Forty thousand visitors: Tarbell, The Life of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. I, p. 344: Buffalo Morning Express, May 16, 1860, David Davis Papers, Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, Ill. [hereafter Davis Papers, ICHi].
trains…carried the delegates: Baringer, Lincoln’s Rise to Power, p. 212.
youngest political party…fastest-growing city: Jones, “The 1860 Republican Convention.”
crowds gathered…“swung their hats”: Press and Tribune, Chicago, May 15, 1860.
the one that began its journey: Press and Tribune, Chicago, May 12, 1860.
“when ‘a mile a minute’…in their boots”: Press and Tribune, Chicago, May 16, 1860.
prizefighters hired “to keep the peace…broken heads”: Clark, “Lincoln’s Nomination As Seen By a Young Girl,” Putnam’s, p. 537.
“such refreshments…among the opponents”: Buffalo Morning Express, May 15, 1860, Davis Papers, ICHi.
“almost ridiculous”: Anonymous writer, quoted in As Others See Chicago: Impressions of Visitors, 1673–1933, ed. Bessie Louise Pierce (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1933), p. 151.
“growth is…a word”: James Stirling, quoted in ibid., p. 123.
“a military post and fur station”: A Guide to the City of Chicago (Chicago: Zell & Co., 1868), pp. 32–33.
population of more than a hundred thousand: Thomas, Abraham Lincoln, p. 207.
“the first grain…all of Europe”: A Strangers’ and Tourists’ Guide to the City of Chicago (Chicago: Relig. Philo. Pub. Assoc., 1866), p. 24.
“the first lumber-market in the world”: Anonymous writer, quoted in As Others See Chicago, p. 151.
“miles of wharves…pursuit of trade”: A Strangers’ and Tourists’ Guide to the City of Chicago, p. 19.
a bold decision to elevate every building: Anonymous writer, quoted in As Others See Chicago, pp. 157–58.
“Our city has been chosen”…Lavish preparations: Press and Tribune, Chicago, May 12, 1860.
“A most magically…the eager crowd”: Press and Tribune, Chicago, May 15, 1860.
Accommodations, restaurants: Baringer, Lincoln’s Rise to Power, pp. 212–13; Press and Tribune, Chicago, May 9, 14, and 17, 1860.
The most popular luncheon: Chicago Daily Evening Journal, May 15, 1860, Davis Papers, ICHi.
As packed trains continued…to forty thousand: Buffalo Morning Express, May 15, 1860, Davis Papers, ALPLM; Baringer, Lincoln’s Rise to Power, p. 222.
“I thought…some popular eruption”: Daily [Ind.] Journal, May 17, 1860, Davis Papers, ICHi.
“with a zest…unfeeling bosom”: Press and Tribune, Chicago, May 17, 1860.
“The city is thronged…shunned and condemned”: Chicago Daily Evening Journal, May 15, 1860.
If this new party…the presidency: Luthin, The First Lincoln Campaign, p. 140.
“who crowded…standing room”: Chicago Daily Evening Journal, May 16, 1860, Davis Papers, ICHi.
When the big doors…date for the afternoon: Halstead, Three Against Lincoln, pp. 147–48; Baringer, Lincoln’s Rise to Power, pp. 246–47; Jones, “The 1860 Republican Convention”; Clark, “Lincoln’s Nomination As Seen By a Young Girl,” Putnam’s, p. 537 (quote).
Exactly at noon…officially began: Press and Tribune, Chicago, May 17, 1860.
“no body of men…in [their] faith”: Governor Morgan, quoted in Oldroyd, Lincoln’s Campaign, pp. 27–28; Press and Tribune, Chicago, May 17, 1860.
an inclusive platform…a two-thirds vote: Halstead, Three Against Lincoln, pp. 156–58, 159.
“The great body…cardinal doctrines”: Pike, “Mr. Seward’s Defeat,” May 20, 1860, from NYTrib, reprinted in Pike, First Blows of the Civil War, p. 517.
a move was made to proceed: Halstead, Three Against Lincoln, pp. 158, 159, 161; Press and Tribune, Chicago, May 18, 1860.
A Committee of Twelve…“consumed in talking”: Charles P. Smith, “The Nomination of Lincoln,” undated pamphlet from the Collections of the New Jersey State Library, Archives & History Division, Trenton, N.J., copy in Davis Papers, ICHi.
Greeley at convention: Van Deusen, Horace Greeley, pp. 245–48; Smith, “The Nomination of Lincoln.”
“cannot concentrate…will be nominated”: May 17 telegram from Horace Greeley, reprinted in NYTrib, May 18, 1860.
“every one of the…freely as water”: Halstead, Three Against Lincoln, pp. 160–61.
“Four years ago…courage and confidence”: TW, quoted in Addison G. Procter, Lincoln and the Convention of 1860: An Address Before the Chicago Historical Society, April 4, 1918 (Chicago: Chicago Historical Society, 1918), pp. 6–7.
“I suppose…confirm what I say”: Horace Greeley, quoted in Procter, Lincoln and the Convention of 1860, p. 8.
“each of whom…Greeley had said”: Ibid.
“I know my people well…slavery where it is”: Henry Lane, quoted in ibid., pp. 12–13.
few were aware of his estrangement: Henry J. Raymond, quoted in Barnes, Memoir of Thurlow Weed, p. 274.
“While professing so high…had his revenge”: Auburn [N.Y.] Daily Advertiser, May 31, 1860.
“In all candor…to the same effect”: Koerner, Memoirs of Gustave Koerner, Vol. II, pp. 88–89.
He was much too conservative…officially enlisted: Missouri Republican, St. Louis, Mo., May 19, 1860; Potter, The Impending Crisis, 1848–1861, p. 427.
“If united…and the West”: Halstead, Three Against Lincoln, p. 148.
Any hope of persuading…“promote his interest”: John McLean, quoted in Luthin, The First Lincoln Campaign, p. 146.
“There was no unity…pitiable to behold”: Statement of Willard Warner, paraphrased in Columbus [Ohio] Gazette, May 25, 1860.
“If the Ohio delegation…[been] relied upon”: Francis M. Wright to SPC, May 21, 1860, reel 13, Chase Papers.
“There are lots…lukewarm friends”: Erastus Hopkins to SPC, May 17, 1860, reel 13, Chase Papers.
“Men gather…the big bell rings”: Halstead, Three Against Lincoln, pp. 143, 163, 149–50.
“You know how…no positive objection”: AL to Richard M. Corwine, May 2, 1860, in CW, IV, p. 47.
“to antagonize no one”: King, Lincoln’s Manager, p. 136.
“relative ability…man who could win”: Stampp, “The Republican National Convention of 1860,” in Stampp, The Imperiled Union, p. 160.
“No men ever worked…two hours a night”: Leonard Swett to Josiah Drummond, May 27, 1860, Davis Papers, ALPLM.
“Most of them…political morality”: Whitney, Lincoln the Citizen, Vol. 1, p. 266.
“typically methodical way”: King, Lincoln’s Manager, p. 135 (quote); see also p. 136, and chapter 11 generally.
“a drawback…Gov. Seward”: AL, quoted in Luthin, The First Lincoln Campaign, p. 145.
“It all worked…was Indiana”: Leonard Swett to Josiah H. Drummond, May 27, 1860, quoted in Oldroyd, Lincoln’s Campaign, p. 71.
“the whole of Indiana…to get”: AL to Richard M. Corwine, May 2, 1860, in CW, IV, p. 47 (quote); AL to Cyrus M. Allen, May 1, 1860, in ibid., p. 46.
Claims have been made…Caleb Smith: Baringer, Lincoln’s Rise to Power, pp. 214–15.
No deal was needed: Donald, Lincoln, p. 249.
Indiana…to back Lincoln: John D. Defrees to Schuyler Colfax, quoted in Hollister, Life of Schuyler Colfax, p. 148.
Committee of Twelve…“general good of the party”: Smith, “The Nomination of Lincoln,” Davis Papers, ICHi.
Davis had previously…might be procured: Whitney, Lincoln the Citizen, Vol. I, p. 289.
“Make no…bind me”: AL, Endorsement on the Margin of the Missouri Democrat, May 17, 1860, in CW, IV, p. 50.
“Everybody was mad…‘he must ratify it’”: Whitney, Lincoln the Citizen, Vol. I, p. 289.
The Blairs had supposedly promised: Clay, The Life of Cassius Marcellus Clay, pp. 244–46; Luthin, The First Lincoln Campaign, p. 68.
“oceans of money”: Halstead, Three Against Lincoln, p. 162.
“get every member…appointment”: King, Lincoln’s Manager, p. 140.
“My assurance to them…as much as possible”: Leonard Swett to AL, May 20, 1860, Davis Papers, ALPLM.
for a celebratory march…“a little too far”: Halstead, Three Against Lincoln, p. 164.
had manufactured duplicate tickets: Luthin, The First Lincoln Campaign, pp. 160–61.
“it was part of…the Convention”: Swett to Drummond, May 27, 1860, quoted in Oldroyd, Lincoln’s Campaign, p. 72.
friends and supporters from all over the state: Luthin, The First Lincoln Campaign, pp. 160–61.
“by a deafening shout”: Swett to Drummond, May 27, 1860, quoted in Oldroyd, Lincoln’s Campaign, p. 72.
“loud and long”: Albany Evening Journal, May 18, 1860.
“appalled us a little”: Swett to Drummond, May 27, 1860, quoted in Oldroyd, Lincoln’s Campaign, p. 72.
“If Mr. Seward’s name…far and wide”: NYT, May 21, 1860.
“tremendous applause…Lincoln’s favor”: Henry Raymond article, quoted in Barnes, Memoir of Thurlow Weed, p. 276.
“cold when compared”: NYT, May 21, 1860.
“trial of lungs”: Albany Evening Journal, May 18, 1860; NYH, May 19, 1860; NYT, May 19, 1860.
“The shouting was…infernal intensity”: Halstead, Three Against Lincoln, p. 165.
“five thousand…the scene unnoticed”: Swett to Drummond, May 27, 1860, quoted in Oldroyd, Lincoln’s Campaign, p. 72.
“Abe Lincoln…let us ballot!”: NYH, May 19, 1860; Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, May 19, 1860, Davis Papers, ICHi.
“This was not…it had its weight”: Swett to Drummond, May 27, 1860, quoted in Oldroyd, Lincoln’s Campaign, pp. 72–73.
results of the first ballot: Halstead, Three Against Lincoln, p. 167.
“This solid vote…it was given”: Ibid., p. 166.
“no pivotal state…been delivered”: Cain, Lincoln’s Attorney General, p. 112.
results of the second ballot: Halstead, Three Against Lincoln, p. 169.
“startling…of thunder”: Barnes, Memoir of Thurlow Weed, p. 264.
results of the third ballot: Halstead, Three Against Lincoln, p. 170.
“There was a pause…ticks of a watch”: Ibid., p. 171.
“A profound stillness fell upon the Wigwam”: Unidentified spectator, quoted in Allan Nevins, Ordeal of the Union. Vol. II: The Emergence of Lincoln, part II, Prologue to Civil War, 1857–1861, new introduction by JamesM. McPherson (New York: Collier Books, Macmillan Publishing Co., 1992), p. 260.
“rose to their feet…and again”: Press and Tribune, Chicago, May 19, 1860.
“Great men…night of struggle”: Clark, “Lincoln’s Nomination As Seen By a Young Girl,” Putnam’s, p. 538.
he, too, could not restrain his tears: Taylor, William Henry Seward, p. 9.
“the great disappointment of his life”: Chicago Tribune, July 14, 1878.
“her first…are themselves forgotten”: Austin Blair, quoted in Albany Evening Journal, May 23, 1860, in Halstead, Three Against Lincoln, p. 173; Baringer, Lincoln’s Rise to Power, p. 292; Carl Schurz “Speeches at the Chicago Convention,” quoted in Works of William H. Seward, Vol. IV, p. 682.
“with the success…highest honor”: Carl Schurz, “Speeches at the Chicago Convention,” quoted in Works of William H. Seward, Vol. IV, p. 682.
“Mounting a table…clenched nervously”: NYT, May 21, 1860.
“Gentlemen…Republican party: Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, May 19, 1860, Davis Papers, ICHi.
“the spectator…noble man indeed”: NYT, May 21, 1860.
A man stationed on the roof…Cannons were fired: Halstead, Three Against Lincoln, pp. 171–72.
“between 20,000…shouting at once”: Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, May 19, 1860, Davis Papers, ICHi.
“The Press and Tribune…windows and doors”: Press and Tribune, Chicago, May 19, 1860.
Seward received the news…“on the next ballot”: Stanton, Random Recollections, pp. 215–16 (quote p. 216).
“rightly [judged] that…to bring”: Seward, Seward at Washington…1846–1861, p. 452.
turned “as pale as ashes”: Stanton, Random Recollections, p. 216.
“that it was no ordinary…and irrevocable”: Seward, Seward at Washington…1846–1861, p. 452.
“The sad tidings…clouded brow”: Stanton, Random Recollections, p. 216.
“of his sanguine…Few men can”: Entry for May 19, 1860, Charles Francis Adams diary, reel 75.
“he took the blow…family and the world”: Van Deusen, William Henry Seward, pp. 228, 229.
“Father told Mother…unselfish coolness”: Entry for May 18, 1860, Fanny Seward diary, Seward Papers.
“No truer…nomination have fallen”: WHS for the Auburn Daily Advertiser, in “Biographical Memoir of William H. Seward,” Works of William H. Seward, Vol. IV, p. 79.
“You have my…light as my own”: WHS to TW, May 18, 1860, quoted in Barnes, Memoir of Thurlow Weed, p. 270; WHS to TW, May 18, 1860, quoted in Seward, Seward at Washington…1846–1861, p. 453.
in a public letter…“progress of that cause”: WHS to the New York Republican Central Committee, quoted in Seward, Seward at Washington…1846–1861, p. 454.
“It was only some months…cursing and swearing”: Van Deusen, William Henry Seward, p. 229.
“When I remember…competition with his”: SPC to Robert Hosea, June 5, 1860, reel 13, Chase Papers.
For years, Chase was racked: Blue, Salmon P. Chase, p. 126.
“adhesion of the…own State Convention”: SPC to AL, misdated as May 17, 1860, Lincoln Papers.
Lincoln responded graciously: AL to SPC, May 26, 1860, in CW, IV, p. 53.
“While the victory…most profoundly”: Schurz, Reminiscences, Vol. II, pp. 186–87.
“melancholy ceremony”: Daily Ohio Statesman, Columbus, Ohio, May 19, 1860.
“As for me…I have ever known”: EB to Horace Greeley, quoted in Hollister, Life of Schuyler Colfax, p. 148.
“Some of my friends…border slave states”: Entry of May 19, 1860, in The Diary of Edward Bates, 1859–1866, pp. 129, 130–31.
Some claim…Others maintain: See Conkling, “How Mr. Lincoln Received the News,” Transactions (1909), p. 65; Tarbell, The Life of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. I, p. 358; Illinois State Register, February 13, 1903.
“Mr. Lincoln…you are nominated”: quoted in Tarbell, The Life of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. I, p. 358
office of the Illinois State Journal: Charles S. Zane interview, 1865–1866, in HI, p. 492; Press and Tribune, Chicago, May 22, 1860.
he “looked at it…all around”: Chicago Journal correspondent, quoted in Cincinnati Daily Commercial, May 25, 1860.
“I knew…second ballot”: AL, quoted in Donald, Lincoln, p. 250.
“My friends…at last had come”: quoted in Tarbell, The Life of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. I, p. 358.
“the hearty western”…rotunda of the Capitol: “Ecarte” [John Hay], Providence [R.I.] Journal, May 26, 1860, reprinted in Lincoln’s Journalist: John Hay’s Anonymous Writings for the Press, 1860–1864, ed. Michael Burlingame (Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1998), p. 1.
“the signal for immense…a great party”: Missouri Republican, May 20, 1860.
“the fact of…of Lincoln”: Halstead, Three Against Lincoln, p. 176.
“The leader of…against a leader”: T. S. Verdi, “The Assassination of the Sewards,” The Republic 1 (July 1873), pp. 289–90.
Some have pointed to luck…held in Chicago: See Fehrenbacher, Prelude to Greatness, p. 5; Alexander McClure, quoted in Taylor, William Henry Seward, p. 10.
“Had the Convention…nominated”: Koerner, Memoirs of Gustave Koerner, Vol. II, p. 80.
Lincoln’s team in Chicago played the game: Potter, The Impending Crisis, 1848–1861, pp. 427–28; Stampp, “The Republican National Convention of 1860,” in Stampp, The Imperiled Union, pp. 155, 157–58.
Lincoln was the best prepared: Fehrenbacher, Prelude to Greatness, p. 2.
speeches possessed unmatched…moral strength: Miller, Lincoln’s Virtues, pp. 397–401.
“his avoidance of extremes…off its balance”: Press and Tribune, Chicago, May 16, 1860.
“comparatively unknown”: Verdi, “The Assassination of the Sewards,” The Republic (1873), p. 290.
“give no offence…their first love”: AL to Samuel Galloway, March 24, 1860, in CW, IV, p. 34.
he had not made enemies: Illinois State Journal, Springfield, Ill., March 23, 1860.
“an ambition…overindulgence”: Fehrenbacher, Prelude to Greatness, p. 161.