WORKING TO ASSURE VICTORY IN PENNSYLVANIA IN 1860:
LINCOLN WRITES TO THE HEAD OF THE REPUBLICAN STATE COMMITTEE
TO WARN HIM OF A DEMOCRATIC PROPOSAL TO POUR OUT-OF-STATE MONEY
INTO THE PENNSYLVANIA RACE

ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Autograph Letter Signed to Alexander K. McClure, Springfield IL, 6 September 1860. 1 page, 5¼" x 7¾", plus integral blank leaf.

A rare letter of content from the 1860 Presidential campaign. Abraham Lincoln won the Republican nomination for President on May 18, 1860, and then seemingly settled down in Springfield for a long, quiet wait until election day. As was customary for the time, he did no campaigning himself; he tried not to say or write anything that could be used against him; and he left it to others in the party to do all the public speaking, rallying, and organizing.

But behind the scenes, Lincoln worked assiduously to secure his election. He followed the campaign closely, gathered news from sources throughout the country, sent information and advice out to party leaders, and prodded all factions in the party to unite for victory. This letter is evidence of his efforts. His correspondent, Alexander K. McClure, chaired the Republican state committee in Pennsylvania, which was second only to New York in electoral votes and which the Republicans had lost in 1856. From June 1860 on, McClure wrote Lincoln regularly, reporting on the progress of both the Presidential and gubernatorial races in the state. Pennsylvania’s election for governor was to be held in October, and Republican success then was considered critical to securing Lincoln’s victory in November.

“Inclosed I send you a copy of a letter from New York,” Lincoln writes, “stating a matter which, if true, deeply concerns our interests in Pennsylvania. The writer does not wish to be known; but some revelations of his in a former letter have subsequently been verified.” He has signed, “Yours truly A. Lincoln.”

The matter of deep concern was a purported attempt to funnel a large amount of out-of-state money to Lincoln’s opposition in Pennsylvania. The “letter from New York” reporting this, which Lincoln mentions, is not present here, but another copy of it can be found in the Abraham Lincoln Papers in the Library of Congress. Dated New York, September 2, 1860, the copy omits the names of both the original sender and the original recipient (which may have been Lincoln himself). It states that on August 31, some eighty of the most prominent members of “the combined opposition parties” met in New York City and were told by Robert Walker, a Democrat and former Governor of the Kansas Territory, that they had no chance of winning New York. Walker urged those present to concentrate their efforts on Pennsylvania and New Jersey instead, and a large sum of money was apparently raised for that purpose at the meeting. According to the anonymous letter, much of that money had just been turned over to William Bigler, a Democratic Senator from Pennsylvania, for use in his state for both the October and November elections.

Alexander McClure replied to Lincoln on September 12, assuring him that he was well aware of the opposition’s effort. Indeed, he said, he had heard of it directly from Governor Walker, who was then visiting in Philadelphia. But McClure expressed confidence that the Republicans could carry Pennsylvania, in October as well as November, provided they continued their efforts to organize throughout the state and get out the vote.

Then, on September 14, George G. Fogg wrote Lincoln and offered him additional but rather different reassurance. A member of the Republican National Committee who was then based in New York, Fogg explained that McClure had forwarded to him both Lincoln’s letter and its anonymous enclosure. However, Fogg reported, the anonymous letter was wrong. Although a meeting of “substantial men” had been held in New York to try to raise money to use against the Republicans in Pennsylvania, the effort had failed. The money had not been raised, Fogg claimed, and Pennsylvania seemed secure for Lincoln. In the end, the Republicans won both the gubernatorial race in October and the Presidential race in November in Pennsylvania.

The copy of the anonymous letter and McClure’s and Fogg’s letters to Lincoln are all to be found in the Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress, which are viewable online; printouts of them accompany the letter here. Lincoln’s letter is printed in Basler, ed., The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, volume IV, pages 112-113, but based on a copy of it in a 1917 publication, not the original letter. Basler’s background notes on the letter are incomplete and inaccurate; he looked only at McClure’s reply to Lincoln, which is rather cryptic in discussing the opposition plan, and so misinterpreted the content of both letters. Basler failed to connect the anonymous letter of September 2 or Fogg’s letter, which are quite explicit about the matter of concern, to Lincoln’s letter here.

The letter is written on letterpaper that has a small embossed stationer’s mark in the upper left corner. It is in very good condition, quite clean and fresh-looking, with Lincoln’s writing dark and clear. The blank integral leaf is inlaid.

Most of the Lincoln letters from 1860 that are offered for sale are replies to requests for his autograph. Substantive letters by him about the Presidential campaign are very rare. $30,000.00

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