Lincoln arrived only a few days before the election, and at once
plunged into "electioneering." He ran as "an avowed Clay man," and
the county was stiffly Democratic. However, in those days political
contests were almost purely personal. If the candidate was liked
he was voted for irrespective of principles. Around New Salem
the population turned in and helped Lincoln almost to a man. "The
Democrats of New Salem worked for Lincoln out of their personal regard
for him," said Stephen T. Logan, a young lawyer of Springfield, who
made Lincoln's acquaintance in the campaign. "He was as stiff as a man
could be in his Whig doctrines. They did this for him simply because
he was popular--because he was Lincoln."
It was the custom for the candidates to appear at every gathering
which brought the people out, and, if they had a chance, to make
speeches. Then, as now, the farmers gathered at the county-seat or at
the largest town within their reach on Saturday afternoons, to dispose
of produce, buy supplies, see their neighbors, and get the news.
During "election times" candidates were always present, and a regular
feature of the day was listening to their speeches. Public sales also
were gatherings which they never missed, it being expected that after
the "vandoo" the candidates would take the auctioneer's place.
Lincoln let none of these chances to be heard slip. Accompanied by his
friends, generally including a few Clary's Grove Boys, he always was
present. The first speech he made was after a sale at Pappsville. What
he said there is not remembered; but an illustration of the kind
of man he was, interpolated into his discourse, made a lasting
impression. A fight broke out in his audience while he was on the
stand, and observing that one of his friends was being worsted, he
bounded into the group of contestants, seized the fellow who had his
supporter down, threw him "ten or twelve feet," mounted the platform,
and finished the speech. Sangamon County could appreciate such
a performance; and the crowd that day at Pappsville never forgot
Lincoln.
His appearance at Springfield at this time was of great importance to
him. Springfield was not at that time a very attractive place. Bryant,
visiting it in June, 1832, said that the houses were not as good as at
Jacksonville, "a considerable proportion of them being log cabins,
and the whole town having an appearance of dirt and discomfort."
Nevertheless it was the largest town in the county, and among its
inhabitants were many young men of education, birth, and energy. One
of these men Lincoln had become well acquainted with in the Black
Hawk War--Major John T. Stewart,[F] at that time a lawyer, and, like
Lincoln, a candidate for the General Assembly. He met others at this
time who were to be associated with him more or less closely in the
future in both law and politics, such as Judge Logan and William
Butler. With these men the manners which had won him the day at
Pappsville were of no value; what impressed them was his "very
sensible speech," and his decided individuality and originality.
The election came off on August 6th. The first civil office Lincoln
ever held was that of clerk of this election. The report in his hand
still exists; as far as we know, it is his first official document.
Lincoln was defeated. "This was the only time Abraham was ever
defeated on a direct vote of the people," say his autobiographical
notes. He had a consolation in his defeat, however, for in spite of
the pronounced Democratic sentiments of his precinct, he received two
hundred and seventy-seven votes out of three hundred cast.[G]
_(Begun in the November number, 1895; to be continued.)_
[Footnote A: The story of Lincoln's first seventeen months in
Illinois, outlined in this paragraph, is told in MCCLURE'S MAGAZINE
for December.]
[Footnote B: This story of Kirkpatrick's unfair treatment of Lincoln
we owe to the courtesy of Colonel Clark E. Carr of Galesburg,
Illinois, to whom it was told several times by Greene himself.]
[Footnote C: William Cullen Bryant, who was in Illinois in 1832 at the
time of the Black Hawk War, used to tell of meeting in his travels in
the State a company of Illinois volunteers, commanded by a "raw youth"
of "quaint and pleasant" speech, and of learning afterwards that this
captain was Abraham Lincoln. As Lincoln's captaincy ended on May 27th,
and Mr. Bryant did not reach Jacksonville, Illinois, until June 12th,
and as the nearest point he came to the army was Pleasant Grove, eight
miles from Pekin on the Illinois River, and that was at a time when
the body of Rangers to which Lincoln belonged was fifty miles away on
the rapids of the Illinois, it is evident that the "raw youth" could
not have been Lincoln, much as one would like to believe that it was.
See "Life of William Cullen Bryant," by Parke Godwin, vol. i. page
283. Also Prose of William Cullen Bryant, edited by Parke Godwin, vol.
ii. page 20.]
[Footnote D: See Wisconsin Historical Collections, vol. x., for Major
Anderson's reminiscences of the Black Hawk War.]
[Footnote E: Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln by Noah Brooks.]
[Footnote F: There were many prominent Americans in the Black Hawk
War, with some of whom Lincoln became acquainted. Among the best known
were General Robert Anderson; Colonel Zachary Taylor; General Scott,
afterwards candidate for President, and Lieut.-General; Henry Dodge,
Governor of the Territory of Wisconsin and United States Senator; Hon.
William L.D. Ewing and Hon. Sidney Breese, both United States Senators
from Illinois; William S. Hamilton, a son of Alexander Hamilton;
Colonel Nathan Boone, son of Daniel Boone; Lieutenant Albert Sydney
Johnston, afterwards a Confederate general. Jefferson Davis was not in
the war, as has been so often stated.]
[Footnote G: In the New Salem precinct, at the August election of
1832, exactly three hundred votes were cast. Of these Lincoln received
277. The facts upon this point are here stated for the first time.
The biographers as a rule have agreed that Lincoln received all of the
votes cast in the New Salem precinct except three. Mr. Herndon places
the total vote at 208; Nicolay and Hay, at 277; and Mr. Lincoln
himself, in his autobiography, has said that he received all but seven
of a total of 277 votes, basing his statement, no doubt, upon memory.
An examination of the official poll-book in the County Clerk's office
at Springfield shows that all of these figures are erroneous. The fact
remains, however--and it is a fact which has been commented upon by
several of the biographers as showing his phenomenal popularity--that
the vote for Lincoln was far in excess of that given any other
candidate. The twelve candidates, with the number of votes of each
were: Abraham Lincoln, 277; John T. Stewart, 182; William Carpenter,
136; John Dawson, 105; E.D. Taylor, 88; Archer G. Herndon, 84; Peter
Cartwright, 62; Achilles Morris, 27; Thomas M. Neal, 21; Edward
Robeson, 15; Zachariah Peters, 4; Richard Dunston, 4.
Of the twenty-three who did not vote for Lincoln, ten refrained from
voting for Representative at all, thus leaving only thirteen votes
actually cast against Lincoln. Lincoln is not recorded as voting. The
judges were Bowling Green, Pollard Simmons, and William Clary, and the
clerks were John Ritter and Mentor Graham.--_J. McCan Davis._]
[Illustration: EUGENE FIELD TELLING A STORY TO "SISSY" KNOTT AND
'LISBETH AND MARTHA WINSLOW.]