Thomas A. Marshall to Abraham Lincoln, 27 August [1858]1
Springfield Aug 27Dear LincolnTrumbull has made a list of appointments–2 He has made none for Danville– They need waking up there, if you have a chance it would do good for you to go there–3 It would do much good, in fact I consider it very important for you to go to Moultrie.4 Trumbull has made no appointment there. He promises to go to Cumberland— but not at the Court–5
These small counties ought to be attended to– The enemy pays special attention to them I make these suggestions to you at the suggestion of the gentlemen here– I will
see you when you come over to Paris– I have written to Mattoon that you will be there Tuesday morning Sept[September] 7, till the train goes east–6 They will be in to see you that morning.
Yours Respy[Respectfully],T. A Marshall<Page 2>
Hon A LincolnSpringfieldIll.<Page 3>
[Envelope]
AUDITOR'S
Office,
SPRINGFIELD,
ILLINOIS.
A. Lincoln.7Office,
SPRINGFIELD,
ILLINOIS.
2Marshall references Lyman Trumbull’s speaking schedule during the state and federal election campaign of 1858. Trumbull’s itinerary, spanning from September 7 to October 23, appeared in the
September 2 issue of several newspapers.
Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 2 September 1848, 3:1; Alton Daily Courier (IL), 2 September 1858, 2:1; Ralph J. Roske, His Own Counsel: The Life and Times of Lyman Trumbull (Reno, NV: University of Nevada Press, 1979), 47-51.
3There is no record of Trumbull visiting Danville, Illinois. Abraham Lincoln visited Danville on September 21, 1858. A large crowd greeted him as he arrived and
accompanied him from the train depot to his accommodations. There he made a few remarks
to the crowd of approximately two thousand spectators. Lincoln spoke on September
22 and wrote the following day from Danville, “We had a fine and altogether satisfactory meeting
here yesterday.”
Marshall, a Republican, was the successful candidate vying for the Illinois Senate in 1858 from the counties of Coles, Cumberland, Edgar and Vermilion.
Because the Illinois General Assembly elected the state’s representatives in the U.S. Senate at this time, the races for the Illinois House of Representatives and Illinois Senate were important to Abraham Lincoln, whose was running against
incumbent Democrat Stephen A. Douglas to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate. Lincoln and Douglas both focused their campaign efforts on the
former Whig stronghold of central Illinois, where the state legislative races were the closest. See 1858 Illinois Republican Convention; 1858 Federal Election.
The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, 21 September 1858, https://thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-09-21; 22 September 1858, https://thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-09-22; Allen C. Guelzo, “Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape
of 1858,” The Journal of American History 94 (September 2007), 392-401; Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:457-58, 476-77; Illinois
Senate Journal. 1859. 21st G. A., 5; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 219.
4Lincoln visited Sullivan, the county seat of Moultrie, on September 20. He scheduled his talk to follow a
speech by Douglas, but as Lincoln’s supporters escorted him to his rally, they interrupted
Douglas. A brawl was narrowly averted.
Republican William W. Craddock won election to the Illinois House in 1858 representing the Twenty-Fifth Illinois
House District, which included Coles and Moultrie counties.
Combined History of Shelby and Moultrie Counties, Illinois
(Philadelphia: Brink & McDonough, 1881), 182; The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, 20 September 1858, https://thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-09-20; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac 1673-1968 , 219, 222; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 13 November 1858, 2:3.
5Trumbull visited Majority Point, Illinois, in Cumberland County on Saturday, October
23. The fall session of the Cumberland County Circuit Court was scheduled for September 13, at Prairie City.
Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 2 September 1848, 3:1; Counties of Cumberland, Jasper and Richland, Illinois. Historical and Biographical (Chicago: F.A. Battey, 1884), 217; “An Act to Regulate the Time for Holding Courts
in the Fourth Judicial Circuit,” 12 February 1857, Laws of Illinois (1857), 22.
6On the morning of September 7, Lincoln spoke to around one thousand attendees in Mattoon,
Illinois. He then traveled by train to Paris, Illinois, where he spoke for two more
hours.
Marshall wrote Lincoln again on August 29 about his travel itinerary and speaking appointments at
Mattoon and Paris.
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.
Autograph Letter Signed, 3 page(s), Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress (Washington, DC).