Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

William H. L. Wallace to Abraham Lincoln, 9 August 18581
Ottawa Aug. 9. 1858Hon A. LincolnSpringfieldDear Sir:–
A committee of Republicans has been appointed to make arrangements for the meeting between yourself and Judge Douglass at this place on the 21^st inst.2 In behalf of that committee I write ^to^ ascertain from you at what hour and by what train you will reach here, and whether or not you will come in company with Judge D. Please let us know by Saturday next, as we are acting in conjunction as far as practicable, with a similar committee appointed by the

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Douglass Democrats— and we are to have a joint meeting of the committees on Saturday evening next to complete the arrangements–3
Very Respectfully
Yours &c[etc]W^m H L Wallace

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[Envelope]

OTTAWA Ill[Illinois].
AUG[AUGUST] 9Hon A. LincolnSpringfieldIllinois

[ docketing ]
Lincoln, Abraham (President)

Wallace
Not to be.4

1William H. L. Wallace wrote and signed this letter. He also wrote Abraham Lincoln’s name and address on the envelope shown in the third image.

2Lincoln and Democratic senatorial incumbent Stephen A. Douglas were scheduled to debate one another in Ottawa, Illinois, on August 21 in the first of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates. Lincoln was running against Douglas in the 1858 Federal Election as the Illinois Republican Party’s candidate for the U.S. Senate. See the 1858 Illinois Republican Convention.
The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, 21 August 1858, https://thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-08-21; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:458.

3If Lincoln wrote a response to this letter, it has not been located. Lincoln traveled heavily during the summer and fall of 1858, crisscrossing Illinois delivering speeches and campaigning on behalf of Republican candidates. At the time, the Illinois General Assembly elected the state’s representatives in the U.S. Senate; thus the outcome of the races for the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate was highly relevant to the 1858 Federal Election. Lincoln departed Springfield, Illinois, just two days after Wallace wrote this letter. It is therefore possible that he did not receive it in time to reply. After not receiving a response, Wallace wrote Lincoln twice more attempting to ascertain Lincoln’s travel plans for the Ottawa debate.
Ultimately, Lincoln traveled by train from Peoria, Illinois to Morris, Illinois on Friday, August 20. Then, after spending the night in Morris, he caught the special train on August 21 as it passed through Morris and journeyed with the crowds on board to attend the debate in Ottawa, arriving shortly after noon. He was then conveyed by carriage in a procession to Joseph O. Glover’s house.

In the end, in the local elections of 1858, although Republicans won a majority of all votes cast in Illinois, pro-Douglas Democrats retained control of the Illinois General Assembly, and Douglas won reelection to 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.
Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:546-47, 556-57; Allen C. Guelzo, “Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of 1858,” The Journal of American History 94 (September 2007), 394, 414-16; The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, 11 August 1858, https://thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-08-11; 19 August 1858, https://thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-08-19; 20 August 1858, https://thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-08-20; 21 August 1858, https://thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-08-21; The Ottawa Free Trader (IL), 14 August 1858, 2:1; William H. L. Wallace to Abraham Lincoln; William H. L. Wallace to Abraham Lincoln; First Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Ottawa, Illinois; First Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Ottawa, Illinois; First Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Ottawa, Illinois.

4Lincoln wrote this docketing vertically on the left side of the envelope shown in the third image.