Charles H. Ray to Abraham Lincoln, [July] 18581
Chicago, TuesdayMy Dear Sir,It was my suspicion that Abe Lincoln was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth; and that suspicion more than anything
else impelled me to make the request which I did.2 Matthias Mount, in Mackinaw, whom you know very well, used to tell me—I know not with how much truth—of your
joint adventures in rail-splitting and the like, for wages that would now seem ridiculously
small.3 He told me enough to make me desirous to learn more; and I take it that the public
to whom you are an object of concern, have the same curiosity that I feel.4 In my
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way of thinking, you occupy a position, present and prospectively, that need not
shrink from the declaration of an origin ever so humble. If you have been the architect
of your own fortunes, you may claim ^the^ more merit. The best part of the Lincoln family is not, like potatoes, under the ground.
Had you not better reconsider your request refusal?5About that late paragraph of which you complain: It was done in my absence. As no
man is ubiquitous or can be omniscient, something in the management of a daily paper
must be trusted to subordinates; and sometimes somethings go wrong. That paragraph was one of them. I think Medill did it. It seems to have made no stir; perhaps it escaped observation. I hope so.6
Yours Very TrulyC. H. Ray,Hon. A. Lincoln<Page 3>
[Envelope]
CHICAGO Ill[Illinois]
[J?]U[L?] [6?] 1858Hon. A. Lincoln,Springfield,Ills.
[J?]U[L?] [6?] 1858Hon. A. Lincoln,Springfield,Ills.
1Charles H. Ray wrote and signed this letter. He also wrote Abraham Lincoln’s name
and address on the envelope shown in the third image.
Ray does not date this letter. The editors derived an approximate date from the content
of this letter, the content of a previous letter written by Ray to Lincoln, and the postmark on the envelope.
2Ray is most likely referencing a letter he wrote Lincoln on June 29 on behalf of Ray, Medill & Company, asking Lincoln for biographical information.
3As a young man Lincoln was skilled with an axe, using the instrument to help his family
clear land and sometimes earning wages by hiring himself out to split rails and perform
other manual labor.
Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:24, 33; David Herbert Donald,
Lincoln (New York: Touchstone, 1995), 245.
4At the time, Lincoln was the Illinois Republican Party’s candidate for the U.S. Senate. He was running against Democratic incumbent Stephen A. Douglas.
Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:458.
5Lincoln’s reply to Ray, Medill and Company’s June 29 letter has not been located, but Lincoln apparently did not reconsider his decision not
to comply with Ray's request. No biography or autobiography of Lincoln appeared in
the Chicago Press and Tribune in 1858 or 1859. However, Lincoln sent Charles Lanman biographical information in August 1858. He also composed a brief biography for Jesse W. Fell in December 1859, and collaborated with John L. Scripps on a lengthier biography in the summer of 1860.
Although Ray’s desire to tout Lincoln’s humble beginnings for campaign purposes was
not realized during the 1858 election campaign, Lincoln’s supporters revived the idea in 1860. During the 1860 Federal Election, supporters labeled Lincoln “the Rail Candidate” in an effort to emphasize his pioneer
origins and enhance his popular appeal. The label stuck, eventually evolving into
the nickname “the Rail Splitter.”
David Herbert Donald, Lincoln, 244-45.
6Lincoln wrote Ray on June 27, complaining about an editorial on the congressional election in
Indiana's Seventh Congressional District that the Chicago Daily Tribune published in its June 26, 1858 edition.
Lincoln and Ray exchanged at least eleven other letters during 1858 related to the
local and federal elections of that year. Ultimately, Douglas won reelection to the
U.S. Senate in the 1858 Federal Election. Through the campaign, however, and in particular through his participation in the
Lincoln-Douglas Debates, Lincoln gained national recognition as well as standing within the Republican Party.
In the federal election of 1860, he won the presidency.
Charles H. Ray to Abraham Lincoln; Charles H. Ray to Abraham Lincoln; Charles H. Ray to Abraham Lincoln; Charles H. Ray to Abraham Lincoln; Abraham Lincoln to Charles H. Ray; Abraham Lincoln to the Editors, Chicago Tribune; Ray, Medill & Company to Abraham Lincoln; Abraham Lincoln to Charles H. Ray; Charles H. Ray to Abraham Lincoln; Charles H. Ray to Abraham Lincoln; Abraham Lincoln to Charles H. Ray; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:550, 556-57, 679-80.
Autograph Letter Signed, 3 page(s), Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress (Washington, DC).