VAll UNIV1 IISIIV I IIIIIAIU

3 9002 05350 8181

["/¦give ihtftjl<>o&i

I • TfSJLE-^HIIVEirainnr-

Presented "by the Author

INFLUENTIAL REPUBLICAN EDITORS OF IOWA 1856-1860

JAMES B. HOWELL* JOHN TEESDALE* CLARK DUNHAM*
The Gate City, Keokuk Iowa State Register, The Hawk-Eye, Burlington
¦ Des Moines

JOHN EDWARDS*
The Patriot, Chariton

WM. W. JUNKIN*
The Ledger, Fairfield

THOMAS DRUMMOND*
The Eagle, Vinton

ADDISON H. SANDERS
Daily Gazette, Daven
port

FRANK W. PALMER* JACOB RICH
The Times, Dubuque The Guardian, Independ-
 ence

* Deceased.

A. B. F. HILDRETH*
The Intelligencer, St.
Charles
JOHN MAHIN
The Journal, Muscatine

CHARLES ALDRICH*
The Hamilton Freeman,
Webster City

IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN

(¦".

Being Some Account of the Presidential
Discussion and Party Preliminaries in Iowa

1856-1860

By F. I. HERRIOTT
Professor Economics and Political Science
Drake University

IReprlnted with Some Additions from The Annals of Iowa]

CONTENTS Page
Introdubtion  1
Discussion Foreshadowed in 1855-1856  4
Iowa's Politicians and Mr. Lincoln in 1856  6
First Expressions— 1856-1857  8
Coalition of the Opposition Discouraged  14
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates  17
The Debates and the Presidential Succession  28
II
Expressions and Maneuvers in 1859  37
Important Conditions Determining Expressions  38
First Expressions Respecting Party Principles and Candidates .... 41
The Reception of Greeley's Suggestion for a Coalition of the
Opposition  50
Expressions July-December  57
(a) Ethics, Law and Fugitive Slaves  58
(b) An Appeal to Local Pride Rejected  61
(c) Pre-Election Expressions — and Judge Bates  62
(d) Mr. Teesdale's Review of the Situation  66
(e) Mention of Candidates Increases in December  68
(f) Public Consideration of Mr. Lincoln for the Presidency ... 72
(g) Summary of Party Opinion in .1859  77
Efforts of Candidates or their Promoters in Iowa  78
(a) Judge McLean Visits Iowa  80
(b) Friends of Chase and Cameron Active . ."  82
(c) Edward Bates and the Sources of his Strength  84
(d) Seward and the Silence of his Friends  86
(e) Abraham Lincoln's Relations with Iowa and Iowans  88
III
Republican Presidential Preliminaries in Iowa— 1859-1860  101
The Selection of Delegates Proposed  102
The Choice of the Convention City and its Significance  105
Call for the Special State Convention  110
The First Party Decision in 1860  116
(a) Contrary Considerations Affecting Party Interests  116
(b) Sundry Editorial Expressions  125
(c) .Some of the County Prelimaries  134
(d) Senator Harlan's Confidential Advices  139
The Republican State Convention — Des Moines, January 18, 1860. 144
(a) The Preliminaries of Organization  ,  144
(b) The Character of the County Delegations  149
(c) Selecting the Delegates to the National Convention  159
(d) Did a Machine and Wirepullers or Common Sense Control
the Convention  167
(e) The Delegation to the National Convention  172
(f) Contemporary Comment on the Conclusions of the Con
vention  180

IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
1856-1860

The Republican Preliminaries ol the Presidential Campaign
ol I860

Consistency in conduct or continuity and substance in
opinion are not virtues ordinarily accredited to politicians.
Alike in academic discussion and in common parlance poli
ticians are contemptuously described as mere weathervanes
or flotsam that turns or tosses with the fitful currents of
popular prejudice. Whether politicians are such or not they
nevertheless indicate somewhat of the activity, direction, and
intensity of the forces that rule. Moreover, if one studies
more than the eddies and swirls of politics he must soon dis
cover that the changeableness and contradiction that aggravate
and confuse the casual onlooker are merely the surface phe
nomena of greater and deeper currents of powerful human
interests that are always running heavily beneath the waves
and white caps.
In practical politics, as in the physical world at large, action
and reaction are equivalent. Political opinion that is efficient
— that controls government, determining legislation and ad
ministration — is a reflex and resultant. Political chiefs, who
are leaders, at once lead and are led. They dominate only as
they are dominated by the major influences of their domicile
and province. They are influential and successful in so far
as they receive, express and direct the common opinion of their
clans or section and co-ordinate it with the decisive opinion
of other chiefs of other regions within the circuit of the fran
chise. The masterful leader is he who first clearly discerns
the fact that underlies and overtops all others in public in
terest, who cleaves to it, avoids or eliminates irrelevant and
contrary considerations and by lucid and persuasive speech
coerces many minds into common opinion or by strategy and

2 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
tactics unifies miscellaneous elements into a compact forward
moving force against a common opposition.
In the national republican convention that nominated Abra
ham Lincoln for the presidency in 1860 the votes of the dele
gates from Iowa on the first ballot. were widely distributed.
They were cast for six different candidates — Edw. Bates of
Missouri, Salmon P. Chase and John McLean of Ohio, Simon
Cameron of Pennsylvania, Abraham Lincoln of Illinois, and
Wm. H. Seward of New York. On the third and decisive
ballot Iowa's delegates continued to be divided, voting for
Chase, Lincoln and Seward.1 The division of sentiment among
the Iowans was notable for no other northern or Free state
had its quota of votes so badly "split up." One southern or
Slave state, Kentucky in a similar fashion scattered its vote
among as many candidates. Such division indicated one or
the other of several facts — either strong stubborn personal
preferences among the delegates for the various candidates, or
huckstering and trading with a view to subsequent personal
or party advantage for the Iowans ; or the various votes re-
fleeted antecedent contradictory conditions in the cities and
towns, in the townships and counties of the sections of the
state whence the delegates from Iowa hailed — conditions which
they represented.
In another place the writer has described at some length
the various complexes of local conditions and forces between
1856 and 1860 that made uncertain the political course of
Iowa on the eve of the presidential campaign of I860.2 The
majorities by which the Republicans held possession of the
state were meagre. The contentiousness of the Abolitionists,
the "Americans," the Germans, and the Prohibitionists or
"Teetotalers" was irrepressible. Moreover, the constant
and increasing attacks upon the property rights of the slave
holders, the shock of John Brown 's raid upon Harpers Perry,
had not only aroused the belligerency of the Negrophobists
among the numerous Southerners in the Republican ranks in

1See Proceedings of the First Three Republican National Conventions —
published by Chas. W. Johnson, pp. 149, 153.
2See Annals of Iowa (3d Series), Vol. VIII, 189-220: same reprinted
with additions under title of "Iowa and the First Nomination of Abraham
Lincoln," pp. 38-80.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 3
Iowa but had increased the timidity of the commercial classes,
then slowly recovering from the industrial depression follow
ing in the wake of the financial disasters of 1857. The Re
publican party's supremacy was maintained on a narrow mar
gin that required the hardest and most systematic work to se
cure. Such conditions at home afford us what the logicians
call the "efficient" causes of the obstinate differences in the
preferences and actions of Iowa's delegates in the momentous
decision at Chicago, May 18, 1860.
In what follows there will be traced the growth of opinion
among the Republicans of the state respecting the Presiden-
tion nomination in 1860 in the preceding quadrennium so far
as it may now be ascertained from the expressions of party
leaders and party organs. Our examination will enable us to
determine, in some part at least, whether the lack of harmony
among the delegates from Iowa on the floor of the convention
at Chicago reproduced actual differences of opinion among
their partisan associates at home. Further, we may discover
whether the conditions in Iowa and the conduct of the state's
representatives differed materially from the character of the
conditions and the course of opinion and party action in what
was then called "the battle ground" states — namely, Illinois,
Indiana, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey — whose delegates with
preeminent wisdom by concert of action at the critical junc
ture decided the result at Chicago. Finally, such a review of
the expressions of local partizan desires and preferances may
enable us to determine whether the currents of opinion in
Iowa which converged and culminated in that epoch-making
decision were erratic and incoherent or clearcut, consistent
and consolidated; whether personal preferences as to candi
dates or policies and principles were predominant in the party
discussions and councils ; whether the demands of the radicals
were conceded or the consensus of the conservatives deter
mined the result; whether Greeley's prediction, in February,
1860 that, "as it is in Iowa, so it will be elsewhere," was
realized in May.

4 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
1. Discussion Foreshadowed in 1855-1856.
The nature of party opinion among the Republican leaders
of Iowa, its consistency and continuity throughout the entire
preliminaries of the National Convention of 1860 will be bet
ter appreciated if we view it in the light of expressions of
Governor Grimes and Senator Harlan in 1855-1856 anent some
of the candidates mentioned for the nomination of the oppo
sition or Republican party in 1856.
Writing Senator Chase of Ohio in April 1855 Governor
Grimes declared that "a very large part of the friends of
freedom in Iowa would be glad to see you a candidate for the
presidency. I am one of the number." He then adds: "I
think there is too much asperity of feeling throughout the
country to justify us in placing Mr. Seward forward as the
Republican candidate, and, to confess the truth, I must say
that I have a horror of New York politicians."1 There is
reason to think that if Governor Grimes could have decided
the nomination on May 18, 1860 according to his personal pref
erences he would have cast his vote for Chase; but he was a
statesman who knew well that personal inclinations and preju
dices are not the decisive factors in politics.2
Mr. Wm. Penn Clarke, chairman of Iowa's delegation to
Chicago in 1860, was a delegate to the first National Conven
tion in Philadelphia in 1856. Then, as later, he sought for
his guidance the opinions of his party associates as to the
strongest man for the nomination. Governor Grimes wrote
him (April 3) : "In regard to the November Election I am
full of hope provided an entirely new man is nominated. I
prefer Fremont to any other man named for this reason. We
can not elect Mr. Seward or any other old politician against.
whom there are old chronic prejudices which you know are
hard to be conquered. To build up and consolidate a new
party we must have men who have not been before the people
as politicians. ' '3
Salter's Life of Jas. W. Grimes, pp. 68-69.
2Letters (MSS.) of Dr. Wm. Salter and Mr. W. W. Baldwin of Burling
ton to the writer.
aThe citation above (and other subsequently given, when not other
wise specified), is taken from MSS:— Correspondence and Memoranda.
in the Aldrich Collections in the Historical Department at Des Moines.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 5
Mr. Clarke evidently , inclined strongly to favor the nomi
nation of N. P. Banks of Massachusetts, doubtless because of
their " Americanistie " affiliations, for he asked Senator Har
lan to sound the Speaker of the House and canvass his chances.
In /his reply written from ¦ Washington (April 21) Senator
Harlan, after relating the results of his interview with Banks
says: "But, Clarke, on the square will not the Iowa delega-
ti©n:'go: its ^death for Seward? I notice that Warren and
Springer are among the delegates. Seward is a great man.
One i of the greatest the country has produced. The more I
see •¦ ofi him the more firmly the conviction is riveted. But I
am- not certain that he is the strongest man. His hostility to
the Americans, expressed so strongly hitherto, would weaken
him. ' ' He then says of Judge McLean : " If he could be in
duced to take strong grounds fairly with us he could be
elected;" and concludes with favorable mention of Colonel
Fremont but doubts his chances of receiving the nomination.
The attitudes of the two leaders in 1856 remained constant
throughout the succeeding four years. There are some sig
nificant facts to be noted in their expressions and kept in mind
as we canvass succeeding developments. One leader regarded
the selection of a Presidential candidate as a matter subject
wholly to the superior exigencies of the political situation
confronting the party on the eve of the campaign; the am
bitions of party chiefs and the claims of personal friendships
were considerations subordinate to the paramount necessity
of Success for the Cause they would advance. The other
leader, no less desirous of success, believed that the most
conspicuous champion of the party should be nominated, even
though sundry prudential reasons might suggest the elevation
of some one of others less likely to arouse opposition; being
impelled thereto by admiration of that champion's abilities
and career and by staunch friendship growing out of close
official associations. Further the dread of New York's poli
ticians and fear that Mr. Seward's well known opposition to
the Know-Nothing or American propaganda would put party
success in jeopardy were potent considerations in 1856 ; and
they were decisive in the formation of party opinion in 1860

6 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
2. Iowa's Politicians and Mr. Lincoln in 1856.
Two facts may here be noted. They may seem somewhat
contradictory in their significance so far as concerns the sub
sequent course of Iowa's politicians but they are suggestive
of the fact so generally unappreciated that on the morning
of May 18, 1860 Abraham Lincoln was not "an Unknown."
At the first National Republican Convention in Philadelphia
in 1856 Lincoln received 110 votes for Vice-President. Iowa's
delegates it seems not only did not give him any votes but it
appears they rather stubbornly refused to do so when the
promoters of Lincoln's candidacy felt that they could expect
some support because of either claims of neighborhood or
of assumed political obligations. Mr. Wm. B. Archer, who
initiated the movement, writing Lincoln, complains: "Ohio
and Iowa treated me badly and I'll see them paid off." His
letter recently published, however, exonerates the Iowans from
recreancy. It shows clearly that he and Lincoln's friends
did not make a move until McLean's nomination for the first
place was found to be impracticable, namely midnight before
Fremont's nomination was made; and then the Iowans had
personally committed themselves to Dayton and would not
ctonsent to switch their vote.1
Whether the delegates from Iowa to the Philadelphia con
vention were, or were not, indifferent or recreant as regards
the claims of Mr. Lincoln to their support they had hardly
returned to their homes before their keen-eyed and resource
ful leader. Governor Grimes, addressed Mr. Lincoln, inviting
him to come over the river and give his aid and influence to
the Republicans to increase their chances of carrying Iowa
for Fremont and Dayton. Mr. Lincoln felt constrained to
decline but with a suggestion that events might induce him
to accede to the Governor 's wishes. His letter is interesting :
Yours of the 29th of June was duly received. I did not answer it
because it plagued me. This morning I received another from Judd
and Peck, written by consultation with you. Now let me tell you
why I am plagued:
'(iimtnrij. Vol. LXXVI, p. 189 — Jesse W. Weik, "Lincoln's Vote for
Vina l'rt:Hi(lcii.l,," etc.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 7
1. I can hardly spare the time.
2. I am superstitious. I have scarcely known a party preceding
an election to call in help from the neighboring States, but they
lost the State. Last fall, our friends had Wade, of Ohio, and others,
in Maine, and they lost the State. Last Spring our adversaries had
New Hampshire full of South Carolinians, and they lost the State.
And so generally, it seems to stir up more enemies than friends.
Have the enemy called in any foreign help? If they have a for
eign champion there, I should have no objection to drive a nail in
his track. I shall reach Chicago on the night of the 15th, to attend
to a little business in court. Consider the things I have suggested,
and write me at Chicago. Especially write me whether Browning
consents to visit you. Your obedient servant, A. Lincoln.
Mr. Lincoln 's ' ' superstitution ' ' is not uncommon among ex
perienced politicians; but it was not unconquerable; as in
1860 following his Cooper Institute speech he ' ' invaded ' ' Con
necticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire in his celebrated
New England tour. The letter indicates the considerations
that controlled much, if not most, of Mr. Lincoln's tactics in
his political activity between 1854 and 1860, namely — if any
distinguished champion of the Democratic party entered the
lists within his own circuit or within the range of his influ
ence Mr. Lincoln would consent to follow and drive nails
in his track. Thus he systematically pursued Stephen A.
Douglas in Illinois; thus he pursued him over into Iowa in
1858; and thus he followed close upon his great rival into
Ohio in 1859.1
The communications between the republican leaders of
Iowa and Illinois in 1856 indicate very clearly not only popu
lar interest in Iowa in the rising statesman of Illinois and rec
ognition of his increasing influence but unmistakable signs of
practical political co-operation between the party leaders of
the two states — a fact that perhaps constituted the ground of
Mr. Archer 's resentment of the conduct of the Iowans at Phila
delphia. The Mr. Judd referred to in the correspondence was
doubtless Mr. Norman B. Judd who later played a conspicu
ous part in the promotion of the candidacy of Mr. Lincoln at
Chicago. Mr. Judd was then or shortly thereafter one of the

iThe above letter was dated "Springfield, Illinois, July 12, 1856." It is
taken from Dr. Salter's Grimes, pp. 83-84.

8- IOWA ANO ABRAHAM LINCOLN
directors of the Chicago and Rock Island railroad company and
of the Mississippi and" Missouri railroad then projected into
Iowa and was thus in the nature of the case personally much
interested in the developments in Iowa.1 ,.-
. Some two or three months later the Republicans of Musca
tine arranged for a general rally of their cohorts and leaders
to be held in that city September 23. Mr. Henry 0 'Conner,
one the Republican Presidential Electors at Large, casting*
about for notabilities to grace the occasion and attract the
multitude addressed a letter to Mr. Lincoln inviting him to he-
present. In his reply he said that he should be glad to attend
but Iowa was "out of all danger" and his duty was in "Illi
nois where much hard work" had to be done.2
3. First Expressions — 1856-1857.
Forecasting the Presidential fates is an inveterate habit
of Americans, particularly of editors and politicians. The
quadrennial election is no sooner over than some venture upon
predictions or suggestions as to candidates for the ensuing
Presidential contest. The practice was vigorous in the fifties.
The returns showing Buchanan's triumph in 1856 had hardly
been certified before the N. Y. Herald ran up Fremont's name
as the best candidate for the Republicans in 1860. It asserted.
that the opponents of the Slavocrats could "only hope" for

'Hon. Peter A. Dey to the writer Aug. 1, 1908. At the stockholders'
meeting in Davenport in the forepart of 1859 the following were among
those elected to the Board of Directors of the M. & M. R. R. : Gen. John
A. Dix, N. B. Judd, Hiram Price and J. Scott Richmond. See Montemma
Weekly Republican, June 16, 1859.
^Lincoln's Works (.Miiller ed.), Vol. IX, p. 19.
Since the above was written the writer has obtained another bit of
interesting evidence of Lincoln's interstate reputation, twelve years before
the letters cited above. In the campaign of 1844 the Whigs of Burlington
arranged for a Mass meeting in that city on July 13th. They issued a
printed circular under date of July 1st, inviting "the attendance of the
Whigs of the Territory generally." Among the active promoters of the
meeting was James W. Grimes. He sent one of the circulars to Mr. David
E. Blair of Yellow Springs in Des Moines County and on an inner page
wrote urgently asking him to arouse and bring the voters of his "whole
township" to the meeting. The note closes with the statement, added
evidently as a conclusive inducement warranting his attendance, namely —
"Baker and Lincoln of 111. & some Mo. men — besides Lowe, Woodward,
Reid & are expected." The Baker referred to was Edward D. Baker, that
year a candidate for Congress, having defeated Lincoln for the nomina
tion ; later Senator from Oregon ; killed at Ball's Bluff in 1861. The
original circular with (Crimes' letter therein was sent the writer by a son
of the original recipient, M. W. Blair of Mediapolis, Iowa.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 9
success "under the. .name of Fremont;"1 that his nomination
would signify the popular overthrow of the oligarchical rule
of politicians ' 'who care for no earthly thing but the spoils ; ' '2
and after pointing out that he had excelled Jackson and
Harrison in popularity it declared that < ' in every direction the
Fremont papers are running Up his name for I860."3
After quoting his eastern contemporary Mr. J. B. Howell,
Editor of The Gate City of Keokuk closed an editorial (No
vember 11) with the prediction that the next president
"will be John Charles Fremont! Look over the field calmly
and considerately, and answer, Why not ? " On the same date ,
Mr. John Mahin said in the Muscatine Daily Journal: "We
Would rather run his name to our mast head today for the
conflict in 1860 than that of any other man in America. Such
we believe the sentiment of the Republican party every
where." Just a week later Mr. C. C. Flint urged caution in
the Dubuque Daily Republican under the suggestive caption
' ' Let us Go to Work : ' ' — ' ' It is not wise to keep up the names
of Presidential candidates for the next four years, with all
the drill of a Presidential campaign. We say this without
abating in the least the love and honor which we shall always
bear to Colonel Fremont, and with the firm determination of
supporting him for the Presidency in 1860. He is our man
for that office and we know that we shall elect him then if he
Lives. But men die ; times change ; principles — the principles
of Truth and Justice embodied in the Republican platform —
they alone are permanent. What then, shall we do ! Let us
keep up our local organization." The writer was not cer
tain whether he should let prudence or sentiment prevail.
It was not strange perhaps for we are told that the Fremonters
of St. Charles (now Charles City) felt their defeat so in
tensely that on November 27th they not only had their party
pennants still flying but had the national ensign "dressed"
in mourning and displayed at half-mast, and though defeated

1New York Herald, Nov. 8, 1S56. "Ib., Nov. 9th.
3Ib., Nov. 12th. Before 1860 the management of The Herald suffered
a radical change, the Rochester speech of Seward and the raid of John
Brown on Harpers Ferry causing it to become a violent opponent of the
Republi"an party.

10 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
• ' ' seem to have lost none of their energy, none of their enthusi
asm for their youthful leader."1 Mr. Mahin, on the satne day
urged Republicans to direct their attenion to the "organiza
tion : " " Such is the watchword everywhere. ' ' He then gives
some sound advice that their recent defeat made very perti
nent, namely, to conciliate the Fillmore vote by "as liberal
policy towards the American party as fidelity to the funda
mental principles of our creed will permit. ' '
Specific discussion of candidates and issues for 1860 suf
fered a lull for several months. Discussion was stirred in the
east when in June 1857 the Republicans of New Hampshire
at their State Convention by resolution commended Fremont
to the country for the Presidency in 1860. There were but
few echoes in Iowa. Mr. Howell briefly noted the fact with
the cautious observation : " It is too early yet to commit our
selves very decidedly. But if, when the proper time comes,
the name of Fremont should prove more acceptable to the Re
publican masses, we shall do battle for him with a right good
will."2 The State campaign that year, however, elicited a
noteworthy expression from Mr. A. W. Hackley, editor of the
Dubuque Daily Tribune (September 11, 1857) : the immedi
ate considerations in the local canvass provoked it but he
clearly had ultimate developments in mind.- Discussing "The
Real Issue ' ' his initial sentences were :
"The real issue now before the people is Slavery, and
this will continue to be the all controlling issue until either
Freedom or Slavery triumph. Two such antagonistic prin
ciples cannot long exist and both be struggling for, mastery ;
one or the other must yield."
Mr. Hackley here stated forcefully the same thought that
Abraham Lincoln ten months later put into more luminous
phrase in his speech at Springfield (June 16) when he was
chosen to contest the Senatorship with Stephen A. Douglas;
and that Wm. H. Seward later expressed in his celebrated
speech at Rochester (October 25) which Von Hoist tells us had
the effect of a "mighty clap of thunder."3 Complete original
's*. Charles Intelligencer, Nov. 27, 1856.
'The Gate City, July 20, 1857.
^History, Vol. VI, p. 265.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 It
ity cannot be claimed for Mr. Hackley as the Richmond (Va.)
Enquirer had in 1856 (May 6) clearly pointed out the in
herent antagonism between Free Labor and Slavery.2
aThe chain of title to the thought and phraseology of Lincoln's declar
ation — " 'A house divided against itself cannot stand.' I believe this gov
ernment cannot endure permanently half slave and half free" — is slightly
obscured. In his speech at Columbus (O.) Lincoln said (Sept. 16, 1859) : "It is-
true that exactly fifteen months ago this day, I believe, I for the first time
expressed a sentiment upon this subject" (Works, Vol. IV, p. 209). The-
next day at Cincinnati he said : "But neither I nor Seward, nor Hickman
is entitled to enviable or unenviable distinction of having first expressed
that idea. The same idea was expressed by the Richmond Enquirer in
Virginia In 1856 quite two years before it was expressed by the first of
us" (Works, ib., p. 260).
Lincoln's statements are to be taken strictly, viz., as applicable only to
the first public expressions of the idea for the thought and the same form
of expression was uttered by him three if not four years before. Miss
Tarbell cites Judge T. Lyle Dickey who asserted that when the Kansas-
Nebraska storm broke Lincoln said to him "I tell you that this nation can
not exist half slave and half free" (Life, 1-288). In what Von Hoist calls
"the remarkable letter of August 15, 1855" to George Robinson of Lex
ington, Kentucky, the last paragraph contains the same thought — "Our
political problem now is 'Can we as a nation continue together perma
nently — forever — half slave and half free?" (Works, VIII-57.) These-
were private expressions of the thought that was gathering strength as he
studied the developments of the problem but he was not prepared to risk
his political fortunes or to put in jeopardy those of his party on the throw
of a public pronouncement for Mr. Rhodes tells us that he incorporated:
the idea in the draft of a speech in 1856 but on advice struck it out
(History, 11-315).
A few days after the passage of the Nebraska act in 1854 the same
sentiment, worded somewhat differently, was expressed in the N. Y.
Tribune: ". . . The permanence of the Union is predicable only upon one-
of two conditions, either the South must put an end to slavery, or the
North must adopt it . . ."
General James Grant Wilson In his Life of Chas. A. Dana- accredits the-
editorial to Horace Greeley, (pp. 129-130.)
To what extent the expression of the Richmond Enquirer was current
in the West in 1856 I can not say. Lincoln evidently kept his weather-
eye upon its columns as his speech in Chicago on Dec. 10th of that year
indicates. The furious attacks upon the Republicans for their announce
ment and reiteration that the conflict of slavery and freedom was irre
pressible drew the following rejoinder from The Gate City of Keokuk,.
Nov. 23, 1859:
. . . . [the] announcement in lucid terms of Lincoln and Seward,-
and the making it a basis of argument, has, in point of fact, been an
nounced most frequently, clearly and pointedly by the ultra part of the
- slaveholders. ... It was the sagacious apprehension of this fact that
caused Calhoun and his followers to decide upon an aggressive policy . .
"We have been led to these reflections by the remembrance of an
article from the Richmond Enquirer which we long ago published, and in
which occurs this plain and striking statement of the fact :
"Two opposite and conflicting forms of society cannot among civilized?
men coexist and endure. The one must give way and cease to exist — the
other becomes universal.
"If free society be unnatural, immoral and unchristian, it must fall
and give way to slave society — a social system old as the world — as uni
versal as man."
"Did ever Seward or Lincoln or Thomas Jefferson state the case more
definitely, or imperatively than that?"
The date of the first publication of The Enquirer's statement by The
Gate City I have not discovered.
The phrase "a house divided against itself, etc.," had long been a
favorite .one with Lincoln. He used it effectively, as Chairman of a
Committee, in an Address to the Whigs of his Congressional District in
1843, urging "harmony" and active, concerted effort on the part of th&
opponents of the Democratic party. See Nicolay and Hay, Abraham
Lincoln, etc., Vol. 1-219.

12 , IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN ,
'Again; we may note a continuing public interest in Abraham.
Lincoln in Iowa three years before his nomination./ The Re
publicans of Iowa had. good reason to, regard their prospects
in the Fall elections of 1857 with anxiety and their- leaders
looked here and there for assistance. Some time in July or
August Governor Grimes Wrote Mr. Lincoln and tried to se- ,
cure his promise to come over and, speak one or more times
during the campaign for the adoption of the new. constitu
tion. Mr. Lincoln was not unwilling to come but his court en
gagements, the Rock Island Bridge case in particular, pre
vented his giving more than a conditional promise! He agreed
to. speak at Davenport in case the court should require a per
sonal examination of the physical conditions of the bridge at
Rock Island, and he asked Governor Grimes for data relative
to the points in issue affecting the old and new constitutions.
He was unable to fulfill his promise, but the fact that Gov
ernor Grimes, one of the coolest, keenest judges of political
ability and popular speakers, should again seek to secure the
assistance of Lincoln in such a campaign indicates very clearly
that the Illinois lawyer was then a man with a decided inter
state. reputation.1
In commenting upon an address of N. P. Banks before the
American Institute in New York, Mr. A. B. F. Hildreth in ah
eulogistic editorial comes very near putting him forward as
a candidate but he merely recognizes his strong qualities and
suggests that his remarkable achievements theretofore would
not make his achievement of Presidential honors at all sur
prising.2 So far as I can discover the first clear cut expression of
specific preference and advocacy of a candidate was made in
northern central Iowa. In the issue of The Hamilton Freeman
of December 10, Mr. Charles Aldrich placed at the head
of his editorial column:— "For President, 1860— JOHN C.
FREMONT," and immediately below "For United States
Senator— JAMES W. GRIMES." The names appeared with
little comment and no exhortation. In an editorial note of a

Salter's Grimes, p. 95.
"The St. Charles Intelligencer, Nov. 5, 1857.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 13
few lines he says simply :— They are "two statesmen whom we
ardently desire to see chosen. . . ". They are so thoroughly
known and appreciated by the people of northwestern Iowa,
that we shall not today enter into any exposition of their
merits — Believing them to be the men of all others whose
eminent services are demanded by the exigencies of the times,
we shall contribute our humble efforts to swell the tide of
their success."
The conjunction of the two names was probably not without
significance. Governor Grimes was then a national figure.
As early as 1855 a Cleveland (0.) paper had suggested his
nomination for Vice-President as a running mate for Salmon
P. Chase.1 Notwithstanding the hue and cry of northern Iowa
for the selection of a Senator from the north half of the
state, Mr. Aldrich urged Governor Grimes as one most fit to
complete the party triumph begun in 1854. The announce
ment, however, has a more decided significance. Mr. Aldrich
had but recently come from central western New York where
he had been an influential factor in local and state politics
as editor of The Olean Journal. He was there in the thick of
the party contentions when Know-Nothingism and Temper
ance agitation were rampant, working the temporary defeat
of his personal friend, Congressman, later Governor and Sena
tor, Reuben E. Fenton. Being a New Yorker we should natur
ally anticipate that Mr. Aldrich would have been an enthusi
astic advocate of his State's distinguished Senator for the
Republican nomination for the Presidency. On the contrary
we find neither advocacy of nor so much as favorable reference
to Mr. Seward. His reticence respecting the statesman of
Auburn continued from 1857 up to the assembling of the con
vention in Chicago in 1860.
Following Mr. Aldrich a few days later Mr. Hackley at
Dubuque noting the increased speculation of ' ' politicians and
wireworkers" and the action of the Republicans of New
Hampshire respecting Fremont says that Fremont 's name ' ' is
at the head of a number of country journals ' ' ; but he does
not indicate whether in Iowa or not. Of possible candidates
'Salter's Grimes, p. 79.

-14 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
he says that N. P. Banks is "not unlikely to become one of the
most prominent"; but "¥m. H. Seward is at the present
time probably the strongest man in the party."1
4. Coalition among the Opposition Discouraged.
During 1858 the discussion of the Presidential sucession
almost ceased. When the excitement over the Lecompton con
stitution was at its height in Washington Charles Sumner
wrote Theodore Parker: "What is doing in Massachusetts?
Is everybody asleep?" As one reads the newspapers of Iowa
for 1858 the same query suggests itself — the absence of defi
nite, vigorous interest, the lack of views and suggestions are
jioteworthy. Everybody seemed to be awaiting developments.
Editors occasionally reprinted extracts of articles in eastern
papers that made favorable mention of a possible candidate
or referred in favorable terms to some of their public utter
ances. Thus Mr. Mahin made note of the "powerful" letter
of Edward Bates against Buchanan's administration;2 and
Mr. John Teesdale notwithstanding the criticism of Hale and
others lauded Seward as a Hampden and a Burke for his
speech of March 5 that ' ' poured such an avalanche of burning-
truth" upon the administration.3 Mr. Mahin pronounced
"sensible" the suggestion of the Richmond Whig that the
Southerners would do well to "fraternize with and support
Seward for the Presidency" rather than Douglas whom they
denounced as "worse than Seward."4 The Crescent of New
Orleans in June declared that "Wm. H. Seward will be the
next President if he lives and the Union lasts" and forthwith
Tirged disruption as preferable. Mr. Howell reprints, but
indicates no preference; he simply expresses defiance, observ
ing — "if he is elected, or any other of the great republican
leaders, all such fanatics as the Crescent ....
will be driven like dogs to their kennels or hung by the way
side as a warning to traitors."'' Mr. Aldrich kept Fremont's

1Dubuque Daily Tribune, Dec. 18, 1857.
"Muscatine Daily Journal, March 17, 1858
'Tri-Weekly Citizen, March 16, 1858.
*The Muscatine Journal, June 29, 185 8.
'¦The Gate City, June 30, 1858.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 15
name at the head of his editorial page continuously until Nov.
5, 1858. He did not urge the consideration of Fremont
editorially. He referred to him once. So far as I can learn he
elicited no favorable echo from the party press of the State.
He removed the name without comment and did not refer
again to Fremont in his discussion of Presidential candidates.
His purpose may have been, and probably was, purely stra
tegical, namely, to develop public sentiment pro or con. If
such was his purpose he certainly discovered that the senti
ment was not pro.
One matter only seems to have educed any strong expres
sions during 1858. The violent break of Douglas with Bu
chanan and the southern leaders and his stout fight against
the Leeompton constitution made a number of the Republican
leaders in the east urge an alliance with him and the promo
tion of his leadership. Many expected and not a few advo
cated a new party organization that might comprehend all
varieties of the opposition to the Administration especially the
large body of Americans that had supported Fillmore. With
Greeley of The Tribune favoring the former and Raymond
of The Times suggesting the probability of if not promoting
the latter a new order of things seemed immanent. The
response in Iowa from the Republicans was not favorable.
Mr. Mahin while admiring Douglas ' heroic opposition to the
Administration and inclining to credit his course to sincere
and patriotic motives nevertheless closed a judicial editorial
with the following unequivocal language : " In whatever light
we may regard him, we must still be forced to the conviction
that he is unworthy of the confidence of the North until he
arrays himself in sackcloth and ashes for his past political
sins and by protracted service in the cause of freedom proves
his faith by his works."1 The proposal that a new political
party be organized he gave short shrift: "It is idle to talk
of any other party than the Republican to oppose the Ad
ministration. . . . The issue before the country is slavery or
freedom ... As Republicans we are not in favor of com
promising . ... . Our platform is broad enough for all the

1 The Muscatine Journal, Dec. 29, 1857.

16 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
brave hearted freemen of the country to stand on. It needs
no enlargement nor any additional planks."1
The scheme and schemers for the reconstruction or coalition
of the opposition parties met with a scornful reception from
The Hamilton Freeman (June 24). Mr. Aldrich 's editorial
on "The Reconstruction of Parties" presents the case with
such vigor and gives so many points of the hostility to the plan
that it is given at length. There is much in the phraseology
and in the attitude of the writer towards compromise that we
find later in the racy letters of Fitz Henry Warren to J. S.
Pike and to Samuel Bowles of The Springfield (Mass.) Repub
lican in the forepart of 1860 when a movement somewhat
similar was vigorously promoted.
There seems to be a general movement, says Mr. Aldrich, on
the part of the Fillmore wing of the American Party, aided and
abetted by some of the more eccentric of the Republican press to
reconstruct parties, meaning by this, a union of that faction with
the Republican party upon the basis of a new organization, a new
party with a new name, with a platform that shall discard the
doctrines of the Republicans — that "Freedom is National and Slavery
Sectional," and that shall also be silent in regard to the extension of
slavery into the Territories — in short, a party bound together and
cemented by the sole object of opposition to the present administra
tion and a division of the spoils.
The game of Americanism has been played out, and these old
fossils have been left "sticking out," — they now desire part and
parcel with the victorious republicans, but true to their instincts
and antecedents they must bring the great triumphant and rapidly
increasing Republican party down to their own level. They have
the unblushing impudence and effrontery to ask us to give up the
republican organization — to strike from our Platform all for which
wehave been contending — all that gives life or vitality to the party
— all that makes us any more elevated than the Democratic party
— to stultify ourselves — renounce our principles — give up our name
and all for what? Why simply, to allow this miserable, lying, petri
fied squad of unadulterated old fogies, who traduced John C. Fre
mont in 1856 — and elected Buchanan President — to come in and
share in the spoils of victory that the Republicans are sure to win
without them — and (can impudence go farther?) upon terms dictated
by themselves and disgraceful to us!
If we are wrong in our conclusions — if the Fillmore men do not
desire this surrender on the part of the Republicans — but are willing
!/&., May 29, 1858.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 17
to adopt our principles — and are from principle anxious to aid in the
overthrow of the present party in power why do they demand any
surrender of names or principles on our part? We have as a party
conscientiously opposed James Buchanan, from the day he was
nominated — and all measures of his administration. If the Fill
more men had done the same — if they had cast their votes for the
only man who stood the least chance of defeating Mr. Buchanan —
instead of throwing them away upon Mr. Fillmore — a good, reliable,
competent republican would have stood at the head of the govern
ment at this moment — safely guiding the ship of state over the
shoals and rocks on which Mr. Buchanan has well nigh foundered it.
The Republican Party to-day are in the majority in every free
State in the Union with the exception, perhaps, of California; and
yet this little squad of antiquated politicians, who are unable to con
trol half a dozen school districts in the United States, gravely ask
the Republican [s] to reorganize their party on such a basis, as will
admit them to share the spoils, without any surrender on their part.
Our preference stands at the head of our columns, [viz. Fremont.]
Mr. Hildreth while not advocating a coalition recognized
that the concurrent and conciliatory actions of various fac
tional leaders of the Opposition in Congress in resisting the
Lecompton frauds would doubtless lead to new party align
ments favorable to Freedom and the Republican program.
Noting the gathering interest in Presidential candidates and
coalitions he said in the forepart of October: "The Presi
dential future begins to be discussed. The elements are
various and curious. . . . As to the Republican party it
is impossible to predict anything" He believed that the re
cent "patriotic votes" of the Republicans on the Crittenden-
Montgomery bill in Congress, Corwin's national canvass in
Ohio, Greeley's concessions to Popular sovereignty and the in
disposition of the Republicans to insist on "no more slave
states" would bring about a new alignment of national parties
and hence the futility of predictions or the aggressive promo
tion of particular candidates.1
5. The Lincoln — Douglas Debates.
Biographers, historians and literateurs have exalted beyon.l
all peradventure the Debates between Abraham Lincoln and
1 The St. Charles Intelligencer, Oct. 7, 1858.
2

18 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
'Stephen A. Douglas in 1858 as the causa causans of Lincoln's
later exaltation and the major fact that brought the people
of the nation to their senses respecting the great issue in the
quadrennium preceding the political revolution in 1860. More
than this not a few would have us believe that the people
were tremendously aroused and universally alert in their
appreciation of the crucial character of the encounter. Thus
one learned historian tells us that the debate "was followed
by the whole people with strained attention."1 This may have
been so ; but if so the people of Iowa were for the most part
in the state of mind described by Sir Walter Scott's little
friend — "more than usual calm."
An examination of twenty different papers published in
sixteen different communities demonstrates that the pub
lic interest in the debates on this side of the Mississippi was
very various and curious withal. One or two editors only seem
to have had a lively sense of the strategic importance of the
contest but none apparently at the time perceived that anything
besides Douglas 'senatorial -and perhaps his presidential chances
hung in the balances. Most of those who manifest any inter
est at all exhibit but little beyond the common concern that is
aroused by an interesting spectacle. Several of the influential
papers, both Democratic and Republican, show practically
no interest, scarcely noticing it either in editorial or in news
column. As Douglas spoke at Galena and Rock Island, and
Lincoln at Augusta and Carthage, and both met at Quincy all
within hail and each separately crossed the river, visited and
spoke at Burlington during the canvass the amount of atten
tion to the progress of the debates was somewhat more in the
eastern cities of Iowa than in the inland towns. A brief sum
mary of the notes and comments is not inappropriate nor
without value.
The columns of The Gate City contain nothing especially
noteworthy. Lincoln's challenge and the virulent opposition
¦of the Administration to Douglas are noted. Douglas' gross
misrepresentation of Lincoln's connection with the "Aboli
tion" conspiracy and platform in 1854 in the initial debate at

iVon Hoist, History, Vol. VI, p. 287.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 19
Ottawa is branded by Mr. Howell as a "forgery." (Aug.
31.) The fatal answer of Douglas to the second Freeport ques
tion is noted (Sept. 17) ; an extract from Lincoln's Charleston
speech relative to negro quality is given (Oct. 1). An excursion
to Quincy ($1.50 round trip) is advertised and "several hun
dred" went down. The debate at that place is concisely re
lated and the jubilation of the Republicans and the depression
of the Democrats at the outcome are asserted (Oct. 15).
When Lincoln was advertised to speak at Carthage all who
desired ' ' to hear one of the most celebrated ' ' orators were ad
vised to go (Oct. 20). But there is nothing whatever that
signifies public interest that is abnormal ; at most there is noth
ing more intense than is frequently witnessed in national and
state campaigns.
In the latter weeks of the contest between the meetings
at Galesburg and Quincy the people of Burlington were per
mitted to hear Abraham Lincoln speak on the great questions
in issue. Douglas had spoken in the city a short time before.
The chairman of the Republican county committee, Mr.
Charles Ben Darwin, one of the best lawyers of Burlington,
knowing Lincoln's tactics of following close on Douglas' trail,
invited him to favor the city with an address. As he was listed
to speak in the afternoon of Oct. 9 at Oquawka he consented
to stop over and speak in Burlington in the evening, in the
open air if the weather would permit. The arrangement ap
parently was not announced before the morning of the 8th.
A brief but effective notice of the speech and the speaker was
published in The Hawk-eye. Referring to the debate at Gales
burg, Editor Clark Dunham states: "Those we conversed
with think Mr. Lincoln the ablest and most popular speakei
they ever heard and say he had altogether the advantage of
Douglas in the argument, even Douglas' friends acknowledg
ing it. ' ' The notice closes with ' ' Huzza for Lincoln. ' ' In the
next morning's issue three separate notices are inserted, one,
two and three line notices — one of which reads : ' ' There will
be a Grand Concert at the People's Garden this evening im
mediately after Mr. Lincoln's speech." Concerning "Abe
Lincoln's Speech at Grimes Hall." Mr. Dunham remarks on
Monday :

20 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
' Grimes' Hall was filled to its full capacity ... So great is the
sympathy felt here in the spirited canvass in Illinois, and so high
is the opinion entertained of the ability of Mr. Lincoln as a speaker
that a very short notice brought together from twelve to fifteen
hundred ladies and gentlemen.
High, however, as was the public expectation, and much as was
anticipated, he, in his address of two hours, fully came up to the
standard that had been erected. It was a logical discourse, replete
with sound argument, clear, concise and vigorous, earnest, impas
sioned and eloquent. Those who heard recognized in him a man
fully able to cope with the little giant anywhere, and altogether
worthy to succeed him.
We regret exceedingly that it is not in our power to report his
speech in full this morning. We know that we could have rendered
no more acceptable service to our readers. But it is not in our
power. Mr. Lincoln appeared Saturday evening fresh and vigorous, there
was nothing in his voice, manner or appearance to show the arduous
labors of the last two months — nothing to show that immense labors
of the canvass had worn upon him in the least. In this respect he has
altogether the advantage of Douglas, whose voice is cracked and
husky, temper soured and general appearance denoting exhaustion.1
Several queries suggest themselves that are pertinent in de
termining the degree of public interest in Burlington regard
ing Lincoln at that time. Was the Grand Concert referred to
one of the inducements to lure a crowd to hear him? If so
much was expected of the speaker why, with two or three days'
notice, was not The Hawk-eye prepared to give its readers a
verbatim report of the speech? If the speech so greatly ex
ceeded anticipation why was not the public not present given
a detailed summary of the main points made by the noted
speaker, so that the cause which Mr. Dunham favored no less
could be promoted far beyond the circuit of that particular
audience? The three hundred words or so devoted to the
occasion and the man, while highly laudatory, do not dem
onstrate an abnormal or extremely acute public interest. I
have found no reference in the contemporary press of the
State to the fact that Burlington was favored with the pres
ence of the two noted political gladiators during the progress
of their celebrated canvass in 1858 and no one now-a-days,

1 The Hawk-eye, Oct. 11, 1858.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 21
aside from old residents of Burlington is aware of the fact.1
So far as his pages indicate the editor of The Journal at
Muscatine felt but little more than a languid interest in the
forensic contest on the other side of the river. A short dis
patch or extract from some account by another appears rela
tive to most of the debates but there is no especial editorial
mention. The space given seldom exceeds a "stickful." Mr.
Mahin evidently went up to Rock Island where he heard Doug
las ; and he closes his summary of the speech with the interest
ing observation: "We venture to say that the majority of his
audience went away with the conviction that Mr. Douglas was
on the wrong side and knew it himself but feeling more sorrow
than anger in the conviction. " (Oct. 30.) The organ of the
Democrats in that city although it devotes some space to Doug
las' speeches in July gives the debates no consideration. It
expresses great satisfaction when the returns gave Douglas the
senatorship-,2 but there is no sign of recognition of the political
revolution that was so greatly hurried forward by that now
celebrated tournament.
A decided and lively interest in the Illinois contest is mani
fested in the Davenport Daily Gazette. Its editor, Mr. Add
H. Sanders, realizes the national importance of the campaign.
"Our sister state is in a gloriously excited condition ....
Indeed with the elections approaching in many other states,
the eyes of politicians everywhere appear to be turned most
anxiously toward the election in Illinois. The reason is the
coming election fixes the political destiny of Stephen A. Doug
las, so far as any single event can accomplish that object. If

1 The writer is indebted to nr. William Salter, Iowa's venerable his
torian, to Mr. W. W. Baldwin, Tax Commissioner of the C. , B. & Q. Ry. , and
to Miss Daisy N. Sabin, Librarian of the Free Public Library— all of Burlington
for the data in the paragraphs above relative to Douglas and Lincoln's appear
ances in Burlington. Mr. Baldwin's letter of June 10, 1907, relates the follow
ing Incident that strikingly illustrates the simplicity of manner and method
of Judge Douglas' opponent, an eye-witness telling him the story.
When Mr. Lincoln arrived at the old Barrett House where he stopped
while in Burlington he had In his hand a small package, wrapped In a news
paper. Handing it to the clerk at the desk he asked him to ' Please take good
care of that. It is my boiled shirt. I will need it this afternoon." It was his
only "baggage".
As Mr. Baldwin remarks In a later letter the incident is interesting for
the contrast it affords with the methods of far less important people, who
can not go about without a valet or a retinue of servants .
"The Iowa Democratic Enquirer (wk.), Nov. 11, 1858.

22 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
¥
defeated he will be politically dead. If successful it will give
him higher hopes of attaining the great goal of his ambition,
than he could have reasonably indulged during the last four
years." (Sept. 3.) There is considerable space given to ac
counts of Douglas' triumphal journeys, to extracts from Lin
coln's speeches, to comments upon the course of the discussion
and to fraternal commiseration of the dire fratricidal dissen-
tion among the Douglas and Administration Democrats in
Iowa.1 At Dubuque. The Express and Herald, a Douglas organ,
paid more or less attention to Douglas' campaign but seluom
mentioned Lincoln and then only with contempt. It printed
(Aug. 4) a Chicago dispatch that designates Lincoln as a
cringing, fawning "Uriah Heap," when referring to his pres
ence at the Douglas meeting in Chicago, July 9 ; and sneers at
"That rank Abolitionist Lincoln" who dares to presume to seek
the place of the "Little Giant," who it declares, is "the
greatest man in the American Senate." Aug. 25.) At the
Galena meeting Mayor Hetherington of Dubuque was one of
the notables who escorted Douglas to the platform. (Aug. 26.)
Going inland we find much less interest in the debates so far
as the pages of newspapers afford evidence thereof, although
there were at least two instances of marked appreciation of
their importance. The Ottumica Courier reprints Lincoln's en
tire speech at Chicago, July 10th — seven solid columns —
and Mr. J. W. Norris observed editorially (Aug. 12) : "The
indications are that it will be the most exciting canvass that
we have ever had in this country." Mr. Norris immediately
thereafter went east and nothing further is found in his col
umns about the contest in Illinois. Mr. A. J. Dowling, editor
of the Montezuma Weekly Republican, has frequent notes and
comments upon the debate but none that indicate extraordi
nary interest.
At Vinton, the editor of The Eagle, Mr. Thomas Drum
mond, indicates a keen appreciation of the contest in Illinois.
Lincoln's great Springfield speech he reprinted almost entire

iThe writer is under obligations to Mr. Otha Thomas of Valley Junc
tion and to Mr. Harry B. Downer of Davenport for the above citations
from the Davenport Daily Gazette.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 23
(Aug. 21). He makes the following observations upon the
character and significance of the senatorial contest (Oct. 23) :
The political contest now waging in Illinois in the earnestness
zeal, and even bitterness with which it is conducted by all parties
exceeds anything of the kind ever before known in that state or
perhaps in the Union. Even the memorable campaign of '40 sinks
below it for intensity and enthusiasm. Men now think of nothing
else — the struggle is for life or death. Upon the result in Illinois
this year depends the Presidency in 1860. If Douglas is beaten
now for the Senate he is beaten forever and consigned to political
oblivion. If he is successful he will be the acknowledged chief of
the whole Democratic Party, hold Buchanan at his mercy and without
doubt receive the nomination of the Charleston convention.
Mr. Drummond thought that Lincoln would triumph over
Douglas, although he perceived that an unjust apportionment
might give the legislative majority to the latter. In his com
ments upon the victory of Douglas Mr. Drummond says that
Lincoln's defeat was due to two causes; first, the adverse
apportionment and, second, the attitude of the eastern press,
saying scarcely a word in condemnation of Douglas and
dubiously commending the Republicans of Illinois who had
to bear the brunt of the bitter fight. Mr. Drummond, while
he watched the debates with keen zest, says nothing about
Lincoln that indicates that he perceived his remarkable ability
and achievements and he makes no mention of the Freeport
questions.1 At Indianola, was the Weekly Visitor, an "Independent" in
policy, whose editor, Mr. James H. Knox, had strong anti-
slavery extension views, but one can find no mention of tho
debates. The same is true of the two Democratic papers
published at the State capital. Neither the Iowa State
Journal nor the Iowa Statesman demonstrate even ordinary
interest in the debates ; after the decision, the latter observes
(Nov. 11) : "We have one gratification in the recent elec
tions which covers up a multitude of misfortunes. DOUGLAS
IS SAFE ! The struggle has been a political Waterloo, with
this difference — the 'man of destiny' is victorious over the
allied powers." The columns of both papers are filled with
• The writer is Indebted to Rev. A. B. Elliott of Vinton for the above
excerpt and other data from The Eagle.

24 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
discussions of new railroad projects, agricultural meetings,
court house controversy, Des Moines River lands, Taxes, and
"Gold! Gold!" [Pike's Peak]. Such prosaic affairs chiefly
engaged the interests of their readers.
One observer at the state capital, however, Mr. John Tees-
dale, editor of The Iowa Weekly Citizen, kept a keen weather
eye on the encounter in Illinois — manifesting a realization of
its vital significance exceeding that of any other editorial
writer— at least so far as expression indicated such realiza
tion.1 Noting the developments from time to time, on Septem
ber 8, two weeks following the debate at Freeport he called at
tention to the crucial character of the struggle. After re
ferring to the "political excitement" in "our sister state" he
points out the striking contrast between the pageant of Doug
las' itinerary and the modest procedure of Lincoln's progress;
the dire perplexity of Douglas between the "Administration"
Democrats and the Republicans who a short time previously.
had encouraged him in his assaults upon the Lecompton
fraud, and his vicious recoil upon the Republicans when he
found that the local leaders in Illinois refused to promote his
candidacy; Lincoln and Trumbull's solid "shots below the
water line" when they hurled the exhibits of the Congres
sional Record showing Douglas' course in striking from the
Toombs bill the provision granting the people of Kansas the
right to pass upon their constitution ; Douglas ' tergiversation
and "artful dodging" anent popular soveriegnty and the
Dred Scott decision ; how Lincoln 's Freeport questions ' ' threw
him off his guard" and gave opportunity for a fatal thrust;
how enraged the "Administration" and the Southern leaders
were at his course. If Douglas should be defeated Mr. Tees-
dale believed he would be "entombed" beyond any hope of
"political resurrection;" and if he should win he would re
turn to Washington "to flaunt his triumph in the face of the
President. . . . His vaulting ambition will lead him in
to deadly conflict with the President, his cabinet and sup
porters everywhere. It is therefore, a dubious question,
'Mr. J. M. Dixon was Associate Editor of The Citizen at the same
time but there seems reason for believing that Mr. Teesdale penned the
major editorials of the paper.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 25
whether the Republicans have more to hope for in the defeat,
than in the success of Douglas."
Up in what was then the remote Northwest, at Sioux City.
there were two live papers. Mr. F. M. Zieback, editor of The
Register, the Democratic paper, does not so much as mention
the campaign in Illinois. The editor of the Republican paper,
The Eagle, Mr. Seth W. Swiggett, has only one editorial ex
pression on the debate; but it shows that he perceived the
momentous consequences involved in the contest. On October
23d he says: "* * * American politics have never developed
so close and heated a campaign as the one now in progress in
Illinois. Every inch of ground presumed to be doubtful is
contested with the energy of desperation. The eyes of the
Union are directed on the combatants to the exclusion of all
other objects of political interest for all perceive that the
history of the Republic is shaping itself around the Illinois
battlefield. * * * whichever way the beam shall fall, (so it is
held abroad) that way will the nation incline in 1860." He
does not venture to predict as to the probable outcome.1
North and east of Des Moines the indifference of the press,
and of course, the people was equally noteworthy. The Boone
County News (Oct. 1) gives a column to the debate and the
week following quotes from Lincoln's tribute to the Declara
tion of Independence ; the Hamilton Freeman makes no direct
reference to the contest; the St. Charles Intelligencer says
nothing editorially but prints two letters from a correspond
ent in Illinois (Oct. 7, 14), who recounts some incidents of
the debate. The Quasqueton Guardian" takes no notice of
the contest. If anything more than another demonstrates
that many of the preceptors of the great party of high moral
ideas were "more than usual calm" anent the great debate
it is the fact that the editors of the first and third papers
last mentioned, Messrs. Aldrich and Rich, both fine types of
the efficient Yankee character, gave their columns to recital
of the details of the Morrissey-Heenan Prize Fight in Canada

xFor the statements concerning the two. papers of Sioux City and the
extract from The Eagle, the writer is under obligations to Mr. F. H. Rice,
and to Messrs. J. C. C. Hoskins and George Weare, who courteously
permitted Mr. Rice to examine their flies.
2.Later The Independence Guardian.

26 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
'while virtually ignoring the momentous encounter of prin
ciples and wits near their own doors,— a fight of the fates in
very fact.1
But were the Iowans different from their compatriots in the
older States to the east? Not appreciably. The New York
Herald mentions the debate infrequently and always refers
both to it and the disputants with scorn and contempt. It
is a "Senatorial Prize Fight." Douglas' recreancy and dis
astrous course constitute the burden of its references. The
seismic effect of his answer to the Freeport questions is real
ized; but Lincoln is ignored. The files of Greeley's Daily
Tribune have not been available but the columns of the semi-
weekly are perhaps not less instructive. The speeches of
Lincoln and Douglas in June and July are reprinted, but
the speeches delivered at the first debate at Ottawa are alone
reproduced. Three editorials (Aug. 27, Sept. 24, Nov. 9)
discussed the struggle in Illinois but Douglas is the man
chiefly, almost wholly in mind; the last deals with his "signal
triumph," Lincoln being ignored. There is no comment on
the Freeport questions and answers. On October 22d the
entire front page (six broad columns) of Mr. Greeley's great
journal was given over to a minute description of the Mor-
rissey-Heenan Prize Fight and at the bottom we read " (See
Eighth Page) " As much news space, lacking two columns,
was given over to the fistic bout of those two bruisers as to
the now famous combat of statesmen pronounced by The
Tribune itself to be "two eminent masters of the art of
intellectual attack and defense."2 The many thousand of
Greeley's readers in Iowa received either the semi-weekly or
the weekly issue. Wm. Lloyd Garrison's paper, The Liber
ator, does not notice the debates except to quote Douglas'
reply to Lincoln respecting the Dred Scott decision. 2 New

1 Hamilton Freeman, Nov. 12 and The Guardian, Nov. 11, 1858. Not long
before his death, in response to the writer's Inquiry concerning the matter,
Mr. Aldrich said, with the glint of a smile in his eyes: "Well, sir, the fact is
that In some respects we editors In those days were not much better than they
are now-a-days." "iV. F. Tribune (S. W.), Aug. 27, 1858.
3 The Liberator, Oct. 15, 1858.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 27
York's "Journal of Civilization" Harper's Weekly, makes no
mention of the debates during their occurrence but it does give
us an extended account of the pugilistic bout (three columns
or more), and its first and leading editorial discusses "The
Great Prize Fight." Its columns on "Domestic Intelligence"
during all of those months were filled with such items of news
as we found in the press of Iowa, such as the doings of tho
Mormans, Gold discoveries, etc.1
The fact is our chroniclers and eulogists are likely to
suffer from ex post facto obviousness in dealing with the
career of Abraham Lincoln. A people, like persons, seldom
realize the significance or anticipate the consequences of cur
rent events. They appreciate their sensations but not their
sense and sequences. The people generally in 1858 only real
ized that an interesting spectacle was taking place in Illinois
at the end of which one or the other contestant would be
a national senator and in the case of one increased prestige
would enhance his strength as a Presidential aspirant. There
were but few discerning ones who saw that it would split
assunder a great national party and bring about new align
ments and a new national leader. These results gradually
dawned upon the public consciousness.
Neither the Republicans nor the people of Iowa were ob
livious of the pith and point of the discussions in Illinois. The
large crowds that went from Iowa to attend the debates at
Freeport, Galesburg and Quincy, to hear Douglas at Galena
and Rock Island and Lincoln at Augusta and Carthage, not
a few going from towns 20 and 40 miles west of the river

^Harper's Weekly, Oct. 30, 1858. It is but fair to state that Harper's
Weekly, prior to the debates, did recognize the great importance of the contest
In Illinois, although it signified no interest whatever in the developments
and results of the debates . On July 31 in an editorial written before they were
under way, entitled "The Canvass in Illinois" the writer asserts: There
can be no question but the pending canvass in Illinois is one of the most
memorable contests which ever took place in the political history of the
United States." After succinctly outlining the positions of the three parties
in interest he closes with the words: "As such, the canvass is worthy of the
closest attention. ' '
It is a curious commentary upon the foregoing that the only signs
whereby the editors manifest their interest In that memorable canvass are by
two meagre items relative to Douglas, namely: one, Oct. 16, an excerpt from
Douglas' account of his birth "away down in Yankee land" ; and the other,
Nov. 6, Vice President Breckenridge's letter favoring his re-election to the
Senate. From neither, however, could one infer that an epoch-making dls-
cusBion had created new political conditions in our national party strife.

28 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
*as Fairfield, Mt. Pleasant and Keosauqua, indicate a keen
popular interest. Some of the Republican politicians speedily
discerned the practical usefulness of the points scored in
Illinois and pressed them home upon their opponents in their
bouts on the hustings. Thus at Vinton, Aug. 9, the editor
of The Eagle, Mr. Thomas Drummond, harried Judge W. E.
Leffingwell, the Democratic candidate for Congress, with "a
series of questions which had been first propounded to Judge
Douglas at Bloomington to which Mr. Drummond added sev
eral of his own."1
6. The Debates and the Presidential Succession.
The effect of the debates upon opinion regarding the
Presidential succession, while ultimately very important, was
but vaguely apparent during their progress and immediate
ly following. General Cyrus Bussey, a Marylander by stock,
was then a resident of Bloomfield in Davis county. He was
an admirer and staunch supporter of Stephen A. Douglas
and followed the debates in Illinois with lively interest. He
informs me that generally throughout southeastern Iowa the
Democrats, while they scoffed at Lincoln for his temerity in
venturing to break lances with the "Little Giant," and tried
to make themselves believe that he was some sort of a cross
between a buffoon and a monster, " half -horse-and-half -alliga
tor" who advocated Amalgamation and "Equality with the
nigger" nevertheless felt "in their bones" that the Sangamon
lawyer got the better of their doughty champion. They felt,
too, that notwithstanding Douglas' nominal success his oppo
nent emerged from the contest the larger man, both intellect
ually and morally and they were conscious of the fact that if
Douglas was of Presidential size then Lincoln must be like
wise and the later suggestion of Lincoln for the Presidency
did not seem illogical or strange, although as a matter of
political form they "hooted" at the Rail-Splitter as a fit
iDubuque Express and Herald, Aug. 17, 1858— Editorial Correspondence
from Vinton. Mr. Drummond's interrogatories are set out at length In Tfte
Eagle, Aug. 7, 1858.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 29
man for the highest office in the land.1
Two of Iowa's leading lawyers heard the two champions in
debate and were so much impressed by the intellectual
prowess of Lincoln that they instinctively felt that he was a
man of Presidential proportions and so expressed themselves
at the time. Mr. Austin Adams of Dubuque, later Chief
Justice of Iowa, attended the debate at Freeport and he is
quoted as saying : " I have just heard the greatest man I ever
listened to; he ought to be President."2 Mr. Henry Strong,
then one of the rising young lawyers of Keokuk,3 heard the
debaters in September. He wrote his college classmate,
Manton Marble, then associate editor of The Boston Journal:
"I have just heard the next President of the United States —
mark my prediction, Manton." He writes me that the sub
stance of his letter was published by his friend.4
Excepting the few comments relative to the effect of the
debates upon the presidential prospects of Douglas, already
noted, I have found only one direct editorial expression in
the latter months of 1858, suggesting the possible political
advancement of his antagonist in national affairs as a result
of his achievements in that contest. It was not very explicit
or emphatic, but, nevertheless, it signifies that the editor
realized that Lincoln was not unlikely to become a potent
national figure. In concluding an editorial upon ' ' The Illinois
Election" The Marshall County Times said (Nov. 24):
"After all the Republicans of Illinois have done nobly; they
have cause for rejoicing though but partially successfully.
Let them hang out their banners on the outer walls and raise
the battle cry for 1860. They may see their gallant Old
Abe in the United States Senate and mayhap as its presiding
officer."5

i Interview with General Bussey , October 8, 1907.
2 Gue, History of Iowa, Vol. IV, p. 2. Mr. Gue, or the author of the
biographical sketch from which the above is taken, states that Mr. Adams
heard Lincoln and Douglas at Galena; Freeport must have been intended.
3 Mr. Strong's law partner in those days was Mr. John W. Noble,
afterward Secretary of the Interior in President Harrison's cabinet.
* Letter (MSS.) to the writer, June 4, 1907.
B The writer is indebted to Miss Nellie A. Thompson of Marshalltown for
the extract from The Times. The authorship of the editorial cannot be stated
as the paper had two editors besides a proprietor.

30 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
The discussion of Presidential possibilities came on apace
in the latter months of 1858. The effect of the debates in
Illinois and of the "mighty clap of thunder" resulting from
Seward's speech at Rochester is manifest. As was the case
two years before The New York Herald lead off; but a new
name was on its pennant. Douglas' answers at Freeport
produced an upset ; on September 15 it averred that by them
he had "proclaimed himself an advocate of the higher law
doctrine." On the 23d it declared the nomination of Win-
field Scott, "a necessity for the Opposition." A week later
it appeals to the Opposition not to imitate the Democrats and
"go off in petty squads under the lead of Seward, Critten
den, Banks and fifty others . . . Scott or annihilation is their
only choice." Its insistence upon the hero of Lundy Lane
was earnest indeed.1 Seward's Rochester speech, however,
produced such a violent shock to the Herald's sensibilities
that it entirely forgot General Scott and thenceforth devoted'
itself to denunciation of what for nearly two years it branded
as Seward's "brutal and bloody" programme.2
Meanwhile the Republican press of Iowa was exceedingly
unconcerned. I have discovered but a single reference to the
Herald's advocacy of Scott for the Presidency. Seward's
speech is "eloquent and truthful," according to Mr. Mahin:3
in Mr. Aldrich 's judgment "it is a great speech" and he
reprints it in seven and a half columns.* Mr. Teesdale no
tifies his readers that he has "laid aside" the speech to re
print it entire, so important was its declarations and so de
sirable was it that his readers and the public should read
them.0 None of the Republicans regarded the sentiments of
Seward with alarm. The doctrine he enunciated apparently
did not seem revolutionary.
There are but few signs of direct interest in the -pros
pective Presidential nomination. Mr. Teesdale made note of
the presentation of Seward's name by the N. Y. Courier and
Enquirer and indicated his favorable inclination by observ
ing: "When the proper time comes there will be a great many
W. Y. Herald, Oct. 11, 13, 15, 19, 1858. "Ib., Oct. 30th
sThe Muscatine Journal, Nov. 4, 1858.
'The Hamilton Freeman, Nov. 12, 1858.
sThe Iowa Weekly Citizen, Nov. 17, 1858.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 31
seconds to that motion."1 At Muscatine Mr. Mahin merely
recorded the fact of the announcement of the proposal of the
candidacy of the statesman of Auburn but made no comment
whatever.u A week later he notices the zealous con
tention of the New York Herald, that "so far as the results
of the late election from having improved the chances of
either Seward or Douglas for the Presidency, that the great
Agitator and the 'Little Giant' have thus been farther re
moved from the goal of their ambition than ever they were
before." The design of the editor in such notes and com
ments, if other than recording items of passing interest, is
not manifest.
In The Eagle of Sioux City Mr. Swigget summed up the
current "Presidential Speculations." All of them he pro
nounced "premature, " however. "It is rashly asserted that
Douglas will be the Democratic candidate. . . By an
equally hasty jumping at conclusions a great many people
affirm that Seward is the inevitable candidate of the Grand
Opposition. Others talk of the resurrection of Col. Fremont.
"He then cites the Delphic decision of the Louisville Journal;
namely: "The only power which can successfully cope with
the United Democracy in 1860 is the United Opposition and
the Opposition can be effectually united only under the leader
ship of a southern Whig or American. That is a fixed fact."
He then refers to the N. Y. Courier and Enquirer's advocacy
of Seward, to the Herald's contention for Scott, to the Even
ing Post's wish for the nomination of Chase or some other
western man, to the non-committal course of The Tribune and
to Wentworth 's paper [Chicago Democrat] that "suggests,
Lincoln for President or Vice-President. ' ' The Chicago Press
is disposed to follow the lead of the N. Y. Tribune and wait
like Micawber for something to turn up. "Eighteen months"
he concludes " is a great distance to look into futurity and there
the many ' ' surprises " to be encountered before that day comes
by intelligent people generally and by wise politicians among
the rest.3

1The Iowa Weekly Citizen, Nov. 17, 1858.
'The Muscatine Journal, Nov, 11, 1858.
'The Eagle, Nov. 27, 1858.

32 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Mr. Mahin 's columns contain one extended expression rela
tive to the prospective presidential nomination that was both
outright and downright, reminding us of not a little of the
public discontent with party machinery manifested in recent
years. The New York Tribune, on Nov. 19, contained a vigor
ous attack upon national conventions as a mode of select
ing party candidates. They were, it asserted, mere caucuses
of "self-elected" politicians whose deliberations and decisions
were perverted because their grand objective was the acquisi
tion and disposition of offices. The delegates in order to get
the spoils make the nominee and thereafter control him as
their representative and promoter. ' ' Hence the frequent nom
ination of candidates . who are alike unfit and unde
serving. " "A convention is necessarily shy of bold, decided,
positive men . . whose opinions are a fair compromise be
tween something and nothing." "Why not revolt against all
this party machinery and smash it. What need is there for a
national convention 1 None in the world . . . " The
voters of the country in each party, in each state, are then
urged to nominate — whether by caucus or convention or
primary is not intimated — and to "support an Electoral
Ticket pledged to vote for that candidate for President and
Vice-President, respecting whom the largest number of voters
for that ticket throughout the Union shall indicate as their
choice." The plan is then illustrated and defended against
objections. Mr. Mahin announced himself immediately (Nov.
23) as an advocate of the proposed reform and he did not
mince words1 in declaring his advocacy of the plan. National
conventions that nominated candidates and dictated platforms
are ' ' devices of the devil, ' ' made up of men ' ' whose chief end
is the glory of themselves and the bamboozlement of the peo
ple. " They do not and cannot reflect public sentiment for
their membership consists of "ragamuffins and bullies, polit
ical hacks and bankrupt traders." Public offices are to then.
mere "treasure-trove which escheats by vacancy, to their
especial use and profit." The suggestion of his eastern con
temporary he endorses, believing it to be thoroughly practi
cable. The objection that factional divisions might dissipate

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 33
the party 's strength and thus ' ' elect the Charleston nominee, ' '
he derides: but "We answer, What if that follows, so be it.
We would rather be defeated in voting for the man of our
own free choice than be victorious in voting for the choice of
such scamps as rule our national conventions. But we deny
the premise." He asserts his belief that the voters of the
party could and would easily unite long before the election
on some one man who could poll the full strength of the
party. Mr. Mahin was a fine type of the militant radical
whose optimistic faith in the perfectability of mankind was
not dismayed by the persistent, prosaic and perverse nature
of ordinary mortals. If Mr. Mahin had been asked whether
his slashing assertions applied to such men as Judge Francis
Springer, Fitz Henry Warren, J. B. Howell, R. L. B. Clarke,
Thomas Drummond and James Thorington, some of Iowa's
Republican delegates to the first convention at Philadelphia,
doubtless, like most radical reformers, he would have promptly
rejoined — certainly not, such men were exceptions and merely
prove the rule.1
The same theme elicited an extended expression from a
Democratic partizan, Mr. Zieback, editor of The Register of
Sioux City. He too regarded the customs and procedure in
selecting the national candidate with strong disfavor, not to
say disgust. Strong men and staunch leaders make too many
enemies to secure the prizes of nomination. "Availability"
has the right of way among and with politicians. Amiable
nobodies, "obscure Generals" and "sociable pathfinders." are
selected. Greeley's "patent" for curing the evils he contem
plates with rather cynical feelings. Outlining the method of
procedure thereunder he says: "He [Greeley] would have
every state vote for its favorite candidate — Ohio for Chase,
New Hampshire for Hale, Illinois for Lincoln, and so on, . . "
But he thinks that the "legerdemain" of such politicians as
Weed and Greeley would defeat the popular will under such
a plan. He closes with expressing the hope that Seward and
Douglas be the nominees of the two parties because they best
xThe six mentioned above constituted one-half of the delegation from
Iowa to the convention at Philadelphia.

34 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
represent the distinctive policies of the respective parties on
the slavery question.1
Both desire and opinion respecting the Presidency among
the Republicans of Iowa at the close of 1858, it is clear, were
incoherent, indefinite, vague. The consideration of candidates
was not deemed urgent or wise because premature. The sit
uation had become more definite, however. A figure was loom
ing large in the political horizon. The entire country was
becoming conscious of his remarkable strength and propor
tions and commanding influence. The political leaders for
some time had had to reckon with Abraham Lincoln. The
papers of the east no less than those of the west had ex
tensively reported his speeches and quoted his pithy sayings.
The votes he had received in 1856 for the nomination for
the Vice-Presidency signified a much wider and more decidea
political acquaintance with Lincoln than most of our chron
iclers have realized. Speaking at Litchfield, Maine, Mr. James
G. Blaine, on June 28, 1856, referred to Lincoln's "reputa
tion beyond the lines of his own state" gained by his acute
discussions of Douglas' course in securing the repeal of the
Missouri Compromise.2 Before the celebrated debates were
arranged for Greeley said of the Springfield speech, which he
printed entire in the Tribune (June 24) ; "We need not ask
attention to this concise and admirable statement. Mr. Lin
coln never fails to make a good speech if he makes any and
this is one of his best efforts." Such language is not used of
' ' an unknown. ' ' In July that year the Chicago editors were
surprised to find the eastern press discussing and quot
ing his speeches.3 One finds that the editors of Iowa were
likewise alive to the marked attention paid to Lincoln in the
press of the eastern States. The Gate City (Aug. 30) cites the
Louisville Journal, "the leading American paper of the
country" which expresses admiration of Lincoln's "superior
talents and noble nature ' ' and bespeaks for him success ; and
also the St. Louis Evening News, "the leading American
1The Register, Dec. 2, 1S58.
2Blaine, Political Discussions, p. 4.
3Nicolay & Hay — Abraham Lincoln, Vol. II, p. 176.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 35
organ of Missouri" that endorses the sentiments of the
Journal. The Hawk-eye (Oct. 8) reprints a letter written
from Illinois to the Rochester (N. Y.) Democrat, recounting-
the striking differences in the speeches of Lincoln and Doug
las to the advantage of the former. After the result of tlie
election in Illinois was known and it was realized that by
reason of an unfair apportionment Lincoln fell short of offi
cial success but won popular success one encounters frequent
laudatory references to Douglas' opponent. Thus The Gate
City quotes (Nov. 22) the Rochester Democrat: "Mr. Lin
coln has won a reputation as a statesman and orator which
eclipses that of Douglas as the sun does the twinklers of the
sky. The speeches made during the Illinois campaign have
been read with great interest throughout the country ..."
Reprinting (Nov. 23) an extract from the same article, Mr.
Mahin -closed his quotation with the sentence : ' ' The Repub
licans of the Union will rejoice to do honor to the distinguished
debater of Illinois." On Nov. 30 Mr. Howell gives his
readers the great Greeley's opinion of Lincoln's speeches:
" . . . they were of a very high order — they were pungent
without bitterness, powerful without harshness. The address
at Springfield in which he opened the canvass is a model of
compactness, lucidity and logic. As a condensed statement of
the issues which divide the Republicans from the Democrats
of our day, it has rarely, or never been exceeded. ' ' This high
praise, it must be remembered, came from no willing witness
-^Greeley had strongly opposed the Republican opposition
to Douglas.
In the south meantime expressions much more significant
were being made. The southern press and leaders were out
spoken in their sentiments hostile to Douglas whose position at
Freeport had shown the fatal weakness of their much prized
doctrine of Popular Sovereignty. The intellectual acumen
of his antagonist who had so successfully forced its doughty
champion to make his fatal admission was of necessity felt
if not always formally recognized. Such recognition was
constantly manifested by their joint condemnation, and the
Iowa press was not unmindful of its significance. Thus Mr.

36 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
'Howell quotes (Nov. 27) from Jefferson Davis* speech to
his constituents in Mississippi, when he said that he ' ' consid
ered Mr. Douglas' opinions as objectionable as those of his
adversary, Mr. Lincoln."1 Douglas himself continued to
force the public to recognize the pre-eminent abilities of his
great antagonist. He started upon his southern tour which
he planned with a view to placating the hostile friends of the
Administration in the south. His speeches at Memphis and
New Orleans were little less than earnest pleas in mitigation of
the Freeport answers and Lincoln was referred to directly by
him in those discourses. But a more decided, not to say dramat
ic, appreciation of the tremendous damage done the Demo
cratic party and the Slavocracy by the Illinois lawyer was
the summary deposition at the opening of Congress of Stephen
A. Douglas from the chairmanship of the Senate committee
on Territories, a position he had held for eleven years and
which he had made famous or infamous in their service in
connection with the repeal of the Missouri Compromise.
All these things were noted in Iowa as elsewhere and the
people no less than the politicians were becoming aware that
Illinois had a dominating man — dominant because he pos
sessed not only a profound, far-seeing mind, but wonderful
powers of compelling speech. As Mr. Teesdale put it in his
comments upon the outcome of the debates : ' ' Lincoln .
has achieved a reputation second to that of few men now in
public life. Ih all that marks a statesman, he has proven him
self more than a match for Douglas ; and he has linked him
self to the fortunes of the Republicans by hooks of steel. The
name of Lincoln will be a household word for years to come.
He has a brilliant future."2 King makers could ask for no
more favorable conditions than those which confronted the
friends and admirers of Abraham Lincoln at the close of 1858.

xSee The Gate City, Nov. 29, 1858— Editorial on Senator Douglas in the
South. The Muscatine Journal on June i quoted the following from the Montgom
ery (Ala.) Mail of May 21 relative to the reception of Douglas in that city:
"The Squatter Giant— S. A. Douglas, the great advocate of Squatter
Sovereignty, arrived here yesterday, in the eastern train, and went down in
the steamer in the afternoon. A few persons hunted him up to take a look at
him as they would a grizzly bear, but there was no welcome Why should
there be, of the great assassin of the South?"
"The Iowa Weekly Citizen, Nov. 17, 1858.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 37
II. Expressions and Maneuvers in 1859.
The mutinous disturbances in the ranks of the Democratic
party incident to and following the Lincoln-Douglas debates
naturally increased public interest in the presidential succes
sion. There was exhibited in the country at large, alike in the
Democratic and Republican papers, signs of a growing feeling
that the dissensions within the "Administration" reflected
irreconcilable differences respecting. Slavery — differences so
serious that they would inevitably drive either the northern
or the southern wing of the Democratic party into irretrievable
insurrection or opposition. Coincident with this disintegra
tion of the party in power there were obvious drifts indicat
ing a concentration and coalescence of the sundry groups of
the Opposition. Abolitionists and Americans, German-Ameri
cans and Whigs, contradictory and divergent though their
antecedents, affiliations and purposes were, saw or were begin
ning to feel, that the aggressions and arrogance of the Slavo-
crats within and without Congress made Slavery — its exten
sion or extinction — the paramount fact in public debate.
They were becoming conscious of the fact that the principles
of the Republican party afforded them a fairly satisfactory
common ground for concentration and concert in opposition.1
The signs in Iowa in 1859 of interest in the Presidential
succession and particularly the selection of the Republican
candidate while definite were not numerous. Readers of the

JThe headings of editorials in the press of Iowa and the titles of
articles reprinted from eastern and southern papers during the last quar
ter of 1858 and the first half of 1859 afford ample and interesting evi
dence justifying the assertions above. The columns of The Daily Hawk~
Eye of Burlington suffice for illustration :
The dissensions in the Democratic party are dwelt upon in an extended
article reprinted Nov. 5, 1858, frpm the Cincinnati Gazette, entitled
"Democracy going to Pieces — South Indignant at their Northern Allies
and Repudiating their Fellowship" ; Nov. 18, by two and a quarter col
umns devoted to a reprint of portions of a speech by Senator Hammond
of South Carolina; Nov. 27, in an article — "The Northern Democracy —
Where is it and What will it be?" taken from the Cincinnati Gazette and
in a long extract from the speech of Jefferson Davis at Jackson, Missis
sippi ; Dec. 20, in a reprint from the Gazette on "Senator Douglas and his
Political Patchwork" ; Dec. 31, in a bitter extract from The Mississippian
of Jackson, Miss., anent Douglas' visit to the South; Jan. 10, 1859, in
Correspondence, entitled "Virginia Politics and Republican Proclivities"
taken from the N. Y. Times ; Jan. 20, in a reprint of Correspondence of the
IV'. Y. Post, entitled "What is Douglas going to Do?" anent the differ
ences with his colleagues in the Senate ; March 1, in a dispatch headed
"New Political Division," etc., commenting on a recent speech of Douglas
at Washington ; and March 2, in an editorial with the title "A House
Divided Against Itself," that begins — "There is not a single question of

38 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
'compact and rapid narratives of the biographers of Chase,
Lincoln and Seward, and of our national historians' that relate
the chief developments of the pre-convention campaign among
the Republicans will suffer some surprise at the dearth of
expression. Editors made note of the subject infrequently.
There is but little evidence of either individual or local prefer
ences as regards candidates. Expressions relative to the prin
ciples and policies were more explicit and insistent ; but there
was no hue and cry. Two important facts must be appreciated
in order to realize the significance of the meagre evidence of
public interest in Iowa in the Republican preliminaries of
1860. 1. Important Conditions Determining Expressions.
First, newspapers were not numerous on this side of the
Mississippi. Their publication was not only an expensive and
laborious business, but their maintenance was dependent, ih
no small measure, upon the favor of the public authorities,
the compensation for publishing the "Delinquent Tax List"
being their major source of income. Typesetting was done by
hand. Mergenthalers and linotype machines, pennydreadfuls
and ' ' Extras ' ' daily were inconceivable. There were but four

importance upon which the Democratic party is united — Not one. It is
divided upon the tariff, the government of the territories, and at logger
heads on the nigger question generally. . . . The Democratic partv
is now totally 'demoralized,' to use the language of the'.W. Y. Herald. .
. . ." The radiation from Lincoln's speech at Springfield in June is
here very apparent.
The movements indicating coalescence of the opposition, the advantages
thereof, and the necessity therefor are likewise noted and discoursed upon
from time to time ; Nov. 11, 1858, the editorials of the N. Y. Tribune and
the Springfield (Mass.) Republican commenting upon the "Triumph of Mr.
Douglas" in Illinois were reprinted at length ; Nov. 22, Greeley's plan for
"uniting the opposition" by doing away with conventions is given ; May
12, an editorial entitled "Union of the . Opposition" cites from the N. Y.
Commercial Advertiser ; May 23, Greeley's "Appeal to Conservatives," is
reprinted ; and June 8, portions of Greeley's speech "On the Presidential
Prospects" at Ossawattamie, Kan. (May 18), containing his advice to
work for a coalition is reproduced. During the remainder of the year most
of the leading editorials of The Tribune urging a union of the opposition
are reproduced in the columns of The Hawk-Eye — usually, however, with
out comment.
The writer is under extraordinary obligations to the courtesy and
consideration of Mr. W. W. Baldwin, and of Mr. J. D. Waite, editor of
The Hawk-Eye for the foregoing and subsequent citations from the same
journal.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 39
telegraph stations in the State1 and only five cities (Dubuque,
Davenport, Muscatine, Burlington and Keokuk) could boast
of daily papers published continuously throughout the year.2
Editors, consequently, discussed men and measures under a
stress of multifarious duties. They had to gather news, solicit
advertisements and subscriptions, beseech and enforce collec
tions, often do "the devil's work," while they were playing
and watching the game- of politics. If under such circum
stances expressions of serious and well-ordered opinions by
editors were infrequent, if the manifestations of interest in
the issues of the approaching Presidential struggle were
meagre and more or less indefinite the fact by no means signi
fies an absence of alert, intelligent interest among editors and
their patrons.
The second basic fact to be reckoned with was the circula
tion of The New York Tribune in Iowa. That paper was by
far the greatest purveyor of news in the State. No local paper
possessed anything like 'its range and force of influence. Its
power was exerted mainly perhaps outside rather than within
the cities. In many, if not in most rural communities the
postmasters handled more Weekly Tribunes than all other for
eign papers combined. The homes of regular subscribers were
much patronized by neighbors not subscribers. Men of means
frequently made gratuitous subscriptions as gifts to nearby
friends or neighbors. To the tillers of the soil its columns
headed ' ' Important to the Farmers ' ' contained nearly all the
law and the prophets. Fields were plowed; corn, wheat and
trees were planted; stock housed and fed and crops garnered
according to the directions of "Uncle Horace." In the ani
mated discussions at house and barn raisings, at threshings,
and husking bees, at barbecues, singing and spelling schools,
at "shoots" and rallies, his columns were constantly appealed
to for facts and arguments as well as for news. Pioneers, in
their reminiscences of ante bellum days are not always quite
certain whether Greeley's Tribune or the Bible had precedence

1N. Y. Tribune (s. w.) Oct. 14, 1859: A Chicago dispatch giving the
returns from the recent election in Iowa and explaining the delay thereof.
2The citizens of Des Moines enjoyed a Daily during the sessions of the
General Assembly, viz. : once in two years.

40 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
'in the family circle.1 In the forepart of 1859 the reported
number of subscribers in Iowa was stated to be 7,5232 and a
year later the number had increased to ll,O0O.3 Its circle
of readers at the later date doubtless embraced 100,000 persons
from whom its influence constantly radiated. The actual cir
culation of local dailies or weeklies probably in no ease
exceeded a third of Greeley's weekly.4
In demonstrating the development. of party opinion in Iowa
respecting the best selection for the Republican party's can
didate for the Presidency in 1860, it is necessary to indicate
the antecedent attitude of the party spokesmen towards the
principles that were to make up the party platform. The drift
of sentiment as to the principles of administrative policy in
the nature of the case largely decides the course of party
leaders in the selection of the standard bearer. The candidate
is to be the executive of the principles adopted. Consequently
he must be a man representative of and in sympathy with
those principles. Hence, in what succeeds, considerable atten
tion will be given to the trend of discussion of the program for
the Republican party in 1860.
In tracing the growth of opinion in the party press one
frequently suffers from perplexity. It is not easy always to
determine the significance of news items, editorial expressions
and particularly of the reprint of articles from eastern and
southern contemporaries. Editors, like most mortals, labor
under personal and partizan bias. Local associations and
prejudices arising in business, church, politics and social con
nections, in the main, predispose and fix opinions and control

xThe writer's authority for the statements above consists chiefly of
correspondence and interviews with pioneers — notably with Professor Jesse
Macy of Iowa College at Grinnell and with the late George C. Duffield
of Keosauqua.
>N. Y. Tribune (s. w.) April 26, 1859.
Howa State Register (Des Moines) April 18, 1860.
'Noting the circulation of the N. Y. Tribune in March, 1859, The Hawk-
Bye observed : "There is no paper printed in the State of Iowa that has
half the circulation of The Tribune within the State." (April 29, 1859.)
Mr. Will Porter, editor of the Democratic paper, The Journal, published
at Des Moines between 1856 and 1860, informs the writer that in 1859
by extra efforts and special inducements he secured for his paper during the
political campaign a circulation of approximately 4,000, which was the
high watermark up to that time. That circulation was extraordinary,
however, lasting only during the campaign. The circulation of his Re
publican rival, The Citizen, as he recalls, ranged from 1,500 to 2,000.
Interview with Mr. Porter, Des Moines, ..ov. 17, 1908.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 41
actions. Items are "run" and articles are reprinted usually
as matters of news simply as indices to the direction of cur
rents of popular interest. Sometimes, however, they are
inserted and "headed" with set purpose and design to
influence public opinion pro or con, as regards approaching
party decisions on matters of policy or procedure. Moreover,
editors frequently express opinions in their editorial columns
that indicate what they would prefer to have and hope to see
realized, rather than what they as a matter of fact really
expect will come to pass. In the narrative which follows the
editors cited for the most part express their views in their own
words. 2. First Expressions Respecting Party Principles and
Candidates.
The first expression in the press of Iowa in 1859 respecting
the campaign in 1860 was elicited by one of the suggestions
of the New York Tribune. In the second week of December1
Greeley had proposed that the Republicans should nominate
a candidate for Vice-President and the non-Republican oppo
sition should nominate the head of the ticket — the only condi
tion being that the nominee should definitely favor the restric
tion of slavery to the States then occupied. The Louisville
Journal demurred and submitted a counter proposal — both
wings of the opposition should assemble in Washington in
separate conventions in the summer of 1860, the non-Republi
can opposition to engage to present a candidate for the Presi
dency on whom all could unite and the Republicans to do the
same with respect to the second place — one whom all could
"support with zeal and propriety." In outlining these pro
posals to his readers Mr. Hildreth observed (January 13) :
"It is plain that the time has not yet come for the different
wings of the opposition to 'compare notes' with a view to
selecting a Presidential candidate. But ingenious men will
exercise the'ir talents in this line and their efforts may be
of some use in affording glimpses of the state of public senti-

'N. Y. Tribune (s. w.),Dec. 10, 1858.

42 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
"ment." Concluding he makes the interesting assertion: "It
has been assumed that the extreme abolition sentiment would
bring into nomination Senator Seward for President and
F. P. Stanton, the Kansas ex-Secretary and ex-Acting Gov
ernor, for Vice-President ; but the declaration of Mr. Stanton,
that Mr. Seward's extraordinary platform [Rochester speech]
can find no endorsement from the people, condemns that
theory."1 At that time Mr. Hildreth, "down east" Yankee
though he was, did not look with favor upon the nomination of
the author of the Rochester speech.
A week later under "Notes From Washington" Mr. Hil
dreth reprints portions of the correspondence of the Cincin
nati Enquirer (an Administration paper), stating that "Sena
tor Seward and Governor Chase are the most talked of as the
candidates for the Presidency among the Republicans. But
F. P. Blair, Sr., is ardent for Colonel Fremont, who, with
Frank Blair of Missouri for the Vice-Presidency the corre
spondent is inclined to think will prevail in the convention. ' '2
And in his next issue he notes that "a quarrel is going on
among the Republican members there (Washington) ; a por
tion desire to take up the Douglas popular sovereignty doc
trine, abandoning direct opposition to slavers, and invite the
Douglas men, and southern as well as northern Americans to
join them. Eli Thayer, of Mass., is one of the prominent advo-
eates of this plan. ' '3 Two weeks later he notes that a political
club has been formed to promote the candidacy of John M.
Botts of Virginia for the Opposition's choice for standard
bearer in I860.4 About the same time the editors of The
Montezuma Weekly Republican make note of the assertion
of the New York Times that "a new Republican movement"
was under way that "may command attention. It is to make
Colonel Fremont again the candidate,, putting upon the ticket
some live southern or southwestern man, like Blair of Mis
souri, who has ability, political courage and the advantage of
living in a Slave State. ' '5

xSt. Charles Intelligencer, Jan. 13, 1S59, — Editorial "Presidential Dis
cussions." "Ib. Jan. 20, 1859. 'Ib. Jan. 27, 1859. 'Ib. Feb. 10, 1859., _
'•The Montezuma Weekly Republican, Jan. 20, 1859..

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 43
The first extended, explicit and serious expression relative
to the approaching Presidential contest came from Burlington
from the pen of Mr. Clark Dunham, editor of The Daily
Hawk-Eye. On March 5, discussing "The Issue of 1860," he
observed that no intelligent man could "fail to see" that "a
very important crisis" was approaching.
There is but one question at issue . . . and that is the Negro
question. To this question there can be but two parties.
On one side we have the party of Slavery, headed by vigilant,
active, determined and desperate leaders, whose voice has hereto
fore ruled Congress. ... If they fail in this [the extension of
Slavery] they will do their utmost to bring about a dissolution of
the Union and erect the Slave States into a Southern Republic.
On the other side the Republican party holds that Slavery is a
creature of law, freedom being the normal condition of all men—
that the Dred Scott decision is in violation of the constitution,
policy of our government and spirit of our institutions, extra
judicial and therefore not binding — that Slavery has no legal exist
ence outside of Slave States. That neither the Congress of the
United States nor the people of the territories, deriving their powers
from Congress, can enact Slave laws for the territories . . .
This is the issue before the country, and it is such an issue, so
clearly defined, that there can be no third party.
Three facts stand out in Mr. Dunham's editorial that are
observable in much of the. discussion of the period. First,
Slavery was believed to be foremost in the public mind as to
which there could be (decry the necessity as many did, never
so much) but two opinions and but two courses to follow. It
was the iron wedge on which all other matters split. Second,
the terrible earnestness of the Slavocrats and their willingness
to proceed to desperate measures to accomplish their program
is clearly apprehended. Third, there appears an obvious but
little appreciated contradiction in the attitude of the Repub
licans towards the question of Slavery — Slavery was declared
to be a creature of law,, but the application of the doctrine
under the Dred Scott decision is pronounced extra-judicial
and subversive of the constitution. '
During March the King-makers became active and vocal.
In the latter part of the month the Republican press of St.
Louis announced Edward Bates as a candidate for the Presi-

44 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
' dency, asking his nomination by the National Republican Con
vention. Formal measures were taken to place him before the
public and to promote his candidacy. The majority of the
papers in Iowa, if they recognized it at all, merely made note
of the announcement as a matter of news without comment, or
with a collateral quotation of some favorable opinion of those
favoring his candidacy.1 Mr. Dunham, however, expressed
in plump, brief fashion an objection to the announcement —
but gave no hint as to his real attitude toAvards Mr. Bates.
Commenting upon the effort of the Evening News of St.
Louis at "president making" he bluntly declared: "This is
premature. It is too early yet to discuss the merits of candi
dates. And the success of Mr. Bates and other aspirants
depends a good deal on their being kept out of the fight for
some time to come. ' '2 Two days later he reprints the remarks
of Dr. Bailey of the National Era commending Salmon P.
Chase as a suitable standard bearer for the Republicans in
I860.3 A month later Mr. Hildreth referring to the Bates
letter said: "His prospects for a nomination for the Presi
dency by the Republicans are not inferior to those of any
statesman named. If nominated, he would most assuredly be
elected."4 The most interesting editorial item discoverable in March
was the following from Mr. Mahin 's columns : ' ' The Chicago
Democrat strongly urges the nomination of Abe Lincoln for
the Vice-Presidency by the Republican party, and thinks the
ticket had better be headed by some southern man. It says :
'We think it would aid us materially in establishing a
national position, if we could run some southern man for the
Presidency with Mr. Lincoln for Vice-President.' The Rock-
ford Republican takes the same ground."5
In March Mr. John Teesdale, editor of The Weekly Citizen
published at the State capital, visited Ohio in which State he
had been influential as an editor and as a politician for twenty

!See The Gate City, April 5, 1859. See also The Davenport Weekly
Gazette, April 28, 1859 ; The Keosauqua Weekly Republican, April 9, 1859.
"The Daily Hawk-Eye, April 14, 1859.
Hb. April 16, 1859.
'St. Charles Intelligencer, May 12, 1859.
*The Muscatine Daily Journal, March 29, 1859.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 45
years (1837-1856), being between 1844-46 Private Secretary
to Governor Bartley. While renewing old acquaintances, poli
tics and the prospects of candidates for the Presidency were
subjects of earnest inquiry. He sought to learn the drift and
force of the currents there and Ohioans besought information
as to the probable course of party preferences in Iowa. On his
return to Des Moines he set forth (April 13) his views at
some length under the caption, "Iowa and the Presidency."
Mr. Teesdale at the time was State Printer and his paper was
in a sense an official organ. At least his views were likely to
differ but little from what he would regard as the prevalent
opinion among the dominant men of his party as represented
by the men holding official positions. His editorial is quoted
at length.
Frequently during our absence from the State we were interro
gated as to the Presidential preferences of Iowa. We uniformly
answered that Iowa would be for the Republican nominee, beyond
the shadow of a doubt; but we doubted whether any man could
speak authoritatively, just now, as to her Presidential preferences.
The press, — which usually affords unmistakable evidence of the
setting of the public current — has thus far remained silent upon the
question of the next Presidency, fhe silence is not the result of
indifference, but of a purpose that pervades, as we believe, the
Republican ranks of nearly every State, viz.: a purpose to sink all
personal predilections in an effort to secure a candidate whose suc
cess will be beyond question. There is a deep and strong convic
tion that the next President will be a Republican. This conviction
gains strength daily, with the increasing evidence of the disorganiza
tion and demoralization of the sham Democracy. Believing that
there will be no difficulty in electing the Republican nominee, if
he truly represents the Republican sentiment of the country, there
is an all-pervading conviction that the nominee should be a man who
is fully and fairly identified with the Republican organization; a
man who has been tried; a man who has a national reputation,
and who can be trusted in all possible contingencies, as an exponent
of the friends of Freedom. If Iowa had the making of the Presi
dent, she would, we believe, confer that honor upon William H.
Seward, the peerless statesman, the incorruptible patriot. But, if
in deference to the opinions and preferences of her sister States it
becomes necessary to name another as the Republican standard
bearer she will cheerfully support John McLean, Salmon P. Chase,
Winfield Scott, John C. Fremont, John P. Hale, or any other among

46 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
the illustrious men who have attested their devotion to Republican
principles. If a Pennsylvania candidate is needed, there is no man in
whose behalf she would so cordially attest her devotion, as Galusha
A. Grow. John Bell, and John J. Crittenden have a host of friends in
Iowa, but before a union could be effected in behalf of either it would
be necessary to know that they fully endorse the platform adopted by
the last National Republican Convention.
When the proper time comes, Iowa will speak out, so that her
personal preferences shall be understood; but her personal prefer
ences will never be suffered to disturb the harmony of the Repub
lican organization. She will be ready to fall into line for the nomi
nee and give him her support with an earnestness that will not per
mit her to be regarded as debatable ground. At present there seems
to be no urgent necessity for agitating the Presidential question.
We have a State canvass on our hands which we mean to dispose of
before devoting much space to the next Presidency. National ques
tions will exert, as they should, a powerful influence in the coming
State election. But Presidential preferences will nave very little
to do with the result.
There is much in the foregoing that anticipates subsequent
discussion. First, like most politicians whose experience has
been sufficient to teach prudence, Mr. Teesdale did not believe
there was much benefit in crossing streams before coming to
the bridges. Second, while he had decided personal prefer
ences in respect of the candidate, he would not stand stoutly
for his choice and none other regardless of contrary considera
tions affecting the party's success at the polls. Third, he was
confident there was but little of the "rule or ruin" sentiment
among the Republicans of the State with respect to the party's
candidate. Fourth, an alliance with the non-Republican Oppo
sition would be sanctioned if the coalition was arranged upon
the basis of an explicit concurrence in and reaffirmation of the
principles of the Philadelphia platform. Fifth, the doubtful
States should determine the choice, if thereby victory would be
rendered more probable.
Two days later (April 15) there came a vigorous pro
nouncement from Muscatine. Shortly before, the Opposition
party in Tennessee had held a convention, adopted a State
platform, and had put forward John Bell as a candidate for
the Presidency in 1860, believing him to be one about whom. all
could rally in a common struggle to dislodge the Administra-

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 47
. tion. Mr. Mahin viewed the platform as the draft of a proto
col for a coalition, reprinted it entire and proceeded to sub
ject its proposals to some sharp criticism under the caption
"The Opposition in Tennessee — Can We Coalesce in 1860."
It was a "sandwich platform" in his judgment and he gave
it short shrift. The first resolution declaring the Union "the
surest guaranty of the rights and interests of all sections ' ' he
branded as the "old clap-trap, dingy generality" which had
become "familiar of late years as the heading of any special
rascality which its author wished to cover up." The second
proclaiming "our constitutional rights" as regards Slavery
and thereupon insisting that the people in new territories
"when they come to form a constitution and establish a State
government shall decide the question of Slavery" he declared
a palpable inconsistency, being merely "the Lecompton Slave
Trading Democracy dressed up in Sunday clothes. ' ' The sec
tion advocating ' ' a tariff adequate to the expenses of economi
cal administration . . . with specific duties where applica
ble, discriminating in favor of American industries" he said
pointedly "meant anything or nothing according to the sec
tion where read. ' ' The plank calling for a ' ' reasonable exten
sion of the period of probation now prescribed for the natural
ization of foreigners- and a more rigid enforcement of the law
upon the subject" he asserted was alone "sufficient to ensure
[the] prompt and contemptuous rejection [of the entire plat
form] by every Republican." Mr. Mahin concludes his edi
torial by announcing that the motto of the northern Republi
cans is — "No coalition and no compromises."1 A week later
in tendering "A Word of Advice" to Republicans relative
to amalgamation with "less radical elements" he said "the
Slavery question is now the only real issue between the two
great parties of the country and it therefore behooves us to
maintain a bold and decided stand upon it."2
Three facts are noteworthy in Mr. Mahin 's expressions.
First, the effect of Lincoln's Freeport questions that made
juggling with "popular sovereignty" impossible, is realized.
Second, he strikes at the proposed extension of the probation-
*The Muscatine Daily Journal, April 15, 1859.
"Ib. April 21, 1859.

48 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
"ary period in naturalization with vigor, voicing a protest that ,
a few weeks later became almost universal throughout the
northwest States when the Massachusetts Amendment set the
Germans on fire. Third, the cardinal fact in discussion, the
fact that could not be ignored or minimized, was Slavery.
The announcement of Mr. Bates as a candidate for the
Republican nomination for the Presidency resulted forthwith
in sundry efforts to draw from him by way of interviews,
letters and speeches, expressions of his views on the issues in
debate. Of several statements made by him the most serious
was an extended letter to a committee of Whigs of New York
City. His position upon the subject of Slavery was virtually
laissez faire, laissez passer, let it alone and enforce the law
and time will work the cure of the iniquities of the institution.
His statement, although conceded to be "able and interest
ing, "did not strike Mr. Howell of Keokuk favorably, a portion
of his editorial comment being :
The nigger question he spends but few words upon. He would
ignore it altogether, and get rid of it by leaving it alone. But
Mr. Bates should have sense enough to see that it is so linked in
with the rights of man at large, and the interest and ambitions
of men in particular, that it has made itself conspicuous and can
not be got rid of by not looking at it or in any other way but
some sort of a definite and satisfactory settlement. The spirit of
Mr. Bates' letter is patriotic and sound but it does not show him to be
such a plain-dealing and thorough-going statesman as the times
demand. It is futile to mention his name again in connection with
the Presidency.1
Mr. J. B. Dorr's reference to the announcement from St.
Louis indicated clearly the attitude that the Democrats would
maintain towards the candidacy of Mr. Bates. He merely
noted: "Many of the Know-Nothing organs have already
hoisted his name at the head of their columns and some of
the Republican papers have done the same."2
The attitude of many, if not a majority, of experienced
editors and party leaders towards political candidacies is
exhibited in clear fashion in the editorial expressions of two
influential editors in central eastern Iowa in the latter days
1The Gate City, April 21, 1859.
"The Express and Herald (Dubuque), April 23, 1859.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 49
of April respecting two prominent Ohioans, Salmon P. Chase
and Benjamin F. Wade. Personal preferences and party
plans and success may coincide; but in case they do not, the
exigencies of a political contest must needs prevail over the
personal inclination of the admirers and friends of this or
that aspirant or candidate. Mr. Add. H. Sanders, editor of
The Davenport Gazette, on April 28, declared himself as fol
lows: We are glad to see that the name of Gov. Chase is becoming inti
mately associated in public discussion with the next nomination of
the Republican party for the Presidency. No man has been men
tioned in connection with this high position, as the candidate of a
party in 1860, who combines in himself higher qualifications for the
position, and a more consistent political or pure personal history
than Governor Chase . . .
In thus speaking of Gov. Chase we have merely availed ourselves
of an opportunity of expressing opinion of a man who in every
position has sustained the confidence of his friends and his own
self-respect. We advocate as a Republican paper the claims of no
man for the nomination of the next Republican National Convention.
We have, indeed, heard no name suggested for this nomination as
a Republican candidate for the Presidency in 1860, which we would
not cheerfully support and with that zeal which ever marks our
course when sustaining good men backed by good principles. We
believe, however, that no Republican combines greater elements of
popularity with less objectionable qualities, than Gov. Chase — in
other words, that no Republican would make a better race. . . .
Two days later Mr. S. S. Daniels, editor of The Tipton
Advertiser, discussing "The Next Presidential Contest" said
among other things :
We do not intend to discuss the merits of the different men for
the office of President and are willing to vote for any of the men
who have been named for that office. At the same time we would
like much to see Hon. Frank Wade, U. S. Senator from Ohio,
brought out as our next candidate. Mr. Wade occupies a very
favorable position before the American people; he has never taken
ultra grounds, while he has ever stood up for the right, and has done
it in such a way that none have ever dared to oppose him as they
have many others. Frank Wade is excepted when wholesale charges
are made against the Republicans; he has made many speeches but
they were all good; he has said nor done nothing which will injure
him in any way.
4

50 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
It is not uninteresting, to note that Messrs. Sanders and
Daniels were both, prior to coming to Iowa, residents of Ohio,
hence doubtless their predilection for the distinguished sons
of that State.
3. The Reception of Greeley's Suggestion for a Coalition of
the Opposition.
Meantime there had been a pronouncement, as it were,
ex cathedra. For the greater part of two years the New York
Tribune had been urging, with a view to the contest in 1860,
the elements of the Opposition to pursue a policy of concilia
tion and concession relative to each other, to combine on
matters of common agreement and ignore the collateral issues
peculiar to groups or sections, however important they might
seem to them severally, but which were minor and subsidiary
as respects the central and predominant issue and if urged
would make for dissension and defeat. The paramount
demand of the Opposition, north and south, was the main
tenance of Freedom in the non-slave States and the restriction
of Slavery within its original or then established limits. Vic
tory in the approaching contest depended upon the dislodg-
ment of Slavocracy from seats of authority and this end could
not be achieved except by concentration and simultaneous for
ward movement of all available forces in a common attack.
The ambitions of leaders were immaterial and like local inter
ests and particular "isms" should and must give way to the
imperative demands of the situation. Greeley had urged
Republicans to support Douglas after he broke with the
Administration over the Lecompton Constitution. He opposed
the candidacy of Lincoln against Douglas for the Senate, and
during the debates maintained a stubborn editorial silence.
Immediately upon their conclusion he reiterated his belief
that wisdom favored his original suggestion, lodging some
sharp criticisms against Lincoln's tactics in the canvass.1
Thereafter, at short intervals he renewed his contention that a
coalition was imperative, insisting that common sense and
m. Y. Tribune (w.), Nov. 27, 1858.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 51
prudence enjoined it.1 In a long editorial entitled "The
Presidency in 1860," (April 26) he restated the grounds for
his position. "We do not deem it necessary again to contra
dict the rumors from time to time set afloat that we are
laboring to nominate and elect A, B or C. The single end
we keep in mind is the triumph of our principles ....
In the last Presidential contest the votes of the American
people were divided as follows :
Buchanan, 1,838,232; Fremont, 1,341,514; Fillmore, 874,-
707 ; Fremont and Fillmore over Buchanan, 377,989.
"Of course it is plain that a substantial, practical union
of the electors who supported Fremont and Fillmore respect
ively insures a triumph in 1860, even though there should be a
scaling off on either side, as there possibly would be. We can
afford to lose one hundred thousand of the Opposition vote in
1856 and still carry the next President by a handsome major
ity. ' ' After pointing out that there was no essential variance
among the Whigs and the native Americans respecting Slav
ery he says concerning candidates: "Most certainly we
should prefer an original Republican — Governor Seward or
Governor Chase — but we shall heartily and zealously support
one like John Bell, Edward Bates, or John M. Botts, provided
that we are assured that his influence, his patronage, his
power, if chosen President will be used not to extend Slavery
but to confine it to the States that see fit to uphold it." The
editorial closes with the words: "When speech tends to irri
tate and distract, unspeakable is the wisdom of silence."
This was the language of common sense, the language of
men who canvass their experiences and are governed by the
lessons which they enjoin and enforce. But sensible though
the editorial was, its suggestions drew forth sharp rejoinders.
The assertion that The Tribune would heartily support Bell,
Bates or Botts at once aroused the Germans of Iowa and
!See Ib. (s. w.), "Union of the Opposition," Dec. 10, 1858; "The Oppo
sition in 1860," Jan. 4, 1859 ; "The Presidency," Jan. 18. In the latter the
charge that The Tribune is opposing Seward is denied.
The assumption above (and subsequently) that Horace Greeley penned
th© editorials defining the attitude of The Tribune towards the Republican
Presidential nomination may be subject to question, as Charles A Dana
was Greeley's alter ego and frequently had entire charge of that paper.
Nevertheless there seems to be grounds for thinking that Greeley probably
struck the dominant notes and gave direction to the editorial policy.
Dana, however, concurred and heartily supported his chief. See Gen. Jas.
H. Wilson's Life of Charles A. Dana, pp. 161-2.

52 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
thence of the entire country. All three men were considered
to be tainted with Know-Nothingism by reason of their public
support of Fillmore in 1856 and were further deemed to be in
close association with the leaders of the American party. In
the furious reaction against the Massachusetts Amendment
that ensued in the next three months the Democrats and Ger
mans alike cited the editorial as proof of their contention that
the Republicans had natural affiliations and a virtual alliance
with the anti-foreign propagandists.1 Greeley's insistence
upon a coalition of the entire Opposition on the basis of non-
extension of Slavery elicited some slashing criticisms.
On the same day Greeley's editorial appeared, Mr. Dunham
gave expression to sentiment directly in conflict with the major
suggestion of The Tribune. On April 22, The Press and
Tribune of Chicago had set forth what it deemed the correct
position for the Republican party to take in the campaign
in 1860. Commending the views of his contemporary, Mr.
Dunham observed: "The views there advanced are not
entirely original, being in substance those advanced by Mr.
Lincoln in the late senatorial canvass, and more recently
by Senator Seward in his great speech on the destiny of our
country; ..." The true basis for the Opposition, he con
tended, is principle and not the petty partizan considerations
that masquerade under the name of "policy." But in the
large there is a concurrence of principle and policy — a fact
that discerning statesmen and experienced political chiefs
realize and aim at in practical politics. The Republican party
came into existence because it placed principles and rights
before expediency and Mammon; and its strength and suc
cess in the approaching contest would so depend. "As a party
of principle ... it has attained its present high position,
and shall it now abandon its positive existence, animated by
strong principles, and become a negative party, held together
only by the spoils, and vainly seeking to alter its course to suit
every trifling circumstance. Better, always, defeat with
honor, than victory with disgrace. So-called conservatives

iSee writer's detailed account. Annals of Iowa, 3d Series, Vol. 8, pp.
206-213.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 53
over-fearful of what is termed sectional, and trembling at the
empty threats of southern fire-eaters, are apt even to yield
what is right, forgetting that right should be supported, even
though it be sectional." Greeley's contention that the Oppo
sition would lessen its strength, and invite defeat, by taking
a radical, "sectional" stand upon Slavery that would alienate
large numbers normally hostile to the principles and policies
of the Administration, was not anticipated or met by Mr.
Dunham. Greeley's views, however, met immediately with direct and
emphatic rejoinders. One of the most interesting and vigor
ous came from the pen of Thomas Drummond of Vinton, a
veritable Hotspur in the journalism and politics of the period.
He was a Virginian by birth and education and this fact no
doubt accounts in considerable measure for the vigor and
vivacity of his utterances. He took direct issue with Greeley's
proposal for an alliance of the Opposition. His expressions
are so typical of the sentiments of the aggressive opponents of
Slavery, who were at the time staunch Republican par
tizans, that his editorial "Spoils or Principles in 1860" is
given at considerable length:
The Republican party is not yet quite four years old . . .
Unfortunately the party is just now cursed with a lot of officious
political mid-wives . . . who, when it is in perfect health and only
awaits its appointed time, are throwing themselves into an agony
of apprehension about its safety and insist on doctoring and pre
scribing for it. Their headquarters are in New York and Horace
Greeley of the New York Tribune is their chief. It really seems
to us the deliberate purpose of that paper to prevent a Republican
victory if possible . . .
It is the professed aim of The Tribune and its co-laborers to
bring about an alliance of what is termed the "entire opposition"
to the Democratic party which would embrace Republicans, Know-
Nothings, Southern Whigs and Douglas Democrats . . . This we hold
is impossible and, if possible unwise and foolish in the extreme.
Success at such a price would be barren of good results. . . .
What is the position, what are the doctrines of that body of so-
called Conservatives for whose co-operation with them, such strenu
ous efforts are now being made by Eastern Republicans? We leave
out of account the Douglas Democrats, as a miserable Falstaffian
rabble, not worth looking after, and answer, they are mainly a
class of men who are wedded to the past, old fogies who cling like

54 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Crittenden and Bates to the recollections and teachings of a former
age. . . .
The basis of Republicanism is its recognition and advocacy of
the "inalienable rights of man" and its purpose, a steady and
unceasing opposition to Slavery extension, and to the very existence
of the institution itself. . . . This at least is Western Republicanism,
and the party in the West is not to be sold out by its professed
brethren in the East. The attempt to do so met with a signal
rebuke last Fall in Illinois and will fail as signally if attempted
a year hence. The nomination of Bates or Crittenden or any of their
associates as candidates for the Presidency, or any emasculation'
of its platform will be the signal for a revolt of the genuine old
Anti-Slavery element of the party, that which has been its very life
blood; and its organization upon the platform of eternal antagonism
to Slavery in the territories or elsewhere.
The Republican party adopts what the New York Herald terms
"the bloody, brutal manifesto" of Abraham Lincoln, as re-echoed
by Senator Seward, that there is and must be a steady conflict be
tween Slavery and Freedom until one or the other goes to the wall —
until this Union becomes all slave or all free.1
Two weeks later he expressed his satisfaction anent the fact
that ' ' the persistent efforts of certain eastern Republicans and
their organs to pave the way for a coalition of all the odds and
ends . . . are meeting with small favor in the great
Northwest."2 About the same time Mr. Frank W. Palmer
expressed similar sentiments in The Times of Dubuque:
' ' ' Conservative ' men everywhere North as well as South, may
plot and plan as much as they please. There will be no half-
and-half ticket in 1860. ... If the old Whigs and Americans
are ready to co-operate with Republicans . . . there may be
a Union . . but any attempt by a lot of conservative
old fogies to patch up a platform in which Northern Republi
cans will occupy an indifferent or even a secondary position,
will prove a disgraceful failure."2 Mr. Charles Aldrich, on
the contrary did not concur with his contemporaries in re
pelling the suggestion of The Tribune but gave it his favor,
if we may so conclude from his reprinting without adverse
comment the major part of Greeley's editorial urging fusion,
including those portions referring to Bell, Bates and Botts.8
iTTie Eagle, May 10, 1859.
"Ibid.'The Hamilton Freeman, May 14, 1859.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 55
About the same time Mr. Teesdale gave expression to senti
ments that illustrate the vague and variable distinctions that
northern anti-slavery Republicans were prone to insist upon
in their attitude toward southern anti-slavery sympathizers of
the Clay school. Commenting upon the course of Crittenden
who had but recently given public endorsement to the candi
dacy of Joshua F. Bell for Governor of Kentucky on the
Whig ticket, he says :
Mr. Crittenden has just taken a step that effectually bars all hope
of his nomination for the Presidency by a Republican convention.
He has endorsed Mr. Bell, the American, or Opposition candidate
for Governor of Kentucky. Mr. Bell is a pro-slavery man; and, like
Goggin of Virginia, seeks to outstrip the Democratic nominee, in
his professions of allegiance to slavery and the Slave Power. Deeply
do we deplore this step of Mr. C. He has a host of friends in the
free states who honored him for the manly stand he took in
opposition to the Lecompton fraud, and in favor of the rights of
Kansas. It is clear that Mr. Crittenden does not expect a position in
the presidential arena; and equally clear that all attempts to secure
Southern support, by ignoring the great issue before the American
people, is worse than vain. "It is worse than a crime; it is a blun
der," ... If we would command respect ... we must stand up for
the political faith delivered to the fathers of the Republic. Their
politics was a part of their religion, and their religion was a part
of their politics. They knew no policy inconsistent with a proper
recognition of the rights of man.1
Mr. Teesdale 's attitude in May was not exactly consistent
with his position in April. He does not specify that Senator
Crittenden had made himself impossible or unavailable as a
candidate because of his "Americanistic" affiliations in Ken
tucky, — a consideration that properly would have had great
weight in the North; but he contends that his endorsement
of a man who did not violently oppose Slavery, btit asserted
its right to be where it was found, was fatal to his nomina
tion. Crittenden's position oh Slavery had not varied. He
did not approve of Slavery as an ideal condition in theory or
in the concrete, he did not desire to encourage its growth,
and he did not promote its extension. His opposition to the
Lecompton constitution demonstrated that he was "more of
a patriot and less of a politician." Let Slavery alone where
'¦The Weekly Citizen, May 8, 1859.

56 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
it was, — keep it where it was, — respect the rights of the own
ers of slaves, — do not constantly agitate the question and dis
turb the peace of mind of those who possess such property,
no matter how undesirable human chattels may be in ab
stract ethics or difficult of adjustment in practical affairs. The
South should not be a subject of constant "assault." If we
except the inconsistency of the Republican denunciation of
the Dred Scott. decision and their valorous insistence upon the
sacredness of the national constitution and the rights of
Slavocrats south of the Ohio, Crittenden's position on Slavery
squared with the views of nine Republicans out of ten in the
North.1 The second quarter of the year closed with an expression
from Mr. Howell in The Gate City respecting the candidacy
of Simon Cameron that voiced an opinion that became very
common among prudent politicians of much discernment and
experience. Noting the fact that "Lately the Republican press
of Pennsylvania has been rapidly coalescing upon him," he
says, "With no disposition to recommend candidates at this
early period, we may say, however, that Pennsylvania and
Illinois will be the battle-ground of the next campaign. There
are men for whom those two States can be carried. But they
are very few. These two plain facts will go very far and
should go very far towards limiting the range of speculation
concerning candidates."2 Victory perches on the standards
of those who command effective forces at the crucial points —
and such were the doubtful States.

iColemah's Life of John J. Crittenden, Vol. II, p. 154, et seq. — Passim.
"The Gate City, June 28, 1859.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 57

4— -Expressions July-December.
Public discussion proceeds like the tides and waves of the
ocean, now flowing, accumulating and surging, then receding
and ebbing to the point of quiescence. Following the general
expression of party opinion in the forepart of 1859, respecting
the primary political issues and the comment relative to the
availability and chances of the several Republican champions
mentioned or urged as desirable candidates for the Presidency,
both public and party interest in the subject fell to a low ebb.
During the summer and fall the majority of the party papers
in Iowa scarcely mentioned the presidential succession at all.
One searches in vain for any personal editorial interest in the
approaching national campaign in the columns of The News
of Boone, The Intelligencer of St. Charles, The Journal of
Elkader, The Ledger of Fairfield, The Guardian of Indepen
dence, The Visitor of Indianola, The Pioneer of Leon, The
Advocate of Lyon City, The Linn County Register of Marion,
The Visitor of Marengo, The Express of Marietta, The Repub
lican of Montezuma, The Courier of Ottumwa, The Hamilton
Freeman of Webster City, and The Black Hawk Courier of
Waterloo. Most of them do not even reprint articles from the
eastern press anent candidates or issues. Mr. Teesdale 's pre
diction in April was verified literally. Local matters and
news, the state election and general subjects of national or
international moment apparently completely absorbed public
interest. The same may be said for the most part of the
Republican press in the larger cities. Expression of editorial
opinion was rare and little or no attention was given the
matter in the way of reprints of articles or pithy paragraphs
dealing with the men or measures with which political debate
was soon to be chiefly concerned. It was not until the middle

58 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
of November, when the returns from the state elections were
definitely known and the nature of the party prospects began
to appear with some distinctness against the political horizon,
that editors began again to indicate a definite interest in the
approaching presidential contest and to express opinions in
dicative of personal convictions. There were, however, a
few expressions between July and November worth noting.
(a) Ethics, Law and Fugitive Slaves.
In the forepart of July Mr. John Edwards, editor of The
Patriot, of Chariton, declared a sentiment of no little signifi
cance in view of the bitter controversies in Congress and in the
country at large over the apprehension of fugitive slaves. A
judge in Ohio had but shortly before been defeated for renom-
ination by the Republican state convention of that State
because of a decision by him sustaining the constitutionality
and enforcing the provisions of the Fugitive Slave law in
arrest of a fugitive. After pronouncing the action of the
convention "an egregious blunder" Mr. Edwards said:
We opine a large majority of the Republicans coincide with Judge
Swan and would sustain him in his decision. Not that they do not
regard the Fugitive Slave act as very odious, unjust and revolting
to every sentiment of humanity and civil liberty; but that it is the
law of the land, and sworn judges decided the law to be constitu
tional. "Whatever may be lawful is not always expedient." Tbe
wisest course to pursue is not to throw any obstruction in the way
of the enforcement of the law by those who may voluntarily lend
their aid to its enforcement. But use all constitutional means to
have such an atrocious law repealed in a legal way as soon as pos
sible. Whilst no power on earth could compel us to violate our con
science by engaging under this law to capture runaway slaves, yet
at the same time if others could be found to engage in that business,
we would not interfere in any unlawful manner to obstruct its legal
operation. "The above," observed Mr. Clark Dunham of Burlington,
on reprinting in The Hawk-Eye, "expresses our sentiments
exactly. . We believe Judge Swan 's was a righteous decision

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 59
under an unrighteous law."1 About a month later Samuel J.
Kirkwood, as a candidate for governor declared himself in
virtually the same terms in response to an interrogatory of
Gen. Augustus C. Dodge in their gubernatorial debate at
Oskaloosa. General Dodge advanced the logic of a citizen's
duty under known law a step farther in his counter response
to Kirkwood 's cross question — Would he, Dodge, assist in
catching a slave — by saying "... I would do whatever the
law requires."2
The concurrence of Messrs. Dunham and Kirkwood in the
view of Mr. Edwards and their disinclination to accept and
act upon the doctrine of Gen. Dodge, strikingly illustrates
the basic differences and subtleties in the attitudes of the
respective disputants towards the major fact in public dis
cussion. Property in human chattels, or Slavery, however ab
horrent in and of itself, was an institution sanctioned by age
and by positive law. The Republicans constantly declared it
to be a creature of law. The .constitution of the nation
recognized it; the construction and ratification of that in
strument being possible only upon the complete recognition
of the rights of slaveholders. The Republicans proclaimed
their loyal adherence to that supreme statute. The ethics

'The Daily Hawk-Eye, July 15, 1859.
'Ibid, Aug. 3, 1859.
The reported questions and answers and rejoinders are worth repro
duction. After contending that the Fugitive Slave law was "part and
parcel of the constitution," Gen. Dodge then said :
"Mr. Kirkwood, would you obey the Fugitive Slave law?" Mr. K.
replied, "I would not resist the enforcement of that law, but before I
would aid in capturing a fugitive slave I would suffer the penalty of the
law, but I would not aid in carrying it into execution."
Mr. K. returned the compliment and asked Gen. Dodge if he would
assist in catching a slave. Gen. Dodge replied, "I would ; I would do what
ever the law requires me to do."
The following from one intimately associated with his political life when
his fame was becoming nation-wide forcefully indicates the attitude and
the outspokenness of Mr. Lincoln on this sore point in the discussion of
slavery :
"At the time I first knew him it was irksome to very many of his
friends to be told that there ought to be an efficient fugitive slave law. But
it was his conviction as a lawyer that there ought to be one, and he never
failed to say so when interrogated, or when occasion required that that
subject should be touched upon. And it is a fact that Abolitionists like
Lovejoy and Codding would take this from Lincoln without murmuring,
when they would not take it from anybody else. He never would echo the
popular cry : "No more slave States !" Whenever this subject was dis
cussed he would say that if a territory having the requisite population
and belonging to us should apply for admission to the Union without
fraud or constraint, yet with slavery, he could not see any other disposi
tion to be made of her than to admit her." Mr. Horace White : Introduc
tion to Herndon and Weik's Abraham Lincoln, Vol. I, p. 25.

60 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
of the law thereunder clearly enjoined the enforcement of the
rights of owners of slaves. The barbarities incident to Slav
ery, hideous and deplorable as they were, did not ipso facto
disturb their rights any more than the misuse or abuse of any
other form of animate property invalidates an owner's right
to its full use and recovery in case of escape. Property con
sisting of slaves possessed all of the attributes of movable
property. It was allowable under the constitution to transport
them from place to place with all the right thereto accom
panying in full rigor. The furious denunciation of the Dred
Scott decision per se, the constant, insidious and underground
violation of the Fugitive Slave law and the widespread open
opposition to its enforcement in the North, the gross tergiversa
tion of Republicans (and of Northern Democrats too) in re
spect of so-called " Squatter Sovereignty" (or "Popular Sover
eignty" as its advocates preferred to call it) and the anarchy
inherent in Douglas' answer to Lincoln's question at Free-
port — all these palpable inconsistencies in conduct and doc
trine finally drove such Southern leaders as Jefferson Davis
to sanction disunion and attempt secession.
The concurrence furthermore of Messrs. Edwards, Dunham
and Kirkwood affords us an interesting illustration of how
factors with contrary antecedents may coalesce and later pur
sue divergent courses. Mr. Edwards' view was obnoxious to
abolitionists, to militant churchmen, and to radical anti-slavery
men among the Republicans. Vet we find all three men
were pronounced or rather denounced as radical anti-slavery
partisans by the Democratic press. Mr. Edwards was a Ken-
tuckian by birth and education, whose discontent with Slavery
was so great that he emigrated to a free state and emancipated
the slaves that he inherited from his father's estate. Mr.
Kirkwood was a Marylander whose father and brothers owned
slaves. Mr. Dunham was a scion of Puritan stock of the bluest
blood, a Vermonter by birth, who had been reared among
Southern folk in Licking county, Ohio; for fourteen years
editing The Newark Weekly Gazette. All three men regarded
themselves, and were so regarded by their party associates as
"conservatives" with respect to the slavery question. The

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 61
position which they took was almost identical with that taken
by Judge Bates of St. Louis, when his candidacy for the
Presidency was announced in March preceding and consistently
maintained thenceforward, the latter more nearly coinciding
with Gen. Dodge. In the party preliminaries soon to follow
Mr. Dunham finally became an advocate of the nomination
of Senator Seward of New York; Mr. Edwards urged the
nomination of Senator Cameron of Pennsylvania; and Gover
nor Kirkwood finally threw his influence in behalf of Abra
ham Lincoln. (b) An Appeal to Local Pride Rejected.
In the middle of August The Press and Tribune of Chicago
in a leading article advanced an argument that one frequently
encounters in partisan discussion in politics— an argument
that is minor in importance and rarely decisive, but one which
may exert more or less influence when other considerations are
evenly balanced. It was in brief a direct appeal to local pride
or prejudice as one may prefer to put it. The editor of that
journal had been scanning the almanacs and official blue
books and had found that the West had been in political
"vassalage" to the East and for years had been "denied"
her proper weight in the councils of the nation. He showed
that except for a period of 30 days the West had never had
a President ; had never had a Vice-President, not even a can
didate ; had had but one of 23 Secretaries of State ; but two
of the 18 Postmasters-General (John McLean in 1833 being
the last) ; not one of the 26 Attorneys- General ; but two of the
31 Secretaries of War ; not one of the Secretaries of the Navy.
Since the foundation of the government the West had had but
8 out of 151 Secretaries of the President's Cabinet; but one
of 26 Speakers of the House of Representatives ; and but one
Judge of the Supreme Court.1
' ' These facts will surprise the western readers, ' ' remarked
Mr. Teesdale, ' ' and justify the indignant commentary of The
Tribune; and vindicate the conclusion that it is high time the
great West, with its teeming population and vast interests,
'¦The Press and Tribune, Chicago, Aug. 16, 1859 : summary taken from
The Iowa Weekly Citizen, Aug. 24, 1859.

62 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
received more consideration at the hands of political organiza
tions  " Mr. Teesdale then proceeds to discuss the signifi
cance of the editorial and the wisdom of acting on its sugges
tion. His language, its tone and substance, illustrates the
views of probably the majority of the Republican editors in
Iowa in 1859 :
We do not understand exactly what The Tribune would be at,
except that it wants a western President. Its choice is not desig
nated. Having expressed its conviction that the time has not yet
come for designating personal preferences, we shall probably be left
in doubt, for a time, whether McLean, Chase, Bates, or Lincoln is
the favorite.
While admitting the force of the facts presented by The Tribune,
and the general truthfulness of its conclusions, we believe that the
sentiment of Iowa may be thus expressed: Give us the right man,
and it is a matter of little moment where he comes from. We are
one people, and so ought to remain forever. All other considerations
being equal, we may consider locality. If the West has the right
man for the place, and he can bring the assurance of success, as
fully as any other, there should be a union of western strength in
his favor.
A letter written at St. Louis, for the Springfield Republican, is
copied in the N. Y. Tribune. It is designed to give prominence to
the name of Mr. Bates, as a western candidate for the Presidency.
If its testimony may be relied upon, Mr. Bates occupies the right
position on the great question before the people. His faith is evi
denced by his works. Looking at Slavery from the right moral and
political standpoint, he never could lend the sanction of a name that
is the synonym for patriotism and integrity, to the wicked policy of
the Slavery Propagandists. But if Mr. Bates cannot secure Missouri
or any other slave state, and is not as strong as some others in
Ohio, or New York, or Pennsylvania, or New England, — where we
must secure success — then Mr. Bates is not the man.1
(c) Pre-Election Expressions — and Judge Bates.
The exigencies of a strenuous state campaign now absorbed
the energies of editors almost exclusively. Early in August
The DeWitt Standard declared itself an advocate of the nom
ination of Wm. H. Seward for President and of Cassius M.
Clay for Vice-President; and in the common phrase of the
day "nailed their names to his mast head" : but the announce
ment seems to have elicited no comment favorable or unfavor»

xThe Iowa Weekly Citizen, Aug. 24, 1859.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 63
able ; indeed for the most was not noticed so far as the writer
has observed.1 No other expressions of consequence are dis
coverable prior to the elections in November. In the columns
of The Gate City we find (Aug. 20) a sketch of Simon Cam
eron originally appearing in his organ at Harrisburg, in con
nection with the announcement of his candidacy for the Presi
dency; and (Sept. 3) Judge Bates' letter to a committee of a
mass meeting of the Opposition party in Memphis ; neither is
accompanied by editorial comment. Mr. Dunham reprints
two extracts from the N. Y. Times denying that Col. Fremont
had written a letter refusing to be a candidate : ' ' Presidential
letter- writing is not his specialty; he leaves that for the
amusement of those who have a taste for knocking out their
brains in this particular way." In the same issue Mr. Dun
ham notes that Mr. Washington Hunt and The National In
telligencer had announced that they would support Judge
Bates.2 Mr. Hildreth glances at the national political horizon
and canvasses the outlook. "The chances are about even be
tween the two parties for carrying the next Presidency," he
concludes, and dwells on the doubtful states and their stra
tegic importance.3 Briefly noting that "the claims" of
Edward Bates were being "pressed by a number of journals,"
Mr. Jacob Rich of Independence observes noncommittally :
"Mr. Bates has long been strongly anti-slavery in sentiment,
but has never acted with the Republican party other than
giving his sympathies and support to the emancipationists of
Missouri. If his friends can satisfy the country of his cordial
sympathy with the Republican movement he will prove a
strong competitor for the nomination."*
Discussion waxed but little during November until the
latter weeks. The Daily Hawk-Eye reprinted without com
ment an extract from Gov. Chase's speech at Sandusky, Ohio,
on the 20th ultimo, strongly urging the "union" of all ele
ments of the Opposition "for the contest of I860":5 and later
under the caption, "An Important Political Document," ex
tended extracts of a statement then recently published in
1Ib. 'The Daily Hawk-Eye, Oct 18, 1859.
'The St. Charles Intelligencer, Oct. 20, 1859.
'The Guardian, Oct. 27, 1859.
tThe Daily Hawk-Eye, Nov. 2, 1859.

64 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
'The News of St. Louis purporting to be an authoritative state
ment' of Judge Bates' views upon the moot questions affecting
the presidential succession.1 The Excelsior of Maquoketa gives
its readers two and a half columns of the same and com
mends it strongly.2 Mr. Teesdale asserted that "in the
main" his sentiments were "such as every intelligent man
must heartily endorse, ' ' and resident as he was in a northern
slave state "his views are of marked significance."3
The columns of The Gate City contain several articles indica
tive of alert public interest in the candidacy of Judge Bates
and the proper course for the party to pursue in the matter
of selecting the candidate. The statement given out at St.
Louis by The News, it asserts, was not "authoritative" but as
there was no denial Mr. Howell presumes that its expressions
were "substantially" in accord with his sentiments; but he
is non-committal as respects his own views or feelings toward
Judge Bates. In the same issue, in another editorial, headed
' ' Presidential Candidates, ' ' he makes some pointed and pithy
suggestions, without reference to particular persons or candi
dates, but evidently with regard to certain developments in
the drifts of discussion.*
The Republicans everywhere are more anxious for the success of
the ticket than for the nomination of their friends, and we believe
fully understand that no intrigue, no trick to force a man upon
the party could by hardly any possibility be successful in the con
vention, while the tolerable certainty of a defeat would await him
before the people. The present opportunity to obtain power, the
possibility of retaining it, a successful administration of public
affairs upon Republican principles, everything, conspires to demand
a politic and satisfactory nomination, and a considerate and candid
examination of the merits and demerits of the several candidates.
And all this is generally appreciated. Particularly will this spirit
display itself in the national convention. Success, and success with a
sound man, we feel convinced is the spirit which will reign with an
overwhelming power in that body. Let all the local interests and
particular facts, however, be freely ventilated before its assembling,
that the members, when they come together, may be as well in
formed as they can be, and as well qualified as possible to render
a sound judgment.

*Ib., Nov. 15, 1859.
"The Weekly Maquoketa Excelsior, Nov. 29, 1859.
'The Iowa Weekly Citizen, Nov. 23, 1859. 'The Gate City, Nov. 18, 1859.

_r- . : THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 65
Three days later Mr. Howell summarizes for his readers the
comments of the leading journals of New York City upon
Judge Bates' statement. William Cullen Bryant's paper,
The Evening Post, looked upon it as "clear" and " so far as it
goes quite satisfactory, except that his urgency in favor of an
effective fugitive slave law is unnecessary and not altogether
to the taste of the North." Mr. Bennett's paper The Herald,
looks on the pronouncement with favor and thinks that "Mr.
Bates on the score of 'Nationality' especially, would be a
strong man for the Republicans. ' ' Mr. James Watson Webb 's
The Courier and Enquirer, then or later a prominent promoter
of Senator Seward's candidacy, plumply declared that if the
"Republican convention of 1860 should nominate any such
Fillmore disorganizer as Bates he will be defeated by the
Republican party, and will deserve defeat." Greeley's
Tribune, while asserting that the statement did "not entirely
accord with its own views, it is the soundest, clearest and
most forceful expression upon the slavery question yet put
forth by the so-called 'conservative' sentiment of the country
and wishes that a copy of it might he put in the hands of every
voter who can read in the country. ' ' The Times thought that
it agreed in "every essential point with the ground taken by
the Republican party at Pittsburgh and Philadelphia."1 To
the insinuation that Judge Bates' anti-slavery views were
sprouts of feeble or recent growth, Mr. Howell pointed out that
he was a native of Virginia, a son of Quaker stock on both
sides "known for nearly a century for their religious hos
tility" to Slavery and quotes the Washington Star that de
clares his views to be "hereditary and to be respected, not
being the result of a demagogue's ambition."2
Up to this time so far as the writer can discover no positive
predictions as to the candidate who would be nominated had
been made. Editors were either indifferent, or prudent or
skeptical as to the outlook. One editor at Garnavillo, in
northeastern Iowa, Mr. Joseph Eiboeck, an alert, ambitious
young German, who had but shortly before assumed control
'The Gate City, Nov. 23, 1859.
'Ib., Nov. 24, 1859.

66 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
of The Journal, looked at the political situation and ventured
a prophecy which was in some part fulfilled. In his judgment
Messrs. Bates and Seward were the most prominent Repub
lican candidates ; and Pierce, Buchanan and Douglas the lead
ing Democratic candidates. "From these it is very probable
that Mr. Bates will be the most favored, and Pierce the lead
ing Democratic nominee. . . . Douglas will perhaps obtain the
support of most of the Northern States . . . but the South will
oppose and thus defeat him. . . . Wm. H. Seward will stand
no chance with Bates, for reasons that are known to everyone.
Seward like Clay is a great man but he never will be President
of the United States."1
The editorial has a special significance in the fact that Mr.
Eiboeck was a German and wrote for a constituency largely
German. Within two months, notwithstanding Judge Bates'
course in the campaign of 1856, supporting Fillmore and giv
ing support to sundry doctrines of the "American" party,
and his attitude toward the Fugitive Slave law, Mr. Eiboeck
explicitly advocated the nomination of Judge Bates by the
national Republican convention.2
(d) Mr. Teesdale's Review of the Situation.
November closed with another extended and vigorous ex
pression from Mr. Teesdale, who kept a very alert, discerning
eye upon the political horizon, reviewing recent developments,
pointing out the vital issues and the conditions of the party's
success, the occasion that impelled the expression apparently
being some recent observations of The Press and Tribune of
Chicago, which he combats. "A glorious uncertainty pre
vails, ' ' he begins, " as to the men who are likely to enjoy the
honor of leading the Republican hosts to victory in the next
presidential canvass. ' ' The Chicago Tribune declared that the
selection should be determined by the exigencies in the states
the Republicans lost in 1856 — the main question before the
convention will be, who can carry Illinois, Indiana, New Jer
sey and Pennsylvania, or the last without reference to the
other three. "The convention may be able to settle this ques-
*The Journal, Nov. 21, 1859.
'Ib., Feb. 13, 1860.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 67
tion satisfactorily, without being a particle nearer success than
when it commenced its labors. ' ' Simon Cameron might carry
Pennsylvania and endanger success in "unalterably Repub
lican states." The nomination "of Mr. Lincoln might secure
Illinois, beyond peradventure, but is there not a possibility"
that it would endanger old Republican states? The late elec
tions demonstrated that every free state save California was
safely Republican if the party's "nominees be men of the
right stamp." They should be "men who have been tried as
by fire, on the great issues before the country. . . . Anything
short of this will not meet the expectations of the awakened
masses. To award the honors ... to mere camp-followers,
eleventh-hour men, to the neglect of those who have borne
the heat and burden of the fight, is a policy destructive of all
political organization. . . . Yet there is a strong inclination, we
fear, to do this very thing. Against it we would raise our
voice now, and all the time." The recent election in New
York clearly indicated that Mr. Seward could carry that
State; that the Democrats and "Americans" could not amal
gamate again. Nevertheless, Mr. Teesdale declares that "it
will not surprise us to learn that Mr. Seward, when he returns
home [from Europe] refuses to allow his name to be used, if
there is a shadow of doubt as to his acceptability to the Repub
licans of any of the states whose votes are needed to insure
success. He will never seek or accept a nomination that is
not equivalent to an election, while there is another soldier
in the field who can insure success to the cause. At least
such is our estimate of the lofty patriotism of the man." He
recurs to his observations while on his late visit east [in
March] of conditions in Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois. Chase
was strong in Ohio and popular with the "Republicans of the
country at large; but the stout opposition of Corwin's friends
to his advancement and the numerous adherents of Judge
McLean and Senator Wade, who desired first their champion's
nomination, made an effective effort on behalf of Chase im
probable. Michigan was almost unanimous in support of Mr.
Seward. Illinois "is for Lincoln; with a side current for
Trumbull. . . . Their gallant labors for the redemption of their

68 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
State will give them much prominence in the national conven-
tion. Lincoln possesses most fully the elements of personal
popularity. His genial traits bind his friends to him as by,.
"hooks of steel."1
(e) Mention of Candidates Increases in December.
During December Iowa's editors deal more with particular
candidates and somewhat with the general tactics of procedure,
indicating a realization that the time for practical measures
and definite decisions was approaching.
Summarizing the views of Judge Bates as lately given out
at St. Louis, Mr. John Mahin, of Muscatine, notwithstanding
the former's advocacy of due enforcement of the Fugitive
Slave law and of non-interference with Slavery in the states
wherein established, coupled with his declared opposition to its
extension and abhorrence of the institution, concluded his
editorial review with the assertion: "Upon this platform
Mr. Bates would doubtless receive the united support of the
Republican party. ' '2 As Mr. Mahin was a radical of radicals
upon the subject of Slavery, living in a community that has
always been noted in the State's history for its militant
radicalism in social reforms his declaration is decidedly inter
esting and instructive.
Mr. Dunham's columns contain no editorial assertions of
consequence. He received a personal letter from "a reliable
Republican" in whose "good sense and sound judgment" he
had much confidence, the substance of wliich he gives his
readers. His correspondent urged him to advocate the renom-
ination of Fremont and Dayton as in 1856, believing their
popular strength equal to that of Seward and Chase and that
"nothing is gained' by courting the Old Whig votes and there
is no use in trying to nominate a candidate to suit them. " The
letter elicits no comment from Mr. Dunham: he simply pre
sents the suggestion to his readers "for their consideration."3
About this time the editor of The Enoxville Journal, observ
ing that various state papers were urging the nomination of
Senator Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania, remarked: "... we

'The Iowa Weekly Citizen, Nov. 30, 1859.
'The Muscatine Journal, Dec. 3, 1859.
'The Daily Hawk-Eye, Dec. 3, 1859.

THETTEPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 69
are glad to see, none of them [do so] with a spirit of dogma
tism or injustice towards other great men in the Republican
party"; and he concludes — "With Cameron and Bates on our
ticket Iowa is good for ten thousand majority. ' "¦ Some cor
respondents of The Commercial Advertiser of Buffalo (N. Y.),
attempting to promote the candidacy of Judge Bates by dis
paragement of Senator Seward, Mr. Teesdale declared their
course "Not the Right Way." "It is the very worst policy
to attempt to elevate one distinguished Republican by the
depression of another."2 The increasing attention given the
position of the Missourian caused Mr. Add. H. Sanders of
Davenport, to examine his "more important declarations of
opinion"; and he announced: "But we have no hesitation in
saying that in the main we approve them, as every Republican
may — but we are very far from declaring that he is our first
choice as the next Republican candidate for the Presidency.
Most certainly, however, we should rather be successful with
Mr. B. than defeated with any other man in the Union as our
candidate. ' '3
Down in Mills county in southwestern Iowa, The Pacific
Herald declared itself an advocate of the nomination of Gov.
Chase in preference to Senator Seward, on the ground that
the latter would be opposed with "more intense bitterness"
in the election. Mr. Teesdale took exception, declaring that of
"the two statesmen Chase was "a much more ultra-anti-slavery
man than Seward. The history of both gentlemen will be thor
oughly canvassed before nomination ; and whoever receives the
nomination must pass through a fiery ordeal."4 Mr. Teesdale
did not fear the result in either case and would heartily
support the nominees.
December and the year closed with several interesting and
pithy editorial expressions upon the presidential succession.
iThey emphasize again the general unity of purpose, the ab
sence of obdurate personal prejudice and willingness to cast
aside personal wishes and old-time friendships if thereby suc
cess of the national cause could be insured and the common
JQuoted in The Muscatine Daily Journal, Dec. 9, 1859.
'The Iowa Weekly Citizen, Dec. 7, 1859.
'The Davenport Weekly Gazette, Dec. 8, 1859.
'The Iowa Weekly Citizen, Dec. 21. 1859.

70 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
recognition of the primary strategic points in the situation.
Two of them indicate how seriously the candidacy of Simon
Cameron was regarded by shrewd observers.
Observing the frequent favorable mention of Simon Cam
eron's candidacy in his exchanges, Mr. Robert Holmes of Ma
rion, editor of The Linn County Register, decided that the
Chances of the Pennsylvanian being nominated were so favor
able as to be conclusive of the party's action. "Although we
have had," he says, "some doubts as to the propriety of thus.
early taking sides for this or that man, inasmuch as it may en
gender strife and bad feeling amongst the friends of different
gentlemen who will undoubtedly be presented to the conven
tion — still without indicating any particular choice ourselves,.
we think the suggestion a good one. It is understood that with-
out doubt, Pennsylvania will cast her vote for Mr. Cameron,.
and with Lincoln of Illinois for Vice-President, success would
seem to be almost a certainty. For anything we can see nowr
these nominations are as likely to be made as any others spoken:
of."1 Mr. Howell reprinting an article commendatory of
Pennsylvania's candidate, again, as in June preceding, points
out the strong position Mr. Cameron occupied as a candidate.
"It is conceded that Pennsylvania and Illinois will form the
battle-ground of the next campaign, and Pennsylvania has 27
votes, her change from one side to the other making a
difference of 54. The location, the remarkable energy, and
the home influence of Mr. Cameron greatly favor him."2
Here as before the editor of The Gate City gives no hint
of personal preference or of his probable positive action so
far as it may be able to affect the practical decision.
This impersonal, almost indifferent, non-partisan considera
tion of candidates that is persistent in the columns of Mr.
Howell's paper, likewise characterizing the course of Messrs.
Dunham of Burlington and Teesdale of Des Moines, is
effectively illustrated in an utterance of Mr. Sanders of Dav
enport. Canvassing the presidential question at the close of
the year and noting the men mentioned as candidates he con
cludes : "When all are good and well-qualified men, he should
'The Linn County Register, Dec. 24, 1859.
'The Gate City, Dec. 28, 1859.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 71
receive the nomination, who possesses the greatest attributes of
strength — who is most likely to make the best race— and feel
ings and personal friendships should be laid aside by delegates
as far as possible, to secure this object." This is not the lan
guage of sentiment but of politics. The victory of the party
and the triumph of the principles for which the party was
established and continues to exist is the grand objective in
view, not the attainment of personal prejudices. ' n
If one fact more than another strikes the reader of the
editorial columns of the Republican newspapers of Iowa in
1859, it is the conspicuous absence of keen personal partisan
interest on the part of editors in furtherance of the candidacy
of any one candidate. A few editors indicate their personal
preferences and declare themselves for their favorite. But
the majority are silent on the whole matter. This is especially
true of the press of the small cities. The editors of the influ
ential dailies in the large cities, while they frequently mention
the presidential succession, noting the developments in other
states and the changing fortunes of the different candidates, —
declare themselves only on party principles and policy and
procedure, but maintain an obstinate silence as to personal-
preferences. There is no ardent, tempestuous advocacy of
either measures or men. There is no spirit of "rule or ruin"
discoverable, although there is from time to time pronounced
and emphatic declarations of what the editors regard as the
essentials of success. Was this attitude exceptional? peculiar
to the press of Iowa? The following taken from Mr. Howell's
columns is instructive :
We have not yet seen, in any one of the most prominent journals
of the Republican party, excepting the (N. Y.) Courier and Enquirer,
a decided preference as to a presidential candidate. The Albany
Journal, [Thurlow Weed's paper], The Evening Post and The
Tribune at New York, the Cincinnati Gazette, the Chicago Tri
bune, and papers of that class, are utterly silent as to men. Even
where the strongest partialities might be supposed to exist, the one
firm resolution prevails, to keep men out of sight as far as possible
and to forego all personal preferences for the sake of the cause. It
is an encouraging sign, — a sign of solid and invincible union.2

iThe Davenport Weekly Gazette, Dec. 29, 1859.
'The Gate City, Dec. 7, 1859.

72 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
In the matter of party opinion and public expression of
desire, developments in Iowa in 1859 in the Republican pre
liminaries of the national campaign of 1860, fully typify the
course of things in the nation at large.
(f) Public Consideration of Mr. Lincoln for the Presidency.
Politicians rarely put forward and support men or meas
ures that shock the sensibilities or clash with the dominant
desires of the majority of their constituents : and they never
deliberately do violence to public expectation. They may
misconceive and run athwart the major public interest or
nominate men obnoxious to the elite in pious and polite
circles, and, if parties are evenly balanced, suffer defeat in
consequence. It is the primary and particular business of
politicians to control, or seek to control, the arms and agencies
of the government and determine the distribution of its bene
fits. Success is the paramount object of their activity and
their success is the issue of public favor. It is a violent
presumption tb assume, as lay philosophers in pulpit and
press are wont to do, that politicians impudently or negli
gently run amuck with public sentiment. Their decisions as
to measures or as to candidates are made in the belief and
in the hope that they coincide with and further the common
desire, first of their partisan associates and second of the
majority of the electors. Novel measures and never-before-
heard-of candidates usually are no more tolerated than bad
measures and corrupt nominees. Both measures and men, if
politicians wish to secure the support of the public, must be
familiar to the minds of electors. But electors, it is well to
remember, do not include the entire mass of the population.
The field of the practical politician is confined to those who
directly determine the operation of the government in the
formulation of its policies, in the conduct of its administra
tion and in the operation of the party machinery whereby
the public will is organized and made effective; and a large
proportion of the male population devote but little or no atten
tion to practical politics and hence exert no influence.
Was Abraham Lincoln at the close of 1859 a familiar in
the minds of Iowa's politicians and electors? Was he a

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 73
factor with which the public reckoned as a matter of course ?
Had his name and fame become a part of the popular con
sciousness to the extent that he was mentioned among the
presidential candidates worthy of definite consideration at
the national convention? And did Iowans have reason to
think that Mr. Lincoln was likewise considered by the party
leaders and electors of the older eastern States? The files
of Iowa's newspapers and the correspondence of some of the
Republican party leaders afford us some evidence for an
affirmative answer.
In the latter months of 1858 there was some mention of Mr.
Lincoln as a presidential possibility : the mention resulting, of
course, from the fame he had achieved in his debates with
Senator Douglas. Mr. Teesdale declared that the Illinoian
had "linked himself to the fortunes of the Republicans by
hooks of steel. The name of Lincoln will be a household
word for years to come. He has a brilliant future."1 A
week later The Marshall County Times felicitating the
Republicans of Illinois on their popular victory urged them
to prepare for the battle in 1860 for they might "see their
gallant Old Abe" as the "presiding officer" of the Senate.2
Mr. Zieback of Sioux City commenting on Greeley's sugges
tion for doing away with national conventions, mentions Mr.
Lincoln as the candidate for whom Illinois would vote under
his proposed plan.3 Mr. Swigget of the same city cited the
suggestion of the Chicago Democrat, Wentworth 's paper, of
his consideration for "President or Vice-President."4 We
have seen that the enthusiastic praise of Mr. Lincoln of the
Rochester (N. Y.) Democrat closing with the words: "The
Republicans of the Union will rejoice to do honor to the dis
tinguished debater of Illinois" was quoted in various papers
in the State.5
During 1859 public interest in Mr. Lincoln was manifested
almost continuously throughout the year and in sundry ways.
His stories and quips were cited; generous extracts from his

'The Iowa Weekly Citizen, Nov. 17, 1858.
'The Marshall County Times, Nov. 24, 1858.
'The Register, Dec. 2, 1858.
'The Eagle, Nov. 27, 1858.
'The Gate City, Nov. 22, 1858, and The Muscatine Daily Journal, Nov. 23,
1858.

74 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
political speeches were quoted; his journeyings about the
country were noted; his name was linked with those of the
foremost leaders of his party; his views were referred to by
friends and critics alike as authoritative utterances of the
principles of his party; and he was the beneficiary of fre
quent mention as a statesman worthy of nomination for one
or the other of the two highest offices within the gift of the
people. And the significance of such manifestations of pub
lic interest is materially enhanced when we consider the con
ditions under which newspapers were then conducted.
A local correspondent of The Gate City signing himself
"Free Labor," refers (Jan. 14) to Senator Douglas' course
"towards two prominent statesmen of the Republican party.
I speak of Mr. Seward and Mr. Lincoln." On May 30 Mr.
Howell prints Mr. Lincoln's letter to Dr. Canisius relative
to the Massachusetts Two Year Amendment affecting natur
alized citizens. When Mr. Lincoln was in Ohio the same
paper contains (Sept. 23) a column and more of "Abe
Lincoln's speech at Cincinnati the other night"; and a week
later cites the praise of the same speech in The National Intel
ligencer. It reprints (Oct. 4) a portion of the speech at Co
lumbus anent Douglas and the Dred Scott decision.
Repelling the attacks of the Democrats upon the Repub
lican expressions regarding the essential conflict between
Free and Slave labor, Mr. Howell says (Nov. 23) that the
"irrepressible conflict" the announcement of which in "lucid
terms by both Lincoln and Seward" so shocked the Demo
crats was first pointed out by Calhoun and by The Richmond
Enquirer, and after quoting the latter he concludes: "Did
ever Seward or Lincoln or Thomas Jefferson state the case
more definitely or imperatively ? . . . " The notations and ex
pressions of Mr. Howell fairly represent other Republican
editors in the State who kept their weather eyes on the forces
and factors in the forthcoming national contest. Mr. Drum
mond of The Eagle of Vinton, as we have seen, declared,
May 10: "The Republican party adopts what the New York
Herald terms 'the bloody, brutal manifesto' of Abraham Lin
coln, as re-echoed by Senator Seward" . . . and Mr. Dorr at

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 75
Dubuque couples the names of the two statesmen in the same
connection.1 The mention of Mr. Lincoln as an available candidate for
either the first or second place on the national ticket began
comparatively early. Mr. Mahin reprints (March 29) an
editorial from the Chicago Democrat urging him for the Vice-
Presidency.2 Some two months later The Montezuma Weekly
Republican reprints an editorial of The Rockford (111.) Re
publican also advocating his selection for second place. On
July 28 the same paper reproduces the suggestion of The
Free Press of Elwood, Kansas, of Gov. Seward for President
and Mr. Lincoln for Vice-President.
Some commentators on the first nomination of Abraham
Lincoln have pointed out that in some of the lists of candi
dates published when the preconvention campaign was cul
minating, Mr. Lincoln's name was not included: and hence
the conclusion that his nomination was most extraordinary
and surprising to the country at large. Thus in Forney's Phil
adelphia Press in a list published in November, 1859, and
reproduced (Nov. 29) in The Davenport Daily Gazette, the
Illinoian's name was omitted: and a book published at Phila
delphia in 1860 entitled Our Living Representative Men men
tions a score or so of candidates in the two great parties but
does not refer to Mr. Lincoln. De Bow's Review reviewing
the volume immediately following the convention at Chicago
says the omission was "creditable" to the author, Mr. John
Savage, as the "claims of this personage were regarded to be
too contemptible to entitle him to a place in the 'Gallery'."3
Mr. Teesdale in April and Mr. Sanders in December in edi
torials dealing with candidates mention Seward, Chase, Bates,
Bell, Crittenden, Cameron, Fremont, McLean, Scott, Hale,
Grow — but fail to refer to Mr. Lincoln.4 Nevertheless Mr.
Lincoln was mentioned for the first place and politicians in
Iowa had him more or less in mind constantly as a not-
improbable nominee.
'The Dubuque Herald, Oct. 23, 1859.
'The Muscatine Daily Journal, March 29, 1859.
3De Bow's Review, Vol. XXIX, pp. 100-101 (July, 1860).
'The Iowa Weekly Citizen, April 13, 1859: and The Davenport Weekly
Gazette, Dec. 29, 1859.

76 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Mr. Teesdale in August and again in November refers
specifically to the public consideration of Mr. Lincoln as a
candidate for the first place and expresses his willingness to
abide by the nomination if made after a full consideration
of the best interests of the party and the cause the Repub
licans desire to promote. Moreover in a list of candidates
published by the Democratic paper at Des Moines, Mr. Will
Porter, the editor, includes Mr. Lincoln.1
Some of the most interesting evidence of the national con
sideration of the Illinoian was afforded Iowans in the col
umns of Greeley's Tribune. In his issue of September 27
he quotes what purports to be an extract from a speech of
Congressman Robert Schenck of Ohio, regarding the Presi
dency. Commenting upon Lincoln's "masterly political ex
position made in this city [Cincinnati?] to-day by Abraham
Lincoln, " he says "that there is a candidate for you, whose per
ceptions are clear, whose moral tendencies are correct, and
whose constitutional habit of action is so happily conservative,
that he is high above all temptations to extremes in any direc
tion."2 Greeley, himself, two weeks and a half later (Oct.
14) in an elaborate editorial outlining and defending "The
Tribune's policy" mentions Lincoln among other candidates
who had ' ' friends who will in due time present their names in
connection with the Presidency. ..." Finally the readers of
Mr. Howell were impressed with the widespread and positive
consideration of Mr. Lincoln by the country at large by an
editorial note in The Gate City (Dec. 13) which after noting
that three Iowa papers had come out for Cameron, said: "We
observe in Pennsylvania one prominent paper proposes Cam
eron for President and Lincoln for Vice-President while the
Reading (Pa.) Journal, a paper of standing and influence,
intimates its preference of Lincoln for President."
'Iowa State Journal, Nov. 19, 1859.
'The N. Y. Tribune (s. w.), Sept. 27, 1859. The citation from The
Tribune is somewhat obscure. It purports to be from a speech of Mr.
Schenck's at Dayton. But his reference to Mr. Lincoln's speech in "this
city" would seem to imply either Columbus or Cincinnati, — as all chron
iclers concur in referring only to Mr. L.'s speeches in those two cities.
As the item in The Tribune above the extract taken is accredited to The
Cincinnati Commercial we may surmise that Mr. S. was interviewed at
Cincinnati, or made a speech there, immediately following Mr. Lincoln's
speech.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 77
(g) Summary of Party Opinion in 1859.
The reader will have noticed several facts in the preceding
exposition of party opinion among Republicans in Iowa in
1859, which it may be well to summarize before proceeding to
deal with the personal efforts of or for candidates and the
party maneuvers.
First and foremost, the paramount consideration as to which
. all elements of the Opposition to the party in power agreed,
was Slavery and its treatment by the national government.
Other matters might be important, but they were subsidiary in
public interest. All elements of the Opposition with the
exception of radical abolitionists resisted the extension of
Slavery into territories where it was not found prior to 1850
and disapproved of interference with it in states where estab
lished. While there was unanimity of opinion in the large, there
was confusion in respect to the practical enforcement of the
legal rights of slave-owners in the free states and in the settle
ment of new territories, and this fact made the working union
of Old Line Whigs and abolitionists difficult. The persistence
of "Americanism," a sort of decadent Know-Nothingism,
greatly increased the factional antagonisms of the sundry ele
ments already hostile and contentious on the subject of
Slavery. The election of 1856 had been lost by the Republicans
because of the inability of the mutually repellant groups of
the Opposition to coalesce. Such a working union was impera
tive if the party was to win in the contest in 1860.
A coalition was impracticable unless there was mutual
give-and-take ; harmony as to essentials and points of general
agreement and non-emphasis of and non-reference to particular
contentions that irritated and distracted factions or groups
essential to the party's alignment.
Principles and policies all agreed, should be paramount over
the personal ambitions of candidates, or the sectional and per
sonal preferences for favorite candidates.
The doubtful states wherein success was essential to national
victory should be the primary consideration in selecting the

78 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
candidate. But it was not enough that a candidate should be
satisfactory to this or that doubtful state : he must enjoy the
fullest confidence of the rank and file in the solid Republican
states as well, as regards his ability, character and conduct
in the vital issues. Indifference to the subject of Slavery, ter
giversation as to views or course of action would not be
sanctioned. No commercial considerations hostile to the broadest treat
ment of the issues, no personal intrigues, no tricks, no factional
or partisan maneuvers inconsistent with frank and fair con
sideration of the characters and availability of candidates
would be tolerated.
Iowa had no candidate of her own to advance, and her
editors and party leaders had no favorite whose nomination
was urged with any vigor. Few personal preferences were
indicated. The spirit of rule or ruin was completely absent.
In general there was a noteworthy harmony among the Re
publicans of Iowa in 1859 regarding the principles and pro
cedure that should be observed in preparing for the great
national contest of 1860. They were generally of one mind
as to the paramount issues. Success with a sane and sensible
program was to them vastly preferable to defeat with a plat
form of idealities compounded by dreamers and radicals.
Some party men had candidates whom they favored and urged,
but for the most part editors and leaders were reticent. Vic
tory was the goal they sought, not the exaltation of a favorite
at the risk of success.
5 — Efforts of Candidates or their Promoters in Iowa.
The amount and kind of personal effort put forth by the
candidates for the Republican presidential nomination in
1860, or by their promoters, directly to secure the favor and
support of Iowa's press and party leaders cannot now be
realized. There was more or less personal activity, although
the evidence is rather meager as regards some of the candi
dates. The State was then teeming with thousands of pioneers but
recently removed from the older states to the east and south

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 79
wherein the candidates lived. Many of those pioneers had
been forceful factors in the politics of their former homes.
For example, Gov. Samuel J. Kirkwood and the late Senator
William B. Allison had both made their mark in Ohio before
emigrating to Iowa.1 Naturally, the candidates or their
promoters would correspond with tlieir emigrant friends in
Iowa seeking information as to their attitude, or that of the
party leaders of the State towards their candidacy ; and no less
would the pioneers, if local ambitions or interests did not con
flict, incline to urge the consideration of their favorite cham
pion of their native state, or state of previous residence.
Mentioning merely those states whose emigrant citizens resi
dent in Iowa in 1860 exceeded 10,000 in the census enumera
tion: — Ohio led with 99,240; Indiana followed with 57,555;
Pennsylvania with 52,156; New York with 46,053; Illinois
with 26,696 ; Virginia with 17,944 ; and Kentucky with 13,204.
The natives of New England all told in Iowa numbered only
25,040; while the natives of the Southern or slave States
amounted to 54,006. The Middle States were credited with
103,173 and the states of the old Northwest territory with
193,005. Being but recently removed from their old homes
their memories and the ties of their relations with associates
in their ancestral seats were vigorous. As the arrangements
for the national Republican convention began to materialize
we must presume that many a letter crossed, inquiring about
or urging this or that candidate, discussing his availability,
and the chances of his nomination and election. But little
evidence is discoverable of such correspondence in 1859, either
in the way of letters extant or of rescripts thereof. The resi
dence of many of the influential editors of the State prior to
'John Sherman's Recollections, pp. 46, 76.
Gov. Kirkwood had attained local eminence between 1845 and 1849 as
prosecuting attorney of Richland county and as a member of the Consti
tutional Convention of Ohio. He was a Democrat in politics but on the
repeal of the Missouri Compromise he revolted. At a mass meeting at
Mansfield, Feb. 17, 1854, he introduced and urged the passage of a strong
resolution deploring the agitation of the slavery question and repudiating
the repeal of the Compromise. He was a prominent candidate for Con
gress in 1855 — the year in which he emigrated to Iowa.
Mr. Allison began his public career as an attorney at Ashland, in
Wayne county adjoining Kichland. He was a candidate for clerk of the
county court. He was made secretary of the first Republican state con
vention organized in Ohio in 1855. His first party service of note in Iowa
was attendance as a delegate at the Republican state convention in 1859
and working for Kirkwood's nomination for governor.

8Q IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
¦coming to Iowa enforces this presumption and their columns
afford us some evidence that there was intercommunication
between them and the candidates or their promoters.1
(a) Judge McLean Visits the Northwest.
When visiting old acquaintances in Ohio in March, Mr. Tees
dale designed to visit Judge McLean at his old home in Cin
cinnati. Writing to his readers in Iowa Mr. Teesdale reports:
' ' He is, I am told, in excellent health and spirits. Who knows
lrThe states of nativity, or of previous residence, and the editorial
careers of the editors whose expressions have been chiefly cited are sug
gestive. Mr. A. B. F. Hildreth of The St. Charles Intelligencer was a Vermonter.
In 1839 he founded The Literary Souvenir at Lowell, Mass., and also
conducted The Morning News (daily) of that city. In 1842 he went to
Bradford, Vt., where he published The Green Mountain Gem and The
American Protector (an advocate of high tariffs). From 1844 to 1852,
in lieu of the latter, he published The Family Gazette; and from 1853 to
1855 he published The Mirror, of Holyoke, Mass. He came to St. Charles,
Iowa, in 1856.
Mr. Charles Aldrich of The Hamilton Freeman of Webster City, was
a native of New York. In 1850 he established The Cattaraugus Sachem
at Randolph. From 1851 to 1856 he edited and published The Olean-
Journal. When but 19 years of age he was made secretary of the first
Free Soil convention held in Cattaraugus county. He came to Iowa in 1857.
Mr. Frank W. Palmer of The Times, of Dubuque, although born in
Indiana was virtually a New Yorker, spending his childhood and youth at
Jamestown. From 1848 to 1858 he published The Jamestown Journal. In
1853 he was elected to the New York legislature, serving two terms. He
came to Dubuque, Iowa, in 1858.
Mr. Jacob Rich of The Guardian of Quasqueton, and later of Independ
ence, was a native of New York City. He was educated at Philadelphia.
He came to Iowa in 1856.
Mr. John Edwards of The Patriot of Chariton, was born in Kentucky.
Anti-slavery convictions sent him to Indiana, where he served in the state
legislature between 1848 and 1852. He came to Iowa in 1853.
Mr. William W. Junkin of The Ledger of Fairfield, was a native of Vir
ginia. He learned the printer's craft in the offices of The Argus of
' Wheeling. He came to Iowa in 1843.
Mr. Thomas Drummond of The Eagle of Vinton, was born in Virginia,
was educated at Lexington, entered journalism, moved to Ohio after 1850
and came to Iowa in 1855. He bought The Eagle in 1857.
Mr. Clark Dunham of The Hawk-Eye of Burlington was a Vermonter
by birth, but spent his childhood in Licking county, Ohio. From 1840 to
1854 he edited The Gazette of Newark, Ohio, moving to Iowa in the latter
year. Mr. James B. Howell of The Gate City of Keokuk, although a native of
New Jersey, spent his youth in Ohio from 1819 to 1841, when he removed
to Iowa. The business manager of The Gate City from 1854 to 1860 was
Mr. Wm. Richards, a native of Ohio, who moved to Iowa in 1854.
Mr. Addison H. Sanders of The Gazette of Davenport, was a native of
Cincinnati, Ohio, where he learned the printer's trade. He came to Iowa
in 1856.
Mr. John Mahin of The Journal of Muscatine, was a native of Indiana,
but early came to Iowa, learning the printer's trade in the office of the
Bloomington (now Muscatine) Herald, later called the Journal.
Mr. John Teesdale of The Iowa Weekly Citizen of Des Moines, was
born in York, England, but came with his parents to Philadelphia in 1818.
There he learned' printing. He went to Wheeling, Virginia, where between
1830 and 1836 he was editor of The Gazette and later of The Times. From
1836 to 1843 he edited The Ohio Standard; and from 1843 to 1848 he edited
The Ohio State Journal of Columbus, and between 1848 and 1856 The
Beacon of Akron. Meantime (1844-46) he had been private secretary
to Gov. Mordecai Bartley. Mr. Teesdale's associate editor, Mr. J. M.
Dixon, a son of a Virginia Methodist circuit riding preacher, was also a
native of Ohio.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 81
but he may yet be called to a higher field in the service of his
country. Upon no man in public life could a nore cordial
union be effected for t^he next presidency, than upon Judge
McLean, if his age is not deemed objectionable. Mr. Chase is
much spoken of in the same connection by the people of Ohio.
. . . M1 In the last week of September The Times of Dubuque
announced: "Judge McLean, of the supreme court, came
down the river last evening, and is spending the day at the
Julien House. He is in fine health. At noon about twenty
members of the bar called upon him. . . . The interview was
very pleasant. Judge McLean is vigorous both in body and in
mind, and very easy and agreeable in conversation. . . . The
Judge has relatives in Minnesota, and has been paying them a
visit."2 Business interests and relatives are of course appropriate
objects of exclusive private concern ; but when a man who is
constantly mentioned as a desirable candidate and a not im
probable nominee for a high political office, makes an extended
journey through a region of primary strategic importance,
alert politicians are wont to note the fact as in the nature of a
reconnaissance. Judge McLean's visit was noticed by some
of the editors and his health and agreeable manners referred
to.3 Mr. Teesdale remarked: "We rejoice that he received
fitting attention at Dubuque. He is one of the purest and
best men of the country. We have experienced his hospitality
and witnessed his unostentatious kindness in days gone by,
when visiting Cincinnati and residing at the capital of Ohio.
A recent letter from the Judge [to Mr. T.] written at Lake
Pepin, with all the freedom of private intercourse, attests
the vigor of his intellect and the activity of his life."3 The
reiteration respecting the jurist's health and the vigor of his
life and mental powers suggests the politician 's solicitude that
the doubts of critics or dubious friends were not only ill-
founded but that rumors to the contrary were, or very likely
were, promoted with injurious intent.
No evidence of personal solicitation on behalf of Judge Mc
Lean's candidacy has come under the writer's notice. He
'The Iowa Weekly Citizen, April 13, 1859 : Correspondence dated Akron,
Ohio, March 26. . „^
'lb., September 28, 1859: The Dubuque Times cited. "Ib.
6

82 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
had some active admirers, however. In the latter part of
December, pursuant to the call of the state convention to select
delegates to the Chicago convention, friends or party leaders
in the farthermost southwestern corner of the State, in Fre
mont county, were either so numerous or so alert, forehanded
and effective as to secure the passage by the county convention
that selected the county delegates to the state convention, of a
resolution declaring that "Hon. John McLean of Ohio is our
first choice for President, ' n thereby virtually instructing their
delegates to the state convention to use their influence to secure
his nomination. (b) Friends of Chase and Cameron Active.
Salmon P. Chase, as biographers and associates have since
shown, was not indisposed to promote his chances of securing
the nomination by personal communication. He had many
staunch admirers and friends in Iowa. Governor Grimes had,
in former years carried on a cordial and intimate correspond
ence with him, esteeming highly his ability, character and pub
lic career. Governor-elect Kirkwood, because of old-time
party affiliations in Ohio, entertained the friendliest of feel
ings for him. Both of those distinguished Iowans, could they
have realized their primary preferences, would have thrown
their influence at Chicago in 1860 in favor of Chase 's nomina
tion.2 The late Senator Wm. B. Allison, because of former
associations in Ohio, advocated Chase's nomination and cast
his first vote for him the next year at the national convention.3
The business manager of The Gate City, Mr. Wm. Richards,
was an Ohioan who some years previously had enjoyed some
degree of intimacy with Gov. Chase. He desired the success
of the latter 's candidacy. From a letter written subsequent
to the state convention (Jan. 18, 1860) it would appear that
he acted as an outflanker and vidette for him, reporting condi
tions and prospects in Iowa.4 The only instance of instruc
ts., Jan. 18, 1860.
2Salter's Life of Grimes passim; and letters (MSS.) to the writer from
Dr. Salter, Mr. W. W. Baldwin both of Burlington, and Hon. Peter A
Dey of Iowa City.
=Letters (MSS.) of Sen. Wm. B. Allison to the writer, Dec. 13, 1906,
and May 3, 1907.
<Wm. Richards to Salmon P. Chase (MSS.), Gate City Office, February
24, 1860, in Chase papers in Library of Congress.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 83
tions for a presidential candidate in the local caucuses or pri
maries, so far as the writer can discover, resulted in Chase's
favor. Two Ohioans, the brothers, F. T. and A. K. Campbell,
editors and publishers of The Journal of Newton, the county
seat of Jasper county, took the lead in securing instructions in
the party caucus that selected the delegates to the county
convention, being prompted thereto by admiration of Gov.
Chase's career in their native state.1 In December The Herald
of Pacific City declared specifically in favor of Chase's nom
ination.2 Pennsylvanians were numerous in Iowa ; and the universally
conceded strategic importance of Pennsylvania in the national
contest would ordinarily induce energetic efforts on the part
of the candidate or of his promoters to secure the support of
the party leaders and delegates. There are some signs that
there was more or less activity. We have already seen that
there was a marked increase of consideration of the candidacy
of Simon Cameron in December and one suspects systematic
work in its furtherance. We find Mr. Teesdale expressing his
thanks to Mr. Cameron for a copy of an "able speech" deliv
ered by the latter in the Senate.3 In Illinois Cameron Clubs
were forming in November and Mr. Teesdale refers to them
in terms whence we might infer that similar organizations
were in contemplation or under way in Iowa.4 Three strong
papers in southern Iowa, The News of Mt. Pleasant, The Jour
nal of Knoxville and The Patriot of Chariton, and one in
northeast Iowa, The Linn County Register of Marion, an
nounced themselves as favorable to his nomination.5 Refer
ring to this coincidence, Mr. Hildreth intimated his suspicion
that Mr. Cameron or his agents were busy in the State ' ' fixing
the flints" to secure the Pennsylvanian 's nomination : hence the
concurrent expressions of the papers mentioned.6 The cor
respondence of Mr. Wm. Penn Clarke, chairman of Iowa's
delegation at Chicago, subsequent to the convention, seems to *
indicate that there had been correspondence between him and
'The Gate City, Jan. 11, 1860 : and interview with Mr. A. K. Campbell,
Des Moines, Iowa, March 17, 1908.
'The Iowa Weekly Citizen, Dec. 21, 1859. 'Ib., Dec. 7, 1859.
'Ib., Nov. 23, 1859. 'The Gate City, Dec. 13, 1859.
'The St. Charles Intelligencer, Jan. 12, 1860.

84 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Cameron's chief lieutenants during the preliminaries; but
when it occurred is not now determinable.1
(c) Edward Bates and the Sources of His Strength.
The personal activity of Edward Bates of St. Louis, or that
of his friends in furtherance of his candidacy is to be inferred
from the general situation. Prior to 1860 St. Louis was to
Iowa what, since, Chicago has become, the great entrepot of
her interstate commerce. Iowa's farmers and shippers sent
their produce and stock to her markets and chiefly from the
jobbing houses of that city, Iowa's merchants obtained their
stocks of drugs, dry-goods, groceries and hardwares.2 The
river traffic of the Upper Mississippi and Missouri was pre
dominantly an outgo from and return to the docks of St. Louis.
In the nature of the case the affiliations of business and pro
fessional men, particularly in the eastern cities of Iowa along
the Mississippi, with the leaders in business and professional
pursuits in that city must have been close and constant. In
that commercial metropolis Judge Bates was a conspicuous
citizen. One of the popular boats plying between St. Louis
and Keokuk in the forepart of the decade was the "Edward
Bates."3 So pronounced was the admiration of some Iowans
that children were named after him-4 Before the bar and on
the bench, in the constitutional convention and in the legis
lature of Missouri and in Congress his reputation had gained
steadily in praiseworthy prominence. In 1847 as president of
the Convention for Internal Improvements at Chicago he
"made a favorable impression upon the country at large."5
His declination of a cabinet portfolio tendered him by Presi
dent Fillmore in 1850, signalized his national reputation and
influence. In 1854 Greeley's readers in Iowa learned that his
powers as a public speaker impressed strongly the most critical
Correspondence of Wm. Penn Clarke (MSS.) in Aldrich Collection,
Historical Department of Iowa, at Des Moines.
2Langworthy, Dubuque, Its History, etc., passim and Burrows, Fifty
Years in Iowa (1838-1888) passim.
'The Weekly Dispatch, June 8, 1848.
'Mr. Edwin Manning of Keosauqua, one of the most prominent and
wealthiest business men among the pioneers of Iowa, was an enthusiastic
admirer of Judge Bates. He gave one of his sons the Judge's surname for
a given name. He also distributed subscriptions to Greeley's weekly
Tribune, gratuitously among his friends at the time Greeley was urging
Judge Bates for the presidency. Interview with the late Geo. C. Duf-
field of Keosauqua and Hon. C. C. Nourse of Des Moines.
¦Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, V. 1, p. 193.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 85!
of eastern observers.1 We have seen that the announcement
of his candidacy was received by the Republican editors of
Iowa with but little adverse criticism and generally with con
siderable favor, increasing very decidedly towards the end
of the year. Interviews with him, his letters and speeches indi
cating his views on the vital issues of the day, were generously
reproduced in their columns.
The most prominent advocate of Judge Bates.' nomination —
probably the prime mover on his behalf— was Mr. John A.
Kasson of Des Moines, then chairman of the Republican state
central committee. His course illustrates very strikingly the
immediate influence of environment and personal associations
on men's political conduct. Mr. Kasson was born and edu-"
cated in Vermont and entered the legal profession in Massa
chusetts. His ability and activity may be inferred from the
fact that in 1848 he was sent as a delegate from Massachu
setts to the national Free Soil convention at Buffalo along with
Charles Francis Adams, Sr. In 1851 he came west, settling at
St. Louis. He very soon entered into a law partnership with
Mr. B. Gratz Brown, a notable citizen of Missouri and editor
of the St. Louis Democrat. Mr. Brown was foremost in pro
moting the candidacy of Judge Bates and was chairman of
•In view of the controversy as ta the animus of Greeley's course in re
fusing to promote the candidacy of Seward and his final advocacy of the
nomination of Judge Bates at Chicago, the following from what we may
suspect was "editorial correspondence" (i. e. from the pen of either Charles
A. Dana or Horace Greeley) is interesting. The occasion was an excursion
into the Northwest, projected by the promoters of the Chicago and Rock
Island Railroad Company, consisting of notables from the east ; among the
number were ex-President Millard Fillmore, Geo. Bancroft, B. E. Hale,
Professor Benj. Silliman, Thurlow Weed, Catherine Sedgwick and Count
Adam Gurowski. At Galena a reception and banquet were given in honor
of ex-President Fillmore and to one of the toasts Judge Bates was asked
to respond. Of his response the correspondent of The Tribune says :
"That of Mr. Bates was listened to with particular interest by those of
us who had not before enjoyed an opportunity of seeing this distinguished
man. It was simple and without effort, spoken in a very quiet and straight
forward manner, but with one or two touches that betrayed the orator.
It is much to be regretted that Mr. Bates has never taken that leading
part in our public affairs which he might have filled so honorably and
advantageously to himself and the country." — N. Y. Tribune (w.), June
17, 1854: Correspondence dated at St. Paul, Minn., June fcth.
The dissolution of the firm of Greeley, Seward and Weed did not take
place until 1856.
Judge Bates seems to have made very lasting impressions as an orator.
Writing thirteen years after the Rivers and Harbors Convention at Chicago,
in 1847, a brilliant correspondent of The Springfield (Mass.) Republican,,
writing from Burlington, Iowa, Feb. 4, 1860 — and a hostile critic of Judge
Bates as a candidate for the presidency — says of his effort on that occa
sion ; he "carried away the whole audience in the two emotions of aston
ishment and delight by his retiring speech." Correspondence reprinted in
the Daily Hawk-Eye, Feb. 16, 1860.

86 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Missouri's delegation at Chicago. Mr. Kasson came to Des
Moines in 1857 but the ties of his friendships and business
affiliations with St. Louis continued and they in no small
degree, caused him in the preliminaries to favor the nomina
tion of his friend and professional associate in St. Louis at
the national convention.1 Mr. Joseph Eiboeck of Garnavillo,
as previously mentioned, advocated his nomination. Mr.
Edwin Manning of Keosauqua, because of business and per
sonal relations, also promoted it.2 The Republicans of Fre
mont county, when they by resolution declared for Judge
McLean for President, at the same time proclaimed Judge
Bates to be their choice for Vice-President.3 The Journal of
Knoxville likewise urged him for Vice-President.4
(d) Seward and the Silence of His Friends.
Activity — either individual or concerted — on behalf of
Senator Seward's nomination was conspicuous by its absence,
at least so far as discoverable signs would indicate: and the
reasons therefor are by no means clear. His friends and advo
cates were active and forehanded in Oregon in 1859, securing,
in April, instructions to the delegates to the national conven
tion to work for his nomination.5 In 1860 systematic and
successful efforts on his behalf were put forth in Michigan,
Wisconsin, Minneosta, Kansas, Texas, Virginia, and Massa
chusetts to secure either instructions or delegations favorable
to him. In Iowa, as elsewhere, he was a favorite cham
pion with the majority of the aggressive anti-slavery ele
ments. His eminence in national councils and his fame had
been household words since the days of his governorship in
New York. Plus all these, the political acumen, the extensive
and facile connections, business and political, and the vast
resources of his field worker and manager, Mr. Thurlow Weed,
were noteworthy. Iowa was among the first, if indeed not the
first, to call a special state convention to select delegates to the
national convention. Nevertheless, the Republican press of
>Mr. John A. Kasson to the writer (MSS.) Aug. 28, 1906.
2See foot-note, ante.
'The Iowa Weekly Citizen, Jan. 18, 1860.
'The Muscatine Daily Journal, Dec. 9, 1859.
'The Oregon Statesman, April 26, 1859.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 87
Iowa in 1859 was almost wholly silent. A solitary editor at
DeWitt declared specifically for his nomination. Mr. Tees
dale asserted his belief in April that the statesman of Auburn
was the real choice of the Republicans of Iowa but he did not
urge his nomination, and, on November 30th he even doubts
whether the Senator from New York covets the nomination.
This reticence as regards Seward in 1859 is somewhat
strange except on one hypothesis. Mr. Eiboeck, it will be
recalled, stated categorically that Seward would "stand no
chance with Bates, for reasons that are known to every one. ' '
Those reasons must have been that the senior Senator from
New York was looked upon by the majority of the experienced
party workers in Iowa as a radical of an extreme and danger
ous sort, whose selection was unlikely because his nomination
would endanger the success of the party at the polls. There
is much to confirm this surmise. His doctrine of "Higher
Law" and his expression "The Irrepressible Conflict" and
sundry broad generalities accompanying it, while defensible on
ultimate grounds of economies and ethics, seemed by implica
tion to warrant lawlessness and direct attack upon the prop
erty rights of slaveholders. The N. Y. Herald referred to his
"brutal and bloody" program. The Democratic press of Iowa
dealt with him in like terms. The Sentinel of Ft. Dodge under
the caption "Political Twins," reprints a slashing article from
The Chicago Herald proclaiming the similarities of the views
of Seward and Wendell Phillips, that Prince Rupert of Rad
icals. New York's Senator is "the father of Black Republi
canism and the great leader of those unfortunate monomaniacs
who expect to elect him President ..." whose "mandate"
was the "Higher Law" which ordained that "Slavery must be
abolished." The views of this "teacher in the Israel of
treason" were all of a piece with those of Phillips who had
declared that the "merit" of the Republican party lay in the
fact that it was a "sectional party. ... It is the North arrayed
against the South" and secession and separation are predicted
by that silver-tongued seer with satisfaction.1 Following what
Mr. Howell designated "The emeute at Harper's Ferry in
'The Ft. Dodge Sentinel, Nov. 26, 1859.

88 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
which a score of insane white men and idiotic negroes seized
the United States Armory . . . 'n Democratic denunciation of
Seward as a fomenter of anarchy and an abettor of treason
reached a point of fury not far from frenzy. Two events es
pecially encouraged it. Very soon after the affair at Harper's
Ferry he was publicly charged with having had treasonable
correspondence with John Brown or his backers. Again his
name appeared among the endorsers of Helper's Impending
Crisis that produced such a terrific uproar and upset in the
organization of the national House of Representatives in De
cember, 1859 : and the pith and point of that notorious book
was ' ' Slavery must be abolished. ' ' Mr. Zieback of Sioux City
reprints extensive portions of a scathing article in The Louis
ville Journal denouncing Seward's criminal knowledge of
Brown's conspiracy, guarding "the villainous secret" as
effectually as the "arch-conspirator" himself. His offense
was black enough, — even if no more than "criminal lack of
courage" to speak out' and reveal the "atrocious scheme," —
to "redden the cheeks of every citizen in the land."2 The
vigor of the indictment of Seward was not lessened by the
fact that The Louisville Journal, under the brilliant editorship
of George D. Prentice, was. one of the stoutest Opposition
papers in the country. One finds no defense of Seward by the
Republican press in Iowa against the ferocious attacks of the
Democratic press. Their silence may have been utter con
tempt for them or it may have been due to a sub-conscious
feeling that they could not make a very satisfactory defense.
The marked change that took place in the sentiment of the
leaders and the press of the State after Seward's speech in
the Senate February 27, 1860, affords rather strong evidence
in confirmation of the explanation here suggested for the reti
cence of Iowans towards the candidacy of the Senator from
New York in 1859.
(e) Abraham Lincoln's Relations With Iowa and Iowans.
That Abraham Lincoln in 1859 was not unmindful of his
chances for securing the Republican nomination for the Presi-
'The Gate City, Oct. 24, 1859.
'The Sioux City Register, Dec. 10, 1859.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 89
dency in 1860 his correspondence and biographers show. That
he was not averse by proper methods to promoting them by
pen or in person we know. There is considerable reason for
thinking that he had his eye on Iowa and cultivated the favor
able opinion of her people and her Republican party leaders.
What is no less to the point Iowans and the chiefs of the
Republican party in Iowa for many years sought the personal
acquaintance and political influence of Abraham Lincoln.
As early as 1844 Mr. James W. Grimes, or some other party
chief in Burlington, tried to secure Mr. Lincoln for a speech
at a mass meeting of the Whigs in that city on July 13th of
that year ; and he seems to have promised to come.1 In 1856
two other efforts were made to secure him for speeches in the
pdlitical canvass: in June Governor Grimes,2 and in late Au
gust or early September Mr. Henry O'Connor of Muscatine,
writing him urging his acceptance of invitations made.3 Again
in 1857 Governor Grimes tried to secure him for a series of
speeches.4 For sundry reasons Mr. Lincoln was unable to
comply with their wishes. But if any fact would indicate
that before the celebrated senatorial contest of 1858 Mr. Lin
coln was a political factor of interstate fame and far from an
"Unknown" — the fact that Governor Grimes, the last man in
the world to bother with nonentities, an inveterate searcher
after accomplishment and efficiency, should thus for many
years seek to enlist him in the Republican forces in Iowa dem
onstrates the extensive- and solid reputation possessed by the
Illinoian. In 1858, as we have seen, in the interval between
the debate with Douglas at Galesburg and their meeting at
Quincy, Mr. Lincoln followed Senator Douglas over the river
to Burlington and on the evening of October 9th spoke in
Grimes Hall on the chief issues in the pending contest.5
In 1857 Mr. Lincoln came in contact with some of the busi
ness projects of Iowa that gave him increased interest in the
State, extending his relations and acquaintanceship with influ
ential factors in such wise as to prove extremely advantageous
Barnes W. Grimes to David E. Blair reprinted in this issue of The
Annals. Salter's Grimes, pp. 83-84.
'Lincoln's Works (Miller Ed.), Vol. 9, p. 19.
'Salter's, Grimes, p. 95.
'Thb Annals of Iowa (3d Series) Vol. VIII, pp. 453-455.

90 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
to him in the final clinch of the convention at Chicago. The
Chicago and Rock Island Railroad Company in order to en
hance the extensions of their line in Iowa spanned the Missis
sippi at Rock Island and Davenport. The construction of the
company's bridge aroused the bitter animosities of the river-
men, partially because they instinctively opposed the advance
ment of a rival mode of transportation that threatened their
supremacy, and partially because they seriously believed that
the bridge would prove an obstruction to free transit on the
river. Suspicious accidents, boats striking the piers and the
burning of the bridge, indicated the intensity of the antagon
ism of interests. The owners of one damaged vessel brought
suit in the federal court presided over by Judge James Love
of Keokuk, who decided that the bridge was an irremediable
obstruction to navigation. His ruling if confirmed was fatal
to interstate commerce by railways where navigable rivers
intervened. The matter was eventually taken up and tried
in the Circuit Court at Chicago, Associate Justice John Mc
Lean, of the Federal Supreme Court presiding. The Rock
Island company employed Mr. Lincoln among others. He
chiefly examined the witnesses and made the main argument
to the court. The decision was in favor of the company.1
One of the directors of the Rock Island company employing
Mr. Lincoln in the Rock Island bridge case was Mr. Norman
P. Judd, later chairman of the Republican state central com
mittee of Illinois and also a member of the Republican national
committee — and one of Mr. Lincoln's chief field workers at
the Chicago convention. By the way of this association with
Mr. Judd, Mr. Lincoln invested in lands in Iowa in and about
Council Bluffs, the then proposed western terminus of the
Rock Island, or the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad as it
was then called, Lincoln buying some of Judd's holdings in
Council Bluffs. Sometime previously he had become interested
in real estate in Iowa having entered his Black Hawk War
1Case of Hurd et al. vs. Railroad Bridge Co. See Hon. Peter A. Dey of
Iowa City to Frederick Trevor Hill. Century Magazine, V. 71, p. 953.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 91
land warrant in Crawford county.1 Both Mr. Judd and Mr.
Lincoln employed Mr. (later General) Grenville M. Dodge of
Council Bluffs to attend to their interests in that region. Mr.
Dodge was the surveyor of the line of the Rock Island's exten
sion in Iowa. It was incident to his business relations with
Mr. Judd of his directory board that he later took an active
part at Chicago in furthering the nomination of Mr. Lincoln
by the national Republican convention.2
In the spring of 1859 Mr. Lincoln again visited Iowa — and
under circumstances that indicate the solid character of Mr.
Lincoln's close relations with powerful industrial interests
that are always potent and present in political councils. Some
time in April, probably the latter part, he was attending court
at Galena. He appeared in some cases affecting the Illinois
Central Railroad Company — a corporation that had employed
him almost from the time of the incorporation of the company
in 1849.3 He had won an important case for the company and
between it and some later hearings or proceedings he made a
visit to Dubuque, nearly opposite Galena, stopping for a
day and a night at the Julien House, a well-known hostelry
of that city. He came with a party of officials of the Illinois
Central Company. He rode in a private car, on his own pass
furnished him in his capacity as attorney for the company.
The- distinction of a private car and the privilege of free trans-
'Two of the three Bounty Land Warrants issued to Abraham Lincoln
for military service in the Black Hawk War were filed for lands in Iowa.
The first warrant No. 52,076 for forty acres (Act of 1850) issued April
16, 1852, was located on the northwest quarter of the southwest quarter
of section 20, in township 84 north of range 39. The entry was made at
Dubuque, Iowa, by his attorney, John P. Davis, July 21, 1854. A patent
was issued June 1, 1855.
The second No. 68,465, for 120 acres (Act of 1855) was issued April 22,
1856, and was located on the east half of the northeast quarter and the
northwest quarter of the northeast quarter of section 18 in township 84,
range 39. Mr. Lincoln himself located or made the selection at Springfield,
111., December 27, 1859. The patent was issued September 10, 1860.
The foregoing is taken from a letter of the Commissioner of the Land
Office, June 27, 1865, quoted by Herndon and Weik Abraham Lincoln, Vol.
I, p. 92. Mr. W. H. Terry, Recorder of Crawford county, wherein the
entries for lands described should be made of record, writes that only
for the last named tract was a patent issued to Abraham Lincoln ; more
over, the number of the land warrant was 68,645 according to his record,
and not 68,465. The entry for the first mentioned tract was made by
Milton Santee, June 19, 1858, and the patent issued August 3, 1866, on
Warrant No. 4672. W. H. Terry to, the writer (MSS.), Sept. 16, and
Oct. 4, 1909.
2General Grenville M. Dodge to, the writer (MSS.) July 3, 1907, and Aug.
13, 1908: and interview, Nov. 17, 1908.
'Abraham Lincoln, as Attorney for the Illinois Central Railroad Com
pany. The writer is in debt to Mr. J. G. Drennan, of Chicago, attorney for
the company, for a copy of this rare Album.

92 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
-portation greatly impressed some of the young Republican
leaders of Dubuque (among the number being the late Senator
Wm. B. Allison) who attended at the Julien House to observe
the notables.
It is not clear whether Mr. Lincoln 's visit to Dubuque was
primarily in connection with the official party of the railroad
company, then greatly interested in securing control of a
western terminus in Dubuque and extensions into and through
Iowa, or whether it was taken on his own initiative on account
of private business or pleasure and happened to coincide with
the official party 's visit. The visit seems not to have attracted
much public notice at the time although a number of lawyers
of Dubuque called to pay their respects to Senator Douglas'
great antagonist, some of whom long afterwards vividly re
membered the occasion.1 The visit in and of itself was not
of particular political consequence. The circumstances of the
visit, however, in the writer's judgment, bring into view
a fact of the greatest significance. They exhibit the close,
not to say, intimate relations Mr. Lincoln had as a lawyer
with great and powerful industrial corporations: factors of
the greatest potency in the decisions of political bodies.2 It
was this relationship, moreover, that in some part caused Mr.
Lincoln to make another visit to Iowa and another speech in
the State in 1859.

'Interview of Mr. James B. Morrow with Senator Wm. B. Allison, dated
at Washington, D. C, May 7, 1908 : see The Sioux City Journal, May 10,
1909: and George Crane to the writer (MSS.), July 31, 1909. Mr. Orane
was Mr. Allison's law partner at the time and attended at the Julien House
with his professional associates.
2The following telegram will indicate the high standing of Mr. Lincoln
with the managers of railroads for years preceding his nomination at
Chicago : "Chicago, Oct. 14. 1852.
"To Abraham Lincoln,
Springfield, 111.
Can you come here immediately and act as arbitrator in the crossing
ease between the Illinois Central and Northern Indiana R. R. Companies
if you should be appointed? Answer and say yes if possible.
(Signed) J. P. Jot."
The Mr. Joy signing the telegram was the organizer of the C, B & Q.
R. R. and a director of the Illinois Central at the time. Cent. Mag., Vol.
71, p. 950, gives telegram. The original telegram may be found in the
Collection of General Alfred Orendorff of Springfield, 111.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860

93

Sometime in the latter part of July or in the forepart of
August Mr. Lincoln made a trip to Kansas — whether exclu
sively on business or not is not clear. On his return, while
stopping at St. Joseph, Missouri, he decided to make a visit
to Council Bluffs and examine his land holdings, acquired
from Mr. Judd, with a view doubtless to estimating the prob
able future of the city's commercial development and the
prospect for enhancing land values. He was accompanied by
Mr. 0. M. Hatch, Secretary of State for Illinois. Their boat
arrived at Council Bluffs Friday evening, August 12th.
Speech-making seems not to have been contemplated by Mr.
Lincoln, but two events conspired to make him address the
citizens on political matters.
First, the leading citizens of the town without distinction of
party, as soon as they knew of his presence besought him to
make a speech. Second, the boat on which he was to return
met with an accident and for two or three days he was unable
to proceed. Another fact was influential. The Republicans
of Iowa were in the midst of a strenuous state campaign and
were making more than usual efforts to elect their candidates
for governor and lieutenant-governor, Messrs. Samuel J. Kirk
wood and Nicholas J. Rusch, and the normal political com
plexion of the "Missouri Slope," as that region was called,
was Democratic. Furthermore, Council Bluffs was the home
of Mr. Lysander W. Babbitt, the Democratic candidate for
lieutenant-governor. The fame of the visitor and the exi
gencies of the political situation no doubt made the local po
litical leaders more than ordinarily urgent in pressing the
invitation upon Mr. Lincoln; and he too probably was not
unmindful of the contingent advantages that might ensue
from an effective speech in Iowa at such a point under such
circumstances. At any rate The Weekly Nonpareil, the organ
of the Republicans, contained the following announcement in
its issue Saturday morning. HEAR OLD ABE.
Hon. Abe Lincoln and the secretary of state for Illinois, Hon. O.
M. Hatch, arrived in our city last eve, and are stopping at the Pacific
House. The distinguished "Sucker" has yielded to the importunities

91 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
of our citizens without distinction of parties, and will speak on the
political issues of the day at Concert Hall this evening. The celebrity
of the speaker will most certainly insure him a full house. Go and
hear Old Abe.
As was the case when Mr. Lincoln spoke at Burlington in
October preceding, neither the substance, nor the main points,
nor the nature of the speech was indicated in the press report
and comment thereon: simply the manner and effectiveness
of the speaker were characterized. The evening was divided
between Mr. Lincoln and a Judge Test, one-time secretary of
state for Indiana and then a recent convert from the Demo
cratic party. The latter fact apparently was not known for
some of the audience seems to have anticipated something in
the nature of a joint debate between the two speakers; but
both expressed similar views.1 The next week's issue of The
Nonpareil contains an editorial expression of about a quarter
of a column from Mr. W. W. Maynard under the heading
"Abe Lincoln," one of its paragraphs being devoted to the
Illinoian and the other to the Indianian, with the major
emphasis of laudation for Mr. Lincoln.
This distinguished gentleman addressed a very large audience of
ladies and gentlemen at Concert Hall in this city Saturday evening
last. In the brief- limits of a newspaper article it were impossible
even though we wielded the trenchant pen of a Babbitt (which we
do not) to give an outline of his masterly and unanswerable speech
— the clear and lucid manner in which he set forth the principles
of the Republican party — the dexterity with which he applied the
political scalpel to the Democratic carcass — beggars all description
at our hands. Suffice it that the speaker fully and fairly sustained
the great reputation he acquired in the memorable Illinois campaign
as a man of great intellectual power — a close and sound reasoner.
At the close of Mr. Lincoln's remarks Judge Test of Indiana was
called to the stand. The Judge spoke for near half an hour ....
both gentlemen endeared themselves to the Republicans by their
praiseworthy efforts on this occasion.2
The foregoing announcement and comments, colored as they
are by the favorable inclination of the editor's partisan preju-
^he Sunday Nonpareil (semi-centennial edition), Sept. 2, 1906 — article
"Visit of 'Abe' Lincoln to Council Bluffs," p. 22.
'The Weekly Nonpareil, Aug. 12, 1859. The writer is indebted to Mr.
Henry Peterson, attorney of Council Bluffs, for the citations from The
Nonpareil of 1859. He unearthed the files, when all information as to
their whereabouts was adverse.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 96
dice indicate very decidedly the keen popular interest in Mr.
Lincoln in western Iowa and his celebrity as a powerful
speaker. But the significance of the visit, aside from the
speech is not appreciated; and there was of course but little
suspicion of the bearing of the event upon the visitor's later
career. His one particular object seems to have been to confer
with his local representative about land values and their
future prospects. The person who thus acted for him with
whom he chiefly conferred, subsequently had a distinguished
career in the nation 's industrial, military and political affairs :.
and the writer has been fortunate in securing his recollections
of Mr. Lincoln's visit and speech. The following extracts
are reproduced from notes of an interview with General Gren
ville M. Dodge.
My first interest in Abraham Lincoln came about as a result of
business interest. I had had business relations for some time with
N. P. Judd of Illinois who was Mr. Lincoln's manager in the cam
paign before the Chicago convention. I looked after some land
interests for them in and about Council Bluffs.
I first met Mr. Lincoln at Council Bluffs in August, 1859. He
had come up there by way of St. Joseph and the Missouri river to
look after an interest in the Riddle tract that he had bought from
Mr. Judd.
I had just returned with my party from a surveying trip, and we
camped in a ravine just north of the town, and had come down to
the Pacific House to get a square meal.
He heard of the arrival of the engineering party and sought me
out at the hotel. We sat down on the porch of the Pacific House and
he proceeded to find out all about the country we had been through
and all about our railroad surveys, the character of the country,
particularly its adaptability to settlement, its topographical features,
in fact, he extracted from me the information I had gathered from
my surveyors, and virtually -shelled my woods most thoroughly.
When Mr. Lincoln first spoke in Council Bluffs in August, 1859,
I was interested in him chiefly because he had been Judd's friend
and because he had been an attorney for the Rock Island road.
Knowing something of his reputation produced by the debates with
Douglas and because of his relations with Judd and the Rock Island
I went over to the Square where he was to speak.
There are no accounts of the speech that give any details as to
what he said except perhaps in a very vague way. He dwelt largely
upon the slavery question — the great subject in which we folks on
the "Missouri Slope" were then, as was the whole country, much

96 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
interested. Mr. Lincoln set forth his views of the slavery question
in connection with the settlement of the territory just across the
Missouri river. The settlement of the new territory interested him
very much and its commercial development was much in his mind.
In the course of his speech he took occasion to commend the ad
vanced stand taken by Kirkwood in his campaign for governor. I
went with Kirkwood to some of the towns in the western part of the
State in which he spoke. Kirkwood was regarded by a good many as
pretty strong on the slavery question. It was natural that Mr. Lin
coln should say a good word on his behalf.
Before the speech I had no very definite ideas about Mr. Lincoln:
but that speech settled the matter. He convinced the most of those
who heard him that he knew what he was talking about and
that he knew how to put the issues so as to bring out the strong
points of the Republican position. He made many strong friends in
our part of the State at the time.
Mr. Lincoln stayed with Messrs. Thomas Officer and W. H. M.
Pusey while in town — they had formerly lived in Springfield, Illinois.
Years after it was the conversation at the Pacific House that led
to the fixing of the eastern terminus of the Union Pacific at Council
Bluffs.1 There was some but not much notice of the visit and the
speech by the press of the State. At Des Moines Mr. Teesdale
refers to the presence and address of the "distinguished"
Illinoian in Council Bluffs and he asserts that the Republicans
were "delighted with the effort and do not wonder at the
popularity of Old Abe at home." He concludes by declaring:
"... the Republicans of Iowa are under especial obligations
to Mr. L."2 The editors of the Democratic paper make note
of the event in contemptuous terms: "Lincoln, the would-be
Senator from Illinois who was so badly beaten on the stump
and at the polls by Douglas was in Council Bluffs last week
and made a speech. ' '3
One fact is made evident in the foregoing. The familiar
terms employed by Messrs. Maynard and Teesdale in referring
to Mr. Lincoln, such as, "Abe" and "Old Abe," indicate that
his name and fame were common household stock; the editors'
language implied no derogation ; rather an assumption that all
interview with General Grenville M. Dodge, Des Moines, Nov. 17, 1908.
'The Iowa Weekly Citizen, Aug. 24, 1859.
'The Campaign Journal, Aug. 18, 1859.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 97
knew him or about him and held him in the esteem of familiar
colloquial acquaintance.
Roundabout or following the visit to Council Bluffs a report
seems to have become current in Keokuk that Mr. Lincoln
would attend a session of the federal court in that city in
September. ' Forthwith Mr. Hawkins Taylor, an active leader
of the Republicans in the Gate City, took measures to secure
a speech and wrote him. Mr. Taylor received a reply under
date of September 6th, as follows:
There is some mistake about my expected attendance of the
United States court in your city on the third Tuesday of this month.
I have no thought of being there. It is bad to be poor. I shall go to
the wall for bread and meat, if I neglect my business this year as
well as last. It would please me much to see the city and good
people of Keokuck, but for this year it is little less than an impos
sibility.1 "I am constantly receiving invitations which I am compelled to de
cline. I was pressingly urged to go to Minnesota and I now have two
invitations to go to Ohio. These last are prompted by Douglas going
there, & I am really tempted to make a flying trip to Columbus &
Cincinnatti. "I do liope you will have no seriou trouble in Iowa. What thinks
Grimes about it? I have not known him to be mistaken about an
election in Iowa. Present my respects to Colonel Curtis & other
friends, and believe me. Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.
Notwithstanding his financial straits, the pressure of the
political campaign in the country at large was so great as to
induce the writer of that letter two weeks later to go to Ohio
in pursuit of his old antagonist, Senator Douglas, "driving
nails in his track" in two notable speeches at Columbus and
Cincinnati. Following Mr. Lincoln's appearance at Council Bluffs and
no doubt- in consequence of it he_ received another invitation
to speak in the canvass in Iowa. Mr. John A. Kasson, as
chairman of the Republican state central committee, was in
no small degree charged personally with the practical respon-
1 Original in Aidrich Collection". Historical Department of Iowa.
''The reasons for the worry of the Republicans in the canvass of 1859 are
set forth by the writer in The .Annals, Vol. VHt, 206-217.

98 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
, sibility for the successful issue of the state campaign. The
Democrats were making more than common efforts to regain
the State, having in General A. C. Dodge a very strong can
didate for governor. Mr. Kasson had substantial reasons- for
anxiety as to the outcome2 and alertly sought effective speakers.
Under date of September 13th Mr. Kasson addressed Mr.
Lincoln, a brief note :
Will it be possible for you to visit Oskaloosa in this State, at the
State Fair, say the 28th, Sept', and speak there, and perhaps at one
or more other places.
It is earnestly desired you should visit the State if possible.1
The invitation, however, was unavailing, for the reason
probably that Mr. Lincoln by the date he received it was
busily preparing for his speeches in Ohio or was already on
his way to* that State. At least there seems to have been no
favorable response.2
It is not clear why Mr. Lincoln should have been indis
posed to cross the river and make some speeches at various
important points in eastern Iowa in the campaign of 1859.
His visit to Council Bluffs seems to have been accidental or
at least not pre-arranged. He went to Kansas both before
and after his speech at Council Bluffs : and he went to Ohio
and to Wisconsin before his second visit to Kansas. The
invasion of Ohio by his old antagonist was sufficient induce
ment for him to follow.* But Wisconsin was as certainly
Republican as Iowa, while Iowa was a State with eight votes
in the forthcoming national convention and Kansas was a
territory with but six possible votes. The tremendous popu
lar furore over "Bleeding Kansas" probably explains his
sacrifices of time, energy, and means in Kansas and his com
parative indifference to appeals from Iowa.3

!The writer is indebted to the courtesy of Hon. Robert T. Lincoln of
Chicago for Mr. Kasson's note given above, who presented him with the
original, together with its envelope on which is an autograph notation of
President Lincoln.
2Hon. Robert T. Lincoln to the writer Feb. 1, 1909, and Mr. Clias.
Kasson Wead for Hon. John A. Kasson, Jan. 8, 1909.
'Mr. Lincoln had another basis of interest in Iowa and Iowans. Messrs.
Herndon and Lamon both declare that no fact had a, more profound
influence upon his character and career than his love for Miss Anne Rut-
ledge of New Salem. Her untimely death in 1835, it is asserted, accounts

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 99
There are few signs of any systematic effort to secure action
that would promote the nomination of Mr. Lincoln. The sug
gestion of Mr. Holmes of Marion already noted, might have
contemplated some action by the special state convention called
for January 18, 1860, to select the delegates to attend the
national convention. In one instance, however, instructions
were given. The Republicans of Newton in their resolutions
instructing for Salmon P. Chase for President directed their
county delegates to work to secure the nomination of Abraham
Lincoln for Vice-President.1 One thing is obvious. The name
of Mr. Lincoln received as much consideration in Iowa in con
nection with the Presidency in 1859 both in informal discus
sion and in formal party action as that of his chief competitor
at the national convention.

largely for the clouds of melancholy that so constantly hovered about
him. Even after his election to the Presidency he is reported to have
said to an old friend from whom he was seeking information about old
acquaintances : "I have loved the name of Rutledge to this day. . I have
kept my mind on their movements ever since, ." (Lamon, Life,
p. 169). Some members of the Rutledge family moved to southern Iowa
during the fifties. Robert B. Rutledge was one of the pioneers of Van
Buren county whose name appears in its calendar of Notables (.History
of Yan Buren County, p. 378). He was elected Sheriff of that county in
1857 serving from 1858 to 1862. During the Civil War he was appointed
Provost Marshal in 1863, with headquarters at Burlington, serving in
the latter capacity until October 31, 1865. (War of Rebellion — Records,
Series III, Vol. V, 906). We may safely surmise that the appointment
was the result of President Lincoln's personal interest in him and his
family. After the war Mrs. James Rutledge, mother of the brother and
sister just mentioned, lived for, u. time at Oskaloosa. The writer is in
debted to Mr. E. R. Harlan, Curator of the Historical Department, for
the foregoing relative to Robert Rutledge's career in Iowa ; and to
Mr. Welker Given of Des Moines for the last fact mentioned.
'The Gate City, Jan. 11, 1860.

REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL PRELIMINARIES
IN IOWA— 1859-1860.
1. The First Party Maneuvers in 1859.
Victory in political contests, as in military operations, de
pends no less upon the possession of strategic points and the
masterful use of the machinery and technique of procedure,
than upon concourses of adherents. Inferior forces directed
by masters of strategy and tactics are usually successful over
preponderant numbers or mere masses unorganized or illy
controlled and directed. Candidates or their friends and
promoters realize these facts. They begin early to run out
their lines, set their stakes, build their fences and hedge
against rushes and surprises, to use the jargon of politicians.
The leaders in charge of the machinery of the party may ally
themselves with this or that wing or faction, or further the
interests of a particular candidate ; if there seems to be a fair
prospect of success they then strive to have the machinery
operate in his behalf. Or, they may perceive that the party's
choice of a standard bearer is not a matter to be decided solely
upon grounds of personal affiliations, or factional or sectional
interests but, if victory is to be achieved, such choice must be
determined upon considerations insuring the maximum effi
ciency of the party's forces in the aggregate. Complete align
ment, certainty and unity of purpose, capacity for hearty co
operation, prompt co-ordination and concentration whereby a
party 's strength can be easily directed and hurled against the
weak points of the Opposition, are the prerequisites of suc
cess. Premature action, however, is no less to be avoided than
dilatory measures. The former create serious reactions inimi
cal to candidates because the majority of a party are interested
in causes rather than men, and hasty action, such as early
rushes to capture caucuses or conventions, suggests "snap
(101)

102 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
judgments" and seems to imply that the promoters of a candi
date fear adverse results from full, fair and open discussion
and deliberate decision.
(a) The Selection of Delegates Proposed.
It cannot now probably be definitely stated when the first
maneuvers were instituted for securing the favor of Iowa's
Republican leaders or determining the attitude of the party
in respect of the presidential succession in 1860. There is
some evidence, however, that both friends and promoters of
candidates and also some of the party leaders of the State con
templated active measures early in 1859, with a view to con
trolling the action of Iowa at the national convention.
On March 26th an official call for a Republican state con
vention to meet in Des Moines, June 22d, was issued by the
state central committee. The call, after stating the immedi
ate specific purpose of the convention to be the nomination of
candidates for various state offices to be elected at the ensuing
election, included the further announcement that — "The con
vention will take such other action as may, in its opinion, con
tribute to the success of the principles and organization of the
Republican party of this State and of the Union." Of the
seven members of the committee sighing the call, five were
afterwards selected (or as alternates or proxies, acted) as dele
gates of the party at the Chicago convention. They were Mr.
John A. Kasson, chairman, and Mr. H. M. Hoxie, both of Des
Moines, Mr. N. J. Rusch of Davenport, Mr. R. L. B. Clarke of
Mount Pleasant and Mr. Thomas Seeley of Guthrie Center.
Following within a week or so, word was apparently given
out that it would be advisable for the approaching convention
to select the delegates to the next national convention, for
Mr. Palmer of the Dubuque Times observed: "The question
has arisen among some of the leading Republicans whether the
state convention . . should not choose delegates to the
next Republican national convention. If there is any pur
pose or any necessity of making the choice at that time, the
party throughout the State should know it, that they may be
represented accordingly."1 The reception accorded the sug-
"Quoted in The Muscatine Daily Journal, April 26. 1859.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 103
gestion was somewhat various. Mr. Mahin looked upon it with
approval. "We think," he declares, "it would be a fit time
to choose such delegates. The call, as published, confers the
power on the convention, and as another state convention will
not, in all probability, be held before the national convention,
the opportunity ought to be improved for the appointment of
delegates. Let us have a general expression from the Repub
lican press on this subject, and let it be understood that dele
gates are to be appointed. ' n The proposition was given more or
less approval, The Cedar Valley Times concurring with The
Journal; but for the major part it encountered sharp dis
approval. Mr. Howell repelled the suggestion instantly. "The idea
of electing delegates to the national convention," he de
clared, "ought not to be entertained for a moment. There is
no propriety in doing so, nor is there the slightest necessity for
such haste". It is highly probable that the national conven
tion will meet at Wheeling on the 17th of June, 1860, and our
state convention next year can very properly come off
about the first of June, at which time candidates for state
offices and delegates to the national convention, duly imbued
with the sentiments and fully instructed as to the preferences
of the Republicans of Iowa, can be selected. ' '2 The Iowa City
Republican was likewise adverse. Mr. Jerome, the editor,
pointed out that "the wish of the party [relative to the candi
date] is now unknown. Twelve months hence it will find
unanimous expression. The man will come with the hour.
Let us wait for both."3 Mr. Drummond reprinted the Re
publican's views as expressing his own.4 Mr. Teesdale, while
opposing the selection of delegates at the forthcoming Conven
tion, put out the equivocal suggestion that it would be well "to
give expression to the sentiment of the State at the time the
delegates were selected." One is not certain whether a pre
liminary expression by the state convention in June was sug
gested or resolutions, of instruction at the time the delegates
were later selected was contemplated.5
'The Muscatine Daily Journal, April 26, 1859.
'The Gate City. April 28, 1859.
'The Vinton Eagle cites May 10, 1859. 'Ibid.
'The Weekly Citizen, May li; 1859.

104 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Opinion adverse to either selection of delegates or to an
expression of the party's preference in the matter of a candi
date was evidently pronounced, for no affirmative action was
attempted "on the floor of the convention hall at Iowa City,
June 22d. Nevertheless we may suspect serious designs. The
language of the call already quoted, clearly had some definite
proceedings in view. About the same time a similar sugges
tion was being acted upon with vigor in Oregon. The Repub
licans of that territory in their convention, April 21, 1859,
instructed their delegates, selected at the time for the na
tional convention "to use their influence to secure the nomi
nation of Hon. W. H. Seward of New York, as candidate for
President ; but in case they cannot secure his nomination, then
further proceedings are left to their discretion."1 Whether
the action contemplated by the movers in Iowa was designed
to enure to the benefit of Bates or Seward or Cameron we per
haps cannot determine. Nevertheless the friends- and pro
moters of those candidates were already instituting measures
to secure the favor and active aid of party leaders in various
sections of the country. Taking the personnel of the state
central committee as a basis for judgment we may surmise
that the design of the movement was favorable to the candi
dacy of Mr. Bates. Mr. Jerome, one of the signers, as we have
seen, was opposed to action. Mr. Clarke, an ardent anti-
slavery advocate, almost, if not an out-and-out abolitionist,
was one of the staunch Seward men at Chicago the following
year. Messrs. Kasson, Hoxie and Seeley were probably favor
able to Mr. Bates, rather than Mr. Seward; and Mr. Rusch
because of his relations with Mr. Kasson would doubtless have
concurred with the colleagues just named ; at least Messrs. Kas
son and Hoxie gave their votes to Mr. Bates on the first ballot
at Chicago.
'The Oregon Statesman, April 26, 1859. The writer is Indebted to
Mr. George H. Himes, Assistant Secretary and Curator of the Oregon His
torical Society of Portland,' for the citation above respecting the action
of the Republicans of Oregon in 1859.
In view of the instructions given the Oregon delegates, it is interest
ing that on the first and second ballots in the Convention, Oregon's
five votes were cast for Bates, and on the third, four went to Lincoln
and one to Seward. See N. Y. Herald, May 13, 1860 ; or N. Y. Tribune
(s. w.), May 22, 1860.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860

105

(b) The Choice of the Convention City and, Its Significance.
Meanwhile another maneuver was in progress that was not
without influence in determining the party's choice at Chi
cago. For some time public spirited citizens in the larger
cities of the west had been looking with designing eyes upon
the members of the Republican national committee and mak
ing plans to secure its decision to hold the next national con
vention in their respective cities. The national Democratic
convention in 1856 was held at Cincinnati; and citizens of
Wheeling, Indianapolis, Chicago and St. Louis entertained
lusty hopes of securing the Republican convention in 1860.
From Mr. Howell's assertion previously quoted, it seems that
Wheeling was generally accorded the presumption of the se
lection, but, as the event proved, without warrant. For the
most part, of course, the motives animating those seeking the
committee's favorable action were the issue of ordinary com
munal desires to enhance local fame and enjoy the eclat of
such national gatherings. But other motives in other minds
were probably the decisive factors in determining the selec^
tion of the convention city.
Environment is a condition, if not a determinant, of
achievement in politics. Local influences may play a conspicu
ous and on occasion a vital part in the decisions of conven
tions. The location of the city wherein they are held, if remote
from centers of population or difficult of access, may prevent
many influential leaders and important elements participating
in their deliberations, and thus seriously affect decisions.
Moreover, the influences of a community, always numerous,
omnipresent and vocal, sometimes subtle and subterranean,
under the direction of alert, aggressive and intelligent leaders
are often most potent in making things come to pass. They
are not always decisive — are seldom the chief factors — unless
other forces and considerations are evenly balanced; then
local influences when concentrated and co-ordinated may force
the tilt of the beam and decide the result.
Any one familiar with the ways of practical politicians to
day need not be told how carefully such matters are attended
to by party leaders in closely contested political battles. We

106 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
'may fairly presume that politicians fifty years ago were no
less alert to such considerations. The friends and promoters
of Chase, McLean and Wade, of Bates and Lincoln would nat
urally prefer to have the convention held west of the Alle-
ghenies at or nearest the seat of their local fame and influ
ence. If we could obtain access to their correspondence, or
that of their managers or of the party chiefs in Iowa, we
should doubtless find that the political effect of the locus of
the convention was seriously canvassed. One of President
Lincoln's most distinguished biographers tells us that the
selection of the convention city was not made until February,
1860, and that the maneuver effecting the decision in favor of
Chicago was the work of Norman P. Judd, member of the
national committee from Illinois; and further, that the im
portance of the maneuver was realized by "no one except the
Illinois politicians."1 There are grounds for doubting the
correctness of these assertions.
In the latter part of August, 1859, Senator James Harlan,
then at his home in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, received a letter
from Mr. John D. DeFrees of Indianapolis, Indiana. His
correspondent was a man of considerable influence among the
' ' Hoosiers. ' ' For many years he had been one of the leading
editors of that state. At the time he was chairman of the
Republican state central committee and was on the eve of
starting a new Republican paper {The Daily Atlas) ; — a man,
1Miss Ida M. Tarbell, Life of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. I, p. 339.
The passage in which the assertion is made is the following: —
"February 16, 1860, 'The Tribune' came out editorially for Lincoln,
and Medill followed a few days later with a ringing letter from Wash
ington, naming Lincoln as a candidate onr whom both conservative and
radical sentiment could unite. . . . About the time when Medill
was writing thus, Norman P. Judd, as member of the Republican
National Committee, was executing a maneuver the importance of which
no one realized but the Illinois politicians. This was securing the con
vention for Chicago."
One of Mr. Lincoln's confreres, and later one of his biographers, Mr.
W. C. Whitney, also gives the entire credit for securing the convention at
Chicago to Mr. Judd. With some error he declares that all conventions
had theretofore been held in the east and that Mr. Judd made the "novel
proposition in the committee that the convention should be held at Chicago.
He argued that the Democrats had departed from the ancient custom of
meeting at Baltimore, and were to meet at Charleston ; now, argued he,
let us follow their example and meet in a region where we can make
proselytes by the respect we pay to that region. He carefully kept "Old
Abe" out of sight, and the delegates failed to see any personal bearing the
place of meeting was to have on the nomination. Judd carried his point.
He was a railway lawyer and he approached the various railway com
panies whose lines were in Illinois, and persuaded them to make very
cheap rates of fare to Chicago during the convention week." Lincoln The
Citizen, pp. 284-5: Works of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. I (edited by Miller).

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 107
we are told, who was regarded by Clay and Crittenden, Web
ster and Corwin as a very "adroit politician'"1 After refer
ring to his new editorial duties and his purpose to advocate and
pursue a moderate or "conservative" policy relative to na
tional politics he says:
While I shall not war publicly on the extreme ground occupied
by some of our friends, I know that Indiana cannot be carried on
these grounds and hence the conservative spirit of my paper. I
have been battling Democracy in all its infernal phases, for more
than thirty years and I want to see it crushed out before I die. It
can not be done (in my opinion) if ultra men are permitted to
dictate our policy, and name our candidate.
As I suggested to you when we rode on the cars together, it would
be a good move to get the national convention held out West
somewhere (Indianapolis if you please) so as to be out of the out-.
side influence always created anywhere in the neighborhood of
New York — Gov. Lowe of your State, is one of the committee to fix
time and place. Please talk with him on this subject.3
Mr. DeFrees' letter reflects a concern lest radicalism should
seize the rank and file and force the nomination of an extrem
ist for President who would work the party's defeat in the
doubtful states — a concern that one discovers to be pronounced
among all the old party wheelhorses in those states. This
dread manifested itself in 1859 and 1860 in earnest pleas and
in plans for an "Anti-Seward" program rather than im
direct, insistent, systematic efforts to push the nomination of
a "favorite son" or the favorite of a faction or of a section.
•Indiana had no candidate, but her population was for the most
part composed of people of southern antecedents, affiliations
and sympathies (Mr. DeFrees was himself a Tennesseean) and
the ultra notions of the anti-slavery propagandists were re
ceived by them with but little favor. Idealistic sentiment,
that prompts a party to plunge ahead of the traditions and
common sense of the people, or to run counter to popular
prejudices, is a rock of offense and not a force making for
success. It is clear from Mr. DeFrees' letter that the oppo
nents of Governor Seward must have been canvassing the ad-

^Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, Vol. II, p. 124.
2James Harlan, Autobiographical Manuscript, p. 3043. For permis
sion to cite and use the letter above the writer is indebted to Mr. and
Mrs. Robert T. Lincoln of Chicago, and to Dr. B. F. Shambaugh of
the State Historical Society of Iowa, and Mr. Johnson Brigham, State
Librarian, the latter having the manuscript in their custody.

108 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
visability of securing the convention in a western city some
time prior to the date of his letter. The significance of his
attitude and the importance of the maneuver in contempla
tion, are effectively stated by Senator Harlan himself, who, on
rereading it some thirty-five years later, made the following
comment: ". . . He, as he says, was an Old School Whig
prior to the organization of the Republican party, and as
sternly opposed to every thing bordering on 'abolitionism'
as the slave-holding element of the Southern States. So were
nearly all of the leaders of the Republican party in Indiana.
And he and they had already commenced to put up fortifica
tions against the possible nomination of Wm. H. Seward, as
the Republican candidate for President in 1860. And Mr.
Seward was probably defeated by this influence in the na
tional convention; supplemented, of course, by sympathizers
from other western States."1
The national committee had the matter of the selection of
the convention city under advisement for a considerable time.
In April the citizens of Wheeling presented a memorial to the
committee seeking a decision favorable to that city.2 On May
25th, the committee met at Albany, New York, and although
some twenty members were present, no decision as to time and
place could be reached. The report made via the dispatches
read — "The proceedings are strictly private but it is thought
the decision will be in favor of holding the convention at St.
Louis, Mo., or some other place in Virginia."3 Evidently at
that time, either representatives of the west or anti-Seward
members outnumbered the Seward members of the committee.
The matter hung fire for some time. In the latter part of the
year the subject' was "agitated in different localities," St.
Louis, Chicago and Indianapolis being "the most prominent
places named."4 The press in Iowa does not appear to have
paid much attention to the question. One editor, however,
expressed a decided preference. Mr. Jerome declared in favor
of Chicago as his first choice, of St. Louis as his second and of
'lb. p. 3049. For the prominent part played by Mr. DeFrees at the
Chicago Convention see McClure's Our Presidents, etc., pp. 155-156.
'The Express and Herald (Dubuque), April 19, 1859.
'The Daily Hawk-Eye, May 26, 1859.
'St. Charles Intelligencer, Dec. 15, 1859.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 109
Indianapolis as his third choice.1 The decision was not made
until December 22d following. The committee met in New
York City. The part taken by Iowa in the meeting is not
certain. Governor Lowe had ceased to be a member. His
place had been filled by Mr. Andrew J. Stevens, a banker
and"broker of Des Moines, who was then or later, an advocate
of Governor Seward's nomination. At the time of the meet
ing of the committee he could not attend, his proxy and vote
being held and exercised by Senator J. R. Doolittle of Wiscon
sin.2 Mr. Judd of Illinois concurred naturally in the action
of the committee and he was no doubt one of the effective pro
moters of the movement making for the decision, but it would
appear that he was only one of many conspiring to secure the
benefit of local environment adverse to the candidacy of the
Senator from New York.
The contrariety of minds relative to the significance of the
action of the committee is illustrated in an interesting and sig
nificant fashion in the editorial comments of two editors of
opposite political faith. Mr. Jerome of Iowa City expressed
himself as follows: ". . . we think it eminently fit that a
city which has maintained her republicanism amidst such
opposition, 'bearding the Douglas in his den,' richly deserves
this flattering testimonial. Chicago herself is a true type and
representative of the already great and growing Republican
party . . . She is emphatically a free city. Her mer
chants are not satellites and flunkeys — they do not, as Phil
adelphia and some other cities have done, propose to sell their
principles with their goods. Political auctions have not, and
we trust never will, come into vogue with her people. ' '3 The
work of Douglas ' opponent evidently was the matter in mind.
Mr. F. M. Zieback of Sioux City observed: "The selection
of this hotbed of abolitionism as the place for holding their
convention will not do much towards enhancing the prospect
of Republicanism among the more conservative portion of.the
party. It is a stroke of policy, however, on the part of the
friends of Lincoln which will doubtless place him upon the
'Iowa City Weekly Republican, Dec. 7, 1859.
'N. Y. Tribune (s. w), Dec. 23, 1859.
"Iowa Weekly Republican, December 28, 1859.

110 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN ^
..ticket for Vice-President."1 Clearly up in the farthermost
corner of the State, Abraham Lincoln was not ' ' an Unknown, ' '
nor was he regarded as a negligible, quantity in the political
contest then approaching its crisis. The significance of Mr.
Zieback's comment is not lessened by the fact that he was a
Democrat. (c) Call for the Special State Convention.
Meantime, about two weeks preceding the determination
of the date and place for holding the national Republican
convention a call was issued December 5, by the state central
committee, for a special Republican state convention to be
held in Des Moines, January 18, 1860, to choose delegates to
the national convention. The matter was under consideration
during November, Mr. Hildreth, a member of the committee,
tells us.2 Mr. John A. Kasson who, as chairman, signed the
call, says therein that it was issued in "accordance with the
general expression of public sentiment." The justification
for the assembly so many months before the national con
vention was put upon two grounds. First the national con
vention ' ' would be held at a much earlier date than is usually
appointed for calling a state convention for the nomination
of state officers," and second, it was "most convenient to
procure a general representation of counties during the ses
sion of the legislature."3
As the Republicans of nearly all of the northern or free
states did not call their state conventions until the next year
was well advanced toward the date set for the national con
vention, one cannot repress some curiosity respecting the real
reasons for not thus waiting in this instance. The postpone
ment for two months would still have enabled members of the
state legislature to serve as delegates from their respective
counties. There is more than the shadow of a reason for
thinking that another consideration besides the selection of
delegates to the Chicago convention might have been in the
minds of some of the members of the state central committee

'The Register, Dec. 31, 1859.
'St. Charles Intelligencer, Nov. 24, 1859.
'Ib., Dec. 22, 1859.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 ill
when they concurred in calling the special convention for
January 18th.
The term of Iowa's senior Senator, James Harlan, was
about expiring. His successor was to be chosen by the legis
lature which was to convene in Des Moines, January 9.
Senator Harlan desired re-election and his renomination by
his party was generally assumed and conceded. Nevertheless,
there were sundry, and not a few either, who did not favor his
re-election enthusiastically. Some, perhaps, because of per
sonal reasons, such as discontent with his course at Washing
ton: some because of his "locality" — his home Mt. Pleasant
was a short distance from Burlington, the home of his col
league, James W. Grimes : some because they were not unwil
ling to succeed him if chance might offer. Senator Harlan's
friends in various parts of the State detected signs of at
tempts at the furtherance of the senatorial ambition of some
of the party leaders and in some anxiety warned him of the
fact.1 In the middle of December political circles were
stirred by an editorial in The Nonpareil of Council Bluffs in
which Mr. Maynard plumply protested against the assump
tion that Mr. Harlan had any claim to be his own successor
that the party or the people were in honor bound to recognize ;
rather, the members of the general assembly should canvass
men regardless of particular services or sacrifices and select
the best man. Mr. Dunham of The Daily Hawk-Eye endorsed
the sentiments with considerable emphasis.2
If there was any design adverse to Senator Harlan's re
election to the national Senate in the date fixed for the state
convention it was conceived in the hope that the concur
rence of the convention with the opening of the general
assembly might produce a situation favorable to serious dis
turbances in the alignment of the Senator's forces. The selec
tion of the spea'ker of the lower house engenders frequently
intense feeling among the rival aspirants. The assignment of
members to committees in the respective houses and the ap
pointment of the various clerks and state officers by the legis
lative caucus, often produces furious animosities and the acids
Autobiographical MSS.
'The Daily Hawk-Eye, Dec. 26, 1859.

Hi IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
of disappointed hopes may cause all sorts of reactionary
movements whereby enemies and rivals may secure benefits.
If such hopes were indulged the desire of many to attend the
national convention at Chicago as delegates would increase
the trading stock of those who sought thus to manipulate the
situation. Whatever the design might have been it was futile,
for Senator Harlan was re-elected without dissent from his
own party workers.
The call for the convention elicited but a few comments
or suggestions. Indeed one is -likely to suffer from surprise
at the general indifference and non-attention to the work
it was designed to accomplish. Sundry facts may explain the
popular inattention. Congress met for the most momentous
session in its history. The President's message contained ref
erences and recommendations that were as firebrands thrown
into a tinder box. The deadlock over the election of the
Speaker, the hubbub created by congressional endorsement of
Helper's Impending Crisis, and the denunciation and recrim
ination resulting from the attack on Harper's Ferry — all
these matters and others absorbed public attention to the
exclusion of most local matters. There were, however, a few
expressions worth noting, for they illustrate again with force
and point the general attitude urged by prudent party lead
ers as the appropriate course for the party to pursue in
selecting its representatives, and their proper procedure in
selecting the party's standard bearer for the campaign to
ensue. Mr. Teesdale briefly commends the date fixed for the con
vention for the reason assigned in the call and emphasizes
the urgent need for a large representation from all counties
so that the "true sentiment of the State" may be faithfully
reflected by the men selected to go to Chicago. He asserts
that "nothing but the wildest imprudence and folly on the
part of the Republican national convention, can prevent the
election of a Republican President and Vice-President in
1860. In order to insure wise action in the national body,
the action of the state body must be judicious and wise; the
success of the cause being the paramount consideration."1

'The Iowa Weekly Citizen, Dec. 14, 1859.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 113
From one newspaper not heretofore cited came an editorial
worthy particular attention for its significance and sugges
tions. Among the accessions to the ranks of the Republican
party in the campaign of 1859 was Mr. Henry P. Scholte of
Pella, the city founded in 1846 under his guidance by a body
of Dutch Pilgrims, emigrants from Holland because of relig
ious persecution. Although not always dominant in its com
munal life he was until his death unquestionably its most
influential citizen. On coming to this country his antagonism
to strong central government caused him to affiliate with the
Democratic party. Its attitude toward foreigners further en
couraged him. On the subject of Slavery he was a stout
opponent of the system, but followed Henry Clay in main
taining the rights of owners of slaves against the attacks of
abolitionists.1 The repeal of the Missouri Compromise and
the Kansas-Nebraska bill distressed him greatly but he did
not join the Republicans in 1856 because of the "impression
that Know-Nothingism and Abolitionism were the predom
inant consideration in its councils. ' '2 The scandal in con
nection with the Lecompton constitution in Kansas was too
much for him and he joined the Republicans in the spring or
early summer of 1859. His change of party faith made a
considerable disturbance because of his great influence in
Pella where he had long guided the majority in political dis
cussion by means of The Pella Gazette, which he both pub
lished and edited.3 On reading the call for the special conven
tion he expressed himself in the following editorial entitled
' ' Presidential Candidates ' ' :
Several states will present candidates for President and Vice-
President at the next national Republican convention. We have no
doubt but the Republicans of Iowa will heartily sustain the nominees
of that convention. Iowa will send her delegates, but has not, at
present, to propose one of her sons as a candidate. We think it,
therefore, not expedient for Republican papers in Iowa to propose,
'American Slavery in reference to the Present Agitation in the United
States By cm Adopted Citizen. This rare and interesting book consists of
editorials on the subject written by Mr. Scholte for The Pella Gazette be
tween June 7, 1855, and November 8, 1856. The writer is under obligations
to Hon. Henry L. Bousquet, Clerk of the Supreme Court, and Mr. Henry
Sr-holte of Pella for the privilege of examining both the book and the files
of The Gazette.
"The Pella Gazette, August 10, 1859.
"Ib.. Dec. 14. 1S59.

114 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
at present, any name as their particular choice, but at least wait till
we have had our state convention to elect delegates to the national
convention. Should our state convention deem it proper and neces
sary to instruct their delegates to go for any one of the main candi
dates then there will be some propriety in the Republican papers
advocating the claims of such candidates. But, if on the contrary,
our state convention deems it proper not to give such instructions
but give to the delegates power to cast their vote in the national
convention for such candidates as they shall there discover to be
the strongest men, we think it best then for the Republican papers
in Iowa to await the national convention, and when the nomination
is there perfected to hoist the names of those candidates at the head
of their column and then work faithfully and earnestly till we have
gained the victory next November. We consider such a course best
for the Republican party and for the candidates nominated at the
national convention.
Here again we have prudence urging cautious and con
servative conduct. Politics is an eminently practical matter.
Success depends So less upon rapid adjustments to conditions
than upon the possession of forces and supporters : and con
ditions are usually confused and confusing, shifting with
kaleidoscopic facility and profusion. The editorial has added
interest from the fact that the convention soon to convene at
Des Moines selected Mr. Scholte as one of the party's dele
gates at large to the national convention ; and his course ful
filled his own advice.
This narrative of developments in 1859 may fittingly close
with an excerpt from one of Iowa's great party leaders to
another party chieftain then about to enter upon a distin
guished career in our State and national history — both men
masters of the tactics and strategy of politics. The letter
was written to Governor-elect Kirkwood by Senator James
W. Grimes, and was dated at Washington, D. C, December
26, 1859. It aptly and adequately reflects and summarizes
the attitude of the party leaders and of the rank and file
of the Republican party in Iowa towards the nomination of
their candidate for President.
Dear Kirkwood:
The State Convention soon assembles to appoint delegates to
the Chicago convention. Do not let the delegates be instructed and

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 115
send men who are not mere traders in politics. You ought to be
one of the delegates and I hope you will see to it that you are ap
pointed. I would select a goodly number- to cast the vote of Iowa.
If you appoint electors I would suggest Samuel Miller of Keokuk
and Wilson of Fairfield. They are both efficient canvassers and
would help our congressional and state candidates a good deal. We
must have a thorough canvass of the State next year and bring our
majority' up to six or eight thousand. Have good men appointed
delegates and have them divided fairly between old Whigs and old
Democrats, and entirely uncommitted to any man or men, who will
try to nominate for the good of the party and not for the benefit
of themselves. Yours, James W. Gbimes.1
The Samuel Miller" referred to was Samuel F. Miller after
wards appointed by President Lincoln Associate Justice of
the United States Supreme Court. The ' ' Wilson of Fairfield ' '
was James F. Wilson, then rapidly rising in state fame in the
state legislature, who as one of Iowa's delegates at the Chi
cago convention, worked from first to last for the nomination
of Abraham Lincoln for President and afterwards had a dis
tinguished career in both houses of Congress.

'Correspondence of Gov. Sam'l J. Kirkwood in Aldrich Collection, in
Historical Department of Iowa at Des Moines.
Those familiar with the history of Iowa and of Congress will appre
ciate the warrant for Senator Grimes' assertion that Mr. Jas. F. Wilson
was an "efficient" canvasser; but few will realize its fitness in the case
of Mr. Samuel F. Miller. All chroniclers refer to his reputation as a.
cogent and powerful pleader at the bar of his county and of the Supreme
Court of Iowa ; but no one refers, so far as the writer knows, to his
strength in the popular forum. Inquiry of General John W. Noble of'
St. Louis, who practiced in the same courts with Mr. Miller from 1855 to
1862 -elicited the information that in public debate "he was superbly ag
gressive both in argument and in gesture and voice ; and he flinched not at
any conclusion to which his premises logically lead him." In the cam
paign of 1860 he threw himself with "that energy and intellectual force
of which he possessed so much, and he was as daring a leader in debate
as he would have been in a. cavalry charge. . . ." General Noble then
relates Mr. Miller's discussion with Judge J. M. Love at Keokuk of the
issues of that campaign and the fears of Disunion in case Mr. Lincoln
was elected and the dramatic and thrilling rejoinder of Mr. Miller, par
ticularly when, with intense feeling, he said, "Sir, if these principles
when duly adopted by the people of the United States, because distaste
ful tp a minority, whether North -or South, may lead to conflict of arms,
I, for one, will abide the issue. I, for one, would rather see, if see I
must, bayonets crossed over the ballot box, than not to have the ballot's
decree carried into effect, even by the whole force of my country's
power." The effect was "electric." Letter of General John W. Noble to
the writer, St. Louis, Mo., February 17, 1910.

116 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
2. The First Party Decision in 1860.
When Iowans began their reckonings in January, 1860, the
surface of the waters exhibited but few signs of strenuous
activity in state or national politics. There was no up
roar, and no general fuss, as the forces and factors contend
ing for power and places were not concentrating sufficiently
so that partisan passions and factional prejudices upheaved
in foam and fury; but here and there commotion was con
siderable, for the currents were running with vigor. We must
appreciate somewhat the nature, velocity and momentum of
the major currents in order to realize the conditions under
which the Republicans of Iowa made their first substantial
decision in determining their attitude towards party prin
ciples, procedure and candidates in the presidential contest
of 1860. (a) Contrary Considerations Affecting Party Interests.
The Legislature of Iowa was due to assemble at Des Moines
in regular session, January 9th, and all classes contemplated
its sessions with. miscellaneous hopes and fears — all parties
conceded that it would be one of the "most important ses
sions ever held in this state."1 The Republicans had com
plete possession of all the offices of the State, executive, judi
cial and legislative. Their leaders represented the State in
both houses of Congress. They held their supremacy by a
narrow margin, however, the campaign of 1859 taxing their
strength to the uttermost. The problems and perplexities of
the party leaders when the chiefs began to ingather at the
state capital for the inauguration of Governor-elect Samuel
J. Kirkwood, were numerous and pressing.
The friends and guardians of the ' ' Maine ' ' law, prohibiting
the sale of intoxicating beverages, were greatly incensed at
the progressive imbecility in its administration, due to the
insertion of "wine and beer" clauses and the elastic inter
pretations of "mechanical, medicinal and sacramental" pur
poses in the law's exemptions. They insisted upon drastic
strengthening, while the enemies of the law — the Germans
'The Dubuque Herald, January 4. I860.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 117
preeminently — belligerently demanded radical relief from its
irksome provisions. The foreign born in the State — and here
again the Germans chiefly — were uneasy and exhibited a belli
cose temperament. Both the outgoing Governor in his mes
sage and the incoming Governor in his inaugural address
urged the passage of a "Registry Law" which all knew would
mainly and immediately affect aliens adversely, and they,
mindful of the "Two Year Amendment" in Massachussetts
in 1859, were very suspicious and insistent upon marked con
sideration. The situation was more forcefully than politely
described in the reported remark of a Republican editor, who
said : " To get an office at the hands of the Legislature, a man
must be born again — born in Germany by G  ! ' n
But for the most part, anxieties and ambitions anent finance
and commerce animated the public mind. Industry after
much blood-letting, was recovering with painful slowness from
the severe depression following in the wake of the panic of
1857, the worst effects of which were not felt in Iowa until
1859.2 Resulting in considerable measure therefrom, the fi
nances of the State were in a bad way. Public accounts in
city, county and state administrations were generally in sorry
confusion and charges of malversation and misappropriation
were common. The school funds of the State were particularly
thus affected — interest thereon to the amount of $120,000 —
an enormous amount at that time — being in default at the
time Governor Lowe sent in his message to the Legislature,
January 10th. The State, county and city treasuries were
all seriously embarrassed by deficits due to delinquent taxes
and local discussion was highly charged with the bitter ani
mosities issuing from "tax sales" and resulting ouster of
delinquents. But banks and railroads engaged the major in
terests of the public.
From 1838 to 1858, Iowa had virtually denied herself banks
of note issue. The inconvenience and distress resulting secured
a constitutional amendment in 1857 that permitted the estab
lishment of the State" Bank of Iowa in 1858. Its organization,

'Daily Iowa State Journal, January 16, 1860.
2Gov. R. P. Lowe, Message to Senate, and House of Representatives,
January 10, 1860.

118 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
or rather the organization of its branches, progressed amidst
some misadventure that was greatly magnified, by reason of
the general industrial depression. Just when business was
getting righted, commercial confidence, particularly in eastern
central Iowa, suffered a violent shock on December 16, 1859,
from the failure of a prominent banking house of Davenport.
That institution was the chief sponsor of the notes of a
notorious "wild cat" bank located at Florence, Nebraska — one
of the members of the firm being a director of the branch of the
State Bank at Davenport.1 Then, as now, private bankers were
alert and aggressive in furthering their interests and their
secret caucuses aroused popular prejudices.2 Cries of "mon
opoly" and broad hints of fell designs among the money
changers and "note shavers" were common, and these gained
much credence among the discontented when Governor Lowe
in his message, declared his hostility to "Free Banks," and
recommended that the notes of the State Bank be made legal
tender for taxes and its branches fiscal agents of the State and
counties. Railroads, however, comprised the greatest complex of in
terests that induced the public to concentrate its attention
upon the Legislature in January, 1860. Then as now, these
powerful agencies stirred the animosities and ambitions of
politicians and public alike, for their promoters had to appeal
to and utilize the law and ordinance making and taxing bodies
of the State. In previous years railroad projects had been
promoted with feverish and reckless haste. Counties and
cities had run riot in authorizing bond issues and tax levies
for railroads. Charges of corrupt practices in connection
therewith were not infrequent. In 1856 extensive land grants
had been given four companies to expedite the completion of
projected lines. They failed to fulfill their promises. Popu
lar expectations were sadly disappointed and public discus-.
sion was rife with demands for the annulment of the con
tracts and the cancellation of the grants. The dissatisfaction
became so resentful that repudiation, or attempts thereat,
became common and innumerable lawsuits were instituted to

'Davenport Gazette, cited in The Gate City, December 23, 1859.
'The Dubuque Herald, January 11, 1860.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 119
enforce or to enjoin the issue of bonds or the spreading and
collection of tax levies in aid of railroads. In December, 1859,
the Supreme Court of Iowa declared invalid a bond issue
of Scott county wherein Davenport is situate.1 Nevertheless,
many communities ardently sought railroad connections and
strove to secure the forfeited grants of the defaulting com
panies, and the holders of their stocks and bonds naturally
desired to realize something from their holdings. All parties
— protesting taxpayers and railroad builders — looked to the
General Assembly for relief.2 Rumors were soon afloat that
railroad promoters expected to "send down to Des Moines
this winter a strong 'lobby' of hired 'constitutional lawyers'
for the purpose of operating upon the Legislature.3 Mr. J.
B. Grinnell, himself an ardent promoter of railroad enterprises
in those days, wrote the St. Louis Republican, a week or so
before the General Assembly met that "the State Aid question
promises to arise in Iowa at the meeting of the Legislature,"
an assertion that aroused adverse suspicion and inquiries,
"Who are the managers? Whose plan is to be followed?"4
With local conditions thus exceedingly difficult for political
leaders either to control easily or to deal with safely, the
atmosphere was made electric by sundry matters of national
moment that then crowded to the fore. Iowa and Iowans were
more closely connected with John Brown's raid into Virginia
and his attack on Harper's Ferry than either law or ethics
justified. The villages of Tabor and Springdale had been .
rendezvous for his band prior to the foray. At least three
'Stokes v. County of Scott, 10 Ia. Sup. Ct. Reports, 166.
2The intense feelings and subterranean currents are suggested in a
series of resolutions adopted .at Nevada, in Story county, at a Mass
Convention of the citizens of that county, January 7th, in which the
failure of the Iowa Central Air Line to complete its contract is denounced,
the ability and intentions of the Dubuque, Marion and Western R. R.
Co. are denied, and the Cedar Rapids and Missouri R. R. Co. is com
mended to the Legislature and the transfer thereto of the land grants
asked. The latter road enjoyed their confidence "backed, as it is, by two
powerful railroad organizations, and composed of our own citizens, in
connection with eastern capitalists, who have already built, without any
aid from the government, the longest line of railroad in the State." The
convention by the same resolutions "instructed" their Senator and Rep
resentative in the Legislature "to use all honorable means to secure" the
desired transfer of the land grant in question. (Daily Iowa State Journal,
January 14, 1860.)
'Dubuque Herald, November 20, 1859.
'The Daily Iowa State Journal, January 9, 1860. Mr. Grinnell was a
Director of the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad (or the old M. & M.
R. R., more probably) prior to 1860 ; at least the position he tells us, was
tendered him by Mr. Henry Farnam, then President of the Company. — Men
and Events of Forty Years, 298.

120 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Iowans, Jeremiah Anderson, Brown's "faithful henchman,"1
and the brothers, Barclay and Edwin Coppoc, took part in
the raid. Soon after Brown's capture the dispatches an
nounced that among Brown's papers were found letters of two
prominent Republican leaders of Iowa, namely Mr. Wm. Penn
Clarke of Iowa City, and Mr. Josiah B. Grinnell of Grinnell,
the former then the reporter for the Supreme Court and the
latter a state Senator; and suspicious partisans of the "Ad
ministration" charged that the correspondence was incrimi
nating.2 On December 16, 1859, the "Select Committee" of
the Senate of which Senator John M. Mason of Virginia was
chairman and Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was a potent
member, began its inquiry into the ' ' invasion ; ' ' and on Janu
ary 5, 1860, its hearings began at Washington and some of
Iowa's citizens expected summons to appear at the inquisition
to tell what they knew of the "aid and comfort" given the
conspirators at Tabor, Des Moines, Grinnell, Iowa City,
Springdale and Davenport.3 Coincident with the latter pro
ceedings Governor John Letcher of Virginia issued (Jan. 10)
a requisition on the Chief Executive of Iowa for the apprehen
sion of Barclay Coppoc, a fugitive from justice in Virginia,
the misjoinder of which two weeks later produced one of the
dramatic episodes of those stirring days — explosions in the
Legislature and a ringing message in rejoinder from Governor
Kirkwood. Into this highly charged atmosphere came Governor Kirk-
wood's inaugural address, delivered (Jan. 11) in person to
the General Assembly. Three-fifths of his discourse was de
voted to national issues — John Brown and Harper's Ferry,
Slavery and Colonization. Brown's course the new chief
magistrate of Iowa condemned "unqualifiedly," not only as
"unlawful" but wrong and reprehensible and destructive of
law and order. Nevertheless he at the same time roundly de-
aFrank B. Sanborn, Recollections of Seventy Years, I, 163.
"The Dubuque Herald, November 8, 1859 — Correspondence from Bur
lington, Iowa. See also Grinnell lb., p. 218.
'Report of The Select Committee of the Senate Appointed to Inquire into
the Late TnvaMon and Seizure of the Public Property at Harper's Ferry,
etc.. pp. 27, 28.
Mr. J. B. Grinnell attended "on summons at Washington but was not
called before the Committee to testify. See his Men and Events of Forty
Years, pp. 218, 219.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 121
nounced Presidents Pierce and Buchanan, charging that they
by tortuous courses "sowed the wind" in Nebraska and Kan
sas, and the South was reaping the whirlwind in Virginia;
on their shoulders Kirkwood laid the sole responsibility for
Brown's "unlawful invasion" of the Old Dominion. As with
the lightning's flash — the inaugural was followed by tremen
dous thunder and reverberation. The Democrats returned
with furious denunciation of its sentiments. Mr. J. B. Dorr,
their most influential editor pronounced its doctrines "in
famous."1 The Democrats of the lower house of the legis
lature filed a solemn formal protest against its deliverance and
against its publication and distribution at public expense,
declaring its statements mere dicta and grossly inappropriate
as well as unwarranted, palliating lawlessness that directly
assailed the integrity of the national union.2 It was the vio
lence of feeling thus created that later produced the disturb
ances anent Kirkwood 's refusal to honor Governor Letcher's
requisition for Barclay Coppoc just mentioned.
Amidst such a complex of counter currents the Legislature
convened: and delegates to the special Republican state con
vention began to assemble in Des Moines.
Foremost in the minds of party leaders and workers was
the fact that a Senator of the United States had to be elected,
the term of Senator James Harlan then nearing completion.
This" contingency, as all familiar with state politics know,
is the alpha and omega of the personal political ambitions

'The Dubuque Herald, January 15. 1860.
2See Journal of House of Representatives (8th G. A.) for dates men
tioned for the Address and the Protest.
Governor Kirkwood's denunciation of Brown's conduct as hostile to
good government had been antedated by another prominent Iowan on
the floor of the House of Representatives at Washington. Col. Sam'l R.
Curtis of Keokuk, represented the First Congressional District, comprising
then the south half of Iowa. Repelling a bold innuendo that the Repub
licans were urging a candidate for Speaker who endorsed murder, Colonel
Curtis on December 24, 1859, pronounced Brown's invasion of Virginia at
Harper's Ferry "an outrage." (Cong. Globe, 36 Cong. 1st Ses., Vol. 1-241.)
Later, January 4, 1860, in the course of a colloquy with Reagan of Texas,
Cobb of Alabama, and Craig of Missouri, Colonel Curtis declared Brown's
previous robbery of the nine slaves from Missouri and spiriting them
through Iowa "a more flagrant violation of law, and more important in its
character and results than the foray which he made into Virginia." (Ib.,
pp. 331-2.)

122 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
and finesse in American commonwealths. Then as now "King
Caucus" ruled supreme. On Saturday, Sunday and Monday
the lobbies of the hotels of Des Moines swarmed with political
leaders and their henchmen, with legislators and candidates
for offices, both great and small, with their friends and aids
in attendance- — all in a tremendous buzz.1 Monday night (Jan.
9) party caucuses selected the clerks, doorkeepers, firemen,
pages and postmaster for the Senate and the lower House.
The ardent desires of the innumerable candidates for these
petty offices were potentially dangerous forces when disap
pointed by the decisions of the caucus; for these aspirants
possess power in the provinces and may influence greatly their
senators and representatives in determining their course in
matters of greater moment. In the election of the Sppaker of
the House of Representatives and in the apportionment of the
chairmanships of committees and membership therein such
petty considerations play no small part and the course of
the Legislature on all important matters is thereby determined.
At Des Moines, as at Washington, the office of Public Printer
was an alluring prize. One of Senator Harlan's strongest
friends, Mr. John Teesdale, editor of The Iowa Weekly Citizen,
had held the office since 1856. He desired a third "term and
deemed himself entitled to the honor. Two other influential
republican editors were ambitious to secure the emoluments
of the office — Messrs. James B. Howell of The Gate City of
Keokuk and Mr. Frank W. Palmer of The Dubuque Times.2
The fates decided in favor of the latter, and the candidacy
of Senator Harlan for re-election to the National Senate had
some part in the decision. From the time of his first elec
tion to that body in 1855, republican leaders in the north half

'Iowa City Republican, January 11, 1860. — Editorial Correspondence
from Des Moines, dated January 7th.
2Therp were other active or "receptive" candidates for the place men
tioned besides those referred to above : Messrs. John Mahin of The Daily
Muscatine Journal, G. H. Jerom» of The Iowa Citti Republican, J. G.
Davenport of The Times of Cedar Rapids, and Alfred Sanders of The Daily
Davenport Gazette. (Capitol Corr. of The Gate City, January 11, 1860,
and The Daily Iowa State Journal, January 10, I860.) Mr. Mahin appar
ently did not desire the office seriously for he states that Mr. Teesdale's
"most prominent competitor" was Mr. Howell of The Gate City, "the
oldest and most efficient newspaper conductor in the state." (Capilol Corr.
in Daily Muscatine Journal, January 11, 1860.)

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 183
of the State had demanded a like honor for one of their
leaders, and had constantly fanned local prejudices with that
end in view. Party leaders at Dubuque were foremost in
urging the election of a northern man. Despite their power
ful pressure Governor James W. Grimes, a near neighbor of
Mr. Harlan, was elected as his colleague in 1858; not a few
of the senior Senator's friends realized the danger in the
latter fact. To counterbalance it, political prizes of lesser
value went to the north half of the State. This consideration
was in mind in the nomination of Mr. Kirkwood for Governor
in 1859.1 In 1860 Dubuque had aspirants for senatorial honors
who only needed a favorable slant of the beam to induce
their announcement. A correspondent of The Gate City,
writing from Des Moines, Dec. 26, 1859, significantly ob
serves : ' ' The Senatorial question -seems superficially to excite
but little attention here just now; but the portents of the
times are that the vexed question of locality will be exhumed
for the benefit of solicitous competitors. ' '2
Appreciating the situation, Mr. Palmer became a candidate
for State Printer. In the contest Senator Harlan 's managers
could not prudently promote the chances of either Mr. Tees
dale or Mr. Howell, without arousing the resentment of the
"North-state" partisans favoring Mr. Palmer. On the other
hand neutrality is no less a rock of offense in politics — for
those adversely affected are wont to suspect that it signifies
either indifference or timidity, deadly offenses in the code
of lay politicians — those who seek to attain or to hold high
office and power must make return in kind to those humbler
personages whose co-operation and votes are essential to their
elevation and continuance in power. Somewhat of the im
portance and heat of the contest may be inferred from the
reports of two observers. Another correspondent of The Gate
City, "R" wrote January 6th that, "It is now thought that

'Numbers of letters to Senator Harlan from 1858 to 1860 emphasize
the considerations referred to above. Autobiographical MSS.
'The Gate City, December 31, 1859. The Correspondent signs himself
"J. M. D." — probably the late J. M. Delaplaine at that time on the staff
of The Gate City.

124 iowa and Abraham Lincoln
the great fight of the session will be about the State Print
ing."1 Four days later when the caucus had been called for
the nomination of the State Printer and the National Senator,
Mr. Porter states: "The race for State Printer has become
about as exciting as the competition for the post of would-be
TJ. S. Senator."2 Those familiar with maneuvers in party
caucuses will appreciate the significance and the masterly
tactics of Senator Harlan's friends in assenting to the post
ponement of the decision on the matter of the State Printer
until January 24th. The cast of the votes when taken gave
Mr. Palmer the prize.
In sundry perplexities of this sort and in the highly unstable
conditions outlined, we may well suspect that there was more
truth than partisan presumption and persiflage in the asser
tions of Mr. Will Porter, the Democratic editor of The State
Journal a,t Des Moines. He declared that Mr. Harlan's
friends were ' ' anxious and uneasy ; ' ' that ' ' they were afraid of
delay and hence they forced hasty action;"3 that there was
much suppressed feeling and some "strong expressions of in
dignation;" that the Democrats asked for a reasonable delay
but it was summarily denied. This urgency he asserts was due
to the fact that a "particular friend of Senator Harlan, who
has for several years held a position in the Senate received
letters from prominent friends and perhaps from the Senator
himself, urging an immediate caucus and speedy re-election —
their purport was : ' delays are dangerous. ' " In the course of
his comments Mr. Porter throws out a suggestion that al
though tinged with ironical concern for an unbiased expres
sion of the general sentiments of Republicans on the senator-
ship, no doubt reflected much of the current comment in the
hotel lobbies:
The question is, why this haste? The Republican party have a
clear and positive majority, which could not be affected by any of
the ordinary casualties to which Legislators are subject. Next
Wednesday, the 18th, the Republican State Convention comes off,
which will be fresh from the people of that party throughout the
State. They might have given to the various Republican Senators

'lb., January 11, 1860. "R" was probably Mr. Wm. Richards, then
Business Manager of The Gate City.
'The Daily Iowa State Journal, January 10, 1860.
"Ib., January 14, 1860.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 125
and Representatives some counsels direct and healthy from their
constituents, as to the general wishes of the party throughout the
State, uncorrupted by any machinations so rife at the Capitol.....
In this re-election the Republican organization has been shaken
to its foundation.1
Shrewd as were some of the political leaders foremost in
the Republican party of Iowa in 1859-1860, it would be strange
indeed if there were not senatorial politics in the fringes of
the decision fixing the date of the special state convention
to select the delegates to the national Republican convention
to nominate their candidate for President. The conditions
on the eve of the assembly of the delegates certainly afforded
a situation for a free-for-all contest if by some disturbance
the dogs of factions had been set upon each other.
(b) Sundry Editorial Expressions.
The. near approach of the special convention to -select the
delegates to go to the national Republican convention elicited
no more editorial expressions in the party press of the State
respecting its work or the wisdom of various modes of pro
cedure than did the call for the convention in the forepart
of December. One finds no advice, no comment in the col
umns of Messrs. Aldrich, Drummond, Dunham, Howell, Je
rome, Junkin, Mahin, Norris, Rich, Sanders and Teesdale.
One must look sharply to discover even in their columns de
voted to local news any mention of the caucuses or county
conventions that selected the county delegates to attend at
Des Moines. Such lack of expression did not necessarily
imply indifference respecting the presidential contest or lan
guid interest on the part of their readers. It may have been
due to wise discretion and prudence. The attendance at the
convention demonstrated that public or party interest was
not dormant or halting. Two influential editors express their
feelings — each in different ways and their observations are
worth noting.
'Ib., January 16, 1860. , , „ ^
So far as the writer can discover Mr. A. J. Stevens, a banker of Des
Moines, then the member of the national Republican committee for Iowa
was the only candidate for Senator Harlan's place publicly mentioned
(Capitol Corr., Muscatine Journal, January 11, 1860). Mr. Harlan s
friends sent him many letters informing him of talk of the candidacy of
Messrs. Jacob Butler of Muscatine, John A. Kasson, and George G. Wright
of Des Moines, and of Fitz Henry Warren of Burlington. Autobiograhpi-
cal MSS., pp. 3185-3583.

126 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
We have already seen the cautious, conservative comments
of Mr. Henry- P. Scholte of The Pella Gazette when the call
for the convention was first published. On January 4th, re
ferring generally to the work of the national convention he
says particularly of candidates for its nomination : ' ' We have
certainly our personal preferences; but we have abstained to
forestall our state and national conventions. Should our state
convention deem it necessary to instruct our delegates for
whom to give their first vote, well and good ; but should that
convention deem it better to give no decisive instructions in
that regard, we shall, with good humor, sustain the men who
shall be designated. ..." The sentiment which Mr. Scholte
expressed reiterates the views of the majority of the experi
enced editors of the State, put forth in their columns in
1859. Party government, like government at large, in a re
public like ours is posited upon responsible leadership. The
masses, or the constituents indicate their general desire and
will in the large hut seldom undertake to direct specifically
as to the modes of realization either in respect of men or
measures. To their leaders in council they delegate the power
to decide, believing that a few selectmen free to act as condi
tions make expedient, will insure better counsels and wiser
decisions than many men of many minds acting indiscrimi
nately and ill- advisedly.
One hundred miles north of Pella, at Charles City in
Floyd county, not far south of the Minnesota line, a new note
was sounded — struck by one, too, who previously had been
cautious and conservative in expression and suggestion. Mr.
Hildreth in the forepart of 1859, indicated a favorable atti
tude towards the candidacy of Judge Bates, and an adverse
disposition towards that of Senator Seward, for the reason
largely that the latter was so generally proclaimed a radical,
and reckless extremist upon the subject of Slavery. A decided
change in the temperature and drift of public discussion
followed John Brown's raid and the publication of Helper's
Impending Crisis. The leaders of the South were infuriated
and their denunciation of the abettors and comforters of
Brown and Helper was bitter and scathing. Accusations of

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 127
conspiracy, "lawlessness" and treason hurtled through the
council chambers at Washington — not vague hints and sly
innuendo but personal mention-, bald, direct, brutal. The
members of the major party of the North were called indis
criminately ' ' Abolitionists, ' ' a term of utter contempt in the
mouths of Southerners and so considered by Northerners. The
heaviest, sharpest missiles of the speeches of the Slavocrats
were aimed at one man on whose shoulders they laid the re
sponsibility for Abolitionism, which was manifest to them
in "nigger stealing," underground railways, open defiance of
the Fugitive Slave law, all of which had its fruition in John
Brown, whose execution for high treason, flagrant and un-
denied, was publicly mourned in the North. That man they
deemed the spokesman of the North and the protagonists of
the South declared with but little reserve, that disunion by
secession would ensue if he should be made President. The
change and concentration in political discussion produced a
revulsion of feeling in Mr. Hildreth and a decision not in
frequent in strong natures normally inclined to conservative
courses when long subject to direct and increasing malevo
lence. Considerateness in conduct, caution, grace -and patience
under such circumstances, are taken by the provoking party
as evidence of weakness or as the shifts and finesse of hostile
design. While with the one provoked, patience ceases to be
a virtue, caution seems ill-advised, and he suddenly takes up
the gauntlet thrown at his feet, for a fight seems demanded
and a fight he will give and squarely on the main issue. Mr.
Hildreth, exasperated beyond endurance, gave expression on
January 12th to his intense feelings in an editorial that is
instructive for more than one reason and it is given at length.
Its declarations will indicate with decisive clearness the high
voltage of the electricity with which the atmosphere of politi
cal debate in Iowa was surcharged, when the chiefs of the
clans of the Republican party first met in 1860 to decide upon
their course in the Chicago convention
We notice that some of the papers in the Southern part of the
State, are out in favor of Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania, as a Re
publican candidate for the Presidency. That Cameron is an as-

128 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
piring man we have known for a long time, and we have no doubt
that he and his agents are busy in "fixing the flints" of the Weste' ¦>
press — in other words, moulding a Western public opinion in his
favor. But, gentlemen, Editors of Iowa, this will not do. The an
tecedents of Simon Cameron are not satisfactory. Such times as
these demand a representative man for a Presidential candidate of
the Republican party. The doctrme of availability has been prac
ticed upon by both the great leading political parties, until the na
tion, both in character and finance, has been brought upon the brink
of ruin.
We believe that the Republicans will be able to elect whoever
they may nominate for President. Then throw aside "availability"
and give us a positive man — one whose history and principles are
well known and are thoroughly tried — a man who may be fully re
garded as the embodiment of the principles and the measures of the
party. That man is unquestionably William H. Seward.
Does the reader ask our reasons for this opinion — we answer:
The slavery propagandists — now the Democratic party — have made
the selection for us. It is around Seward's unoffending head that
all their wrath is concentrated. So much do they hate and fear
him that they are continually threatening a dissolution of the Union
should Republicans dare to exercise their rights under the Consti
tution and elect him for President.
Our former predilections were for Edward Bates ot Missouri, as a
Western man and a man representing our sentiments. Our "avail
able" man was John C. Fremont, a man who will draw more votes
than any other one the Republicans can put in nomination. But
our positive man is William H. Seward, and believing that the Re
publicans can elect any man they may nominate, we go for Seward,
heart and soul.
Six months ago it was difficult to tell who would or who should
be the Republican candidate for President, but not so now. As said
before, the Southern press and Southern leaders have made procla
mations — and indeed it is their one continual howl — that if the free
men of the North dare to disregard their impudent dictation, and
elect to the Presidency, William H. Seward, they will secede from or
destroy the Union, and smash up things generally. In our opinion
this settles the question for us.
Thus threatened and bullied, men who never preferred Seward
to other well-known and long-tried Republicans for the Presidency,
have now but one fixed and unalterable determination in regard to
who shall be their Standard-Bearer in 1860. They intend to
prove that they not only clearly understand their constitutional
rights and privileges, but that they have the necessary nerve to
maintain them. They will not threaten or bully or play the brag
gadocio. All that they leave to the men who quailed before old John

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 129
Brown and his seventeen miserable Abolitionists, and who have
been marching troops up and down the country to frighten away
the shadow of a danger which had no substance, save in their
cowardly apprehensions, and the absence of all self-reliance in the
hour of danger. They intend to vindicate their self-respect, to show
their estimate of bullying threats, by electing to the Presidency
the very man the South would ostracize. They will then leave to
him and his co-administrators of the Government the punishment
of treason whenever and wherever it dares to exhibit itself. And
they have no fears for the result. Barking dogs rarely bite; and
when they do, are certain to be punished for having mistaken their
vocation. We can tell our pro-slavery friends, and they had better believe
it, that if any portion of this great confederacy whether it be the
East or the West, the North or the South, attempts to withdraw from
the Union, they will be promptly whipped — aye, whipped into sub
jection. It is all idle to mince the matter. The fiat has gone forth
and will be enforced; let Washington, Oregon and California, at
the Northwest, or Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, at the
Northeast or the Agricultural States of the North and Center, or
the slave States of the South and the Southwest — let any one of
them or any combination of them raise the banner of rebellion
against the American Union — we care not what their pretence for
treason — as certainly as there is a God above, so certain is it, that
the offending States, will be whipped into obedience, and the traitors
who encouraged rebellion, terminate their career upon the gallows.1
Sundry facts in connection with the foregoing editorial may
well be noted before passing on to later phases. In the first
place its significance is enhanced when we consider that the
writer was not a Harry Hotspur as was Mr. Thomas Drum
mond of The Eagle of Vinton, nor a radical of the type of Mr.
John Mahin of The Journal of Muscatine. He was a cool, de
liberate ' ' down east ' ' Yankee who had had twenty years of ex
perience as an editor in Vermont and Massachusetts. Further,
at the time he wrote the lines, he was a member of the most
potent body in the state government of Iowa, the Board of
Education, that under a special clause of the constitution had
plenary powers of legislation, supervision, control and adjudi
cation in the finance and administration of the entire edu
cational system of the State, of the common, secondary and
the highest state schools.
'St. Charles Intelligencer, Jan. 12, 1860.

130 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Mr. Hildreth, it is clear, looked upon the movement for the
nomination of Senator Cameron of Pennsylvania with some
concern, evidently considering it to be gathering decided head
way. He, no less than other editors who have been quoted,
appreciated the strategic importance of securing the electoral
vote of the Keystone state. But considerations of expediency
lumped together under the catch word "availability" were
not sufficient to warrant the nomination of the Pennsylvanian
at Chicago. He was a shrewd and successful politician, an
artful and skilled tactician in the organization and direction
of party workers in political campaigns and field maneuvers,
in the working and control of the "machine" as we put it
nowadays. But neither his character nor his career symbolized
the dominant opinion, or, perhaps better, the determining
opinion on the major issue uppermost in the public mind —
to-wit, Slavery. On this issue the entire public was intensely
alive. Its consideration could neither be avoided nor hedged
against by party leaders, much as they might wish to do so;
and their candidate for the Presidency must needs be satis
factory to the mass of the Republicans in the reliable states
as well as to those in the doubtful states. Senator Cameron,
whether justly or not, had a reputation that made voters con
cerned only with the evils of public life, and not at all with
the game and methods of politics, extremely suspicious ; and
however agreeable he might be to the politicians of Pennsyl
vania, his nomination at Chicago would neither secure the
faith nor arouse the enthusiasm of Republicans, let alone
win new adherents to the party's standards.
The most striking facts in Mr. Hildreth 's editorials are
his acceptance of the threats of Secession by the Southern
Fire-eaters as deliberate and serious, and his definite and
solemn defiance to the promoters of Disunion. Secession had
been the bogie of political discussion for many years. In the
Fremont campaign in 1856 threats of Disunion were boldly
and freely made, but at the North they were generally dis
counted and ridiculed as "idle talk" and "silly nonsense."1
The emeute at Harper's Ferry and Helper's Impending Crisis,
•Von Hoist, Constitutional and Political History of the United States,
V, 247-251.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 r.il
and the deadlock over the Speakership in Congress, caused a
renewal of such threats. "The Capitol resounds with the
cries of dissolution," wrote Senator Grimes to Mrs. Grimes,
' ' and the cry is echoed throughout the city. ' n But again the
leaders and the press of the Republican party regarded, or
at least proclaimed the seditious utterances as partisan tricks
— "a game for the Presidency" wrote Thurlow Weed; "an
audacious humbug," declared Greeley's Tribune;2 and Sena
tor Grimes deemed them designed ' ' simply to coerce, to fright
en the Republicans."3 Throughout 1860 Republicans com
monly derided the miniatory language of Southerners, al
though Mr. Rhodes gives us grounds for his suggestion that
their scoffing was mainly for party purposes.4 A fact signifi
cant of this conclusion- — although by no means necessarily
so — was the general contempt heaped upon the participants
in the "Union-saving Meetings" and programs promoted
during the period here considered. The Republican editors of
Iowa, as in the older states to the east, regarded such proceed
ings as nefarious and designed to weaken the strength of their
party.5 The utter unpreparedness of the North for the catas
trophe when the storm broke in 1861, and the tremendous
shock and rebound universally witnessed, indicates pretty con
clusively that Mr. Hildreth 's serious consideration of the
"strong talk" of the Slavocrats was not common. How com
mon Mr. Hildreth 's feelings were in Iowa at that time we
can not now determine; but we have already noted the defi
ance of another cool conservative editor, Mr. Howell. In
June, 1858, to the treasonable declarations of The Crescent of
New Orleans, he replied, "all such fanatics as The Crescent
. . . will be driven like dogs to their kennels or hung by

"Salter's Life of Jas. W. Grimes. 121.
nron Hoist, lb., VII, 230-240. "Salter, lb., 122.
4Rhodes, History of the United States, II, 488.
'The Daily Muscatine Journal, December 28, 1859. See editorial on "The
Union Saving Farce."

132 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
the wayside as a warning to traitors," should they attempt
secession on the election of a Republican President.'1 ¦ t
Normally we should expect to find vigorous language of this
sort in the columns of Mr. John Mahin 's Journal at Musca
tine, but for the most part he was silent, at least so far as
extended slashing editorials go. On January 12th, in con
trasting the character of Charleston and Chicago as conven
tion cities and the spirit and purposes of the men who would
assemble in them to represent the two great parties to decide
on their national platforms and candidates, Mr. Mahin uses
some firm language :
. . all the loud and excited talk of the fire eaters, and the
whining of the dirt eaters — the two classes which compose the
Democratic party will have no other effect than to strengthen their
determination [of the Republicans] to take the administration of
the affairs of the country out of the hands of the unscrupulous
demagogues who are now at the helm. The Republican party holds
that slavery should be restricted to its present limits, and upon this
issue it will receive the hearty support of a large class at the
South, who believe that slavery operates against the welfare of the
States in which it at present exists. Republicans are determined
to preserve the Union against the threats and acts of disunionists
everywhere; and, as we said, the convention at Chicago will bind
together in an invincible phalanx, good and true men, at the North
and South, for the election of a president upon these grounds.
Abuses, of course, will be heaped upon the party by the "Demo
cratic" press and "Democratic" orators, but the people cannot be
deceived by any such stuff. They have not forgotten that, the
fathers of the Republic occupied the identical position upon the
Slavery question that the Republican party now occupies and their
decision at the ballot box in November, will be their answer to the
"Democratic" argument of the campaign, from which, if not satis
factory to them, they cannot appeal.
Mr. Howell of The Gate City had no advice to offer the dele
gates to the state convention, but on January 11th he placed
before his readers the name of a candidate for the presidential
nomination not heretofore mentioned, but not a name un
known. As was his wont he did so "without prejudice,"
being completely non-committal as to his own feelings for or
against the candidate and his consideration. He said :
'The Gate City. June 30, 1858.
Mr. Howell, reciting similar threats in the presidential campaign of
182 8, in the event of the election of J. Q. Adams, and again during the
speakership contest when N. P. Banks was a candidate, observed on the
current threats : "The Disunion game is an old game. It is played on
purpose to 'gull the flats' and so long as the 'flats' exist they expect to
be successful. Whether the game is played out or not is a thing to be
proved." (The Gate City, December 26, 1859.) Two weeks later he re
proves Democratic editors for not denouncing the suggestion that Disunion
would be beneficial to the South. (Ib., January 9, 1860.)

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 133
The friends of Mr. Dayton have issued a circular to promote his
nomination to the Presidency. They say that full conferences have
established the fact that he would receive the vote of the united
opposition in New Jersey and be certain to carry the State; and they
feel confident that the same elements of popularity, the same ante
cedents and the same general state of things politically in Pennsyl
vania that prevail in New Jersey would enable him to carry that
state. Mr. Dunham's comment in The Hawk-Eye (Jan. 10th) on
the claim of Mr. Dayton's promoters that his popularity in
New Jersey and Pennsylvania would carry those states for the
Republicans was somewhat critical : " . . the fact that
he failed to do so as a candidate for Vice-President in 1856 is
not satisfactorily reconciled with this assumption. Mr. Day
ton is an eminently conservative man with Whig antecedents
and would make, a good president if elected. ' ' Such comment
indicates adverse inclinations but it is so cushioned with com
mendation that the critic is not embarrassed if the fates decide
in the candidate's favor.
The writer has discovered but one editorial specifically
urging the nomination of a particular candidate in the fore
part of January. Mr. Orlando McCraney, editor of The
Weekly McGregor Press, declared himself again in favor of the
nomination of Judge Bates. A portion of his editorial suc
ceeds: The time is now drawing near when the candidates of the differ
ent parties and interests for their responsible positions are to be
brought forward. The political sentiment of the country never be
fore was in so unsettled a condition as today, and but few men
in the North at least, are prepared to pledge fidelity to any particu
lar party. The conservative Republican element, we think, will
predominate, and the opposition will fall into line 
We are but one of the millions interested in this great political
movement, yet we claim' the right to be heard. Our vote and our
influence will be extended in behalf of the nomination of Edward
Bates of Missouri, as the candidate of the people, believing, as we
do, that he is not only one of the best, most talented, able and lib
eral men of the day, but that he is a man who is closely identified
with the interest of our portion of the Union. That he will be the
friend of the pioneer — that he will exert his influence in opening to
commerce our vast west, and giving life and zeal to emigration.

134 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Edward Bates is also our choice on account of availability. We
regard him as one of the most popular men of the day and ac
ceptable alike to the North and South, East and West. He has
been called forward not by a life spent in demagogism but by his
fellow countrymen, and if the honors and responsibilities of that of
fice are conferred upon him, it will be unasked for and unsolicited
by him. He will come into office untrammelled by fealty to party or
persons. He will be free to act according to the convictions of
his own mind and will make the people an able and worthy presi
dent. Mr. Dunham reprints the foregoing without comment.1
The significance of surface phenomena in the currents of
politics is always difficult to apprehend ; just as it is difficult
to perceive the purport of eddies and swirls in the currents
of our rivers. The following extract from a letter written to
The Gate Cty and dated at New York City, Jan. 7, 1860, is not
without interest:
At a social meeting, by invitation, at a private house, one even
ing this week, where some twenty republicans of the city were
present, together with General Pomeroy of Kansas, Gen. Reid, May
or Leighton, Wm. S. McGavic, D. W. Kilbourne, of Keokuk, Attor
ney-General Rice of Oskaloosa, and Jacob Butler, Esq., of Musca
tine, there was a decided preference expressed by most of [the] party
(except the Iowa gentleman) for Chase of Ohio. Seward, Chase,
Bates, Cameron, and Wade seem to be the most prominent at the
present time.2
The adverse attitude of so many different Iowans from
widely separate sections of the southern half of the State
towards the candidacy of Gov. Chase is suggestive. All of the
men mentioned were ardent Republicans. Mr. Butler, in par
ticular, was an Abolitionist of a pronounced type. Gov.
Chase's record as an anti-slavery man could not be gainsaid
except by extremists of the most violent sort. Such disinclina
tion in respect of his nomination must have signified a common
belief that he could not be elected if nominated.
(c) Some of the County Preliminaries.
The local preliminaries incident to the selection of the dele
gates to attend the state convention at Des Moines aroused but
little public interest if we should conclude from the reports
'The Hawk-Eye (wk.), Jan. 21, 1860.
The Gate City, Jan. 18, 1860.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 i:J,5
thereof in the party press of the State. One experiences dif
ficulty in discovering calls or notices of local caucuses or pri
maries or county conventions. There is little space given to
their proceedings; and almost no comment thereon. A few
details are discoverable, some of which are instructive, for they
suggest the major currents that were constantly running be
neath the surface.
The selection of the delegates for Dubuque county elicited
a brief note in The Dubuque Herald. Among the delegates
chosen were Judge W. W. Hamilton, Wm. B. Allison and D.
N. Cooley. Two other names, Messrs. Francis Mangold and
H. W. Richter, suggest the "recognition" of the German-
American element in that community1 At Davenport the
party leaders were careful to attend to the nativity of the
delegates, if we may believe the classification of The Daven
port Democrat. Of the twelve delegates — five were Germans,
N. J. Rusch, G. G. Arndt, L. Schricker, H. Ramming, and
H. L. Lischer; three were Irishmen, James Quinn, B. F.
Guy and Alfred Sanders ; and four were Americans, John
W. Thompson, Wm. Henry Fitzhugh Gurley, Geo. W. Ells,
and Chas. Foster. To some sarcastic suggestion of The Demo
crat, the ' ' administration ' ' organ at Davenport, anent the na
tionalities Mr. Mahin at Muscatine, retorted: "Well, what
of it, Mr. Democrat? Are you such an out-and-out Know-
Nothing as to complain because eight of these delegates are
foreigners and only five are natives?"2 Farther down the
river at Burlington the delegates were chosen apparently with
out fuss. Two names — Messrs. C. W. Bodeman and T. B.
Webber- -again indicate that sons of Germania were numerous
enough to be reckoned with and hence were entitled to re
presentation in the party's councils. Three state notables ap
pear in the lists — Mr. Chas. Ben Darwin, chairman of the
Code Commission that was then about to submit its draft of
the Code of 1860 to the Legislature, Judge L. D. Stockton,
then one of the Justices of the Supreme Court of Iowa, and
Mr. Fitz Henry Warren, of whom more later. The convention
or the "meeting" voted that the "Central committee [of Des

'The Dubuque Herald, December 29, 1859.
"The Daily Muscatine Journal, January 6, 1S60.

13(5 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Moines county?] fill the vacancies in the delegation should
any occur."1 Mr. Dunham makes no editorial reference in
The Hawk-Eye to the convention, nor to the delegates nor to
the approaching state convention. The state convention seems
to have had no special interest to the editors of The Gate City.
Mr. Howell was chairman of the county central committee
and issued (Dec. 16) the call for the county convention to
assemble at Charleston, in Lee county (Dec. 31) ; but although
he and his business manager were generally interested in the
final result one finds no reference to the proceedings. In
Wapello county, and in Ottumwa the convention took no ac
tion that attracted special interest except to specify by resolu
tion as to the manner of casting the vote if some of the dele
gates should fail to attend at Des Moines.2 Mr. Teesdale 's pa
per related the proceedings of the convention of Polk county
in two inches of space.3
We have already seen that the Republicans of Fremont
county instructed their delegates to Des Moines to work for the
nomination of Justice John McLean for President and Judge
Edward Bates for Vice-President.4 And that the local caucus
at Newton directed their representatives in the county conven
tion of Jasper county to seek to secure the nomination of
Salmon P. Chase and of Abraham Lincoln for first and second
places on the national ticket.5 Whether any like action was
taken or opposed at the ensuing convention the writer can not
say. The Republicans of Black Hawk county apparently were
composed of some lusty radicals for they directed their dele
gates "to use their influence at the state convention for dele
gates to the national convention who are in favor of the nomi
nation of Wm. H. Seward or Charles Sumner as the Republi
can candidate for President."6 Instructions such as these
make ardent partisans and insistent promoters of candidates
groan in spirit and, if they dare, indulge in strong language.

'The Burlington Hawk-Eye, January 2, 1860.
'The Weekly Ottumwa Courier, January 5, 1860.
'Daily State Register, January 9, 1860.
<Ib., January 13, 1860.
'The Gate City, January 11, 1860.
'The Black Hawk Courier, January 3, 1860.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 137
Here and there the waters surged up vigorously and white
caps were observable. The turmoil at Washington had its
reaction in some of the county conventions. The Republicans
of Grundy county felt strongly and gave expression to their
feelings upon the course of affairs at the national capital.
Their resolutions were pointed and pithy:
Resolved, That the Republicans of Grundy county approve of
the determined stand our Representatives in Congress have taken
in the election of Speaker, believing as we do, that those who recom
mend Helper's Book are safer men than avowed disunionists.
Resolved, That we are in favor of the Union, inasmuch as we
have prospered under it, and as we see no good cause for abandon
ing it, we will stay in it, and we will make all others stay in it,
or do as General Jackson would have done, hang all who attempt
to get out of it.1
The names of only two Iowans appeared among the en
dorsers of Helper's book, Mr. Timothy Davis of Dubuque,
Congressman from Iowa from 1857-59, and Col. S. R. Curtis,
then in Congress.2 The Republican central committee of Mus
catine county deemed the urgency of public questions so great
that they made special mention of the fact when they pub
lished (Dec. 8) their "request" of the Republicans to meet
in "Mass Convention" on January 7th, at the county court
house ; thus concluding :
We respectfully suggest that there be on this occasion a general
attendance from all parts of the county, to give an authoritative
expression to the sentiments of the Republicans of this county upon
the exciting questions now agitating the country, and of their prefer
ences as to the manner of conducting the coming campaign.
The chairman of the committee signing the foregoing was
Mr. Hugh J. Campbell, who was then manifesting the energy
and decisiveness of character that made his subsequent career
influential in Louisiana and the Dakotas.3 The convention

'The Daily State Register, February 2, 1860.
'Cong. Globe, 31 Cong., 1st Sess., Vol. 1-16.
3He became a Brigadier-General by brevet on being mustered out of the
Union' army at the close of the war. Later he was appointed federal judge
in Louisiana. While in that State he achieved fame or infamy as a mem
ber of the election board in the electoral contest in 1876-77. He gave his
decision in favor of the Republican presidential electors, thereby insuring
the election of President Hayes. Afterwards he moved to the Territory
of Dakota where he served for years as District Attorney. His activities
on behalf of statehood for the present Dakotas gained him the sobriquet
of "Father of Statehood." Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography,
VTI, 47.

138 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
occurred as scheduled with a number of prominent party
chiefs in attendance. Judge George Meason presided. Mr.
Geo. H. Van Home was made Secretary. Later he was ap
pointed Consul at Marseilles by President Lincoln, and had a
creditable career as a journalist, lecturer and writer. The
convention transacted its main business apparently without
friction, choosing an exceptionally strong delegation, eight in
number, to attend at Des Moines. Among the delegates was
Mr. D. C. Cloud, Iowa's first Attorney-General (1853-1856).
The course of the Democratic party in Kansas forced him to
abandon that party. He was later the author of several books
of considerable local currency.1 Mr. Suel Foster, a noted
pioneer horticulturist to whom chief credit is given for creat
ing the demand that led to the establishing of the Agricultural
College at Ames2 was a delegate, as were Mr. Jacob Butler,
Mr. John Mahin and Mr. Henry 0 'Connor. The meeting dis
cussed at some length methods for "more effective organiza
tion" in conducting the campaign. A committee was ap
pointed, consisting of L. H. Washburn, Jerome Carskadden
and Hugh J. Campbell. The minutes subsequently report
that "on motion of Hugh J. Campbell, Esq., the work entitled
'Helper's Impending Crisis' is recommended by this com
mittee as a book worthy of an extensive circulation in this
county." Whereupon the convention adjourned.
The recommendation of Helper's book made Mr. D. S. Biles,
editor of The Democratic Enquirer of Muscatine, fulminate
mightily. The resolution of the convention, together with
sundry extracts of striking passages from the Impending
Crisis were reprinted by him, under the caption in bold black
type "The Republican Platform." He reproduced a half
column or more thereof in nearly every issue from Jan. 12
to Feb. 23. He made the action of the Republicans of Mus
catine notorious and aroused no little public interest, for a
special correspondent of The Neiu York Herald, then travel-

^ue, History of Iowa, IV, 55. His chief books were The War Powers
of the President and Monopolies and the People.
"Ib., IV, 94, 95.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 139
ing in the Northwest, devoted considerable space to the fact
as indicative of the overwhelming abolition sentiment among
the Republicans of Iowa ; he declared it to be the first public
endorsement of the book anywhere in the North.1
(d) Senator Harlan's Confidential Advices.
The public utterances of political leaders and their confiden
tial expressions inter se are not always coincident. Such di
vergences as we may discern are seldom due to moral delin
quency but to the fact that in public, politicians assert what
they hope for in the large, and are striving to bring to pass,
or express what they deem most prudent and effective for
their purposes. In the confidences of personal interviews or
correspondence, however, they exhibit their hopes and fears,
their desires and plans, frankly and freely — or at least more
so. Subjects as to which they maintain a severe silence in
their editorial columns or on the platform, they deal with
plumply within the family circle. Thus it was in the prelimi
naries of the presidential campaign in 1860 in Iowa. The
major currents of opinion among Republicans on both issues
and candidates were not clearly discernable on the surface,
when the party chiefs convened at Des Moines to make their
first decision as to their course in the contest. The expressions
of editors were rare and in general terms when ventured ; but
the conclusion does not follow that party chiefs and local
leaders were not keenly interested and alive to the momentous
matters then in the balances.
In state politics there are, as already intimated, two chief
centers that receive the voluminous currents of party advices.
The substance of advices, information and appeals, return in
cautious inquiry and deft suggestion, sometimes in direct and
urgent decisions. These centers are the State's national sena
tors. These party chiefs correlate local and national opinion.
Their views are the issue of currents constantly flowing into
Washington from their constituents, modified by their appre
ciation of advices received from their associates in Wash-

'N. Y. Herald, February 19, 1860. The comments referred to were
quoted by the writer, Annals, VIII, 194.

140 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
ington from other states. We have already seen the letter of
Senator Grimes to Governor-elect Kirkwood, written Decem
ber 26, 1859. As Iowa's junior Senator was in constant cor
respondence with his constituents his advice was doubtless in
part a reflection of his local advices. Unfortunately the con
tents of his letter files seem to be irrecoverably lost.1 Senator
Harlan's correspondence, however, has been preserved and
it affords us interesting evidence of the drifts and shifts of
local opinion in Iowa during the period here under consider
ation. Sundry portions of the correspondence are given in
what follows.
Col. Alvin Saunders of Mt. Pleasant was Senator Harlan's
fidus Achates and his major-general in his senatorial cam
paigns. From Springfield, 111., once his home2 where he was
visiting he wrote (Nov. 8), relative to the presidential con
test approaching: "If we succeed then we are all 0. K., but
if we fail then our cake is dough for at least a long time."
James F. Wilson of Fairfield wrote (Dec. 19), "The threats
of disunion now so boldly made sit heavily on the Democracy
of the Northwest. . The cry raised over Helper's book
is doing more towards its circulation than all the Republican
committees could have done in years. Everybody wants to
read its awful contents." Dr. Charles S. Clarke, a prominent
physician of Fairfield (Dec. 22) : . . . "I am as you well
know an earnest Republican. I would not interfere with
slavery in the states. I never did sympathize or act' with the
Abolition party and yet down South they would call me an
Abolitionist.3 I know the Republican leaders of Iowa and
elsewhere and I know that they are Union Republicans and
are opposed to disunion Democrats and Abolitionists. Repub
licans in Iowa all condemn Brown's rash act but they do ad
mire his bravery, truthfulness and fidelity to what he con
scientiously deemed right."4
•Senator Grimes' correspondence with the exception of a few letters
was destroyed by the Executor of his estate by direction of Mrs. Grimes. —
Miss Mary D. Nealley to the writer, Sept. 20, 1909.
zColonel Saunder's brother, Pressley, was a member of Abraham Lin
coln's regiment in the Black Hawk War.
3Dr. Clarke lived for some time in Kentucky.
¦"In a letter to Senator H.. October 30th, Dr. Clarke said : "No good
citizen justifies Brown, no good citizen excuses Pierce, Buchanan & Co. On
them this evil rests."

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 141
Not all of Senator Harlan's correspondents discussed affairs
at large; some wished to promote the general welfare by his
advancement; thus Mr. J. B. Young, a leading attorney of
Marion, in Linn county, expressed a hope (Dec. 27) "I would
rejoice to see my old friend . . the candidate for Vice-
President," a wish that was later - declared publicly by an
other friend in an adjoining county.
Another attorney, Mr. J. F. Brown of Eldora in Hardin
county, communicated his views upon the presidential ques
tion (Dec. 28) : "I hope that W. II. Seward will be nomi
nated if he can be elected. He above all others is my Man."
The Secretary of State, Mr. Elijah Sells, notified him (Dec.
29) that the "Third House" of the General Assembly and the
Chicago, Iowa and Nebraska Railroad Company were "con
spiring" to secure a diversion of the land grant to the Iowa
Central Air line to a new company. Mr. John W. Rankin,
the state senator from Lee county, the law partner of Samuel
F. Miller, wrote him (Jan. 14, 1860) : "Give my best wishes
to Gov. Grimes, also to Gen. Cameron, the next President of
the United States. This is no prophecy, but the truth ahead
of time." On the same date Mr. Robert Gower of Gower 's
Ferry, in Cedar county, gave him a report of local opinion
on the presidential succession and expressed his own views as
to a desirable nominee :
People are beginning to discuss the subject of our next President.
I expect our State by their convention on the 18th inst. will decide
their preference for Republican nominee. I have heard urged by dele
gates to that convention, General Cameron, General Fessenden and
Judge McLean. Before the 13th of June I would be glad of your
choice. The expressions which succeed are taken from two letters
written in Des Moines on the eve of the state convention, by
delegates thereto. Both writers had state wide reputations
and influence. The first was a brilliant orator and effective
campaigner. The second was an experienced party worker,
alert and shrewd, who had been a close observer of political
conditions in southern sections of the State from the time Iowa

142 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
was a part of the territory of Wisconsin. Mr. Henry O'Con
nor of Muscatine, on January 15th wrote Senator Harlan of
presidential politics as follows :
. . Our convention which meets next Wednesday will be
largely attended and we anticipate a good time. Everybody is a
candidate for delegate to the Chicago Convention so that we will
be at no loss for timber. I am entirely indifferent providing they
will only send a delegation that will comport with the dignified and
decided Republican character of Iowa. I think Iowa may be set
down now as decidedly Republican in sentiment and action. There
is a good deal of talk and speculation about Presidential candidates,
one element which seems to be entering into this coming Presiden
tial contest already, I never liked and like it now less than ever,
that is the availability element. It's a sheer humbug. We as a
party have strength enough if we only have integrity, we can and
ought to select our best man, the representative man of our party.
I have but one candidate myself, although I expect to. vote and
work for whoever is nominated. If my vote could make a presi
dent today it would be given to Wm. H. Seward in preference to
any man now living. I believe he can be — I know he ought to be
President. The next day (Jan. 16) Mr. Hawkins Taylor of Keokuk
communicated his observations on the same subject:
Our State Convention comes off Wednesday for the ap
pointment of delegates to the Chicago Convention. There is a good
many candidates for delegates. Who will be appointed it is hard
to tell now. I am in favor of the appointment of two to each Judi
cial district and then let them cast the vote the state is entitled
to which ought to be 16 or 18. There is no disposition to instruct
our delegates, still I think that the general feeling is in favor of
Cameron and Lincoln or Lincoln and Grow. It is universally con
ceded that Pennsylvania must be carried and the question is who
can do it. I have never heard anyone say that they believed that
Seward or Chase could. And I am well satisfied that neither of
them can carry Iowa against Douglas or any popular Northern
Doughface. I have spent the fall and winter buying hogs in the two
Southern Tier of counties west of the Des Moines and I tell you
there is no Seward or Chase men there. The Republicans of that sec
tion are more like the Opposition of Missouri.
I confess I am not over sanguine of success next fall. We have
men that can be elected but we can not elect anybody. You must
recollect that the mass of the voters don't read political documents
and consequently do not get excited and have great aversion to

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 143
voting for any man .... I should like to hear your views on
the subject of the next Presidential Candidate. How does Forney
feel? Could he be got to support Seward or Chase?
Various facts in the foregoing may well be noted before
passing on. Senator Harlan's correspondents declare John
Brown's raid into Virginia reprehensible, even though they
may express some sympathy with the man's trials or admira
tion of his character. Again of like import, Abolitionism is
anathema. Those who mention the presidential succession fall
into two classes : the friends of particular candidates and the
advocates of no particular candidate, save the man who can
poll the most votes for the party's cause. Those who urge
Gov. Seward, while earnest in their admiration of the man,
nevertheless feel doubts as to his chances of winning in the
election. Doing and dying with a favorite champion may be
heroic; but if defeat is the result your cake will become dough.
The cause of their hesitation was the existence of oldtime and
obstreperous prejudices in the minds of the southern folk in
the State, who hated abolitionists with the same vigor that they
hated slavery and would have none of either. Further, Mr.
Taylor refers to Abraham Lincoln as a definite candidate, one
who is to be reckoned with, precisely as Governors Chase or
Seward, with an assurance that indicates that he did not deem
the consideration of the Illinoisan unfamiliar to his party
chief at Washington. Senator Harlan 's contingent candidacy
for national honors is suggested by two correspondents — a
suggestion the realization of which was by no means violently
improbable. Five of the correspondents just cited were chosen
at the state convention, January 18th, to represent the Repub
licans of Iowa at the national convention at Chicago : Messrs
Brown of Eldora, O'Connor of Muscatine, Rankin of Keokuk,
Saunders of Mt. Pleasant, and Wilson of Fairfield.

144 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN

THE REPUBLICAN STATE CONVENTION
DES MOINES, JANUARY 18, 1860.
At two o 'clock, Wednesday afternoon, January 18, 1860, the
delegates to the Republican state convention assembled at Sher
man's Hall, Third Street and Court Avenue, Des Moines.
All contemporary accounts of the convention concur in de
claring it the largest in point of numbers held in the State
up to that time by the Republican party or by any other party.
Both houses of the Legislature had adjourned, as many of its
members were accredited delegates. General public interest
in the work of the convention was so great that Sherman's
Hall was "full to overflowing." For the first time in the
history of the Republican party of Iowa its delegates had as
sembled for the sole purpose of selecting delegates to a
national convention of the party.
(a) The Preliminaries of Organization.
The convention was called to order by Mr. John A. Kasson,
chairman of the state central committee. On behalf of the
committee Mr. Kasson nominated for temporary chairman,
Mr. Ed Wright of Cedar county — a selection at once fitting
and significant. He had been sent to the lower house of the
General Assembly in 1856 and soon achieved distinction as a
master of the technicalities of parliamentary procedure. Mr.
Wright's home was near Springdale, John Brown's rendezvous
in eastern Iowa previous to his raid on Harper's Ferry. He
was a Quaker or Friend in religious belief. Like most, if not
all, Friends, he was an Abolitionist in fact as well as in the
ory, being a promoter of the Underground Railway.1 For
secretary of the convention pro tern, Mr. Geo. A. Hawley, a
lawyer of Leon, Decatur county, then quite prominent in the

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 I4f)
party's councils in Southern Iowa, was nominated. Both
nominations were confirmed without opposition.2 In these
days Mr. Wright would have instructed or entertained or ha
rassed the delegates with a speech, essaying to sound "key
notes" for the ensuing campaign, but the reports indicate
nothing of the sort. The work of organization proceeded at
once. In constituting the committees on credentials and on per
manent organization, eleven members were named, one from
each of the judicial districts of the State. Among the mem
bers of the committee on credentials were Col. Alvin Saunders
of Mt. Pleasant, and Senator M. L. McPherson of Winterset ;
and among the committee on permanent organization were Dr.
J. C. Walker of Ft. Madison, John Edwards of Chariton,
Samuel Merrill of McGregor, and W. P. Hepburn of Marshall-
town — delegates who either participated in the convention at
Chicago, or who later had distinguished careers in the State.
The committee on credentials found that its task of can
vassing the certificates of the delegates or their proxies, even
though there were no contesting delegations, was not to be
done in a few minutes ; and two hours or more were consumed
before they completed their work. The convention meanwhile,
being indisposed to adjourn, indulged in hilarity and speeches
ex tempore. Sundry leaders or orators' were called upon by
their admirers or henchmen — Messrs. Wm. Penn Clarke,
James F. Wilson, Jacob Butler, John Edwards, C. C. Nourse,
J. B. Grinnell, John A. Kasson, . Henry O'Connor and others
— some responding, some refusing. One of the speakers and
the incidents of his speech were out of the ordinary and illus
trate in an interesting fashion some of the phases of the con
vention. The big chiefs, or those who would venture, had spoken ; and
intermittent noise and confusion prevailed. There was a mo-
iCharles Aldrich in The Annals of Iowa (3rd Series) II, 376-386, article
on "General Ed Wright."
'The Daily State Register, Jan. 19, 1860. In what follows respecting
the convention the account pf the proceedings in the Register, Jan. 19 and
20, is taken unless otherwise stated.
10

U'i IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
ment's lull and some one (the writer suspects the late Charles
Aldrich) called, "Johns!" Forthwith a striking figure arose
in the fore left corner of the hall and started toward the plat
form. The convention was silent with astonishment for an
instant, and then derisive laughter and shouts burst forth.
The prospective speaker was of medium height, solidly built,
vigorous of mien and tread, with a fine head firmly set on
sturdy shoulders. He had seen sixty winters. Thin grey hair
fell in straggling locks on his shoulders and a shaggy, unkempt
beard covered his face and throat. His garb consisted of blue
"home-made" jeans trousers and blouse that had done yeoman
service. The artistic climax of the stranger's habiliments was
his headgear. It consisted of a knit cap of blue and white
yarn that "ran up to a peak," whence a tassel flared and
flirted jauntily with the motion of body and head.
This picturesque figure advanced rapidly to the platform,
indifferent to the uproar which his appearance produced, and
faced the convention. He was as stalwart as a Sioux. His
weatherbeaten features were stern and impassive. His keen
grey-blue eyes swept the crowd with a haughty glance. One
chronicler, who witnessed the scene, states that his manner
strongly suggested "Brown of Ossawatomie. " He made no
effort to speak, for the shouts increased as the assembly got a
full view. He was a veritable backwoodsman and a "sight"
indeed. Chairman Wright hammered the table lustily to se
cure order but in vain. Not knowing the stranger's name and
catching the eye of Mr. Charles Aldrich, seated near the edge
of the platform, Mr. Wright stepped over to him and asked
who "the old chap" was. "Why," came the reply, "that is
Father John Johns of Webster county, and if you'll get this
infernal mob still enough to hear him, he'll give them a good
speech ! ' '
The self-possession, perfect poise and dignity of the
stranger, soon brought the delegates back to a proper sense of
decorum, and Chairman Wright introduced him. He was a
hunter and trapper and withal an itinerant Baptist preacher

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 147
of the "Free Will" persuasion, who lived on Skillet creek,
near Border Plains, in south central Webster county. He was
a Kentuckian by' birth and upbringing and an Abolitionist of
the militant type — a fact that made his emigration from his
native heath expedient, if not imperative. The character and
substance of his speech can be but partially indicated. He
certainly fulfilled Mr. Aldrich 's prediction, as all accounts
refer to his effort with decided approval.
He mastered his audience at once. In manner he was
serious, almost solemn in delivery. His language was concise,
unadorned, pointed. Barbed and nipping words seem to have
frequently expressed his thoughts with telling effect. The
righteousness of the Republican cause and the party's great
opportunity, the iniquities of Slavery and the aggressions of
the Slavoerats in Kansas, in the courts and at Washington,
the blunders and corruption of "Buck-Hannan's" administra
tion, were the main considerations of his speech. Many of
his sharp thrusts elicited rounds of applause.
The impression made by the speaker was somewhat complex
and contradictory. Mr. G. H. Jerome, editor of The Iowa
City Republican, informs his readers that his speech con
tained some of ' ' the wittiest and quaintest remarks that it has
ever been my fortune to hear in any convention. He repeat
edly brought down the house. ' n On the other hand Mr. John
Mahin writes his readers that the stranger "seemed himself,

'The Iowa City Republican, Jan. 25, 1860. Correspondence dated Des
Moines, Jan. 18.
The account of John Johns and his speech is based upon correspondence
and interviews of the writer with Hon. Levi S. Coffin of Fort Dodge, Judge
C. C. Nourse, and W. S. Moore of Des Moines, Charles Aldrich, late Curator
of the Historical Department of Iowa, and Professor D. R. Dungan of
Drake University, a nephew of John Johns ; also upon the recollections of
Charles Aldrich, published in July, 1892, entitled "Recollections of Rev.
John Johns of Webster County," Iowa Historical Record, VIII, 321-325 ;
and W. S. Moore's "A Notable Convention," Iowa State Register, September
i, 1892, p. 10.
The reader may study the features of John Johns in a reproduction of
an old "tin type," taken two or three years after the convention, in a
group of "Some of Iowa's Delegates-at-Large" to the Chicago Conven
tion, opposite page 186 of Volume VIII of The Anmals.

148 ' IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
however, to be too earnest and solemn in his opposition to
slavery to treat things jocularly, and scarcely indulged in a
smile while on the stage.1
The speech of John Johns was the one dramatic episode of
the convention. The subsequent action of the delegates indi
cates conclusively its striking effect. In the various reports
of the proceedings of the convention in the press of the State
his speech was the one thing especially mentioned.2
Between four and five o'clock the committee on credentials
reported. According to the only published list of the counties
represented, there were 406 delegates or their proxies present,
representing 78 out of the 99 counties of the State. Had all of
the counties sent their quota of delegates there would have
been 466 present. In view of the modes and conditions of
travel and the time of the year the representation was very
large. Iowa City was the western terminus of the only rail
road of consequence in the State. Steamboats theoretically and
occasionally navigated the Des Moines river but transit there
on, especially in the tortuous courses of the upper fifty miles,
was exceedingly uncertain. Stage coaches were the main pub
lic carriers and the condition of roads in country and town
in Iowa in the middle of January in 1860 may easily be
imagined. The public interest and personal zeal of partizans
that brought so many delegates together at such a time under
such conditions must have been very pronounced.
The counties not represented were Adair, Adams, Buena
Vista, Calhoun, Cerro Gordo, Cherokee, Clay, Dickinson, Em
met, Harrison, Hancock, Ida, Jones, Montgomery, Monona,
Palo Alto, Pocahontas, Sac, Shelby, Union and Winnebago.
For the most part the counties were near the borders of the
State. Their quota of delegates, however, amounted all told
to only 34. Twenty-two of the counties represented failed to
send their entire quota, the number thus deficient being 36.

'The Daily Muscatine Journal, Jan. 23, 1860.
"The Burlington Hawk-Eye, Jan. 23 ; The Iowa City Republican, Jan. 25;
The Muscatine Journal, Jan. 23 ; The Pella Gazette, Jan. 25 ; The Oska-
loosa Herald Quoted in the Hamilton Freeman. Feb. 4, 1860.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 149
(b) The Character of the County Delegations.
The delegates reported present represented the party and
the State excellently both as regards the commonalty and the
yeomanry as well as the leaders. Some of the State 's best char
acter and largest caliber were found among them — men who
had been foremost in public affairs or who then were pressing
rapidly to the front and were later to have distinguished ca
reers in the State and the nation. It is so common in popular
prints and among academic writers and those who class
themselves with the elite, literary and social, to refer con
temptuously to ordinary party conclaves, that brief mention of
the careers of some of the delegates assembled in Sherman's
Hall that afternoon may be worth while. A few dele
gates reported as present appear not to have attended. It is
probable that they were selected by local caucuses or county
conventions and were so reported to the c'ommittee on creden
tials, but even if not present their selection indicates the
wishes of the local constituency.
A poll of the delegates with respect to their nativity and
ages, their states of residence prior to coming to Iowa and
years of their residence in the State previous to the conven
tion, their education, general and technical, their occupations
and professions, their religious creeds and church prefer
ences, their party affiliations prior to joining the Republican
party, their public honors and services before and after the
convention, would be both interesting and instructive, but the
writer does not possess complete data.
Mr. Wm. Penn Clarke of Johnson county is credited with
being one of the secretaries of the Pittsburg convention, Feb
ruary 22, 1856, which has substantial claims as the first Re
publican national convention. Mr. Andrew J. Stevens of
Polk county was selected by that convention as the member of
the national committee for Iowa and joined in the call of
March 29, addressed "To the People of the United States"
urging all "without regard to past political differences or di
visions" to send delegates to a convention in Philadelphia

150 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
June 17, 1856. Mr. Stevens was the first chairman of the Re
publican state central committee in Iowa.
Nineteen counties sent 31 delegates who had attended as
delegates at Iowa City, February 22, 1856, when the Repub
lican party was organized in Iowa. They were John Shane
and J. C. Traer of Benton county, J. A. Chapline, R.~ I.
Thomas and W. W. Hamilton of Dubuque, Wells Spicer and
Ed Wright of Cedar, J. W. Sherman of Dallas, Fitz Henry
Warren of Des Moines, Jackson Orr of Greene, J. F. Brown
of Hardin, S. MeFarland of Henry, J. W. Jenkins of Jackson,
R. Gaines and J. F. Wilson of Jefferson, E. and R. Clark of
Johnson, G. D. Woodin of Keokuk, H. Taylor of Lee, H. C.
Angle of Linn, Wm. M. Stone of Marion, Jacob Butler, S.
Foster, John Mahin and Henry O'Connor of Muscatine, J. B.
Grinnell of Poweshiek, B. F. Gue, J. C. Quinn and A. San
ders of Scott, and J. W. Caldwell and J. W. Norris of Wap
ello. Mr. J. B. Grinnell is credited with the authorship of the
"Address" of the convention to the people of Iowa.1
Six of the delegates had been chosen by the first state con
vention in 1856 as delegates or alternates to represent the
party at the first national Republican convention at Philadel
phia, in June of that year : Messrs. F. H. Warren of Des
Moines county and J. W. Caldwell of Wapello as delegates
and Messrs. Jacob Butler, Thomas Drummond, J: W. Jenkins
and Daniel Anderson, alternates. Three of those named could
not attend and Messrs. J. W. Sherman of Dallas county, R. L.
B. Clarke of Henry, and A. J. Stevens of Polk exercised their
proxies at Philadelphia.
Mr. G. M. Swan of Warren county is credited with the au
thorship of the call that caused the first meeting in Columbus,
Ohio, whence resulted the organization of the Republican
part}- in Ohio,2 and Mr. Wm. B. Allison of Dubuque was
the secretary of that state convention when it was organized.3
Six of the delegates had been members of the Constitutional
Convention of 1857 that had framed the supreme law of
'List of Delegates compiled by Mr. Louis Pelzer in Iowa Journal of
History and Politics. IV. 521-525.
"History of Warren County (1879) p. 502.
-John Sherman's Recollections, p. 76.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 151
Iowa under which the people have since continued to live.
Messrs. Wm. Penn Clarke of Johnson county, R. L. B. Clarke
of Henry, John Edwards of Lucas, J. C. Traer of Tama, Wm.
A. Warren of Jackson, and James F. Wilson of Jefferson.
Two other delegates, Alvin Saunders of Henry and S. Goodrell
of Polk county (then of Muscatine county) had been members
of the Constitutional Convention of 1846, which framed the
first constitution for the State ; and Judge Ralph P. Lowe had
. been a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1844, that
first undertook to construct a constitution for the people.
Fifty-six delegates had been, and of the number 47 then
were and 32 later became members of the House of Represen
tatives of the General Assembly of Iowa. Thirty-six had been
and 22 then were members of the state Senate and 26 there
after became members of that body. Two delegates, Samuel
McFarland of Henry county had been and John Edwards of
Lucas then was the speaker of the House of Representatives;
and two others, Rush Clark of Johnson and Jacob Butler of
Muscatine county were later to become speaker. Messrs. W.
W. Hamilton of Dubuque county and Oran Faville had been
presidents of the Senate and Nicholas J. Rusch of Scott county
then was; and Enoch W. Eastman of Hardin, B. F. Gue of
Scott and Frank T. Campbell of Jasper county were there
after to be elected lieutenant governor of the State, and there
by became presidents of the Senate. Three had had experience
in the legislatures of older eastern states ; Messrs. Jesse Bowen
of Johnson and John Edwards of Lucas in Indiana, and
Samuel Merrill of Clayton in the legislature of New Hamp
shire. There were a number who had held, were then holding
or were destined to hold prominent positions in the state gov
ernment. Dr. Jesse Bowen of Johnson county was adjutant
general of the militia. Mr. M. L. Morris, also of Johnson
county, had been, and Mr. George W. Bemis of Buchanan was
to become treasurer of state. Messrs. Andrew J. Stevens of
Polk, John Pattee of Bremer had held, and Jonathan W. Cat-
tell of Cedar was holding the office of auditor of state. W. A.
Warren of Jackson was the candidate of the Whig party in

152 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
1848 for that office. Thomas H. Benton, Jr., of Pottawatta
mie had been superintendent of public instruction and Mr.
Oran Faville afterwards held the office. Mr. Ed Wright, the
temporary chairman was later to serve the people as secretary
of state and Messrs. George A. Hawley of Decatur, J. W.
Jenkins of Jackson, M. L. McPherson of Madison, J. W.
Thompson of Scott had been or were later prominent but un
successful candidates for the office.
Ralph P. Lowe of Lee had been Governor of Iowa, retiring
from that office the week preceding the convention; and
Messrs. Samuel Merrill of Clayton, Wm. Larrabee of Fayette
and Wm. M. Stone of Marion county, later became Chief Exe
cutive of the State. Messrs. J. B. Grinnell, Henry O'Connor,
J. B. Weaver and Fitz Henry Warren became prominent can
didates for the office.
A number had been, or later became, judges of the district or
circuit courts. Thus John H. Gray of Polk county, Ralph P.
Lowe of Lee, Samuel Murdock of Clayton, John W. Rankin of
Lee, Wm. Smyth of Linn and W. M. Stone of Marion were
judges prior to the convention. Messrs. M. B. Burdick of Win
neshiek county, D. D. Chase of Hamilton, H. C. Henderson of
Marshall, Wm. Loughridge of Mahaska, C. C. Nourse of Polk,
Geo. W. Ruddick of Bremer, and John Shane of Benton after
wards became judges.
There were present eight who had been or then were
"County Kings," to-wit, the county judges who under the
Code of 1851 exercised all the legislative, executive and judi
cial functions previously exercised by the county commis
sioners : G. M. Dean of Allamakee, F. B. Doolittle of Delaware,
Oran Faville of Mitchell, P. P. Henderson of Warren, Lewis
H. Smith of Kossuth, Wells Spicer of Cedar, Wm. Van
0 Linda of Plymouth, and J. C. Hagans of Ringgold county.
As the work of the convention was not directly or immed
iately connected with "local issues" superficially considered,
the presence of judges, even of the' court of highest, resort in
the State, was not deemed inappropriate, and among the dele
gates we find the names of every member of the Supreme
Court as then constituted, namely: Caleb Baldwin of Potta-

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 153-
wattamie county, Ralph P. Lowe of Lee, and L. D. Stockton
of Des Moines. George G. Wright of Van Buren had but a few
days before left the court and was later to be its Chief Jus
tice. Sundry important officials of that court were also in
the convention. Mr. Wm. Penn Clarke of Johnson was re
porter of the supreme court from 1855 to 1860. The first at
torney general of the state, Mr. D. C. Cloud, of Muscatine
county, had been selected by the party convention at Musca
tine, but his attendance at Des Moines is not recorded. Two
of the delegates in Sherman 's Hall afterwards became attorney
general, Messrs. John F. McJunkin of Washington and Henry
O'Connor of Muscatine.
Two members of the commission to revise the code of the
State that submitted its report to the General Assembly in
1860, Messrs. Charles Ben Darwin of Des Moines county, who
had been active in securing Abraham Lincoln's consent to
speak in Burlington in 1858, and Wm. Smyth of Linn county,
were among the delegates.
There were nine state officers in the convention as delegates ;
three district judges and three district attorneys; two county
judges, three clerks of county courts, and one county
treasurer — twenty-one all told. This number was not very
large considering the fact that there were at the time about
five hundred and fifty state and county officers, two-thirds of
whom were probably Republicans.
If we include the members of the state central committee as
servants of the convention, sixteen delegates, had represented
or afterwards represented the people of Iowa or other states in
the national House of Representatives at Washington, many
of them achieving noteworthy distinction in the deliberations
and decisions of that body. They were Wm. B. Allison of Du
buque county, T. M. Bowen of Page, Rush Clark of Johnson,
W. G. Donnan of Buchanan, John Edwards of Lucas, J. B.
Grinnell of Poweshiek, W. P. Hepburn of Marshall, A. W.
Hubbard of Woodbury, John A. Kasson of Polk, Wm. Lough-
ridge of Mahaska, Jackson Orr of Greene, Charles Pomeroy of
Boone, Wm. Smyth of Linn, James Thorington of Scott,
James B. Weaver of Davis and James F. Wilson of Jefferson.

154 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Five of the delegates subsequently entered the Senate of the
United States. Judge George G. Wright served from 1871 to
1876 when he refused re-election. Mr. T. M. Bowen, after a
noteworthy career in Kansas and Arkansas, went to Colorado
whence he was elected to the Senate in 1883 serving until
1889. The other three delegates who reached the Senate were
Messrs. Alvin Saunders of Henry, James F. Wilson of Jeffer
son and W. B. Allison of Dubuque county, of whose careers
more will be said. In 1854 Mr. Fitz Henry Warren was the
leading candidate of the Whigs for the Senate, but Mr. James
Harlan was finally elected. In 1858 Wm. Penn Clarke and
Wm. Smyth were prominently mentioned and received votes
in the party caucus when Mr. Grimes was selected.
In the executive departments of the national government
some of the delegates had had, or later achieved, position and
influence. Mr. Fitz Henry Warren had been assistant post
master general under President Taylor and subsequently was
secretary of the national committee of the anti-slavery Whigs
in the presidential campaign of 1852. W. H. F. Gurley of
Scott county, became President Lincoln's first district attor
ney in Iowa ; ill health and death soon cut off a career of bril
liant promise. The careers of Messrs. Henry O'Connor and
H. C. Caldwell will require mention subsequently.
Three of the delegates accredited to the convention in Sher
man's Hall that afternoon attained to such nation-wide in
fluence that at various times they were urged by admirers in
national political parties for presidential honors. Mr. J. B.
Weaver of Davis county was twice nominated for the presi
dency ; first, by the National Greenback party in 1880, receiv,
ing 350,000 votes, and, again, in 1892 by the People's party,
obtaining 1,042,531 votes at the polls and 22 votes, represent
ing five states, in the Electoral College. The mention of
Messrs. H. C. Caldwell of Van Buren county and Wm. B.
Allison of Dubuque county in this connection will be referred
to later.
Within a year and a half after the convention met war
drums were calling men to arms in defense of the Union, the
existence of which was attacked because of the action they, or

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 155
their delegates for them, were to take at Chicago in deciding
the national leadership. Nearly one-fifth of the delegates en
listed in the volunteer regiments.
Fifteen delegates became Captains : F.< T. Campbell of Jas
per county, M. Clark of Jefferson, C. F. Conn of Lee, G. M.
Dean of Allamakee, F. M. Kelsey of Jackson, J. P. McEwen of
Guthrie, P. G. C. Merrill, of Warren, J. C. Mitchell of Wap
ello, L. C. Noble of Fayette, Jackson Orr of Greene, J. H.
Powers of Chickasaw, P. A. Queal of Story, R. M. Rippey of
Greene, J. H. Shutts of Benton and W. P. Ward of Jackson.
Messrs. L. Dewey of Henry, W. G. Donnan of Fayette, W.
C. Drake of Wayne, Charles Foster of Scott, TI. B. Lynch of
Iowa, Henry O'Connor of Muscatine, N. J. Rusch of Scott,
John Safely of Linn and Calvin Taylor of Davis became
Majors. Messrs. Charles Aldrich of Hamilton and L. C. Noble
of Fayette were tendered the j*ank of Major but for business
reasons declined the advance in official rank.
Doctors Wm. McK. Findley of Davis, D. C. Hastings of
Buchanan and Amos Witter of Linn county became regimental
. surgeons. Eight of the delegates became Lieutenant Colonels — J. W.
Caldwell of Wapello, Geo. B. Corkhill of Henry, Thomas
Drummond of Benton, J. Ferguson of Marion, W. P. Hep
burn of Marshall, Geo. W. Howard of Chickasaw, J. W. Jenk
ins of Jackson, Samuel McFarland of Henry, and S. C. Van
Anda of Delaware county.
Among Iowa's Colonels we find Daniel Anderson of Monroe,
A. H. Bereman of Henry, PI. C. Caldwell of Van Buren, P. P.
Henderson of Warren, Samuel Merrill of Clayton, John Pat-
tee of Bremer, J. W. Rankin of Lee, John Shane of Benton,
and Wm. Smyth of Linn. Messrs. R. H. Ballinger of Boone
and Henry Ramming of Scott, entered the army in Illinois
and became Colonels. Wm. Penn Clarke of Johnson as
Paymaster had the rank of Colonel and M. L. McPherson at
tained the rank by brevet at the close of the war.
For distinguished service, bravery and meritorious conduct,
Messrs. T. M. Bowen of Page, Thos. H. Benton, Jr., of Potta
wattamie, D. B. Hillis of Davis, Hiram Scofield of Washing-

156 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
ton, Franklin A. Stratton of Webster, W. M. Stone of Marion,
J. B. Weaver of Davis, and Ed Wright of Cedar county ap
pear on the muster rolls at the close of the army as Brevet
Brigadier Generals. Mr. John Edwards of Lucas attained
full rank as Brigadier General of volunteers and Mr. Fitz
Henry Warren of Des Moines county closed his army service
in defense of the Union with the rank of Brevet Major Gen
eral. Among the delegates was a group that added special spice
and flavor — a group that had been foremost in furthering the
extreme anti-slavery views. They were all especially active
in connection with Kansas, John Brown and Underground
Railways. When the settlement of Kansas was the object of so
much contention between the Slavoerats and the ".Free state
men" in 1856, Wm. Penn Clarke was the member for Iowa
of the notable National Kansas Committee. He forwarded
many "Liberty men" and Sharpe 's rifles to Tabor. When
matters approached their crisis in 1856 a mass meeting was
held in Iowa City to aid the emigration of anti-slavery men to
Kansas, and a committee was appointed on which were Messrs.
Clarke, M. L. Morris and I. N. [G. H.?] Jerome. One result
of the meeting was that Mr. Geo. D. Woodin, then of Johnson,
but later of Keokuk county, traveled throughout southern
Iowa organizing local committees. Among the local committee
men were Judge Wm. M. Stone of Knoxville, Mr. A. J. Stevens
of Des Moines, and Dr. B. S. Noble of Indianola.1 It was Mr.
R. L. B. Clarke of Henry county who led the fight in the
Constitutional Convention of 1857 to strike "white" from the
constitution and entitle Negroes to enjoy all political privi
leges, and it was Mr. Henry O'Connor of Muscatine who
championed the unpopular measure on the hustings. When
John Brown passed through the State the last time, in 1858
with the slaves which he had forcefully assisted in escaping
from their masters in Missouri, Rev. Demas Robinson, near
Des Moines, Mr. J. B. Grinnell, at Grinnell, and Dr. Jesse
Bowen and Mr. W. P. Clarke at Iowa City gave him "aid and

'History of Keokuk County (1880) p. 432-3.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 157
comfort" at risk of tlie public peace, and their personal safety.1
When Virginia's sheriff, on Gov. Letcher's requisition, sought
Barclay Coppoc, the youth of Springdale who was one of
Brown's aids at Harper's Ferry, it was Messrs. Ed Wright of
Cedar and B. F. Gue of Scott who gave the alarm at the capitol
and Messrs. J. B. Grinnell, J. W. Cattell, auditor of state,
Amos Hoag of Winneshiek and David Hunt of Hardin county,
who co-operated in sending the post rider to warn the fugitive
at the Quaker village in Cedar county.2 Among other
staunch promoters of the rights of Negroes and supporters of
John Brown in the convention were Mr. Coker F. Clarkson of
Grundy and Mr. Jacob Butler of Muscatine. It was Mr. Butler
who presided at the Congregational Council in Chicago in
1859, when some stout anti-slavery resolutions were adopted.
All the foregoing took part in the proceedings in Sherman's
Hall. A number of the delegates had then engaged or later en
gaged in literary effort of the formal sort to an extent that
would entitle them to enrollment among the "literary folk"
of the State. Excluding the judges of the supreme court who
are book-makers ex officio, and editors of weekly or daily
newspapers, there were seventeen who have to their credit
published writings dealing with matters of historical or tech
nical interest, appearing in the form of articles or brochures,
biographies, memoirs, official reports and treatises. Of the
legal work of Charles Ben Darwin, especially his report rec
ommending a new code of civil and criminal procedure, a
recent commentator says : "He exerted more influence, prob
ably, than any one man of his age and experience upon the
practice of the State of Iowa."3 Mr. D. C. Cloud, Iowa's
first attorney general, originally designated as one of the dele
gates from Muscatine county, wrote two stout treatises on the
War Powers of the President and Monopolies and the People.
Messrs. C. F. Clarkson, Suel Foster and J. H. Sanders became
extensive writers upon farming, horticulture and stockbreed-
ing. ' Wm. Penn Clarke, and Hawkins Taylor later made sub-

'Annals of Iowa (1st Series) Vol. IV, 667-669, 715-719.
zGrue, History of Iowa, II, 17.
3Cole & Ebersole, The Courts and Legal Profession of Iowa, 1, 87.

158 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
» stantial contributions to the historical literature of the State.
Articles from the pen of James F. Wilson appeared in our na
tional magazines. The letters of Fitz Henry Warren to The
Springfield (Mass.) Republican and later to the N., Y. Daily
Tribune have become historic. It was his celebrated criticisms
of the course of the national government in the early days of
the Civil War under the caption, "On to Richmond," that
precipitated the disaster at Bull Run. In 1855 Mr. H. P.
Scholte put forth an interesting brochure on American Slav
ery, containing an acute discussion of that moot question. Mr.
J. B. Grinnell has given us a considerable volume of recollec
tions, entitled Men and Events of -Forty Years. Mr. J. H.
Powers wrote Historical Reminiscences of Chickasaw County.
Mr. Wm. Larrabee is the author of The Railroad Question, an
energetic discussion of a vexed question. Mr. B. F. Gue, be
sides extensive contributions to local biography and history,
wrote four substantial volumes entitled .The History of Iowa.
L. D. Ingersoll, celebrated in Iowa during the "sixties" as a
war correspondent under the nom de plume of ' ' Linkensale, ' '
wrote three considerable volumes, Iowa and the Rebellion,
The Life and Times of Horace Greeley and The History of
the War Department. Besides sundry minor contributions
of worth, Mr. John A. Kasson wrote a scholarly treatise on
The Evolution of the Constitution of the United States and
Histm-y of the Monroe Doctrine which has become one of the
standard references on these subjects in all our public and
university libraries. Mr. Charles Aldrich, an editorial writer
of great force and vivacity, in addition to the authorship of
numerous articles re-established and for sixteen years edited
The Annals of Iowa. His magnum opus in the conclusion of
his career was the creation of the Historical Department of
Iowa and bringing into being the handsome, stately structure
on capitol hill which now houses his precious Collections and
the increasing historical lore of the State of Iowa
It is possible, of course, that the Republicans of Iowa have
had state conventions whereat a higher average of ability and
achievement and a greater number of notables have been in

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 15!)
attendance than was true of the conclave of the party's chiefs
and workers at Sherman's Hall on January 18, 1860, but the
writer doubts if the fact can be demonstrated.
(c) Selecting the Delegates to the National Convention.
For the committee on permanent organization, Mr. Charles
Foster of Scott county, reported in favor of the nomination of
the following delegates for the offices mentioned. Their rec
ommendations were concurred in. Mr. W. W. Hamilton, of
Dubuque, who had won distinction as presiding officer of the
state Senate in 1856 and 1858, was made chairman. Pur
suant to an amiable custom doubtless not free from artful de
sign, ten delegates were designated as "Vice-Presidents";
A. W. Hubbard of Woodbury, Mr. J. B. Grinnell of Powe-
among the number being Benedict Hugel of Lee county, Judge
shiek, Jackson Orr of Greene, Mr. Jacob Butler of Muscatine,.
Mr. Francis Mangold of Dubuque, Mr. Amos Hoag of Winne
shiek and Mr. Charles Pomeroy of Boone: D. D. Chase of
Hamilton, J. G. Davenport of Linn, J. K. Graves of Dubuque,
T. R. Oldham of Clarke, Henry Lischer of Scott, and H. P.
Scholte of Marion, were made secretaries. In the selection-
of Messrs. Hugel, Mangold, Lischer and Scholte, one may dis
cern delicate, and as diplomats phrase it, "distinguished con
sideration," of the foreign vote in the eastern counties. Li
the exaltation of so many notables of Dubuque one suspects
shrewd tactics anent the senatorial election then pending.
The delegates proceeded at once with the business of the
convention. On motion of Mr. Hawley of Decatur county, it
was provided that the entire vote of a county could be cast by
the delegates or delegate present. Senator Drummond of Ben
ton county then introduced a resolution directing that the con
vention proceed to elect ' ' eight delegates to the national Re- -
publican convention, four from the State at large, and two ¦
from each congressional district — but one delegate to be
elected at a time and by a viva voce vote, on a call of the
counties, a majority being required to elect. ' ' Mr. Brown of
Black Hawk moved to amend by striking out eight and in--

160 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
serting two from "each judicial district" of which there
were eleven in the State, the delegates to be "named by each
district. " As a substitute Mr. Gue of Scott county moved the
adoption of the following:
Resolved, That the convention now proceed to elect two delegates
from each judicial district, to be selected by the delegates from each
district, and five delegates at large, to be elected by a viva voce vote
upon call of the counties, one delegate to be elected at a time.
We are told that upon the introduction of Senator Drum
mond's motion "an animated discussion ensued," lasting for
two hours. The enthusiasm of the disputants and the dele
gate! at times "kindled into a blaze." The correspondent of
The Hawk-Eye tells us that "it was dark when these prelimi
nary matters were settled and the entire afternoon was con
sumed in boisterous though good-humoured debate in which
neither the chairman nor any member could define what the
question before the convention was."1 Mr. Gue's motion was
finally modified by an amendment of Senator Drummond's
providing for selection of the delegates by a plurality vote.
The convention first took an informal ballot on delegates
at large with the following result :
L. C. Noble, 43; T. J. W. Tabor, 20; W. Penn Clarke, 52; J.
A. Kasson, 28; Henry O'Connor, 36; N. J. Rusch, 12; J. W. Norris,
31; J. F. Wilson, 22; A. Sa[u]nders, 33; M. L. McPherson. 16; S.
Bagg, 5; Thomas Seeley, 10; J. B. Grinnell, 11; Scattering, 18.
The convention thereupon proceeded to a formal ballot. The
distribution of the votes among the sundry favorites named
on the several ballots is not less interesting than in the in
formal ballot, and a transcript of the proceedings as pub
lished follows :
1 — J. W. Norris 4, Thomas Seeley 4, W. Penn Clarke 110, T. J. W.
Tabor 52, J. A. Kasson 5, A. Saunders 33, Henry O'Connor 15, L. C.
Noble 2, M. L. McPherson 4, J. F. Wilson 31.
On motion W. Penn Clark of Johnson county was unanimously
elected a delegate at large.

'The Daily Hawk-Eye, Jan. 23, 1860.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 lli1
2d formal ballot— L. C. Noble 134, J. W. Norris 27, H. O'Connor
37,' J. A. Kasson 39, M. L. McPherson 21, J. F. Wilson 51, A. Saun
ders 22.
On motion, L. C. Noble of Fayette county, was unanimously
elected the second delegate at large.
3rd formal ballot— J. A. Kasson 161, J. W. Rankin 16, H. O'Con
nor 145, J. W. Norris 4, T. Seeley 4.
On motion, J. A. Kasson of Polk county, was unanimously elected
the third delegate at large.
' 4th ballot— H. O'Connor 161, J. W. Rankin 55, J. F. Wilson 116.
M. L. McPherson 6.
On motion, H. O'Connor of Muscatine county, was unanimously
elected the 4th delegate at large.
6th [5th?] ballot— C. F. Clarkson 23, J. F. Wilson 148, J. W. Ran
kin 110, E. Bloomer 17, N. J. Rusch 9.
On motion, J. F. Wilson of Jefferson county, was unanimously
elected as the fifth delegate at large.
The selections apparently did not suffice or they perhaps
produced some discontent on the part of the friends of several
receiving votes but unsuccessful, for immediately, on motion
of Dr. Bowen of Johnson county; the following persons were
unanimously elected as additional delegates at large: — Judge
J. W. Rankin of Lee county, Senator M. L. McPherson of
Madison, Mr. C. F. Clarkson of Grundy, and Lt.-Governor
N. J. Rusch of Scott, making nine altogether.
The roll of the judicial districts was then called for nomi
nations for delegates to represent the local constituencies.
The nominees apparently were all unanimously elected without
delay or dispute. It is not indicated whether they had been
selected by district caucuses held prior to the assembly of the
delegates in Sherman's Hall or by conferences on the floor
during the convention. The following are the names of the
gentlemen elected in the order of the roll:
The first district selected Mr. Alvin Saunders of Henry and
Dr. J. C. Walker of Lee county. For the second, H. Clay
Caldwell of Van Buren and Mr. M. Baker of Wapello
[Wayne?] county were designated. The third district chose
Mr. Benjamin Rector of Fremont and Mr. George A. Hawley
of Decatur county. The fourth district nominated Judge A.
W. Hubbard of Woodbury and Mr. J. E. Blackford of Kos-
11

162 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
sutn county. The fifth selected Messrs. Thomas- Seeley of
Guthrie and C. C. Nourse of Polk county. For the sixth,
Judge W. M. Stone of Marion and Mr. J. B. Grinnell of Powe
shiek were nominated. The seventh district nominated Mr.
Wm. A. Warren of Jackson and Mr. John W. Thompson of
Scott. The nominees of the eighth district were Mr. John
Shane of Benton and Judge Wm. Smyth of Linn county; and
of the ninth, Messrs. Wm. B. Allison of Dubuque and A. F.
Brown of Black Hawk county. The tenth district nominated
Judge- Reuben Noble of Clayton county and Mr. E. G. Bow-
doin of Floyd county. The eleventh district presented the
names of Mr. Wm. P. Hepburn of Marshall county and Mr.
J. F. Brown of Hardin county.
All of the delegates chosen at Des Moines attended the na
tional convention at Chicago save three — Messrs. J. E. Black
ford, H. C. Caldwell and A. W. Hubbard. Their proxies
were exercised by Messrs. Jacob Butler, J. W. Caldwell and
Herbert M. Hoxie. Mr. R. L. B. Clarke was with the dele
gates in the Wigwam and took part in their conferences and
decisions as an alternate.1 In what follows the proxies' and
their principals will not be distinguished. As the years have
increased, the distinction of the convention at Chicago has in
creased and likewise the claims to membership in Iowa's dele
gation. The writer has come upon the names of four others
for whom biographers or eulogists have claimed membership
therein; but so far as he can discover without warrant. We
may suspect that attendance at the convention as unofficial
representatives has been transmuted into official representa
tion. As soon as the delegates to Chicago were decided upon,
Senator Thomas Drummond introduced the following resolu
tion: Resolved, That the delegation from Iowa are hereby instructed to
cast the vote of the State as a unit, and that a majority of the dele
gates determine the action of the delegation.
The motion was lost. Whether or not there was any debate
thereon and by what number of votes the resolution was de-
Unterview with Judge C. C. Nourse and letter of R. L. B. Clarke to the
writer (Mss.).

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 K',3
feated are not recorded. The significance of the resolution,
the design of the mover, and the real purport of the action of
the convention in refusing thus to control the course of their
delegates at the national convention, can only be surmised.
The mover was an able and tried tactician in practical poli
tics. He had attended the first national convention of the
Republican party at Philadelphia in 1856 as a delegate and
he was an influential editor and leader in the party's councils
in the State. It is hardly probable that his resolution was un
premeditated, introduced on the spur of the moment on a
vagrant impulse. He knew that in national party conven
tions, as in state or local conventions, a delegation or its
leaders are potent when they have their delegates well in hand
and can "count on them" and can swing them to the right or
to the left at critical junctures in maneuvres. Divided dele
gations, like dissevered army corps, are usually impotent.
Judge McLean's nomination at Philadelphia in 1856 might
have been accomplished with ease had Ohio's delegation been
a unit on his behalf instead of split asunder by bitter, obsti
nate factional differences and preferences. Senator Drum
mond probably had the avoidance of such inefficiency in mind.
Moreover, it is not unlikely that he expected the resolution, if
adopted, to operate in favor of the candidacy of Senator Sew
ard. Senator Drummond, as we have seen, entertained radical
anti-slavery views, sympathizing frankly with John Brown.
He was also a staunch friend and supporter of Senator Harlan,
who was a known friend and admirer of the Senator from
New York, and then or very soon thereafter becoming an advo
cate of his nomination at Chicago. The activity of Gov. Sew
ard's friends in all of _ the northern states, straight west of
New York, on behalf of his candidacy and their success in
securing instructions for him in all, save Iowa, gives color to
the surmise here ventured. It is the recollection of Judge
C. C. Nourse that it was the opinion in the lobbies' that Gov.
Seward was to be the beneficiary of the resolution.1

'Letter of Judge C. C. Nourse to the writer (Mss.)

164 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
An account of the proceedings in Der Demokrat, the Ger
man Republican paper of Davenport, gives grounds for think
ing that possibly specific instructions for Senator Seward were
formally presented and formally rejected. In a brief notice
of the convention we find the statement that "ein antrag die
delegaten zu instruiren wurde verworfen." This assertion
that instructions were defeated is followed by another indi
cating the self-control of the delegates: "Die stimmung der
convention war sehr stark zu gunsten von Wm. H. Seward
fur President." Two facts make one skeptical as to the
former statement. First, it is the only one to the same effect the
writer has discovered in the press reports or in the editorial
comments on the proceedings ; and we should normally expect
a matter of such vital significance in the political contest then
approaching its culmination to be generally referred to in
contemporary comment. Second, the context suggests some
confusion. Just preceding the first sentence quoted is the
statement that the convention adopted Senator Drummond's
resolution providing for a "plurality" rule in voting. Ap
parently Senator Drummond's resolution to bind the national
delegates by the unit rule was confused with another motion
by him amending Mr. Gue's, whereby the convention should
elect the delegates to the national convention by a plurality
instead of by a majority of the votes cast. On the other hand,
the publisher of Der Demokrat, Mr. Henry Lischer, and one
of its leading writers, Mr. Henry Ramming, were both dele
gates from Scott county to the convention. One or the other,
doubtless penned the account from which the statement above
is quoted and we may presume that he wrote advisedly. What
ever may have been the facts we shall see that the rejection
of Senator Drummond's resolution providing for the unit
rule was subsequently considered as equivalent to refusal to
instruct for Senator Seward.1
The defeat of Senator Drummond's resolution was followed
by a motion to adjourn until eight o'clock. As the primary
purpose of the convention had been accomplished one feela

'Der Demokrat, Jan. 21, IS

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 1(5
curiosity as to the object of reassembling the delegates. The
delegates were in the city and other social diversion for such
a number may not have been feasible and sociability and
speech-making may have been the only matters contemplated.
Nevertheless, those familiar with popular assemblages are
likely to suspect shrewd designs. Mass meetings, unless con
trolled by dominant leaders, are the prey of fitful, contradic
tory and erratic currents. Emotionalism is wont to prevail;
sentimentalism rather than sense. Unforseen events, ofttimes
artfully produced, may result in gusts, flurries and sometimes
violent outbursts of feeling that drive the delegates pell-mell
in some direction. Skillful tacticians at such times easily
accomplish purposes otherwise impossible. The convention
had made no declaration of principles. It had refused to bind
its national delegates by instructions. Public discussion was
rife with issues that aroused intense animosity. Partisans of
sundry views, ardent advocates of specific courses, energetic
friends of candidates, disappointed in obtaining action favor
able to their hopes may have had some expectation of success
in furthering their cause or candidate "after supper."
Whatever the considerations or designs, the delegates on
reassembling transacted but little business ; but that little was
interesting and significant. Two more delegates at large
were added to the nine selected at the afternoon session. They
were the Rev. Henry P. Scholte, editor of The Pella Gazette
and founder of the Holland community at Pella, and Rev.
John Johns, the pioneer preacher from Webster county whose
speech had so stirred the convention a few hours before. The
selection of the former signified again recognition of the stra
tegic importance of the foreign vote in the coming campaign,
and the choice of the latter may have indicated an appreciation
of the votes in the congregations of the Baptist church or a
spontaneous proof of the power of the oratory of the itinerant
preacher. The convention then converted itself into a "mass ratifica
tion meeting." Speeches were delivered by Messrs. Henry
O'Connor and Jacob Butler of Muscatine, Wm. Penn Clarke
of Johnson, Enoch W. Eastman of Hardin, C. C. Nourse and

166 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
John A. Kasson of Polk, Geo. May of Marion, James F. Wil
son of Jefferson, and Rev. John Johns. "The speeches,"
Mr. Jerome of Iowa City reported, "were very spicy, full of
marrow and the meeting was enthusiastic to a high degree."1
In the course of his speech at the evening session Mr. Johns,
while indicating very clearly his strong personal preference
for the nomination of Wm. H. Seward for the presidency by
the Republicans at Chicago, is credited with the observation
that, in case the Democrats in their national convention at
Charleston should nominate Stephen A. Douglas, the Republi
cans could not do better than to nominate Abraham Lincoln
who in popular judgment had worsted the "Little Giant" in
their celebrated debate in 1858.
Before one can justly estimate the conduct of the delegates
or the significance of their action, the conditions under which
the business was transacted must be appreciated. The com
ments of two eye witnesses, one a participant as a delegate,
the' other a representative of the opposite political party, are
interesting. "R, " correspondent of The Gate City, penned
the following on the night of the convention :
Impartial justice requires the statement that it was the noisiest,
most uproarious, confused, good-natured, hardworking and en
thusiastic convention ever witnessed in Iowa or any other country
on this mundane sphere. It was also, I believe, the largest Re
publican convention ever held in this State.2
The correspondent of The Dubuque Herald after referring
with customary partizan irony to the claim of Republicans
that their party comprehended "all the decency and intel
ligence," wrote (Jan. 23) :
It was the most disorderly, uproarious and undignified gathering
that has lately come to the knowledge of the peaceful denizens of
this locality. Still they got through with the business for which
they assembled in a manner most satisfactory to everybody but
themselves.3 Evidently the delegates gave their feelings full vent and the
right of way. Spontaneity of expression rather than docility
'The Iowa City Republican, Jan. 25, 1860,
"The Daily Gate City, Jan. 23, 1860. Corr. dated at Des Moines, Jan. 17.
"The Dubuque Herald, Feb. 1, 1860. Corr. dated at Des Moines, Jan. 23.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 W,
and obedient concurrence in a program, constituted the defini
tive condition in the determination of the conclusions of the
convention. Some considerations will demonstrate this.
(d) Did a Machine and Wirepullers or Common Sense Control
the Convention?
A distinguished ¦ national historian, contrasting the char
acter of the first Republican national convention at Philadel
phia and that of the second convention at Chicago, designated
the delegates to the first as "liberty -loving enthusiasts and
largely volunteers, ' ' and those to the second, as mainly ' ' wire
pullers" and "machine politicians" chosen by "means of the
organization peculiar to a powerful party" who were, he
adds, "in political wisdom the pick of the Republicans."1
One might ask for definitions of terms. Be the merits of
the contrast what they may it is well to keep in mind that
those unfamiliar with the practical procedure of politics are
wont to regard philanthropists' and reformers who initiate po
litical and social movements as always animated by purely
ethical considerations, as free from malice and thoughts of
personal gain, and "politicians" as wirepullers whose ways
are devious and dark, whose motives are petty, or sordid or
malevolent, who interpret the public welfare in terms of per
sonal profit or party advantage' with the same objective in view.
Any one who has had but little intimate acquaintance with
philanthropists and politicians knows that very prosaic human
considerations prompt and energize both species of mankind.
The chicanery and hypocrisy of philanthropists are not less
extensive nor less vicious than the sordidness of politicians.
Moreover, experience is likely to make one conclude that the
sentimentalism and stupidities of enthusiasts in politics and
government are more to be dreaded than the designs of poli
ticians pulling wires and the public purse strings for personal
or party advantage.
The delegates selected by the Republicans of Iowa to repre
sent their interests and wishes at the Chicago convention were,

'Rhodes History of the United States, II, 467.

168 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
of course, "politicians." They were politicians in the old
Greek sense of citizens. They were politicians in the sense
of familiars or workers in the science and art of government.
They were politicians in the sense of tacticians adept in the
management and maneuvres of party caucuses and campaigns.
Many of them, doubtless all of them, sustained reputations in
their bailiwicks for capacity and force, for caution and shrewd
ness, for patience and persistence in the pursuit and accom
plishment of personal or party purposes. They are, neverthe
less, individually and in the aggregate, thoroughly representa
tive of the ability and achievement of the yeomanry and of the
leadership of the Republican party then in control of the pub
lic affairs of the people of Iowa. Moreover the mode of their
selection gives no basis for the assumption that the delegates
were either "machine" politicians or the appointees of the
managers of a "machine" in the disagreeable sense ^n which
the term is used nowadays.
There was in the parlance of the day, a group of party
leaders known throughout the State as the "capitol crowd,"
who no doubt worked to further their interests in the selec
tion of the delegates; but if they had a program or "slate'''
it was completely smashed and their forces utterly routed.
"The old wheel horses in the Republican team," a corres
pondent of The Hawk-Eye informs us, "opposed sending any
more than one man to cast one vote . ."1 but the delega
tion selected exceeded four delegates for every vote of Iowa's
quota. Senator Grimes in his letter to Governor Kirkwood
said he would select "a goodly number to cast the vote of
Iowa," but he probably did not think of more than sixteen
delegates. The larger the number in a delegation the less the
certainty of concert of action. Some of the leaders later in
dicated publicly their disapproval of the large number. Mr.
Jacob Rich of the Buchanan County Guardian could "not
see the object,"2 and Mr. Teesdale ironically observed: — "If
the hall [at Chicago] is large enough the delegates will all
probably be admitted and exert their influence on the action
'The Daily Hawk-Eye, Jan. 23, 1860.
"Buchanan County Guardian, Jan. 26, 1860.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 Hi!)
of the body."1 All of which means that the convention went
counter to the wishes of the leaders or of any ring or machine
that may have sought to control its action. It is not without
significance that the conventions of New Jersey and Pennsyl
vania, two states whose political complexions were very
dubious, likewise sent large delegations to Chicago, the former
with seven votes sending 21 delegates and the latter with 27
votes sending 108 delegates.
The distribution of the votes of the convention in the in
formal and formal ballots for delegates at large affords in
teresting evidence of the absence of autocratic, domineering
leadership so characteristic of a machine as the public now uses
the term. On the informal ballot the votes were divided among
more than thirteen candidates. The highest vote cast for any
one man was only 52 for Mr. Wm. Penn Clarke. Two only of
those voted for had attained the position that in these days
would insure them the title of a party "boss." They were
Mr. John A. Kasson, then chairman of the state central coim
mittee, and Mr. Alvin Saunders, who served Senator Harlan
so efficiently as his field officer. But both fell below four
other candidates in votes received in that informal ballot.
The second man in that ballot, Mr. L. C. Noble, was a merchant
of West Union, in Fayette county, and on the second formal
ballot he was elected, winning over Messrs. Kasson, O'Connor,
McPherson, Norris, Saunders and" James F. Wilson, all potent
leaders of state-wide fame. He was not conspicuous as a state
leader. He was then a member of the lower House of the Leg
islature and for the first time. He was, according to the recol
lections of old associates, a likable and popular man in Fay
ette county and in the General Assembly. The votes on all of
the ballots for delegates at large demonstrate conclusively that
there were neither party bosses in charge of the convention
nor dominating favorites among the leaders.
Another highly interesting fact in line with this conclusion
was the absence of nearly all of the names of the party chiefs
then honored with high official position, either at the state

'Daily Iowa State Register, Jan. 20, 1860.

170 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
capitol at Des Moines or at the national capitol at Washing
ton. Senator Grimes had urged Gov. Kirkwood to secure a
place on the delegation ; but his name was not presented at all.
None of the men in what we may designate as the major state
offices were voted for and neither Congressman Wm. Vande-
ver nor S. R. Curtis, nor Senators James W. Grimes or James
Harlan received votes. Their conspicuous positions doubtless
operated to prevent the consideration of their names in the
ballotings. As prudent politicians, they would realize that
any effort on the part of themselves personally or of their pro
moters, to secure the honor of going to Chicago when so many
were anxious to attend the national convention with official
credentials, might irritate and mayhap alienate friends and
supporters and have serious adverse results upon their careers
afterwards. They or their influential friends unquestionably
prevented the use of their names. Senator Harlan's candi
dacy for reelection to the national Senate was then in the bal
ances and this fact would of itself make him and his friends
backward in urging his name as a delegate.
Mr. Teesdale thought that it would be "regarded, abroad,
as somewhat singular that no member of our Senatorial or
Congressional delegation has a place on the delegation."1
Iowa 's course in this, however, was typical of the course of the
conventions of most of the states sending delegates to the
Chicago convention. That convention was noteworthy for the
absence of congressional leaders. New York and Rhode Island
alone of the twenty-seven states represented, each sent one of
their respective Senators, and Missouri and Pennsylvania
each sent one Congressman and Ohio sent two.
Again the rejection of the resolution to bind the delegation
by the unit rule and the absence or apparent absence of any
motion to instruct the delegation, indicates clearly the demo
cratic and popular character of the convention in Sherman's
Hall. Anything suggestive of control of the delegation eitheT
«s to numbers or as to free expression of the preferences of tho
delegates or their freedom of decision at Chicago, produced
'Ibid

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 171
spirited debate and plump negatives and contrary action by
the convention. The effect of the speech of John Johns sug
gests that spontaneous action rather than a program, con
trolled the delegates.
The refusal of the convention to bind its delegates by a unit
rule and its non-action in the matter of instructions, possess
significance in other respects. Describing the conduct of the
convention in a letter to his paper, The Iowa City Republican,
Mr. G. H. Jerome observed: "The mention of the name of
W. H. Seward, the first man of the Republic, awoke the echoes
of the hall. I think among all the candidates named, Seward
is the decided favorite of the people of Iowa: ' n Whether the
enthusiasm that made those echoes animated chiefly the non-
official onlookers in Sherman's Hall or the delegates, is not
indicated ; but it is probable that sentiment in favor of Sena
tor Seward prevailed decidedly over that for any other can
didate. Under such circumstances the decision of his par
tizans not to press a resolution of instructions affords us sub
stantial grounds for believing that conservative counsels pre
dominated. In Oregon, Kansas, Minnesota, Wisconsin and
Michigan the friends and promoters of his candidacy pushed
and secured specific instructions binding the delegations to
vote for him. They sought them in Maine, New Hampshire
and Massachusetts; and it was only by careful management
and slirewd tactics, especially in Maine2 and Massachusetts
that Seward's opponents prevented similar resolutions In
those states. His admirers and advocates at Des Moines ap
preciated that his popularity with the major portion of the
rank and file of the Republicans was one thing, and his popu
larity with a belligerent minority and with the independent
voters of the opposition was or might be an entirely different
matter. When majorities are small and uncertain victories
are won in the middle grounds. Iowa's Republicans at Sher
man's Hall were controlled by clear-eyed and cool-headed
party leaders, and not by reckless, erratic, tempestuous en-
'The Iowa City Republican, Jan. 25, 1360.
2C. S. Hamlin's, Life and Times of Hannibal Hamlin, pp. 331-351. Bout-
well's Reminiscences of Sixty Years of Public Life, I, 253.

172 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
thusiasts. Mr. Jerome's own account of the proceedings il
lustrates this admirably ; for in the sentence immediately fol
lowing the one just' quoted anent the popularity of Seward he
says, "The delegation, however, goes uninstructed. This is
as it should be." And in this policy or procedure the action
of Iowa was precisely the action of Indiana and of all the
New England states, save the one that had a candidate of its
own to commend to the convention at Chicago.
(e) The Delegation to the National Convention.
However we may regard the delegates sent by the Republi
cans of Iowa to the convention at Chicago, whether as patriots
or as politicians, an examination of their careers before and
after the convention in Sherman's Hall will convince most
persons that they represented their constituents excellently,
their patriotism and their prejudices no less than their princi
ples and policies.
The delegates were comparatively young men, their average
age being 38 years. Their ages ranged from 27 to 60 years.
Three were under 30 years. Ten were between 30 and 35;
eleven between 35 and 40; eight between 40 and 50; and
three between 50 and 60 years.
The nativity of the delegates approximated the nativity of
the state's citizenship. Six were natives of New England
states. Six were born in New York and two in Pennsylvania.
Nine were born in states south of Mason and Dixon's line.
Eight were natives of Ohio, one of Indiana, and one of Illi
nois. Two were born in Ireland, one in Holstein, and one in
Holland. The duration of their residence in Iowa prior to 1860
ranged from three to twenty years. Thirteen delegates had
lived in the State an average of only five years. Fourteen had
been residents for an average of 13 years and four had lived
in Iowa for 23 years. The average duration of the 31 known
was twelve years.
As regards their education in the narrow sense of "school
ing, ' ' one-half of the' delegation had but little more than the

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 178
usual training afforded in the common schools. They had ob
tained their education in the give and take of ordinary affairs,
behind the plow or at the work bench, in the counting room
or behind the counter, at the type-setter's case or in the edi
torial room, at the bar or on the bench. Nearly half of the
delegates had attended academies, then often approximating
collegiate institutions in rank or public esteem. Ten dele
gates had been students at colleges or universities, in most
cases being graduates. The major number with collegiate
training were natives of northern states, chiefly of New Eng
land and the Middle States. Two had been matriculates of
European Universities.
In point of scholastic training and attainment, in respect
of. the mastery of the ancient or classical and the modern
languages, and familiarity with the writings of the learned
doctors in philosophy and law, Mr. Henry P. Scholte of
Marion county, probably could easily claim superior rank. He
had his first training at the Athenaeum Illustre of Amsterdam
and then became a student and graduate of the University of
Leyden. Lt. Governor Rusch of Scott county, was perhaps
entitled to second place: he had been educated first at ihi
Gymnasium in Meldorf and thereafter he studied "eine zeit
lang'1 at the University of Kiel until his participation in the
agitation for more liberal government in North Germany in
1846-47 made his emigration to the United States highly ex
pedient.1 Of the native born, Mr. John A. Kasson was facile
prim eps. He was a graduate of the University of Vermont
and iarly attracted public notice as a writer on legal matters,
and as an orator. In 1849, Charles Sumner had spoken of
an article containing his suggestions for the reform of the
legal procedure of Massachusetts in flattering terms2 and in
Eiboeck, Die Deutschen von Iowa, p. 417.
2. The article referred to may be found In The Monthly Law Reporter
(Boston) June, 1849, v. 12 (n. s. v. 2) pp. 61-80, entitled Law Reform —
Practice. Mr. Sumner's commendation is expressed In strong terms. Three sen
tences from his letter follow: "I admired the vivid style, the facility of
practical illustration, and the complete mastery of the subject which it
showed. You have done good service to Jurisprudence, and helped dis
charge the debt which Lord Bacon tells us we owe to our prof ession,\ by
this able exposition of a vicious system. I trust that our Commonwealth
will have the wisdom to adopt your suggestions." Charles Sumner to
John A. Kasson, New Bedford, July 12, 1849. The original is in the Al
drich Collections in the Historical Department of Iowa. The letter is
reprinted in extenso in E. L. Pierce's Memoir and Letters of Charles Sum
ner, Vol. Ill, 43.

174 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
1854 when the Chamber of Commerce of St. Louis invited the
legislators of Illinois to be their guests at a banquet, Mr.
Kasson, although a young man, was asked to serve as the toast-
master, so great then was his capacity for polished speech.1
The delegates were engaged in various occupations; but
strict classification is not easy for the reason that business and
professional pursuits were not then sharply differentiated, nor
did those therein always specialize and confine themselves to
one line. Nor was private business much lessened during the
occupancy of public office. Mr. Coker F. Clarkson of Grundy
county had been an influential editor in Indiana, but in 1860
he was a farmer: — then and thereafter, however, was con
stantly engaged in editorial work. Mr. Jacob Butler of Mus
catine, while a well known lawyer, was then largely interested
in the operation of banks, a gas company and in railroad con
struction. Mr. J. B. Grinnell had been technically educated
for the ministry and for many years he had followed that
profession, doing so even at that time, but he listed himself
as a farmer and wool grower and was constantly engaged in
town and railroad building. Mr. Scholte while editing The
Pella Gazette, was simultaneously acting as a banker, as a
lawyer, as a land broker, as a preacher, having been especially
educated for the latter profession. Taking those occupations
in which they were primarily engaged or in which they were
chiefly known, the delegation to Chicago contained one banker,
two preachers, four merchants, five farmers and twenty-three
lawyers. The absence of editors from the delegation is noteworthy,
particularly in view of the considerable number present in
Sherman's Hall, and their normal potency in political mat
ters. Aside from mere chance, two facts may account for
their absence. Some of the prominent editors were at tfut
time either occupants of profitable positions in the State or
were candidates for them. We have already seen that half a
dozen prominent editors were talked of as candidates for pub
lic printer. Again the profits of newspapers then depended
largely upon the favorable disposition of the allowances of
'Memoirs of Gustave Koerner, I, 612.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 r,5
state and local budgets in the matter of public printing, name
ly for the publication of the laws and the "delinquent tax
lists. ' ' Consequently for editors to push for the honor of go
ing to the national convention as accredited delegates was
not prudent. However, Mr. Scholte, Mr. A. F. Brown of
Black Hawk, Mr. W. Penn Clarke, of Johnson, Mr. C. F.
Clarkson, of Grundy, and Mr. Wm. M. Stone of Marion
county, had been editors of considerable experience.
The careers of many of the delegates were then or were to
become full of honors and achievement in the public service
of the State and of the nation, both in peace and in war. The
names of Allison, Caldwell, and Clarkson, of Grinnell, Hep
burn and Hoxie, of Hubbard, Kasson and Reuben Noble, of
Nourse, 0 'Connor and Saunders, of Smyth, Stone and Wilson,
— these were names to conjure with in Iowa during most of
the sixty years just past.
Nearly all of the delegates had made their mark in state
affairs before their selection by the convention at Des Moines.
Nine had helped to organize the Republican party at Iowa
City: — Messrs. J. F. Brown, Jacob Butler, J. W. Caldwell, J.
B. Grinnell, C. C. Nourse, Henry O'Connor, John Shane, Wm.
M. Stone, and James F. Wilson. Three had taken part in the
first national conventions of the party in 1856, Mr. W. Penn
Clarke at Pittsburg and Messrs. J. W. Caldwell and R. L. B.
Clarke at Philadelphia. Messrs. Reuben Noble, O'Connor and
Stone had been the nominees of the Republicans for presiden
tial electors in 1856. Mr. Alvin Saunders had been a member
of the Constitutional Convention of 1846; and Messrs. W.
Penn Clarke, R. L. B. Clarke, Thomas Seeley, Wm. A. Warren
and James F. Wilson had been members of the Constitutional
Convention of 1857.
Messrs. A. F. Brown, Hepburn, Nourse and O'Connor and
Benjamin Rector had attained local celebrity either as prose
cuting or as district attorneys. Mr. Wm. P. Clarke was then
reporter for the supreme court. Four of the delegation had
occupied the district bench — Judges Hubbard, Rankin, Smyth
and Stone. Both Mr. Clarke and Mr. Nourse, though young.

176 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
men, had been urged as candidates for the supreme court.
Later Messrs. Nourse, Noble and Shane were elected to the
district bench and twice Judge Reuben Noble was the nominee
of the Democratic party for the supreme court. Judge Wm.
Smyth was then a member of the Code Commission. Two of
those just mentioned, Messrs. Nourse and O'Connor, became
attorney general of Iowa.
Nine of the delegates had had experience in one or both
houses of the state Legislature: — L. C. and Reuben Noble,
Thompson and Wilson in the lower and Grinnell, McPherson,
Rankin, Rusch, Saunders and Wilson in the upper house.
Ten were in the Legislature at the time they were chosen: — ¦
Blackford, Bowdoin, Caldwell and L. C. Noble in the House
and A. F. Brown, McPherson, Rankin, Saunders, Thompson
and Wilson in the Senate.- Subsequently Messrs. Butler, Kas
son and Seeley were elected to the House; Mr. Butler being
elected speaker and Mr. Kasson securing the appropriation
for the present state capitol. Mr. C. F. Clarkson and Mr. John
Shane were elected to the Senate. Mr. Rusch was Lt. Gover
nor at the time and thereby presiding officer of the Senate.
Messrs. Kasson and Seeley were members of a committee
appointed by Gov. Lowe to examine into the condition of the
public offices of the State and to report: their recommenda
tions presented in 1860 worke*d a revolution in the methods
of accounting. Mr. Wm. Penn Clarke had been nominated for
Governor in 1848 by the Abolition party, and he was frequent
ly mentioned for the office later. Judge Stone in 1863 was
elected Governor, serving four years; and in 1872 Mr. O'Con
nor was a leading candidate for the nomination. Messrs. Geo.
A. Hawley, M. L. McPherson and John W. Thompson were
prominent candidates for the Republican nomination for sec
retary of state that year, or in 1862.
Nineteen of the thirty-seven delegates and alternates
entered the army service during the Civil War, a number at
taining high official rank. Messrs. L. C. Noble, Henry
O'Connor, Benjamin Rector and N. J. Rusch became Majors;
J . W. Caldwell and W. P. Hepburn Lt. Colonels ; H. C. Cald-

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 177
well, McPherson, Rankin, Shane and Smyth the rank of Col
onel ; and Wm. M. Stone attained the rank of Bvt. Brigadier
General. Majors Rector and Rusch died at the front.
A third of the delegation had noteworthy careers in the ser
vice of the national government either in the administrative
branches or on the bench or in Congress. In 1864. President
Lincoln appointed Col. H. Clay Caldwell Judge of the Federal
District Court for Arkansas, a position in which he steadily
increased his fame ; and in 1890 President Harrison elevated
him to the position of U. S. Judge of the Eighth Circuit, his
jurisdiction comprising Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Nebras
ka, Iowa, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Wyoming and
Colorado. Mr. O'Connor was appointed solicitor of the State Depart
ment at Washington by President Grant and served in that
important post continuously under Secretaries Fish, Evarts,
Blaine and Frelinghuysen.
Mr. Herbert M. Hoxie became United States Marshal for
Iowa under President Lincoln and won great applause for
the vigor of his administration. Following the war he entered
upon an increasingly successful career in the construction of
railroads and in railway administration, being at his death in
1886 the virtual head of the Gould system of roads in the
southwest and classed among the foremost railway managers
in the country.1
Mr. Kasson 's career in the service of the national adminis
tration was notable. He was appointed First Assistant Post
master-General under President Lincoln. He initiated the
first International Postal Commission at Paris in 1863, and
represented our government. Later he gained distinction as
our Minister to the Courts of Austria and Berlin. He rep
resented our government in the Congo Conference at Berlin
and in the Samoan Conference at Washington; and was a
member of the Canadian Commission. He closed his career as

'Harper's Weekly, XXX, p. 784 (Dec. 4, 1886).
12

178 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
the negotiator of the Treaties of Reciprocity with sundry
countries under the McKinley tariff law.
Seven members of the delegation first selected, entered the
lower House of Congress — Messrs. Allison of Dubuque, Grin
nell of Poweshiek, Hepburn of Marshall, Hubbard of Wood
bury, Kasson of Polk, Smyth of Linn and Wilson of Jefferson
county. Three other members came near achieving the same
distinction. Mr. R. L. B. Clarke of Henry was the Whig nomi
nee for Congress in 1854 and fell but little short of winning
the'election. In 1866 Mr. M. L. McPherson of Madison was the-
strong third in a triangular contest for the Republican nom
ination in the old Fifth district, the prize going to Gen.
G. M. Dodge. In 1866 Judge Noble of Clayton parted
company with the Republican party over President Johnson
and reconstruction, and was Mr. Allison's opponent in the
congressional canvass. Mr. C. F. Clarkson came near re
ceiving a nomination for Congress in 1868.
In the crucial days of the war and following, there were few
more influential men in the lower House at Washington than
Wm. B. Allison, John A. Kasson and James F. Wilson. "The
men from Iowa" were both guides and leaders in congres
sional debates and party caucuses and potent in moulding
public opinion.1 Mr. Wm. B. Allison had not served his third
term before Mr. James G. Blaine, himself then about succeed
ing Thaddeus Stevens as leader of the House, included the
young Iowan among the three most influential leaders of
Congress.2

ITarbell, The Tariff in Our Times in The American Magazine, LXIII,
279. "Messrs. Allison, Wiison and Kasson, members of Congress from
Iowa, led in the fight against the outbreak of high protection which im
mediately followed the war."
'Ibid, p. 474. Miss Tarbell relates the following: Discussing the do
mination of Thaddeus Stevens and the emancipation of the Republican
party from his rule on his death in 1868, Mr. James G. Blaine in response
to a question, "Whom have you got for leaders?" is reported to have saidi:
"There are three young men coming forward. Allison will be heard from;.
so will James A. Garfield," and then he paused. "Who is the third?" ' "I
don't see the third," ' Blaine replied, gazing into the dome."

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 17il
The great goal of political ambition then as nowadays was
membership in the Senate of the United States. In connec
tion with the senatorial elections in 1858 and '60 the names
of Henry O'Connor, Wm. Penn Clarke and Judge Smyth
were mentioned and urged in the former and those of Mr.
Butler, Mr. Kasson and Judge Reuben Noble in the latter
election. Senator Grimes regarded Judge Smyth as his most
dangerous competitor in 1858. In the seventies and again in
the eighties Mr. Kasson was the candidate of a powerful group
of the party but the fates did not decide in his favor. Three
of the delegation, however, entered the Senate. Alvin Saun
ders of Henry county was appointed Governor of the Terri
tory of Nebraska in 1861, serving until 1867, and in 1883 he
was sent to the Senate from that State, serving one term.
James F. Wilson, after his distinguished career in the House
of Representatives, became a Senator of Iowa in 1883, and
remained so up to his death in 1895. In 1873 Mr. W. B. Allison
entered the Upper Chamber, after eight years in the House
of Representatives, serving without interruption for almost
thirty-six years, a career without duplicate in that noted body.
Among its members he became, Senator Hale of Maine as
serts, ' ' an exalted and accepted leader ' '/ whose solid achieve
ments won from Senator Lodge of Massachusetts the encomium
that "for many years he was the nation's 'best senator,' '
becoming like Webster "one of the institutions" of the
country.2 Two of the delegates were at various times widely men
tioned in public discussion as candidates for the Presidency.
The nomination of Judge H. Clay Caldwell by the national
Democratic party was strongly urged in 1896 and 1900 ; some
of his decisions respecting the relations of railroads to their
laborers and their relations to the public had made him very
popular with the masses as well as with the profession; but
he refused to allow his friends to promote him.3 At the na
tional Republican convention at Chicago in 1888, Senator Al-

'Congressional Record, Proceedings in the Senate, Feb. 6. 1909.
'Ibid.
"The Annals of Iowa (3d Series) VIII, 267.

180 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
lison's name was formally presented and the late Senator
Hoar of Massachusetts informs us that "no other person ever
came so near the Presidency of the United States and missed
it," the contrary disposition of one notable alone controlling
the vote of the New York delegation and thwarting his nom
ination.1 (f ) Contemporary Comment mi the Conclusions of the Con
vention.
The proceedings and conclusions of the convention, as was
the case with the call and the preliminaries thereof, elicited
comparatively few comments in the party press of the State.
Editorial comment is rare. Epistolary or reportorial com
ment is more frequent. Such papers as The News of Boone,
The Hawk-Eye of Burlington, The Intelligencer of Charles
City, The Daily Gazette of Davenport, The Gate City of Keo
kuk, The Journal of Muscatine, The Courier of Ottumwa, The
Hamilton Freeman of Webster City, made no editorial com
ment. We need not conclude, however, that their respective
editors were either ignorant of or indifferent to the work of
the convention. The editors of all, save The Hawk-Eye and
The Intelligencer, were delegates and took part in the pro
ceedings. Some of them sent interesting letters back to their
readers in which we find what were virtually editorial obser
vations. Some of the comments upon the boisterous character of
the proceedings have been given. Sundry editors pass judg
ment upon the significance of the proceedings and a few make
assertions as to the attitude of the convention and of its na
tional delegates towards national candidates. Altogether they
afford us interesting evidence of the contrary and divergent
interpretations of the same transactions. Each one saw what
his predilections or prejudices inclined him to see. Their ex
pressions are given with but little 'condensation in what fol
lows.

'G. P. Hoar, Autobiography of Seventy Years, I, 410-413.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 181
In the fore part of 1860 the columns of The Springfield
(Mass.) Republican contained a number of racy letters from
"Our Iowa Correspondent." They were the product of the
facile pen of Fitz Henry Warren of Burlington. On his re
turn from the convention at Des Moines, where he was
chairman of his county's delegation, he wrote the following,
dated at Burlington, Jan. 21.
Our state convention for the election of delegates to Chicago was
in convulsive throes last Wednesday. As there were over five hun
dred candidates for the places you can calculate the number In
attendance. The representation first proposed was three hundred
and thirty, but there being still some disappointed aspirants, the
number was made thirty-three. I can give you one negative item
of information only — they are not for Bates. When people die in
this country, they are buried, and though tenderly remembered, are
never disinterred for political or other purposes; in which regard
we are far behind the refined tastes of our eastern kinsfolk.
My bowels of compassion are strongly moved for the unfortunate
seven who may be selected for the cabinet of the Republican
president, if, contrary to my expectations, we are to have one. Let
them court the protection of granite battlements, mounted with
cannon and culverin, ditched and counterscarped, portholed and
portcullised. Never since the northern barbarians overran the
vine clad hills and valleys of Italy, has there been such an irruption
as there will be into Washington with a change of dynasty. Let the
prayers of the Christian Church go up in advance for these pre
destined victims of the universal "give, give," of famished patri
otism. We need not waste our supplications on women in the "perils
of child birth" and "sick persons and young children," when man
hood and mature age are gasping for breath in the suffocation of an
office-seeking mob.1
Another observer, an Ohioan who happened to be in Des
Moines the day of the convention, attended its sessions. He
gave The Cincinnati Gazette an account of the character of the
delegates with a slightly different flavor, observing :
Iowa may be relied upon as one of the firm Republican states.
The leading politicians are generally young men of a high order of
talent, devoted to principles rather than to men; energetic and en-

'The Springfield (Mass.) Republican (wk.) Feb. 4, 1860. The writer
is indebted to Mr. Otha Thomas, a. graduate student of law in Vale Uni
versity for the extract.

182 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
thusiastic they will arouse the whole State in the coming canvass,
to an extent which will result in a Republican majority of at least
five thousand votes.1
A correspondent of The Fairfield Ledger, who signs himself
"Vindex" discusses the delegation, its work and the party's
prospects in a pointed fashion. As Fairfield was Senator
James F. Wilson's home town one is curious whether or not
his views are reflected. The letter was penned at Des Moines
the day following the convention (Jan. 19.)
The delegation is left uninstructed and will go "perfectly free to
regulate their vote in their own way" which I think is entirely
proper and right. It cannot be told now who it will be best to select
as the representative for the ensuing contest. Whoever he may be I
hope he will be a full grown Republican — no weakkneed, limber
backed, half and half compromiser. The country and the times de
mand a thoroughbred Republican and I doubt not that the Chicago
convention will meet this demand promptly and with the right kind
of a man.
The Republican party has a severe contest before it; but a tri
umph is certain if the right kind of counsels prevail. Advices flow
into this point from all sections of the country and evince a strong
and steady growth of Republican sentiment — the truth is that a
prudent and firm course at Chicago will bring to our support a host
of men who are little suspected of Republican proclivities. I am
advised of quite a number of leading and influential Democrats who
are waiting for the action of the Republican convention before de
termining their course in the coming canvass. I know that many
of them have, in private, said that they are sick of the Democratic
party and its detestable dogmas. They acknowledge that the party
is completely sold out to the slave power and insist that they can
not and will not continue to insult their intelligence by trying to
apologize for and whitewash the flagrant wrongs perpetrated by
their party.2
The conspicuous fact in public debate was Slavery. Yet
Abolitionism was the bete noir of prudent politicians. The con
vention indulged in no resolutions respecting the vexed ques
tion, but it favored two men who were tainted with strong
prejudices favorable to the Negro. This phase of the conven
tion's work is adverted to by The Indianola Visitor, whose

'The Weekly Iowa Citizen, Feb. 8, 1860.
'The Fairfield Ledger, Jan. 27, 1860.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 183
editor, Mr. J. H. Knox, was a Marylander, with an anti-slav
ery bent but with an aversion for Abolitionists. Writing
from Des Moines he says :
You will see by reference to this list [of delegates] that there is
just enough of the Brown sympathizing Republicans in the dele
gation to give it a strong Abolition odor. Grinnell and Clarke are
avowed and undeniable Abolitionists; the former having been a
bosom friend of the Harper's Ferry insurrectionist up to the moment
of his death and would be today loud in praise of his acts were he
not afraid that it might possibly be unpopular to openly eulogize
treason. When Brown went through his town with a lot of stolen
property Mr. Grinnell harbored him and raised money to aid him on
his journey to Canada. W. Penn Clarke is known all over the State
as an Abolitionist and is the leader of that wing of the party to
which he belongs. He is a man of ability — one who has worked his
own passage through life from the position of a tramping journey
man printer to that of a prominent politician and one of the ablest
members of the bar in the State. With the aid of Grinnell. Clarke
will make the Iowa delegation show the ebony at Chicago. I do not
know whom the majority of the delegation are in favor of for Presi
dent, nor do I think they can consistently decide in favor of any
Republican. The call for the national convention is not for a Re
publican convention but for' one composed of delegates from every
party opposed to the policy of James Buchanan. Under the call
Free Lovers, Garrisonites and Woman's Rights parties, all have a
perfect right to send their delegates to the convention and there put
forth their candidate for nomination.1
Similar, but 'much less sympathetic sentiments were ex
pressed by Mr. Stilson Hutchins, who had then but recently
assumed editorial control of the Iowa State Journal, the organ
of the Democrats at the capital city. Under the caption
~" 'Union Men' of the North" he made (Jan. 21) the follow
ing comments on some of the notables honored by the conven
tion: Wm. Penn Clarke, one of John Brown's Iowa correspondents
when that "martyr" was at Harper's Ferry, perfecting his "unwise
and censurable scheme," heads the list of delegates to represent the
great Republican States rights party at Chicago.
J. B. Grinnell, as pure an Abolitionist as today treads Massa
chusetts soil — and the man who, in the pulpit of the Congregational

'The Indianola Visitor, Jan. 26. I860.

184 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
church in the town of Grinnell, in Poweshiek county, stood by the
side of John Brown, then reeking with the blood of his murdered
victims, and appealed to the audience to subscribe liberally to aid
him on his way, is a co-delegate.
Jacob Butler, one of the Vice-Presidents of the Convention of
which Clarke and Grinnell are the representatives, attended as a
delegate a Disunion Abolition Convention at Chicago last summer,
and made, of all members, the most infamous disunion speech.
These are the representatives of the "conservative" spirit of the coun
try, and the candidates they put in nomination, Webster and Clay
Whigs will feel proud to support.
One of the obstreperous facts in the political field in 1860
was the presence of the foreign voter and his belligerent dis
position in all matters closely affecting his welfare. Both
parties studiously avoided irritating the foreign born; but
the latter 's experience with Know-Nothingism was still a
vivid memory and we see some signs of their sensitiveness re
specting their treatment in the comments of the press. The
chief fact in the proceedings of the convention as Mr. F. M.
Zieback, editor of the Sioux City Register, the organ of the
Democratic party in the northwest part of the State saw it,
was the clash of the elements in respect of slavery and the
"foreigners." He thus characterized the proceedings:
There were three different elements in the Convention, viz.: The
Irrepressible Brown Republicans who favored Seward; the Germans
who favored a Michigan gentleman, and the dark lantern party who
favored Bates. They had a stormy time, as might be expected.1
In the columns of The Pella Gazette we find some interest
ing observations upon the makeup of the delegation that in
dicate how real to the foreign born was the fear of nativistie
antagonism and how welcome were definite signs of its abate
ment. Mr. Scholte observed:
If our readers look over the list of delegates they will perceive
that not only the different parts of the State are represented in the
delegation, but also that several naturalized citizens are among the
delegates. The last feature is certainly a renewed and indubitable
proof that there is no proscription of foreign birth. That part of
the population of Iowa has a fair proportion in the representation

'The Sioux City Register, Jan. 28, 1860.

IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN 18;-)
of our State in the national convention for the purpose of nominat
ing candidates for President and Vice-President of the United
States. We call attention to that particular feature because the
Democratic leaders are continually trying to influence foreign born
citizens by the unwarranted assertion that the Republican party is
under the control of the party generally known as the Know-Nothing
or Native American.
We do not object to a native American having more sympathy
with the native born — that is natural — and exists among Democrats
as well as Republicans; but when that natural sympathy degener
ates into exclusion and proscription of citizens of foreign birth it
ought to be denounced and resisted. We are therefore well pleased
to see the frequent refutation of that slander by the Republican
party in the election of foreign born citizens.1
A few surmises are ventured as to the attitude of the dele
gation selected for Chicago towards the candidates for the
Presidency. Some are direct and positive, some are balanced
with alternatives. They indicate the inclinations of the writ
ers as much as they do their cool judgment. The correspond
ent of The Vinton Eagle, presumably Senator Drummond,
wrote, under date of Jan. 23 :
The "Irrepressibles" are well represented on the delegation, a
majority being of that faith. But it makes no difference about that
in this State. Iowa is sure to give her vote to the Chicago nominee
whoever he may be, and the general impression here is that Cam
eron will he the man.2
On January 20 a correspondent wrote The Keosauqua Re
publican from Des Moines:
The Convention sent 33 delegates to Chicago to cast 8 votes.
Many of the delegates are supposed to be Seward men, though most
of them declared themselves not committed and determined to be
influenced in their choice only by considerations of public good and
availability. No 'doubt a large portion of the delegation will go for
Seward if they believe from the sentiment and lights developed at
Chicago that he can be elected. Some of the delegates undoubtedly
have a decided preference for some more conservative man, or at
least some one who is regarded by the people as a more conserva
tive man.3

'The Pella Gazette, Jan. 25, I860.
'The Vinton Eagle, Jan. 31, 1860.
'The Keosauqua Republican, Jan. 27, 1860.

186 IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
About the same date the correspondent of The Dubuque
Times, presumably Mr. Frank W. Palmer, penned the fol
lowing :
Some of the delegates expressed their unalterable determination
to cast their votes and use all honorable means within their power
to secure the nomination and election of the "man of the hour"
whose past career, unclouded and unspotted, shall be deemed a suffi
cient guarantee of his future action — a true and unfaltering expon
ent of the principles of the Republican party1
One might conclude that Gov. Seward was in the mind of
those delegates with "unalterable determination" but the con
clusion is not necessary.
A correspondent of The Gate City wrote the following dated
at Des Moines, Jan.. 21 :
The delegates were uninstructed, which was right. All the pro
posed candidates have friends among them, though we presume no
one has a majority. We think Lincoln and Cameron have more
friends, very decidedly, than any other two.2
The same sentiment was expressed by the veteran, John
Teesdale, in terms that summarize many of his own editorial
observations in The Citizen during the year preceding:
The delegates go uncommitted; as they should do. No attempt
was made to pack the delegation for any aspirant to the Presidency.
Seward, Chase, McLean, Bates, Lincoln, Cameron, and other dis
tinguished statesmen, have their friends in the delegation. But
when it is fairly ascertained who is the man to bear aloft the Re
publican banner, and lead the free mas'ses to victory, Iowa will be
found ready to declare her preference.3
A dispatch to the Chicago Press and Tribune, printed Jan.
21, declared that the delegates from Iowa were in favor of
the nomination of Mr. Seward. Later reports contradicted
the first advices. An editorial rectifying first comments con
cluded with the observation "The spirit of the Iowa Repub
licans was and is, to go for the man who seems likeliest to
be elected when the national convention meets, provided al-
"Reprinted in The Lyons .Weekly Mirror, Jan. 26. 1860.
'The Gate City, Jan. 26, 1860.
"The Daily Iowa State Register. Jan. 20, 1860.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 187
ways that he is a staunch Republican with a backbone per
fectly straight." This sentiment of The' Press elicited the fol
lowing from Mr. Add IT. Sanders:
The Press is right. The Iowa delegation will enter the Repub
lican national convention as every other delegation should do, un
pledged to any man and thus in a position to calmly make their
choice after the claims and strength of the different candidates for
nomination are thoroughly investigated, with the sole object before
them of the success of the Republican party above and beyond any
particular individual's personal elevation. Whoever is nominated
of those whose names have been prominently mentioned in connec
tion with the position, our delegation may safely promise the people
and the party the electoral vote of Iowa. The people will redeem
this promise most gloriously. ..No State in the Union is more thor
oughly impregnated with the spirit of true Republicanism than
Iowa.1 Mr. John Mahin noting the first dispatch or a similar re
port referred to above wrote The Muscatine Daily Journal
denying its authenticity and saying:
We judge from conversation with many of the delegates and from
the hearty applause which greeted the mention of Mr. Seward's
name by the gentlemen who addressed the convention, that he is the
first choice of the majority of the Republicans of the State; but the
disposition appeared unanimous to acquiesce in the action of the
national convention.2
The extract from the Press and Tribune quoted above was
reprinted in Der Demokrat also of Davenport with comment
in agreement, concluding with the observation: ". . . . at
present the views of the several delegates in regard to the
president to be nominated are still widely diverging. ' '3
Another paper' of Chicago, the Journal, announced that
"the delegates . . . it is understood, favor the nomina
tion of Mr. Seward for the Presidency." Commenting on this
statement, Mr. Clark Dunham said:

'The Davenport Daily Gazette, Jan. 27, 1860.
'The Muscatine Daily Journal, Jan. 23, 1860.
"Der Democrat, Jan. 24, 1860. The writer is indebted to Mr. Harry E.
Downe"r and Dr. August P. Richter of Davenport for the citations from
The Daily Gazette and Der Demokrat relative to the reports and com
ments in The Press and Tribune of Chicago.

188 w IOWA AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Our Chicago contemporary has sources of information which are
inaccessible to us. So . far as we can learn our delegation is not
committed to any candidate, the sentiment of the convention was,
that our representatives shall consult and co-operate with those
from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Indiana. We think we may
venture to say, that whoever is the strongest in these states will be
the one for whom our vote will be thrown.1
So far as the writer can discover no criticism of the con
vention because of its action or non-action in the matter of
instructions, or in respect of the makeup of the delegation,
or the alleged or presumed preferences of the delegates for
candidates, was made by any Republican editor in Iowa. None
indicated any positive or insistent preferences. Each and all
seem to assume and to presume that success at the polls in
the coming election was the paramount consideration. The
ambitions of candidates or the claims of their friends or
promoters and the demands of this or that state or section
for "recognition" were minor matters and negligible.
(g) Commentary and Conclusion.
However one may regard the character of the delegates to
the Republican state convention that assembled in Sherman's
Hall on Wednesday afternoon, January 18, 1860; whatever
conclusion is tenable as to the motif impelling the delegates
in the proceedings; and be one's opinion such as it may as
to the character or careers of the delegates selected by the
convention to represent its wishes and to determine for its
members on the proper course at Chicago — several conclusions
are justified by the foregoing exhibits.
If a "machine" controlled in the preliminaries of the con
vention at Des Moines, that is in the caucuses and conven
tions in the cities and country districts in the selection of
the county delegates, the managers of the machine picked and
sent to Des Moines some of the best ability and finest char
acter to be found in the Republican party in Iowa at the
time of its maximum vigor and virtue. Its delegates thor
oughly represented not only the vitality of the party, but the
general average of Iowa's citizenship.
'j. ..e Dauy Hawk-Eye, Jan. 25, 1860.

THE REPUBLICAN PRELIMINARIES OF 1860 IK!)
If "politics" controlled in the proceedings of the conven
tion at Des Moines it was the natural and necessary result
of the collision of contrary interests in the State whose rep
resentatives in the nature of the case sought position and
power to protect and further those interests. The conclusion
of their proceedings — their negation of instructions or of the
unit rule — in the light of the conditions then manifest and in
the judgment of those who have studied them in the lights
and shades of subsequent events, was the very essence of com
mon sense as well as the very substance of political wisdom.
If the delegates selected by Iowa's Republicans on January
18, 1860, to represent them in the celebrated convention at
Chicago were "politicians" and "wire-pullers" they were
certainly excellent samples of the species — and a sort that it
would be well if their numbers and kind would increase and
multiply. The attitude of the delegates in Sherman's Hall towards
national issues and the several candidates then mentioned and
urged upon their consideration completely represented the
dominant wish of the rank and file of the party throughout
the State as it was indicated in their party press during the
year preceding. Prejudices relative to sundry moot points
that aroused animosity and alienated allies and personal pref
erences for particular candidates were deliberately checked, in
order that there might result an efficient harmony on matters
of universal interest among the opposition to the Administra
tion in control at Washington.
Finally the name of Abraham Lincoln of Illinois seems to
have been as much in the minds and in the calculations of
the delegates and leaders at Des' Moines, as were the names of
Banks or Bates or Cameron or Chase or Fessenden or McLean
or Wade — and possibly — or Seward.