Lincoln's Speech

On June 10, 1848, Congressman Abraham Lincoln traveled to Wilmington, Delaware, to address a meeting of Whig political party members. He was accompanied by Delaware Representative John W. Houston and two other members of Congress returning to Washington from the Whig National Convention that had chosen Zachary Taylor as the party's presidential nominee. Lincoln and his colleagues spoke from a balcony at the east end of the Fourth Street Market House, which then stood in the center of 4th Street between Orange and Market. Introduced as the "Lone Star of Illinois," Lincoln was greeted with great enthusiasm, and in a speech praised as "eloquent and patriotic," he extolled the principles of the Whig party and the virtue of its candidates. This was his only documented visit to Delaware. After serving one term in Congress, he left public office and returned to his law practice in Illinois. In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th President of the United States.

Wilmington, Delaware · United States