Harper’s Weekly – March 31, 1860

Harper's Weekly archives ^ | March 31, 1860

[BroJoeK]

Lincoln thinks either New York's Seward or Ohio's Chase can carry northern Illinois, though Missourian Bates would do better down-state.
Lincoln does not comment on his own prospects here, but as it turned out, Lincoln, like his thoughts on Seward & Chase, also carried northern Illinois, lost southern Illinois to Northern Democrat Stephen Douglas.

Some of my ancestors lived near Quincy, west-central on the Mississippi River, near the boundary between northern Lincoln & southern Douglas majority voters.
My guess is that at least some of them voted for Lincoln, but likely not all...

[Tax-chick]

When I was spending summers at my grandparents’ farm in NE Missouri, Quincy was “the big city.”

[BroJoeK]

Strong mentions Milford, Pennsylvania.
It's an old town, county seat of Pike County, population roughly 1,000 on the Delaware River near the intersecting state lines of PA, NY and NJ.
Of its 655 buildings, 400 have been deemed historically significant.
In 2007 it was named second on a list of Pennsylvania's "coolest small towns".

And you can still fish in the rivers & lakes around Milford.

[BroJoeK]

Quincy's population has remained unchanged since 1930 at around 40,000 but in 1860 it was growing rapidly, reaching 14,000.
In 1860 some of my ancestors farmed about 35 miles to the northeast of Quincy, still in Douglas Democrat country, but nearing the line where Lincoln Republicans became the majority.

Across the river in Missouri was the northernmost reach of John Bell's Constitutional Union party.
Lincoln carried one county in central Missouri, Douglas carried the state.