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Gilbert C. Turner and Others to Abraham Lincoln, 5 August 18581
Mount Carmel Augt 5th 1858.Hon Abraham LincolnDear Sir
At the request of some of the friends of the Republican cause we have taken the liberty of writing to you with regard to its interests in southern Ills. It is known to you that in this portion of the state "Americanism" had strong footing, embracing in its councils many who had but a short time previously been strong whigs firm in their adherence to whig principles, and firm in their opposition to the Democratic party. Since the utter discomfiture of the Know-nothing party in this state there are numbers of these men now at a loss what course to pursue, or to what political party to attach themselves.
Now we do positively believe, that if you can by any possibility visit our County of Wabash and some of the adjoining counties say White, Edwards, and the counties below in Egypt and give us a speech in each Co[County], it would decide many who are now unsettled in this matter.2
If your engagements are such that you Cannot visit us, is there not some reliable man you can send into this portion of the
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of the state. We are anxious to have some one visit us, able to set before the People the principles of the Republican Party. This portion of the state has been entirely overlooked in this respect, and in some of the counties of S[Southern]. Ills[Illinois]. there has never been a republican speech made. In these portions of the Country the Republican Party has been most wilfully and maliciously misrepresented We would again urge upon your consideration the importance of visiting southern Ills. and the sooner the better, for the reasons above stated to decide the undecided and wavering.
If Mr Douglas or some zealous partizan of his gets the start of you in this matter he will gain a decided advantage, for such is the state of parties here that much is to be gained to the party that first thrusts his sickle into this political field.
If you conclude to come or send a hand please let us know the time, let it be as early as possible, say sometime the early part of September or sooner if possible3
With much respect
Yours, &c[etc.]
Chas. J. Miller G C Turner
Geo W Lingenfelter
Henry Stees
L Aborn
T. J. Shannon
4
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[Envelope]
MOUNT CARMEL Ills.
AUG[AUGUST] 10Hon. Abrm LincolnSpringfieldIllinois
[ docketing ]
Farrer5
1Gilbert C. Turner wrote and signed this letter. He also wrote Abraham Lincoln’s name and address on the envelope shown in the third image.
2Since the formation of the Know Nothing or American Party in Illinois in 1855, the Illinois Republican Party had to contend with their influence in local politics. After the Whig Party collapsed, some Whigs allied themselves with the American Party, but many were unaligned with either the Republicans or Democrats by 1858. The Democratic Party held an advantage in southern Illinois: not only was the region a Democratic stronghold; it was also an area settled by many emigrants from the Deep South. American Party members and old conservative Whigs in southern Illinois—particularly those with racist ideologies and deep-seated loyalties to the American South—were susceptible to Democratic appeals during the 1858 election campaign.
At the time of this letter, Lincoln was running as the Illinois Republican Party’s candidate to replace incumbent Democrat Stephen A. Douglas in the U.S. Senate. In the summer and fall of 1858, both he and Douglas crisscrossed Illinois delivering speeches and campaigning on behalf of candidates for the Illinois General Assembly. Members of the General Assembly elected the state’s representatives in the U.S. Senate at the time; therefore the outcome of the races for the Illinois House of Representatives and Illinois Senate were of great importance to Lincoln and Douglas’ senatorial campaigns. Edwards and Wabash counties were part of Illinois’ Twentieth Senate district. White County was part of the state’s Twenty-Third Senate district. Wabash and White counties also comprised Illinois’ Ninth House district, while Edwards and Wayne counties comprised the state’s Tenth House district. See also 1858 Illinois Republican Convention.
Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:407-8, 457-85; Allen C. Guelzo, “Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of 1858,” The Journal of American History 94 (September 2007), 394, 400, 404; Stephen Hansen and Paul Nygard, “Stephen A. Douglas, the Know-Nothings, and the Democratic Party in Illinois, 1854-1858,” Illinois Historical Journal 87 (Summer 1994), 121, 123, 130; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 219.
3If Lincoln replied to this letter his response has not been located.
While Wabash and Edwards counties contained enough undecided former Whigs to be considered part of the state’s competitive “Whig belt,” White County was not. Most of the Whig belt was located in central Illinois, which is where Lincoln and Douglas both focused their campaigns. Although neither man delivered political speeches in Wabash, Edwards, or White counties, both men spoke in other parts of southern Illinois in September. They debated one another in Jonesboro on September 15, as part of the famous Lincoln-Douglas Debates. Douglas also spoke in Waterloo on September 11, Chester on September 13, Cairo on September 14, Benton on September 16, and Centralia on September 17. Lincoln spoke in Centralia on September 16.
In the local elections of 1858, Democrats Silas L. Bryan and Samuel H. Martin held over in the Twentieth and Twenty-Third Senate districts respectively. Voters in the Ninth Illinois House district elected Democrat John G. Powell, and voters in the Tenth Illinois House district elected Democrat Robert T. Forth. In the end, Republicans won a majority of all votes cast in Illinois, but pro-Douglas Democrats retained control of the Illinois General Assembly, and Douglas ultimately won reelection. Bryan, Martin, Powell, and Forth each cast their ballots for Douglas. 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.
The Illinois State Journal (Springfield, IL), 17 November, 1858, 2:4; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac 1673-1968, 222; Illinois House Journal. 1859. 21st G. A., 32; Illinois Senate Journal. 1859. 21st G. A., 30; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:556-57; Allen C. Guelzo, “Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of 1858,” 392, 406, 414-16; Harry E. Pratt, The Great Debates (Springfield, IL: Illinois State Historical Library, 1955), 6-7.
4Turner, Charles J. Miller, George W. Lingenfelter, Henry Stees, Lavie Aborn, and Thomas J. Shannon each signed their own names.
5Lincoln wrote this script vertically on the left side of the envelope shown in the third image. Farrer could not be positively identified.

Autograph Letter Signed, 3 page(s), Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress (Washington, DC).