Part 18

The friends of Lincoln had been tireless in their efforts, and they displayed wonderful ability in handling their forces. The leaders in immediate charge of the Lincoln people were Colonel Medill, of the Chicago _Tribune_; David Davis, afterward Judge of the Supreme Court; Norman B. Judd, Chairman of the Republican State Committee, and Leonard Swett, who was almost a copy of Lincoln physically, and who was Lincoln’s closest friend until the day of his death. When they found that the Seward parade was to come off, they counselled how to meet it, and they finally decided that while the Seward men were parading they would fill the immense temporary wigwam—erected for the convention, and capable of holding five thousand spectators—with men who should go there solely for the purpose of hurrahing for Lincoln. They carried this plan into very successful operation, and when the Seward procession attempted to march into the convention hall they found it filled to overflowing, and very few Seward men outside the delegation could obtain admission.

Just before the convention opened I saw the New York delegation file in and fill the only vacant place in the immense building. They were appalled when they saw how they had been outgeneralled. Almost immediately behind the New York men, who were under the lead of Evarts as Chairman of the delegation, sat Horace Greeley at the head of the Oregon delegation. That new State, just admitted into the Union, was so far from civilization, as the iron horse had not yet been heard in either the Rockies or the Sierra Nevadas, that the Republican convention selected a number of prominent men in the East, including Greeley, to represent the State. I never saw a more benignant face than that of Greeley’s when the nomination of Lincoln was declared. It was known by the supporters of Seward that Pennsylvania and Indiana had both decided to support Lincoln, the Pennsylvanians having declared for Lincoln by four majority over Bates, after giving a complimentary ballot to Cameron.

With very little preliminary movement the ballot began, and Seward’s two-thirds vote of the convention dwindled down to 173-1/2 when 234 were necessary to a choice. Lincoln, with Pennsylvania and Ohio giving complimentary ballots to Cameron and Chase, had 102 votes. As the ballots were announced, every vote for Lincoln was cheered to the echo, while there were but few cheers for Seward except from the delegates themselves. When the 2d ballot was called the Seward people felt that they must largely increase their strength or fall in the race. As Lincoln gained most of the vote of Pennsylvania, with important gains from other States, the wildest cheering greeted the announcements, and when the ballot was given with only 10 votes gained by Seward and 75 votes gained by Lincoln, it became evident to all that Seward’s strength was exhausted and that Lincoln was the coming man. The next and last ballot soon showed Lincoln as leading Seward, and from that time on it was difficult to announce the votes of the States because of the frenzied cheers for “Abe Lincoln.”

When the last State was called it was known that Lincoln was either nominated or very close to it. The vote as recorded was 231-1/2 for Lincoln, being 2-1/2 votes short of a majority, and 180 for Seward, with some 50 scattering. Before the result was announced Chairman Carter, of Ohio, got up on his chair to assure the attention of the President, and said:

“I rise to announce the change of four votes from Ohio from Mr. Chase to Abraham Lincoln.”

It was known then that this gave Lincoln the majority, and I have never before nor since witnessed such a scene as was made by the great mass of the Lincoln people who were in the hall. A large charcoal picture of Lincoln was presented in the gallery at the rear of the hall, and the whole vast audience, with few exceptions outside of the New York delegation, rose to indulge in the wildest enthusiasm for some minutes.

When order was finally restored, Maine, Massachusetts, and Missouri changed a number of votes to Lincoln, giving him a total of 354, being 120 odd votes more than he needed. When the vote was announced by the President cheers broke out afresh, but they soon quieted down to await the action of the New York delegation that was expected to move the unanimous nomination. There was certainly fully five minutes of dead silence in the body, as the New York delegates were mortified beyond expression at their discomfiture; but after a long wait that seemed to be vastly longer than it was, the tall form of William M. Evarts arose, and with reluctance that was unconcealed said:

“Mr. President, I move that the nomination of Abraham Lincoln be made unanimous.”

Governor Andrew, of Massachusetts, rose as soon as he saw Evarts rise, and when Evarts’s motion was made Andrew seconded it, and with the unanimous vote of the convention and the heartiest huzzas from the many thousands who witnessed the proceedings, Abraham Lincoln was declared the Republican candidate for President. The convention adjourned to meet again in the evening to nominate a candidate for Vice-President.

As there will be general interest felt in the proceedings of the Republican National Convention that gave the country the first Republican President in Abraham Lincoln, I give the detailed vote of each State represented in the convention on the three ballots for President, as follows:

═════════════╤══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ │ 1ST BALLOT. STATES. ├───────┬────────┬─────┬────────┬──────┬───────┬─────┬──────┬───────┬───────┬────────┬───────── │Seward.│Lincoln.│Wade.│Cameron.│Bates.│McLean.│Read.│Chase.│Dayton.│Sumner.│Fremont.│Collamer. ─────────────┼───────┼────────┼─────┼────────┼──────┼───────┼─────┼──────┼───────┼───────┼────────┼───────── Maine │ 10 │ 6 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― New Hampshire│ 1 │ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ ―― Vermont │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 10 Massachusetts│ 21 │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Rhode Island │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ 5 │ 1 │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Connecticut │ ―― │ 2 │ 1 │ ―― │ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ 2 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― New York │ 70 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― New Jersey │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 14 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Pennsylvania │ 1-1/2│ 4 │ ―― │ 47-1/2│ ―― │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Maryland │ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Delaware │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 6 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Virginia │ 8 │ 14 │ ―― │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Kentucky │ 5 │ 6 │ 2 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ ―― │ 8 │ ―― │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― Ohio │ ―― │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 4 │ ―― │ 34 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Indiana │ ―― │ 26 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Missouri │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 18 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Michigan │ 12 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Illinois │ ―― │ 22 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Texas │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 2 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Wisconsin │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Iowa │ 2 │ 2 │ ―― │ 1 │ 1 │ 1 │ ―― │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― California │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Minnesota │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Oregon │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Kansas │ 6 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Nebraska │ 2 │ 1 │ ―― │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 2 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― District of │ 2 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Columbia │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├───────┼────────┼─────┼────────┼──────┼───────┼─────┼──────┼───────┼───────┼────────┼─────────── Totals │173-1/2│ 102 │ 3 │ 50-1/2│ 48 │ 12 │ 1 │ 49 │ 14 │ 1 │ 1 │ 10 ═════════════╧═══════╧════════╧═════╧════════╧══════╧═══════╧═════╧══════╧═══════╧═══════╧════════╧═══════════

═════════════╤════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ │ 2D BALLOT. STATES. ├───────┬─────────┬──────┬────────┬───────┬──────┬───────┬─────────── │Seward.│Lincoln. │Bates.│Cameron.│McLean.│Chase.│Dayton.│C. M. Clay. ─────────────┼───────┼─────────┼──────┼────────┼───────┼──────┼───────┼─────────── Maine │ 10 │ 6 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― New Hampshire│ 1 │ 9 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Vermont │ ―― │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Massachusetts│ 22 │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Rhode Island │ ―― │ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ 2 │ 3 │ ―― │ ―― Connecticut │ ―― │ 4 │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ 2 │ ―― │ 2 New York │ 70 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― New Jersey │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 10 │ ―― Pennsylvania │ 2-1/2│ 48 │ ―― │ 1 │ 2-1/2│ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Maryland │ 3 │ ―― │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Delaware │ ―― │ 6 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Virginia │ 8 │ 14 │ ―― │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Kentucky │ 7 │ 9 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 6 │ ―― │ ―― Ohio │ ―― │ 14 │ ―― │ ―― │ 3 │ 29 │ ―― │ ―― Indiana │ ―― │ 26 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Missouri │ ―― │ ―― │ 18 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Michigan │ 12 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Illinois │ ―― │ 22 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Texas │ 6 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Wisconsin │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Iowa │ 2 │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1/2 │ 1/2 │ ―― │ ―― California │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Minnesota │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Oregon │ ―― │ ―― │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Kansas │ 6 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Nebraska │ 3 │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 2 │ ―― │ ―― Dist. of │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Columbia│ 2 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ├───────┼─────────┼──────┼────────┼───────┼──────┼───────┼─────────── Totals │184-1/2│ 181 │ 35 │ 2 │ 8 │42-1/2│ 10 │ 2 ═════════════╧═══════╧═════════╧══════╧════════╧═══════╧══════╧═══════╧═══════════

═════════════╤═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ │ 3D BALLOT. STATES. ├───────┬──────┬───────┬────────┬───────┬───────┬─────────── │Seward.│Bates.│ Chase.│Lincoln.│McLean.│Dayton.│C. M. Clay. ─────────────┼───────┼──────┼───────┼────────┼───────┼───────┼─────────── Maine │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ 6 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― New Hampshire│ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ 9 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Vermont │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Massachusetts│ 18 │ ―― │ ―― │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Rhode Island │ 1 │ ―― │ 1 │ 5 │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― Connecticut │ 1 │ 4 │ 2 │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 New York │ 70 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― New Jersey │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ 8 │ ―― │ 1 │ ―― Pennsylvania │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 52 │ 2 │ ―― │ ―― Maryland │ 2 │ ―― │ ―― │ 9 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Delaware │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 6 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Virginia │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ 14 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Kentucky │ 6 │ ―― │ 4 │ 13 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Ohio │ ―― │ ―― │ 15 │ 29 │ 2 │ ―― │ ―― Indiana │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 26 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Missouri │ ―― │ 18 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Michigan │ 12 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Illinois │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 22 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Texas │ 6 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Wisconsin │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Iowa │ 2 │ ―― │ 1/2 │ 5-1/2│ ―― │ ―― │ ―― California │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Minnesota │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Oregon │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Kansas │ 6 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Nebraska │ 3 │ ―― │ 2 │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Dist. of │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Columbia │ 2 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ├───────┼──────┼───────┼────────┼───────┼───────┼─────────── Totals │ 180 │ 22 │ 24-1/2│ 231-1/2│ 5 │ 1 │ 1 ═════════════╧═══════╧══════╧═══════╧════════╧═══════╧═══════╧═══════════

So keen were the disappointments of the New York delegation, and Mr. Weed, who was the Seward leader, that when earnestly urged to name a candidate for Vice-President, who would have been accepted by a nearly unanimous vote, they churlishly refused to do so. Governor Morgan would have been taken as the candidate to emphasize the desire of the friends of Lincoln to recognize the friends of Seward, but he peremptorily refused to accept it, and the convention then nominated Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, as a representative of the Democratic-Republican element; but New York divided her vote between five candidates, giving a bare majority to Hamlin from personal choice.

As the friends of Seward declined to indicate a candidate for Vice-President the convention reassembled in the evening to enter a free-for-all race for the second place on the ticket. Hamlin commanded nearly a solid vote from New England that attracted others. He was known throughout the country as the man who had resigned the chairmanship of his committee in the Senate in 1856 to declare himself for Fremont, although an earnest Democrat up to that time, and that he had accepted the Republican nomination for Governor and won out by an overwhelming majority. There was a strong sentiment in the convention in favor of Cassius M. Clay, not because he was personally preferred, but because it was thought wise by many to desectionalize the party by taking a candidate for Vice-President from a Slave State. Hamlin had a good lead on the 1st ballot, and on the 2d won an easy victory. The two ballots were as follows:

═════════════╤════════════════════════════════════════════╦══════════════════════ │ 1ST BALLOT. ║ 2D BALLOT. STATES. ├───────────┬───────┬───────┬────────┬───────╫───────┬─────┬──────── │C. M. Clay.│ Banks.│Reeder.│Hickman.│Hamlin.║Hamlin.│Clay.│Hickman. ─────────────┼───────────┼───────┼───────┼────────┼───────╫───────┼─────┼──────── Maine │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 16 ║ 16 │ ―― │ ―― New Hampshire│ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 10 ║ 10 │ ―― │ ―― Vermont │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 10 ║ 10 │ ―― │ ―― Massachusetts│ ―― │ 20 │ 1 │ 1 │ 1 ║ 26 │ ―― │ ―― Rhode Island │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 8 ║ 8 │ ―― │ ―― Connecticut │ 2 │ 1 │ ―― │ 2 │ 5 ║ 10 │ ―― │ 2 New York │ 9 │ 4 │ 2 │ 11 │ 35 ║ 70 │ ―― │ ―― New Jersey │ 1 │ ―― │ 7 │ ―― │ 6 ║ 14 │ ―― │ ―― Pennsylvania │ 4-1/2 │ 2-1/2│ 24 │ 7 │ 11 ║ 54 │ ―― │ ―― Maryland │ 2 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ 8 ║ 10 │ 1 │ ―― Delaware │ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ 2 ║ 6 │ ―― │ ―― Virginia │ 23 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ ―― │ 23 │ ―― Kentucky │ 23 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ ―― │ 28 │ ―― Ohio │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 48 ║ 46 │ ―― │ ―― Indiana │ 18 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 8 ║ 12 │ 14 │ ―― Missouri │ ―― │ 9 │ ―― │ 9 │ ―― ║ 13 │ 5 │ ―― Michigan │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 8 ║ 8 │ 4 │ ―― Illinois │ 2 │ ―― │ 16 │ 2 │ 2 ║ 20 │ 2 │ ―― Texas │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ ―― │ 6 │ ―― Wisconsin │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 5 ║ 5 │ 5 │ ―― Iowa │ ―― │ 1 │ 1 │ ―― │ 6 ║ 3 │ ―― │ ―― California │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 8 │ ―― ║ 7 │ 1 │ ―― Minnesota │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ 6 ║ 7 │ 1 │ ―― Oregon │ ―― │ 1 │ ―― │ 3 │ 1 ║ 3 │ ―― │ 2 Kansas │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 6 │ ―― ║ 2 │ 1 │ 3 Nebraska │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ 5 │ ―― ║ ―― │ ―― │ 6 District of │ │ │ │ │ ║ │ │ Columbia│ 2 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― ║ 2 │ ―― │ ―― ├───────────┼───────┼───────┼────────┼───────╫───────┼─────┼──────── Totals │ 101-1/2 │ 38-1/2│ 51 │ 58 │ 194 ║ 367 │ 86 │ 13 ═════════════╧═══════════╧═══════╧═══════╧════════╧═══════╩═══════╧═════╧════════

The Chicago convention that nominated Lincoln for President was not only the ablest national political body that ever met in the country up to that time, but it exhibited the highest type of political strategy. It has never since then been equalled in ability and leadership, with the single exception of the Republican convention of 1880, in which the friends of Grant made their last stand to give their chieftain a third term. As compared with these two, all subsequent conventions were tame.

The following platform was unanimously adopted:

_Resolved_, That we, the delegated representatives of the Republican electors of the United States, in convention assembled, in discharge of the duty we owe to our constituents and our country, unite in the following declarations:

1. That the history of the nation, during the last four years, has fully established the propriety and necessity of the organization and perpetuation of the Republican party, and that the causes which called it into existence are permanent in their nature, and now, more than ever before, demand its peaceful and constitutional triumph.

2. That the maintenance of the principles promulgated in the Declaration of Independence and embodied in the Federal Constitution—“that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”—is essential to the preservation of our republican institutions; and that the Federal Constitution, the rights of the States, and the union of the States, must and shall be preserved.

3. That to the union of the States this nation owes its unprecedented increase in population, its surprising development of material resources, its rapid augmentation of wealth, its happiness at home, and its honor abroad; and we hold in abhorrence all schemes for disunion, come from whatever source they may; and we congratulate the country that no Republican member of Congress has uttered or countenanced the threats of disunion so often made by Democratic members, without rebuke and with applause from their political associates; and we denounce those threats of disunion, in case of a popular overthrow of their ascendancy, as denying the vital principles of a free government, and as an avowal of contemplated treason, which it is the imperative duty of an indignant people sternly to rebuke and forever silence.

4. That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depends; and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter under what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes.

5. That the present Democratic administration has far exceeded our worst apprehensions, in its measureless subserviency to the exactions of a sectional interest, as especially evinced in its desperate exertions to force the infamous Lecompton Constitution upon the protesting people of Kansas; in construing the personal relation between master and servant to involve an unqualified property in person; in its attempted enforcement, everywhere, on land and sea, through the intervention of Congress and of the Federal courts, of the extreme pretensions of a purely local interest; and in its general and unvarying abuse of the power entrusted to it by a confiding people.

6. That the people justly view with alarm the reckless extravagance which pervades every department of the Federal Government; that a return to rigid economy and accountability is indispensable to arrest the systematic plunder of the public treasury by favored partisans; while the recent startling developments of frauds and corruptions at the Federal metropolis show that an entire change of administration is imperatively demanded.

7. That the new dogma that the Constitution, of its own force, carries slavery into any or all of the Territories of the United States, is a dangerous political heresy, at variance with the explicit provisions of that instrument itself, with contemporaneous exposition, and with legislative and judicial precedent; is revolutionary in its tendency, and subversive of the peace and harmony of the country.