John Coulter, Esq Springfield, Ills---
Dear Sir: Sept. 4. 1860
Yours of the 29th. is received; and I presume I understand what has prompted you to write it. In 1832 I was first a candidate for the Legislature, with some ten or a dozen other candidates. Peter Cartwright, and three others were elected, of whom I was notone. In 1834 he, and I, and several others, again become candidates; he declined before the election, I saw the race through, and, with three others, was elected. In 1835 he became a candidate to fill a vacancy in the State Senate, and his sole competitor, Job Fletcher, beat him by near six hundred majority.
In 1836, 1838, & 1840, I was successively elected to the Legislature---he not being a candidate at either of those elections.
I then ceased to be a candidate for anything till 1846, when I ran for Congress. Mr. Cartwright was my competitor, and I beat him, as I recollect 1511 majority, being about double the party majority of the District.
I was never a candidate for congress at any other time, and never had any contest with Mr. Cartwright other than as I have stated.
Please do not make this public Yours truly A. LINCOLN