Tide Turns Case 1

Springfield Votes for Lincoln

The outcome of the 1864 Presidential Election was far from certain, but Abraham Lincoln ended up winning in a landslide. Democratic candidate George McClellan secured only 22 Electoral College votes while Lincoln won 212—a significant increase from his tally 4 years earlier, which is even more remarkable given several states were still in open rebellion and did not participate.

Illinois once again supported its favorite son. These strips of paper are 1864 Electoral College ballots from two Republican electors: Alton anti-slavery lawyer Henry S. Baker and Lincoln’s close political ally James C. Conkling. The newspaper is the local Illinois State Journal announcing Lincoln’s victory, but it obscures deep political divisions. Despite spending most of his life in central Illinois, Lincoln only barely carried Springfield in both 1860 and 1864 and failed to win Sangamon County in either election.

Ballots gift of Joseph Cunningham

SC1707 – 1864 Electoral College ballots (Henry S. Baker Lincoln and Johnson + Conkling for Lincoln)
Nov. 9, 1864, State Journal p. 1 announcing election

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