Instead of answering Lincoln's letter, Yates comes to Springfield. (Next day "Illinois Journal" announces Yates' candidacy, although worded differently from Lincoln's suggestion. He later wrote that he "took the stump [in 1854] with no broader practical aim or object than to secure, if possible, the re-election of Hon. Richard Yates to Congress." Autobiography Written for John L. Scripps, [c. June 1860], CW, 4:60-67.)

Lincoln writes and signs foreclosure bill in chancery in Robert Irwin & Abraham Lincoln v. Samuel Sidener. Herndon-Weik Collection, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.