Bulletin. [Vol. 8, no. 1]

BULLETIN NUMBER EIGHT

7

"LINCOLN IN THE YEAR 1859"
(Continued from page 3)
invitation extended only a few days in
advance. But in 1859 Lincoln travels
to Iowa-and speaks-and to Wisconsin, to Ohio and Indiana, and to Kansas, making at least eighteen speeches
outside of Illinois. Besides, as he wrote
a correspondent, he constantly received
invitations he was compelled to decline.
These trips and speeches mean more
than the mere spread of Lincoln's fame.
When he spoke, new audiences heard
him. Local newspapers carried his
words to thousands who couldn't hear
him. Other newspapers clipped accounts
of his engagements. Thus was built up,
during 1859, a sense of Lincoln's prominence which was soon to make him, if
not the outstanding presidential candidate, at least an acceptable one.
The compilation of these daily records
has resulted in the altogether unexpected
discovery of important Lincoln material.
Work on the 1858 booklet led to the
office of the clerk of the U. S. Court in
Springfield, where there were known to
be two or three bonds for costs signed
by Lincoln. With that lead, the files
were searched carefully-and more than
a hundred legal documents, all in Lincoln's handwriting, came to light. By
court order these documents have been
replaced by photostatic copies, and the
originals put in safe keeping. Work on
the 1859 book has resulted, among other
finds, in the discovery of newspaper reports of several completely forgotten
Lincoln speeches. Three of these are of
more than casual importance. At Beloit, Janesville and Indianapolis Lincoln
was already developing his Cooper
Union doctrine. Instead of coming forth
unheralded, the central ideas of that
address had been mulled over and tested
for nearly six months.
When complete, this series of records
will furnish a valuable check for in-,numerable Lincoln stories and traditions,
hitherto unsusceptible of proof or disproof without enormous labor. One

such example was cited in the prefa \t of
the booklet just issued. That instaice
is of enough interest, however, to justify
a somewhat fuller treatment.
On the authority of Horace White,
who was with Lincoln during a large
part of the campaign, it was stated in
"Lincoln in the Year 1858" that on
August 26 Lincoln was at Dixon, Illinois. Here a conference was held, and
the questions Lincoln intended to put to
Douglas on the next day discussed. That
conference has become famous, for, when
advised not to ask the question concerning the legal ability of a territory to
exclude slavery, Lincoln is supposed to
have replied, "I am after larger game;
the battle of 1860 is worth a hundred
of this." But Mr. George C. Dixon of
Dixon, Illinois, doubted-and set to
work. In a short time he had collected
enough statements from persons present
at the Freeport debate to prove without
doubt that Lincoln came to Freeport on
the morning of the 27th from a point
beyond Dixon. Then another investigator, Mr. Jacob Thompson of Macomb,
Illinois, resurrected the old Room Book
of the Randolph Hotel in Macomb, and
by that means proved conclusively that
Lincoln was there at least part of the
day on August 26. Mr. Dixon soon
brought forth other statements to show
that Lincoln arrived at Amboy on the
afternoon of the 26th, spent the night
there, and participated in no such conference as is generally described. As a
result of the work of these men Lincoln's
movements prior to the Freeport debate
have been completely checked out, and
the famous Dixon conference relegated
from a history-making meeting to a very
informal discussion hurriedly held on
the train or in the hotel before the debate, if it took place at all.
But, without exception, all this has to
do with Lincoln away from Springfield.
Isn't that all there is of importance in
these daily records? Why bother with a
monotonous recital of his cases in court,
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