Jesse K. Dubois and Ozias M. Hatch to Abraham Lincoln, 7 September 18581
Sep 7. 1858.Mr LincolnMr Watt, of Scott Co,2 one of our best friends in that Co came here yesterday to say— that on the 29th of this month— two men are to be hung at Carlin Carrolton and that the Morgan Co Fair is to be held on same day– Two good reasons why you may think best to change
the programme–3 Write either of us and we will do what ought to be done–4
Not many Buchaniers in town— principally the leaders–5
Very truly &C[etc.]Dubois and Hatch6Watt say's all Scott Co[County] will go to the hanging, as there is great excitement, in Greene and Surrounding Counties–7<Page 2>
[Envelope]
SPRINGFIELD Ill.
SEP[September] 7 1858Hon A. Lincoln,Care J. Gillespie Esq[Esquire],Edwardsville,Ill.8
SEP[September] 7 1858Hon A. Lincoln,Care J. Gillespie Esq[Esquire],Edwardsville,Ill.8
2Mr. Watt could not be positively identified. This may be a reference to James Watt
of Scott County, Illinois, a furniture dealer with known connections to both Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln.
Portrait and Biographical Album of Morgan and Scott Counties, Ills. (Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1889), 543.
3At the time of this letter, Douglas
was running for reelection to the U.S. Senate in the 1858 Federal Election as the Illinois Democratic Party’s candidate. Lincoln was running against Douglas as the Illinois Republican Party’s candidate. Both men traveled the state throughout the summer and fall of 1858, delivering speeches in support of candidates
for the Illinois General Assembly in their respective parties. Since members of the General Assembly voted for and
elected the state’s representatives in the U.S. Senate, the races for the Illinois House of Representatives and Illinois Senate were highly relevant to the outcome of the U.S. Senate race. See 1858 Illinois Republican Convention.
Lincoln was scheduled to speak in Jacksonville, Illinois, in Morgan County on September 27 and Winchester, Illinois, in Scott County on September 29. Carrollton, Illinois, is in Greene County, not far from both Scott and Morgan counties. The Morgan County Fair was scheduled
to take place the week of Lincoln’s visit. It was common in that day for political
speakers to try to attract people from surrounding counties to speaking events using
a coinciding event such as a county fair, circus, or political convention as a draw.
Douglas also used ostentatious displays such as elaborately-decorated trains, wagons,
and carriages, a large entourage, marching bands, fireworks, and artillery demonstrations
to try to attract attention throughout the campaign of 1858.
In early September 1858, Richard “Dick” Hall and Jim Gaffney attacked and murdered
E. J. Hinton of Greene County while the latter was attending to his livestock. Hall
and Gaffney were purported drunk on whiskey at the time. They both fled, but were
caught, returned to Carrollton, tried, convicted, and sentenced to be hanged to death.
Their executions were originally scheduled for September 26, but ultimately took place
on September 29, just as Dubois and Hatch reported to Lincoln. Both men reportedly
confessed to their crimes prior to execution.
Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:458, 469, 473, 488; Allen
C. Guelzo, “Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of 1858,”
The Journal of American History 94 (September 2007), 392-94; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 2 September 1858, 3:1; 9 September 1858, 2:2; 25 September 1858, 3:2;
5 October 1858, 3:1; Webster's New Geographical Dictionary
(Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 1988), 224, 532; Hampton P. Sloan to Abraham Lincoln; Joseph T. Eccles to Abraham Lincoln; William C. Hobbs to Abraham Lincoln; Clifton H. Moore to Abraham Lincoln; Hampton P. Sloan to Abraham Lincoln; Simeon Francis to Abraham Lincoln; Jesse O. Norton to Abraham Lincoln; Richard E. Hart, Circuses in Lincoln’s Springfield (1833-1860) (Springfield: Richard E. Hart, 2013), 7-8; Paul M. Angle, ed., The Complete Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858 (Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press, 1991), 189, 232.
4If Lincoln replied to this letter his response has not been located. Jesse K. Dubois
wrote him a separate letter the same date as this letter penned by Hatch, and both Dubois
and Hatch later co-wrote a letter alongside Lincoln regarding the Illinois Republican State Central Committee.
5”Buchaniers” is a reference to pro-James Buchanan Democrats. The Democratic Party split between pro-Douglas and pro-Buchanan factions
after Douglas spoke out against the Lecompton Constitution in December 1857 and criticized President Buchanan for supporting it. Pro-Buchanan
Democrats, sometimes also called “National Democrats,” from the state’s Sixth Congressional District gathered in Springfield, Illinois, on September 7 for a political convention
to nominate a candidate for Congress. At the conclusion of the convention, they nominated
John L. McConnell.
Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:445; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 8 September 1858, 2:1-2; The Daily Pantagraph (Bloomington, IL), 9 October 1858, 2:2.
7Lincoln delivered a speech in Jacksonville on September 27 as scheduled. Several days
before he was to speak in Winchester, the Daily Illinois State Journal published a notice that the time of his address in Winchester was changed from Wednesday,
September 29 to Tuesday, September 28 in order “as much as possible to avoid conflict
with the Morgan County Fair.” Newspaper accounts show he indeed spoke in Winchester
on September 28. An account published in the Chicago Daily Press and Tribune also shows that, knowing Lincoln was in town for the next day as well, locals “prevailed
on our distinguished champion to give us a talk” on September 29. Lincoln acceded
to this request and delivered another speech at the local court house.
In the state’s local elections of 1858, voters in the Sixth Congressional District
elected Thomas L. Harris to the U.S. House of Representatives. Harris ran as a pro-Douglas Democrat, triumphing over pro-Buchanan Democrat McConnell
as well as over James H. Matheny, a former Whig turned independent candidate who ran with support from the Republican Party. Voters
awarded Harris 57.6 percent of the vote, Matheny 41.4 percent of the vote, and McConnell
less than 1 percent of the vote.
In the local elections as a whole, Republicans won a majority of all votes cast, but
pro-Douglas Democrats retained control of the Illinois General Assembly and Douglas
ultimately won reelection to the U.S. Senate. Through the campaign, however, and
in particular through his participation in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, Lincoln gained visibility and admiration within the national Republican Party.
The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, 27 September 1858, https://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-09-27; 28 September 1858, https://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-09-28; 29 September 1858, https://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-09-29; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 25 September 1858, 3:2, 2 October 1858, 3:2; Chicago Daily Press and Tribune (IL), 5 October 1858, 2:6; John M. Palmer, ed., The Bench and Bar of Illinois: Historical and Reminiscent (Chicago: Lewis, 1899), 1:192; Howard W. Allen and Vincent A. Lacey, eds., Illinois Elections, 1818-1990 (Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1992), 11; The Daily Pantagraph (Bloomington, IL), 9 October 1858, 2:2; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:556-57; Allen C. Guelzo, “Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political
Landscape of 1858,” 414.
8Hatch wrote this script. He addressed this letter to Lincoln care of Joseph Gillespie
at Edwardsville, Illinois, because Gillespie lived in Edwardsville and Lincoln was
scheduled to speak there on September 11, which he did.
Usher F. Linder, Reminiscences of the Early Bench and Bar of Illinois
(Chicago: The Chicago Legal News, 1879), 127; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 2 September 1858, 3:1; The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, 11 September 1858, https://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-09-11.
Autograph Letter Signed, 2 page(s), Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress (Washington, DC). .