27 July 1858

On this day in 1858 in Clinton, Illinois, Senator Stephen A. Douglas gave an afternoon speech. Abraham Lincoln was present at that event and announced, after Douglas had concluded, that he would speak that evening at the Clinton courthouse. He gave his speech before moderate crowd.

sources: Frank E. Stevens, "The Life of Stephen Arnold Douglas," Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 16 (October 1923-January 1924): 556; Edwin E. Sparks, ed., The Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858 (Springfield, IL: 1908), 108.

special thanks to: The The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln which includes Lincoln Day-by-Day: A Chronology, compiled by the Lincoln Sesquicentennial Commission with the cooperation and support of the Abraham Lincoln Association and published by the Government Printing Office in 1960.