On August 25, 1858, Abraham Lincoln attended the district convention in Augusta despite the demands of his Senate race against Stephen Douglas, whose second debate with him was scheduled two days later in Freeport. He arrived by train, spent the morning at the convention where local Republicans nominated his friend Jackson Grimshaw for Congress, and in the afternoon delivered a campaign speech in John Catlin's Grove to a rain-soaked crowd of more than 1,200 people. Republicans expected a large majority in Augusta, but when their margin proved to be only three votes, some suspected fraud and complained that the town had come close to going over to the Democrats. During the visit, Lincoln ate a midday meal at the home of James Stark, praised Mrs. Stark's green beans, and two years later Stark served as an Illinois Presidential Elector, joining the official casting of Illinois' electoral votes for Lincoln in Springfield on December 5, 1860, and dining afterward with the president-elect. During the 1858 visit, Lincoln nearly fell from the buggy carrying him through Augusta when his height startled the horses as he stood to acknowledge cheers, forcing him to grab John Catlin's shoulder for support. Local tradition also holds that Lincoln asked Augusta's Black barber, Mr. Morrison, to shave him in the basement barbershop of the old Pitney building, and Morrison later took greatest pride in having shaved the man who became known as the Great Emancipator.