Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Joseph T. Eccles to Abraham Lincoln, 21 July 18581
Hillsboro July 21. 1858A. Lincoln Esqr[Esquire]Dear Sir,
We understand that Mr Douglas is to be here on Monday week to address the masses– If you have any arrangements to attend to him, we would like to hear from you– I suppose not much can be made by following him in the evening in our little villages– He, of course, will fill up the day– If it will not conflict with your arrangements, I think a good time to be here would be on Friday Oct.[October] 1^st it is the last day of our County Fair, and we could give you a good turn out.– Should it suit your arrangements any better to be here at any other time, give

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us notice–2 Old Montgomery, I think, will do his duty in full– Our Rep.[Representative] District is in the hands of the enemy but, I feel confident, we can elect Gillespie to the Senate, if he will run and there is not great departure in Madison–3 Davis Claims this county by 700— if we do not bring them to 200 I shall be deceived– I understand there is a large Administration party in Christian–4 I do not think that party will amount to much in this County– Let me hear from you as soon as convenient–5
Your friendJ. T. Eccles

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[Envelope]

[HILL]SBOROUGH Ill.[Illinois]
JUL[JULY] 23A. Lincoln EsqrSpringfieldIll–

[ docketing ]
Lincoln, Abraham (President)

J. T. Eccles.6

1Joseph T. Eccles wrote and signed this letter. He also wrote Abraham Lincoln’s name and address on the envelope shown in the third image.

2In the 1858 Federal Election, Democrat Stephen A. Douglas was running for reelection to the U.S. Senate. Lincoln was the Illinois Republican Party’s candidate to replace him.
For a time, Lincoln followed Douglas on the campaign trail, delivering speeches either later in the evening after Douglas finished, or the next day. This posed challenges, however, as many spectators were unwilling to devote long hours or days to campaign events. See the 1858 Illinois Republican Convention.

Politicians and party managers often scheduled political meetings to coincide with circuses, fairs, and other local festivities to ensure a large audience. Circus tents also provided a public place for large crowds to congregate. In the 1858 senatorial campaign, Lincoln and Douglas spoke in several localities in conjunction with circus performances or fairs.
Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:458, 483-85; Richard E. Hart, Circuses in Lincoln’s Springfield (1833-1860) (Springfield: Richard E. Hart, 2013), 7-8; Paul M. Angle, ed., The Complete Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858 (Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press, 1991), 189, 232.

3Montgomery County, Illinois was in the Twentieth Illinois House of Representatives District, along with Christian County. In the local elections of 1856, Democrat Calvin Goudy won the district’s seat. Montgomery County was also in the Twenty-First Illinois Senate District, along with Bond and Madison counties. Joseph Gillespie was up for reelection to the Illinois Senate in 1858.
At the time, members of the Illinois General Assembly voted for and elected the state’s representatives in the U.S. Senate; hence, both Lincoln and Douglas paid close attention to the outcome of the state’s local elections in 1858.
John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac, 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 219, 221; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 5 January 1857, 2:2; 22 September, 1858, 3:1; Allen C. Guelzo, “Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of 1858,” The Journal of American History 94 (September 2007), 394.

4“Administration party” is a reference to pro-James Buchanan Democrats. The Democratic Party split between pro-Douglas and pro-Buchanan factions after Douglas spoke out against the Lecompton Constitution, in December 1857, and criticized President Buchanan for supporting it.
In the Twentieth House District, James M. Davis was the Douglas Democrat candidate for the seat in 1858.
Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:445; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 3 November 1858, 2:2.

5Lincoln replied on July 25. Eccles wrote him at least twice more regarding the elections of 1858.
On July 24, Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of formal debates. Douglas eventually agreed, and these became the Lincoln-Douglas Debates.

Douglas delivered a campaign address in Hillsboro, Illinois on August 2. Lincoln traveled to Hillsboro on September 8, stayed at Eccles’ home, and delivered a campaign speech on September 9.

Gillespie did not officially join the race for the state’s Twenty-First Senate District seat until September, when a union convention held in Madison County and composed of Republicans as well as former Whig and American Party members nominated him for the seat.

In the end, in the local elections of 1858, voters in the Twenty-First Illinois Senate District elected Democrat Samuel A. Buckmaster over Gillespie. Voters in the Twentieth Illinois House District elected Davis. Republicans won a majority of all votes cast in Illinois, but pro-Douglas Democrats retained control of the Illinois General Assembly. Lincoln ultimately received forty-six votes in the General Assembly. Buckmaster and Davis both cast their ballots for Douglas, who received a total of fifty-one votes and retained his seat in the U.S. Senate. Through the campaign, however, and in particular through his participation in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, Lincoln gained recognition as well as standing within the national Republican Party.
Abraham Lincoln to Joseph T. Eccles; Joseph T. Eccles to Abraham Lincoln; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:483-85, 556-57; Abraham Lincoln to Stephen A. Douglas; Abraham Lincoln to Stephen A. Douglas; Stephen A. Douglas to Abraham Lincoln; Stephen A. Douglas to Abraham Lincoln; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 6 August 1858, 2:2; 22 September, 1858, 3:1; 13 November 1858, 2:3; The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, 8 September 1858, https://thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-09-08; 9 September 1858, https://thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-09-09; Illinois House Journal. 1859. 21st G. A., 32; Illinois Senate Journal. 1859. 21st G. A., 30; Allen C. Guelzo, “Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of 1858,” 414-16.

6Lincoln wrote this docketing vertically on the left side of the envelope shown in the third image.