Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Henry C. Whitney to Abraham Lincoln, 14 October 18581

(Strictly Confidential.)
Chicago Oct. 14. 1858.Honl[Honorable] A LincolnDear Sir
Of course you have seen or heard about the extensive colonization schemes that are now actually being carried out in various parts of the State 2 I think that the majority of the illegal voting of that kind will be carried on in the out of the way precincts where our people are not up to matters of that kind & do not know well how to assist them:= they ought to be posted up by circulars expressly prepared for the purpose by the State Executive Com. teaching them their whole duty & how to do it in full & unmistakeable language which circulars should be sent to the leading men of every precinct no matter how small it is:= also the leading men of each county should visit every precinct & post up the people on this thing:= if such care is not taken the frauds

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will be innumerable:=Judd is at present out of the City I have been to see him & shall go again on this subject:= In the meanwhile urge the necessity upon every one you see of posting up the Republicans in the Rural Districts as to what they ought to do & how to do it:= I have no doubt that they [~~...~~?] even in the least popular districts would act rigorously & resolutely if they know just what to do3
You FriendH C Whitney,=

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[Envelope]

CHI[CAGO] Ill.
OCT[October] 15 [?]Honl A. LincolnSpringfieldIllinois.

[ docketing ]
Lincoln, Abraham (President)

H. C. Whitney4

1Henry C. Whitney wrote and signed this letter. He also wrote Abraham Lincoln’s name and address on the envelope in the third image.

2Whitney references rumors of voter fraud in the state and federal elections scheduled for November 2, 1858. “Colonization” was Whitney’s euphemism for voters moving from safe districts to contested districts, settling briefly to sway the outcome of the election. Aside from his interest in the elections as a leading member of the party, Lincoln was also highly attuned to their outcome because he was running in the 1858 Federal Election as the Republican candidate to supplant Democratic incumbent Stephen A. Douglas in the U.S. Senate. At the time, 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 race for the Senate seat. See 1858 Illinois Republican Convention.
Many in the Republican Party, including Lincoln, believed that there would be Democratic election fraud in the 1858 elections. Lincoln wrote Norman B. Judd and other political allies about these concerns. “What I most dread” Lincoln wrote Judd on October 20, “ is that they will introduce into the doubtful districts numbers of men who are legal voters in all respects except residence and who will swear to residence and thus put it beyond our power to exclude them.” “When there is a known body of these voters could not a true man, of the “detective” class, be introduced among them in disguise,” Lincoln proposed to Judd, “who could, at the nick of time, control their votes?”
Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 3 November 1858, 2:1; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:458, 545-46; Allen C. Guelzo, “Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of 1858,” The Journal of American History 94 (September 2007), 392, 394; Abraham Lincoln to Norman B. Judd; Abraham Lincoln to Norman B. Judd; Abraham Lincoln to Gustave P. Koerner.

3Lincoln’s response, if he wrote one, has not been located. Lincoln and Whitney exchanged at least twelve letters during the election campaign.
Republicans won a majority of all votes cast in the state elections, but pro-Douglas Democrats retained control of the Illinois General Assembly and Douglas ultimately won reelection to the U.S. Senate. Although there were widespread reports of Democratic voting fraud in the state elections, no solid evidence emerged in the months following the elections that widespread voting fraud actually occurred. Douglas's victory was confirmed in the election held on January 5, 1859.

Despite his loss, Lincoln’s participation in the Senate race—and in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates in particular—propelled him to national prominence and helped him win the presidential contest of 1860.
Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:546, 556-57; Allen C. Guelzo, Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates that Defined America (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008), 289; Allen C. Guelzo, “Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of 1858,” 414; Illinois Senate Journal. 1859. 21st G. A., 30; Illinois House Journal. 1859. 21st G. A., 32; Warren Independent (IL), 29 October 1858, 2:3, 5; Daily Islander and Argus (Rock Island, IL), 2 November 1858, 2:5; Alton Daily Courier (IL), 15 November 1858, 2:2; Henry C. Whitney to Abraham Lincoln; Abraham Lincoln to Henry C. Whitney;Henry C. Whitney to Abraham Lincoln; Henry C. Whitney to Abraham Lincoln; Henry C. Whitney to Abraham Lincoln and William H. Herndon; Abraham Lincoln to Henry C. Whitney; Henry C. Whitney to Abraham Lincoln; Henry C. Whitney to Abraham Lincoln; Henry C. Whitney to Abraham Lincoln; Henry C. Whitney to Abraham Lincoln; Henry C. Whitney to Abraham Lincoln.

4Lincoln wrote this docketing.