September 19, 1848, Abraham Lincoln, a little known, one term,
Congressman from Illinois visited Massachusetts to stump for the Whig
Presidential candidate Zachary Taylor. This was the first and only
time Abe Lincoln visited Massachusetts. He spent eleven days and made
twelve speeches in nine cities and towns; Worcester, New Bedford,
Boston, Lowell, Dorchester, Chelsea, Dedham, Cambridge, and Taunton.
Zachary Taylor was opposed by Democrat, Lewis Cass and Free Soiler
Martin Van Buren. Taylor won the election carrying Massachusetts, but
died in office sixteen months later.
The people of Massachusetts were so unimpressed with
Lincoln’s visit that twelve years later when he was nominated for
President, not one newspaper in the state recalled his visit.
On Monday evening September 18th , Abraham Lincoln arrived
by carriage at Richmond Hall, corner Washington Street and Churchill
Place in Dorchester (which was an independent town). He was met and
introduced by Nathaniel Saffard as a member of the Lincolns of
Hingham and a descendant of General Benjamin Lincoln.
The next day Tuesday September 19, 1848, Lincoln traveled by
carriage to Chelsea to speak at Gerrish Hall on Winnisimmett Street
in Chelsea Square. The “Boston Atlas” had a small piece
announcing only the time at which he was to speak at Gerrish Hall.
The previous evening Gerrish Hall was used for a Free Soil speech by
Charles Sumner. Although newspaper reports of Lincoln’s speeches were
scant they were generally favorable. Abe Lincoln’s height and his
rough sense of humor added color to his speaking. New Englanders were
accustomed to speakers delivering orations of fiery eloquence in
serious tones. Abraham Lincoln surprised the staid New Englanders
when he used ridicule, made jokes or brought other forms of humor
into his speech.
On September 20th, the day following the Chelsea speech, the
“Boston Atlas” in it’s press cover of the speech at Gerrish
Hall stated (Lincoln) “made a speech which for aptness of
illustration, solidity of argument and genuine eloquence is hard to
beat.” The morning of September 20th, Lincoln left Chelsea to go
to Dedham and make still another speech. On February 12, 1925, a
plaque was placed by the people of Chelsea on the doorway leading
into Gerrish Hall, the site of Lincoln’s visit. The plaque is
unfortunately missing. Lincoln later stated that the visit,
“brought home to him how much the morality of the slavery issue
disturbed people in Massachusetts.”
The Republican Party was born in March 1854 in Ripon,
Wisconsin, as a result of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill that extended
slavery. Lincoln was one of the first members of the new Republican
Party. The first major victory of the Republican Party came in 1860
with the election of Abraham Lincoln as president of the United
States.
Lincoln recalled his trip to Massachusetts in 1848 saying;
“I went to Massachusetts, the most cultured state in the Union,
to take a few lessons in deportment.”