Andrew McCallen to Abraham Lincoln, 12 June 18581
Shawneetown IllsJune 12th 1858HonA. LincolnDear Sir.
Circumstances over which I have no control will prevent my visitig Springfield, at the sitting of the Republican Convention2
My young friend Mr Edwards the bearer of this is one of our delegates He has resumed the publication of the Southern Illinoisan as a Republican paper, and is anxious to give it a wide circulation. Any favours that can be extend to the Enterprise by our Republican friends, will be duly appreciated, and I trust
amply Repaid–
Our Friend Mr Olney will also be in attendance as a delegate. We are anxious for him to run for Congress in this district and he has given his consent to the arangement provided there is no other Republican Candidate We have a rumor here
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that Mr Wiley of Jonesboro is also upon the track.
I hope that our friends at springfield will arrange this mattar and sette it between them.
Mr Olney is popular a good speaker, and he proposes to make a general Canvass over the
district. These are considerations of much weight, and I hope that he may have the
track without opposition3
Yours TrulyA. McCallen4<Page 3>
[Envelope]
Hon A LincolnSpringfieldIll
Per
Mr Edwards
1Andrew McCallen wrote and signed this letter, including the address and delivery information
on the envelope.
2McCallen had been selected at the June 5, 1858, Gallatin County Republican convention as a delegate to the 1858 Illinois Republican Convention along
with John Olney, Sr. and John W. Edwards. Although McCallen was listed as having attended
the convention in Springfield on June 16, 1858, he apparently was not present. Lincoln
was a delegate from Sangamon County.
Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 15 June 1858, 2:2; 17 June 1858, 2:3-4.
3The Republicans of Gallatin County had passed a resolution at their county convention
requesting that Olney be named the candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in the Illinois Ninth Congressional District in the election of 1858. Other counties in the district endorsed Benjamin L. Wiley for the office. Wiley
was selected to run, but dropped out of the race in September 1858 citing business
obligations that prevented him from canvassing. David L. Phillips was chosen to replace him as candidate. Phillips lost the election to Democrat John A. Logan in a resounding defeat, earning only 14.8% of the vote compared to Logan’s 84.2%.
Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 15 June 1858, 2:2; 7 September 1858, 2:3; 21 September 1858, 3:1;
The Weekly Pantagraph (Bloomington, IL), 26 May 1858, 1:1; Howard W. Allen and Vincent A. Lacey, eds.,
Illinois Elections, 1818-1990 (Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1992), 11, 143.
Autograph Letter Signed, 3 page(s), Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress (Washington, DC).