The biographical encyclopœdia of Ohio of the nineteenth century:

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPA?EDIA.
urwhich can scarcely be sustained on a personal acquaintance.
Two things done by the ()hio Republican Convention,
namely: the repudiation of Judge Swani and the" plank"
for a repeal of the Fugitive Slave law, I very much regretted. These two things are of a piece; and they are
viewed by many good men, sincerely opposed to slavery, as
a struggle against and in disregard of the Constitution
itself. And it is the very thing that will greatly endanger
our cause; if it be not kept out of our National Convention.
There is another thing our friends are doing which gives
me some uneasiness. It is their leaning towards "Popular
Sovereignty." There are three substantial objections to
tl this: First, no party can command respect which sustains
this year what it opposed last. Secondly, Douglas (who is
the most dangerous enemy of liberty, because the most insidious one) would have little support in the North, and by
consequence no capital to trade on in the South, if it were not
for our fiiends thus magnifying him and his humbug; but
lastly, and chiefly, Douglas' Popular Sovereignty, accepted
by the public mind as a great principle, nationalizes slavery
and revives the African slave trade inevitably. Taking
slaves into new Territories and buying slaves in Africa are
identical things-identical rig-zts or identical wO'onZgs-and
the argument which establishes one will establish the other-.
Try a thousand years for a sound reason why Congress
-shall not hinder the people of Kansas from having slaves,
and when you have found it, it will be an equally good one
why Congress should not hinder the people of Georgia from
importing slaves from Africa. As to Governor Chase, I
have a kind side for him. He was one of the few distinguished men of the nation who gave us their sympatlhy last
year. I never saw him, suppose him to be alble and right
minded; but still he may not be the most suitable as a candid(late for the Presidency. I must say that I do not think
myse lf fit for the P residency. As you p ropose a coreespondence with me, I shall look for your letters anxiously.
I have not met Dr. Reynolds since receiving your letter,
])ut when I shall, I "ill present your respects, as requested.
Yotti-s very truly, A. LINCOLN.
conducted by Mr. Brazee, Mr. Ewing, and Mr. Stansbury,
who subsequently became Attorney-General for the United
States. He settled in Piqua, Miami county, and after a
year's residence in that place removed to Xenia, where he
mad e his h om e u ntil I850, w he n he returned to Columbus.
Inc thes e l ocalities he had discharged his p rofessional duties
with skil l, and w as gradually earning a standard reputation f or exncllence as an advocate and counsel. In January, I853, he b ecam e th e law par tner of Judge Swayne, on
the election of the latter's old associate, J. L. Bates, Esq.,
t o the Com reon Pleas b ench. For seven years Colonel
Baber continued in the laborious p r actice of te o profession
in a firm which had the largest business at the capital, assistiung Judg e Swayne, one of the strongest advocates and
most dilig ent preparer s of bri efs i n the State. In addition
t o control ling the office business he took part in the trial
and argument of every case in court. In the spring of I86o
th i s partnership was dissolved, and in the campaign of the
fall of that year Colonel Bal)er was mainly engaged in
stumping the State as on e of the electors on the Lincoln
ticket. At t e u tea o C i he outbreak of the civil war he was appointed
Paymaster, and acted as such until November, I865, when
he w as mustered out and brevetted as Lieutenant-Colonel
for fa ithful and meritor ious services. From boyhood he
had always manifested a decided taste for pol itics. In
I854, upon the repeal o the he Missouri Compromise, Colonel
Baber, who had been Secretary of the Whig State Committee, actively lab ored to produce a co-operation of all the
opponents of the repeal in the anti-Nebraska movement.
II I855 he declined to v ote for C has e for Governor, on acot o G count of his course when elec ited United States Senator in
I849 under the Morse-Townshend bgargain and sale in the
Legislature. He refused to affiliate with the KnowNothing movement, and was one of the few hundred
Whigs of Franklin county who stuck to their old allegiance
to the last. In I856 he supported Fremont and Dayton for
the Presidency and Vice-Presidency, and stumped the State
for them. In June, I859, when the rivalry for the Presidential nomination was keenest among Governor Chase,
I-on. William H. Seward, Judge Bates and Simon Cameron, the thought occurred to Colonel Baber, after a careful
reading of the Douglas-Lincoln debate, reported in the
Chicago 7T'ibiztze, that Abraham Lincoln would make the
most available candidate for that nomination. He communicated this opinion to the Hon. Samuel Galloway, of
Ohio, and it was agreed that the latter shlould write to Mr.
Lincoln on the subject, which he at once lid. Tlhe response to this very tersely and very forcibly discusses the
issues at stake in the political contest of that time as
follows:
This was the first letter which he wrote in reference to
the Presidency. In response to the invitation of the Repul)lican State Central Committee, of which Colonel Baber
was a member, Mr. Iinco ln spo ke in Columbus on September I6th, I859, and subsequently in Cincinnati. These
speeches, which were published -and scattered over the
State, contributed greatly to the success of the Republicans
in the gubernatorial contest, and in the election of a Republicall Legislature. The State Board of Equalization
met early in December, and furnished a favorable opportunity for requesting Mr. Lincoln to send on a copy of his
debate- with Senator Douglas, to be used in the ensuing
Presidential campaign. (> Colonel Baber's proposition,
the Repub~licanl members of the State Board or) Equlalization, the State officers and State Central Executive Committee united, on December 7th, I859, in letters of request
to Mr. Lincoln, and under his instructions his private secretary, Mr. John G. Nicolay, personally visited Columbus
and delivered to the Republican State Executive Comnmittee
a copy. The correspondence was withheld so long from
publication, though the committee had ordered it immediately printed, that Mr. Lincoln wrote Mr. Galloway on
the subject, declaring that the delay was placing him in an
SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, yu1i' 28, I859.
!ION. SAMUEL GALLOWAY: —d/fy Dear S,ir.-'Your very
complimentary, not to say flattering, letter of the 23d inst.
is received. Dr. Reynolds had induced me to expect you
here, and I was disappointed not a little by your failure to
come, and yet I fear you have formed an estimate of me
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