On May 10, 1860, the second day of the Illinois State Republican Convention in Decatur, Abraham Lincoln was nominated by the Illinois State Republicans as their presidential candidate. Delegate John Palmer offered a resolution declaring Lincoln the first choice of Illinois for the presidency and instructing the state’s delegates to use all honorable means to secure his nomination at the Chicago convention and to vote as a unit for him. A few Illinois delegates who supported William Seward of New York, especially Thomas J. Turner of Freeport, tried to amend the resolution so delegates to the Republican National Convention could vote for any candidate if Lincoln’s nomination failed, but the effort was decisively defeated. Lincoln’s nomination was then completed amid the delegates’ wild enthusiasm. During the excitement, Lincoln had quietly left the convention and gone to the back room of Jim Peake’s jewelry store because he preferred rest to mingling with the delegates. After convention members realized he was absent, they appointed a three-member committee to find him. When the committee located him and told him he was needed, he reportedly replied, “Gentlemen if it is all the same to you I would rather stay here and sleep.” He nevertheless returned and accepted the nomination with the affectionate gratitude of his heart.