In 1858, Abraham Lincoln and incumbent Stephen A. Douglas spent ten weeks contesting for the U.S. Senate. During the grueling campaign, Lincoln made sixty-three speeches across the state and Douglas made 130. Both men spoke separately in Jacksonville. Douglas made an impressive stop there on Monday, September 6, arriving by railroad at 10 A.M. and being greeted at the depot by leading Democrats, bands, and semi-military companies that accompanied him to the Dunlap House Hotel on West State Street. Nearly 10,000 people heard him speak about his 1834-1837 stay in Jacksonville and the “falsehoods” of Lincoln. Three weeks later, on Monday, September 27, Lincoln arrived in Jacksonville by train from Springfield at 11 A.M. and was met by large delegations from Morgan, Cass, and Scott Counties. A parade moved from the depot to the square, where he spoke for two and a half hours. Jacksonville’s public square also contained the Morgan County Court House, where Douglas had received his nickname, “The Little Giant,” while living in Jacksonville at the beginning of his political career.