When Abraham Lincoln arrived in Ottawa on August 21, 1858, for his first debate with Sen. Stephen A. Douglas, he was welcomed at the modest home of Joseph Otis Glover at 810 Columbus St., dined at Glover's table, and spent the night in one of Glover's bedrooms before later speeches on the courthouse lawn and a torchlight escort back to the house. Glover, Ottawa's mayor that year, was a partner in the successful law firm of Cook and Glover, whose office stood at the corner of Court and Madison streets, and he ended the 30-year partnership in 1869 after being appointed U.S. District Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and moving to Chicago. His partner, Burton Chauncey Cook, lived nearby and became an important Illinois political figure, helping rally support for Lincoln's 1860 nomination, chairing the Illinois delegation that renominated him in 1864, serving as a state senator from 1852 to 1861, taking part in peace negotiations in 1861, and serving in Congress from 1865 to 1873 before becoming a railroad lawyer. Ottawa's community of lawyers and public officials made the town a place where Lincoln could feel at home, and the Glover house remained tied to that visit until it was demolished in the 1960's.