Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Lewis Dodge to Abraham Lincoln, 12 July 18581
Library of the Chicago Mechanics Institute
July 12^th 1858Hon Abraham LincolnDr[Dear] sir
I shall take pleasure in placing at your service during your stay in the City the Library and Reading Room of the Mechanics Institute2
I am Sir
Yours TrulyLewis Dodge
Secretary C. M. I.Rooms S.W. Cor[Southwest Corner] Clark & Washington Sts.[Streets]
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1Lewis Dodge wrote and signed this letter.

2No response to this letter has been located, nor has any evidence of Abraham Lincoln visiting the Mechanics’ Institute of Chicago at this time. Lincoln was in Chicago between July 9 and 14, 1858, in part to attend the U.S. Circuit Court for the Northern District of Illinois. While in the city, he attended Stephen A. Douglas’ first speech of his 1858 U.S. Senate campaign, and gave a speech of his own at Tremont House on the evening of July 10.
The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, 9 July 1858, http://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-07-09; 10 July 1858, http://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-07-10; 14 July 1858, http://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-07-14.