Peter K. Hull to Abraham Lincoln, 13 August 18581
Monticello IllsHon A LincolnDr[Dear] SirWe have determined to have a Barbecue &[c?] & on the 6th, and a big time generally, we wish to know from you if Trumbull will be here and urge you to get him to come if possible. we also want to know which
way, and at what time, you will reach Monticello, so that we can make arrangements
accordingly. . You may expect a large turn out if the weather is propitious. Every thing looks more favourable than when you was here for the election of Stickle.– I wish to have a conference with you before you speak.– Answer soon2
Yours &P K HullAug 13th 1858<Page 2>
[Envelope]
MONTICELLO Ills[Illinois].
AUG[AUGUST] 13Hon. A LincolnSpringfieldIlls
AUG[AUGUST] 13Hon. A LincolnSpringfieldIlls
1Peter K. Hull wrote and signed this letter. He also wrote Abraham Lincoln’s name and
address on the envelope shown in the second image.
2If Lincoln replied to this letter, his response has not been located. No other correspondence
between Lincoln and Hull has been located in all of 1858.
At the time of this letter, Lincoln was running against Democratic incumbent Stephen A. Douglas as the Illinois Republican Party’s candidate for the U.S. Senate. Both men canvassed the state throughout the summer and fall of 1858, delivering speeches in support of candidates
for the Illinois General Assembly in their respective parties. At the time, members of the General Assembly voted for
and elected the state’s representatives in the U.S. Senate, so the races for the
Illinois House of Representatives and Illinois Senate were highly relevant to the outcome of the 1858 Federal Election. See 1858 Illinois Republican Convention.
On Friday, July 23, 1858, the Republicans of Illinois’ Thirty-Sixth House District
nominated Daniel Stickel as their candidate for the Illinois House of Representatives.
Lincoln delivered a political speech in Monticello, Illinois, just six days later.
Lincoln also spoke in Monticello on September 6, as Hull requested. The turnout was
indeed large—roughly 3,000 people attended. Lyman Trumbull did not speak in Monticello
that day. He was scheduled to speak in Chester, Illinois, on September 7.
In the local elections of 1858, voters in Illinois’ Thirty-Sixth House District elected
Stickel to the Illinois House. Pro-Douglas Democrats retained control of the Illinois
General Assembly, however, and despite Stickel and others casting their ballots for
Lincoln, Douglas won reelection to the U.S. Senate. Through the campaign, and in particular
through his participation in the Lincoln-Douglas debates, Lincoln gained recognition as well as standing within the national Republican Party.
The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, 29 July 1858, https://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-07-29; 6 September 1858, https://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-09-06; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 30 July 1858, 2:2; 2 September 1858, 3:1; 13 November 1858, 2:3; Chicago Daily Press and Tribune (IL), 9 September 1858, 1:2; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac 1673-1968
(Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 220, 222; Illinois House Journal. 1859. 21st G. A., 32; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:458, 556-57; Allen C. Guelzo,
“Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of 1858,” The Journal of American History 94 (September 2007), 392, 394, 414-17.
Autograph Letter Signed, 2 page(s), Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress (Washington, DC).