO. & DRAKE, Proprietors.
2In December 1857, Stephen A. Douglas spoke out against the Lecompton Constitution and criticized President James Buchanan for supporting it, causing a rift in the
Democratic Party and the emergence of pro-Douglas and pro-Buchanan factions. Wentworth, who strenuously
opposed Douglas, was among the Illinois Republican leaders who hoped that encouraging a separate Buchanan Democratic Party in Illinois
would undermine Douglas.
Buchanan Democrats in Illinois held a state convention at the State House in Springfield
on June 9, 1858. No correspondence from Lincoln to the editors of the Illinois State Journal conveying Wentworth’s advice for reporting on this convention has been located, however
the paper published a list of men who had arrived in Springfield the evening preceding
the convention, including titles and honorifics for many. The Illinois State Journal published the proceedings of the convention, including a list of the delegates present,
which it estimated at nearly three hundred people, “all fine looking men”, and editorialized
that the convention was “a most enthusiastic assemblage of Democrats, composed of
many of the leading men of the party in this State.” The paper ended its commentary
on the convention by saying “It is clear that the Douglasites have no chance whatever, and their best policy is to abandon their present organization
and unite with the Republicans. We give them a cordial invitation to come over into
our ranks.”
The Illinois State Register, in contrast, referred to the Buchanan Democratic convention variously as “The Bogus
Convention” and “The Seceders’ Convention”, reported that the delegates in attendance
only represented fifteen to twenty of Illinois’ one hundred and one counties, and
accused the Illinois State Journal of listing delegates and counties as being present at the convention when they did
not actually attend.
Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:445; Don E. Fehrenbacher,
Chicago Giant: A Biography of Long John Wentworth (Madison, WI: The American History Research Center, 1957), 151-57; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 9 June 1858, 2:1; 10 June 1858, 2:1-4; Daily Illinois State Register (Springfield), 10 June 1858, 2:1-2; 11 June 1858, 2:1.
3The proposed date of adjournment for the first session of the Thirty-Fifth Congress
was changed several times in early June of 1858 as the two house of the U.S. Congress
considered a final flurry of resolutions and bills. The U.S. Senate passed a resolution on June 3 to change the date of adjournment from June 7 to June
14, 1858. The U.S. House of Representatives amended the resolution, suggesting an adjournment date of June 10, to which the Senate
agreed on June 4. Following additional resolutions and discussions, both houses of
the U.S. Congress concurred on June 9 to change the date of adjournment to June 14,
1858. As that day approached, President Buchanan sent a message to Congress on June
12, with a recommendation to postpone adjourning until appropriation bills then under
consideration were passed and the condition of the U.S. Treasury was assessed and secured. The first session of the Thirty-Fifth Congress adjourned
as planned on June 14, but Buchanan issued a proclamation on that day declaring that
an “extraordinary occasion” required the Senate to convene for a special session on
June 15. The Senate convened for the special session on Tuesday, June 15 and adjourned
the following day.
U.S. Senate Journal. 1858. 35th Cong., 1st sess., 595, 597, 604-5, 617, 651; U.S. Senate Journal. 1858. 35th Cong., 2nd special sess., 721; U.S. House Journal. 1858. 35th Cong., 1st sess., 1013-14, 1064-65; Cong. Globe, 35th Cong., First Sess., 2981, 3048-50 (1858); Cong. Globe, 35th Cong., 2nd Special Sess., 3051, 3061 (1858).
4Wentworth’s article in the Chicago Democrat of May 31, 1858 was enclosed to Lincoln by Charles L. Wilson in a letter of that same day. In the article, entitled “The Seward-Douglas Conspiracy to Betray
the Republican Party”, Wentworth claimed that Douglas had pledged to support William H. Seward for president in 1860, in exchange for eastern Republicans supporting his reelection to the U.S. Senate
in 1858 rather than backing Lincoln for the office.
Chicago Daily Democrat (IL), 31 May 1858, 2:1.
5Francis J. Grund arrived in Chicago by late May, 1858 to canvass on behalf of the
Buchanan administration and against Douglas. Although at this time Grund was a resident
of Washington, DC, he attended the Buchanan Democratic convention in Springfield on June 9, 1858 as
a delegate for Cook County, which he apparently justified due to his ownership of property in Chicago. Despite
Wentworth’s fear that Grund would help unite the Buchanan and Douglas wings of the
Democratic Party in Illinois, he was the target of negative press from Douglas supporters,
who accused him of treachery and of being motivated to support Buchanan in the hopes
of obtaining political appointment. Following his return to the east, Grund reportedly
claimed that he had worked to ensure Douglas’ defeat for U.S. Senate, expected to
see a Republican elected to the office, and spoke approvingly of Lincoln.
Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 29 May 1858, 2:3; 10 June 1858, 2:3; The Weekly Chicago Times (IL), 3 June 1858, 1:1; 10 June 1858, 3:2; Daily Illinois State Register (Springfield), 12 June 1858, 2:1; 19 June 1858, 2:2; 21 June 1858, 2:2; 7 July 1858,
2:2; The Weekly Pantagraph (Bloomington, IL), 16 June 1858, 2:5.
6Wentworth attended the Illinois Republican State Convention in Springfield on June 16 as a delegate for Cook County, then traveled a few days
later to join his family in Troy, New York, staying east until mid-October 1858. Delegates at the convention unanimously nominated
Lincoln to challenge Douglas for the U.S. Senate.
Don E. Fehrenbacher, Chicago Giant: A Biography of Long John Wentworth, 159; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 17 June 1858, 2:3; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life , 1:458.
7No response to this letter by Lincoln has been located. Wentworth had previously written to Lincoln regarding politics on April 19, 1858.
Autograph Letter Signed, 6 page(s), Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress (Washington, DC).