Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Lyman Trumbull to Abraham Lincoln, 19 July 18581
Washington, July 19, 1858.Hon. A Lincoln,Dr.[Dear] Sir,
I have read your speech & Douglas’ at Chicago, & think you exposed very clearly his false logic, or rather I should say, his downright misrepresentations of your remarks at Springfield– Your Springfield speech was a very happy one, & Douglas can never answer, though he may misrepresent it–2 It is in misrepresentation & raising false issues that his power consists– He never did debate a question fairly– I see by the papers that his friends are very active in getting up big meetings &

<Page 2>
making parades over him. I know you despise such appliances & so do I, but still they have their effect– Many persons are dazzled by these shows, & others by being made participants are drawn into his support. I thought that our friends did not pay attention enough to these outside matters two years ago.

The Union as you perceive is still finding fault with Douglas, but somehow I cannot think that the opposition to him from that source will amount to anything in our State–3 Hope I may be mistaken. Is it your intention to traverse the state & address public meetings, as was done two years ago? Suppose Douglas will do it, & that may make it

<Page 3>
necessary that others should– I would go through South Ill. if it is thought advisable,4 but do not suppose we can expect any members South of St Clair unless possibly we get one from Randolph;5 & our state ticket, I take it, is in no danger–6 Of course our chief attention ought to be turned to the doubtful counties & those no doubt you will look after– I shall soon be home & expect d^t^o do what I can for the success of the cause during the Fall. Gov. Koerner writes me that he thinks we will be pretty certain of the St. Clair members, which will be a gain of one–7 I am a little uneasy about Madison– The strong Filmore influence there makes it a troublesome county to manage. Have you

<Page 4>
any information from that Co.? It may all be right & that we will carry the Co.[County] by a thousand majority, & yet it is not impossible that we may loose the county.8

Let me hear from you fully what your plans are.9 Our cause is just, the people are with us, & we must not, & shall not fail for want of effort so far as I am concerned–
Yours Sincerely,Lyman Trumbull.

<Page 5>

[Envelope]
L. TrumbullWASHINGTON CY D.C.[CITY DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA]
FREE
JUL[JULY] 19 1858Hon. A. Lincoln,Springfield,Illinois

1Lyman Trumbull wrote and signed this letter, including the handwritten frank and address on the envelope.

2Stephen A. Douglas had commenced his 1858 campaign for reelection to the U.S. Senate with a speech in Chicago on July 9, 1858, in which he criticized the so-called “House Divided” speech delivered by Lincoln on June 16, 1858, at the Illinois Republican Convention in Springfield. Lincoln followed with a speech in Chicago on July 10 in which he rebutted Douglas’ characterization of the language he used in describing the United States as a “House Divided” and denied that he advocated sectional division or that he desired that the federal government have power over individual state matters. Lincoln also explained in his Chicago speech that he felt Douglas misrepresented his opposition to the decision in the case of Scott v. Sandford as resistence to the enforcement of the law. Although he argued for the overturning of the case, Lincoln stated he still intended to abide by it while it was law.
Report of Speech at Springfield, Illinois; Report of Speech at Springfield, Illinois; Fragment of A House Divided: Speech at Springfield, Illinois; Report of Speech at Springfield, Illinois; Robert W. Johannsen, ed., The Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1965), 22-36; Report of Speech at Chicago, Illinois; Report of Speech at Chicago, Illinois; Report of Speech at Chicago, Illinois.

3In his letter to Trumbull of June 23, 1858, Lincoln referred to an article in the Washington Union which had criticized Douglas. The newspaper, an organ of President James Buchanan and his administration, published several more articles over the course of July 1858 critical of Douglas’ actions regarding the Lecomption Constitution, his criticism of which had caused him to break with the Buchanan and led to a split in the Democratic Party.
The Washington Union (DC), 13 July 1858, 2:2; 15 July 1858, 2:1-2; 16 July 1858, 2:1-2; 18 July 1858, 2:1; Frederic Hudson, Journalism in the United States, From 1690 to 1872 (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1873), 258; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:445-46.

4From July 1856 onwards Lincoln gave over fifty speeches across Illinois in support of the presidential campaign of John C. Fremont and to rally the disparate elements of the emerging Republican Party. See the 1856 Federal Election.
Following Lincoln’s nomination at the Illinois Republican Convention in June of 1858 to run against Douglas for the U.S. Senate, both men campaigned extensively, giving speeches and engaging in the famed Lincoln-Douglas Debates. 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 in the election of 1858 were of importance in the campaign. Lincoln and Douglas both focused their campaign efforts on the former Whig stronghold of central Illinois, where the state legislative races were the closest. See the 1858 Federal Election.
Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:425-33, 476-77; Allen C. Guelzo, “Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of 1858,” The Journal of American History 94 (September 2007), 394, 400-401.

5The voters of Randolph County did not return any Republicans to the Illinois General Assembly in the election of 1858. Randolph County, along with Clinton, Jackson, Perry, and Washington counties, comprised Illinois Senate District Twenty-four, where Democrat Elzey C. Coffey held over in 1858. In District Six of the Illinois House of Representatives, which consisted solely of Randolph County, Democrat John E. Detrich received 1,063 votes, defeating Republican candidate Gabriel Jones, who garnered 958. Both Coffey and Detrich voted for Stephen A. Douglas for U.S. Senate in the election of 1858.
John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 219, 221, 222; The Belvidere Standard (IL), 18 November 1856, 2:5; Chicago Daily Press and Tribune (IL), 1 November 1858, 2:4; 5 November 1858, 1:3; The Weekly Pantagraph (Bloomington, IL), 17 November 1858, 1:4; Illinois House Journal. 1859. 21st G. A., 32.

6The state positions up for election in Illinois in 1858 were treasurer and superintendent of public instruction. Illinois Republicans nominated James Miller and Newton Bateman respectively for these offices at their state convention on June 16. Both men won election in November 1858, with Miller receiving 3,821 more votes than his nearest competitor, and Bateman garnering a 2,143-vote majority over his closest competitor.
Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 17 June 1858, 2:4-5; 27 November 1858, 2:1-2.

7Voters in St. Clair County, which constituted Illinois House of Representatives District Twelve, reelected Republican Vital Jarrot in 1858, and elected Republican John Scheel, who replaced outgoing Democrat William W. Roman. In the election of 1858, William H. Underwood held over as the member of the Illinois Senate representing St. Clair and Monroe counties. Although Underwood joined ranks with the Republican Party later in life, at the time he was elected to this Illinois Senate seat in 1856, he was a Democrat.
John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac 1673-1968, 219, 221, 222; Chicago Daily Press and Tribune (IL), 5 November 1858, 1:3; The Weekly Chicago Times (IL), 27 November 1856, 4:2; Illinois Weekly State Journal (Springfield), 29 September 1875, 2:1.

8A few days prior to the date of this letter Lincoln had written Joseph Gillespie of Madison County to convey his own concerns about the political situation in that county. Lincoln and Trumbull were correct to be worried about the prospects of the Republican Party in Madison County in 1858. In the race for Illinois Senate in District Twenty-One, which included Bond, Madison, and Montgomery counties, Democrat Samuel A. Buckmaster beat Republican incumbent Gillespie by 184 votes. Madison County constituted District Fourteen of the Illinois House of Representatives, and voters in the county elected Zephaniah B. Job and Joseph H. Sloss in 1858. The two men, who ran as Democrats, respectively defeated Republicans Isaac Cox and Curtis Blakeman, jr., who ran on a People’s Party ticket that attempted to fuse adherents of the American Party with the Republican Party. Buckmaster, Job, and Sloss all voted for Douglas for U.S. Senate in the election of 1858.
John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac 1673-1968, 219, 221, 222; Alton Daily Courier (IL), 7 October 1858, 2:2-3; 4 November 1858, 2:1-2; W. T. Norton, ed., Centennial History of Madison County, Illinois and Its People 1812 to 1912 (Chicago: Lewis, 1912), 1:81; Illinois House Journal. 1859. 21st G. A., 32.

9No response to this letter by Lincoln has been located, but the pair exchanged several further letters during the course of the election of 1858.
Lyman Trumbull to Abraham Lincoln; Lyman Trumbull to Abraham Lincoln; Lyman Trumbull to Abraham Lincoln; Abraham Lincoln to Lyman Trumbull; Lyman Trumbull to Abraham Lincoln.