{"id":179,"date":"2013-06-10T12:48:43","date_gmt":"2013-06-10T12:48:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/?p=179"},"modified":"2020-09-29T16:24:25","modified_gmt":"2020-09-29T16:24:25","slug":"letter-to-norman-judd-october-20-1858","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/letter-to-norman-judd-october-20-1858\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter to Norman Judd (October 20, 1858)"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>Ranking<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-size: 36px;\">#9<\/span> on the list of 150 Most Teachable Lincoln Documents<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Annotated Transcript<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong><em>Context. <\/em><\/strong><em>\u00a0<\/em>Toward the end of the 1858 campaign, Abraham Lincoln worried about election fraud. In this letter, he addressed the issue by warning Republican state party chairman Norman B. Judd that Democrats were sending Irish immigrant voters across central Illinois to cast illegal ballots. Lincoln offered what he called &#8220;a bare suggestion,&#8221; namely that Republicans might themselves consider employing a &#8220;detective&#8221; who could control the Irish voters &#8211;though by what means he did not specify. (By Matthew Pinsker)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu\/node\/27474\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;I now have a high degree of confidence&#8230;.&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>On That Date<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu\/panel\/this_date\/1858-10-20\">HD Daily Report, October 20, 1858<\/a><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Audio Version<\/strong><\/h3>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F98688951&visual=true\"><\/iframe>\n<h3><strong>I<\/strong><strong>mage Gallery<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 33%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-179 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/house-divided-speech-june-16-1858\/lincoln-in-1858\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/files\/2013\/06\/Lincoln-in-1858-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Lincoln in\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-401\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-401'>\n\t\t\t\tLincoln in 1858\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/letter-to-norman-judd-october-20-1858\/norman-judd\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/files\/2013\/06\/Norman-Judd-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Norman Judd\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-435\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-435'>\n\t\t\t\tNorman Judd\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/letter-to-norman-judd-october-20-1858\/john-courts-bagby\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/files\/2013\/06\/John-Courts-Bagby-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"John Courts Bagby\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-436\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-436'>\n\t\t\t\tJohn Courts Bagby\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/handbill-on-infidelity-july-31-1846\/central-illinois\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/files\/2013\/06\/Central-Illinois-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Central Illinois\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-738\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-738'>\n\t\t\t\tCentral Illinois\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl>\n\t\t\t<br style='clear: both' \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<div><strong>Close Readings<\/strong><\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uErlt1Bz37U\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/vimeo.com\/69703165\">Matthew Pinsker: Understanding Lincoln: Letter to Judd (1858)<\/a> from <a href=\"http:\/\/vimeo.com\/gilderlehrman\">The Gilder Lehrman Institute<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\">Vimeo<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div>\n<dl id=\"attachment_98\">\n<dt>\u00a0<\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Custom Map<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps\/ms?msid=214923210427089848626.0004def4e79e2ae545ca4&amp;msa=0&amp;ll=41.893109,-87.619915&amp;spn=0.020893,0.029998&amp;iwloc=0004df094b3e699480723\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-527\" alt=\"Norman Judd\" src=\"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/files\/2013\/06\/Norman-Judd.png\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" \/><br \/>\n<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps\/ms?msid=214923210427089848626.0004def4e79e2ae545ca4&amp;msa=0&amp;ll=41.894419,-87.619915&amp;spn=0.04549,0.082827&amp;iwloc=lyrftr:msid:214923210427089848626.0004def4e79e2ae545ca4,0004df094b3e699480723,,,0,-63\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">View in Larger Map<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Other Primary Sources<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/files\/2013\/06\/Celtic-Invasion.pdf\">Chicago<em> Press and Tribune<\/em>, &#8220;The Celtic Invasion,&#8221; October 16, 1858<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/files\/2013\/06\/pinkerton-article.pdf\">Chicago <em>Daily Tribune,<\/em> Article about Pinkerton &amp; Co., September 5, 1856<\/a><\/p>\n<div><a href=\"Chicago (IL) Press and Tribune, \u201cAbraham Lincoln,\u201d November 10, 1858\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chicago\u00a0<em>Press and Tribune,\u00a0<\/em>&#8220;Abraham Lincoln,&#8221; Novemeber 10, 1858<\/a><\/div>\n<h3><strong>How Historians Interpret<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>&#8220;Like many of his party colleagues, Lincoln anticipated electoral fraud. \u00a0To Norman B. Judd he expressed &#8216;a high degree of confidence that we shall succeed, if we are not over-run with fraudulent votes to a greater extent than usual.&#8217; \u00a0 In Naples he had noticed several Irishmen dressed as railroad workers carrying carpetbags; he reported that\u00a0hundreds of others were rumored to be leaving districts where their votes were superfluous in order to settle briefly in hotly contested counties. \u00a0To thwart this so-called &#8216;colonization&#8217; of voters, Lincoln offered Judd &#8216;a bare suggestion,&#8217; namely, that where &#8216;there is a known body of these voters, could not a true man, of the \u2018detective\u2019 class, be introduced among them in disguise, who could, at the nick of time, control their votes? Think this over. It would be a great thing, when this trick is attempted upon us, to have the saddle come up on the other horse.&#8217; \u00a0It is not entirely clear what Lincoln intended; the &#8216;true man of the detective class&#8217; was perhaps a bag man to distribute bribes.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>\u2014Michael Burlingame,\u00a0<em>A Life,\u00a0<\/em>vol. 1 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1493<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Further Reading<\/strong><\/h3>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><strong>Searchable Text<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Hon. N. B. Judd Rushville, Oct. 20, 1858<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">My dear Sir: I now have a high degree of confidence that we shall succeed, if we are not over-run with fraudulent votes to a greater extent than usual. On alighting from the cars and walking three squares at Naples on Monday, I met about fifteen Celtic gentlemen, with black carpet-sacks in their hands.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">I learned that they had crossed over from the Rail-road in Brown county, but where they were going no one could tell. They dropped in about the doggeries, and were still hanging about when I left. At Brown County yesterday I was told that about four hundred of the same sort were to be brought into Schuyler, before the election, to work on some new Railroad; but on reaching here I find Bagby thinks that is not so.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">What I most dread is that they will introduce into the doubtful districts numbers of men who are legal voters in all respects except residence and who will swear to residence and thus put it beyond our power to exclude them. They can &amp; I fear will swear falsely on that point, because they know it is next to impossible to convict them of Perjury upon it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Now the great remaining part of the campaign, is finding a way to head this thing off. Can it be done at all?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">I have a bare suggestion. When there is a known body of these voters, could not a true man, of the &#8220;detective&#8221; class, be introduced among them in disguise, who could, at the nick of time, control their votes? Think this over. It would be a great thing, when this trick is attempted upon us, to have the saddle come up on the other horse.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">I have talked, more fully than I can write, to Mr. Scripps, and he will talk to you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">If we can head off the fraudulent votes we shall carry the day. Yours as ever A. LINCOLN<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ranking #9 on the list of 150 Most Teachable Lincoln Documents Annotated Transcript Context. \u00a0Toward the end of the 1858 campaign, Abraham Lincoln worried about election fraud. In this letter, he addressed the issue by warning Republican state party chairman Norman B. Judd that Democrats were sending Irish immigrant voters across central Illinois to cast [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10856],"tags":[10871,10866,11633,6088,11642,10883,10882,11635,10865],"class_list":["post-179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-honest-abe","tag-ambition","tag-antebellum","tag-know-nothings","tag-letter","tag-management-style","tag-manipulation","tag-newspapers","tag-partisanship","tag-private"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4652,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179\/revisions\/4652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}