Richard J. Oglesby to Abraham Lincoln, 29 August 18581
Springfield Aug 29th 1858Hon A. H Lincon.The central committee have been considering your appointments for the time intervening
between the day you will speak in Clinton until you will arrive at Paris on the 7th, and have determined that you must not pass Monticello or omit Paris—2 the whole thing is entirely practicable although a little laborious– A large assemblage,
for Piatt county will expect you above any other man: I will not be there for the reason I will give
you– Now as to time and change of ca[va?]s– You will go from Clinton to bloomington: From bloomington you will return by Rail R.[Railroad] to Clinton Saturday night– on Sunday the 5th if you choose or on Monday morning the 6th you can drive 20 miles over to Monticello (Mr Ford will arrange this) so, as to be there in time– You will speak there in the afternoon
and at night drive down to Bement— and take the one oclock train to Tolono– At Tolono, you meet the train from chicago to Mattoon— and from Mattoon at one—oclock you start to Paris and arrive there at or before three oclock Tuesday 7th. I will go there on Monday and Address the crowd until you come. Trumbull is here— but has an appointment at Chester on the 6th and cannot go to Monticello–3 you can do all this— and we hope you will–4
Respectfully yoursR J Oglesby<Page 2>
[Envelope]
Hon A. H LinconSpringfieldIlls
1Richard J. Oglesby wrote and signed this letter. He also wrote Abraham Lincoln’s name
and address on the envelope shown in the second image.
2Oglesby is discussing Lincoln’s speaking engagements between September 2, in Clinton,
Illinois, and September 7, in Paris, Illinois. He was scheduled to speak in Bloomington,
Illinois, on September 4 and Monticello, Illinois, on September 6. Lincoln was traveling
throughout the summer and fall of 1858, delivering public addresses in support of
candidates for the Illinois General Assembly. At the time, he was the Illinois Republican Party’s candidate to replace Democratic incumbent Stephen A. Douglas in the U.S. Senate. Both Lincoln and Douglas were highly attuned to the state legislative races in 1858
because members of the Illinois General Assembly voted for and elected the state’s
representatives in the U.S. Senate; therefore the outcome of the races for the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate were critical to the U.S. Senate race.
Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 6 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.
3Although newspapers throughout Illinois advertised Lyman Trumbull’s public address
in Chester, Illinois, as scheduled for Tuesday, September 7, Oglesby is correct that
Trumbull actually delivered his speech in Chester on Monday, September 6.
Chicago Daily Press and Tribune (IL), 4 September 1858, 1:1; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 4 September 1858, 2:1; Randolph County Democrat (Chester, IL), 11 September 1858, 2:1.
4Lincoln traveled from Springfield, Illinois, to Decatur, Illinois, on September 1,
then from Decatur to Clinton on the morning train on September 2. Upon his arrival,
enthusiastic citizens in Clinton insisted that he go on to Wapella, Illinois, so that they could escort him back to Clinton with fanfare. He arrived in Bloomington
on September 3, stayed overnight, spoke in Bloomington on September 4, then caught
the train back to Springfield that evening with a stop in Lincoln, Illinois, to hear Douglas speak. After resting in Springfield on September 5, Lincoln traveled
to Monticello on September 6, then on to both Mattoon and Paris, Illinois on September
7. In all, it appears that Lincoln traveled primarily by train rather than by train
and road, as Oglesby advised.
Newspaper accounts of Lincoln’s scheduled address in Paris, Illinois, do not mention
Oglesby speaking to the crowd before Lincoln arrived. According to the Chicago Tribune, James Miller and Owen Lovejoy both unexpectedly arrived in the city on the morning train to hear Lincoln speak.
Upon urging from some in the crowd Lovejoy delivered an impromptu address for roughly
half an hour, until the procession escorting Lincoln from the train depot arrived
and Lincoln took the stand to speak. Both Lovejoy and Oglesby addressed the crowd
at the local court house later that evening.
In Illinois’s local elections of 1858, Republicans ultimately 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. Through the campaign,
however, and in particular through his participation in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, Lincoln gained recognition and respect within the national Republican Party.
The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, September 1858, https://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarMonth&year=1858&month=9; Report of Speech at Clinton, Illinois; Report of Speech at Bloomington, Illinois; Report of Speech at Paris, Illinois; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 9 September 1858, 2:2; Chicago Daily Press and Tribune (IL), 6 September 1858, 2:4; 11 September 1858, 2:5; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life 1:556-57; Allen C. Guelzo, “Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape
of 1858,” 414.
Autograph Letter Signed, 2 page(s), Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress (Washington, DC). .