Robert Harvey to Abraham Lincoln, 16 August 18581
Mattoon Coles Co16 August 58Hon Abe LincolnDear Sir
I see from the Chicago press & Tribune you are advertized to speak at Paris on the 7th and Hilsboro on the 9th Could you not make it convenient to speak to the Citizens of Mattoon on the 8th we are all anxious to hear you2 Mr Douglass has already addressed the people here and after Douglass had left the Stand and three
faint Cheers was given him 3 Cheers was proposed for the Hon abe Lincoln & given with
a hearty good will & three more on top
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of that3We can get you an audience of 3 or 4000 Douglass had an audience of about 5 or 600 & the most of them were Republicans If you Can make it Convenient to speak here on the 8th Please let me know soon as Convenient so as we Can advertize it & ^make^ arrangements4
I Am SirRespectfully YoursRobert Harvey
Secy[Secretary] Mattoon Republican Club
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[Envelope]
MATTOON ILL[Illinois]
AUG[AUGUST] 17Hon Abe LincolnSpringfieldIllinois
AUG[AUGUST] 17Hon Abe LincolnSpringfieldIllinois
1Robert Harvey wrote and signed this letter. He also wrote Abraham Lincoln’s name and
address on the envelope shown in the third image.
2The August 16, 1858 edition of the Chicago Daily Press and Tribune, as well as several issues published during the previous week, included a list of
Lincoln’s speaking appointments during the fall 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 in the 1858 Federal Election. He and Douglas 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; therefore, the races for
the Illinois House of Representatives and Illinois Senate were highly relevant to the outcome of the U.S. Senate race. See the 1858 Illinois Republican Convention.
Chicago Daily Press and Tribune (IL), 16 August 1858, 2:1; 10 August 1858, 2:1; 12 August 1858, 2:1; 13 August 1858,
2:1; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:458; Allen C. Guelzo, “Houses
Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of 1858,” The Journal of American History 94 (September 2007), 392, 394.
3Douglas spoke in Mattoon, Illinois, on July 30 as one of four stops on his way to
speak in Hillsboro on August 2. The Daily Illinois State Journal also reported that the Mattoon audience gave three cheers for Lincoln at the conclusion
of Douglas’ speech.
Allen C. Guelzo, “Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of
1858,” 404; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 9 August 1858, 2:2.
4If Lincoln replied to this letter, his response has not been located. Hiram M. Tremble also wrote Lincoln a letter asking him to come to Mattoon and deliver a public address. In addition,
Thomas A. Marshall and Richard J. Oglesby had urged Lincoln to travel to Mattoon to speak and offered him travel and itinerary
advice.
Lincoln delivered his addresses in Paris, Illinois, and in Hillsboro as scheduled
on September 7 and 9, respectively. He also delivered a speech in Mattoon on September
7. The Chicago Daily Press and Tribune reported that more than 1,000 people attended the Mattoon speech, and possibly as
many as 1,500. Lincoln passed through Mattoon again without delivering an address
on September 17, before proceeding to Charleston, Illinois on September 18 for one of his seven debates with Douglas.
Ultimately, in Illinois’ local elections of 1858, Republicans won a majority of all
votes cast in the state, but pro-Douglas Democrats retained control of the Illinois
General Assembly and Douglas won reelection to the U.S. Senate. Although Lincoln’s
attempt to unseat Douglas was unsuccessful, his involvement in the campaign—particularly the Lincoln-Douglas Debates—lifted him to national prominence.
Thomas A. Marshall to Abraham Lincoln; Richard J. Oglesby to Abraham Lincoln; Chicago Daily Press and Tribune (IL), 8 September 1858, 1:2; 21 September 1858, 1:1; The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, 7 September 1858, https://thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-09-07; 9 September 1858, https://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-09-09; 18 September 1858, https://thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-09-18; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:556-57.
Autograph Letter Signed, 3 page(s), Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress (Washington, DC). .