Site of Lincoln Campaign Rally - Meriden, CT
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neoc1
N 41° 32.185 W 072° 47.858
18T E 683718 N 4600649
A plaque commemorating the site of a campaign rally by candidate Lincoln is located north side of the front steps of the City Hall building in Meriden, CT.
Waymark Code: WMH6PR
Location: Connecticut, United States
Date Posted: 05/31/2013
Views: 5
In the Spring of 1860, the Republican National Convention. scheduled for mid-May in Chicago, IL, was fast approaching. The leading candidates for the Republican nomination for President were front runner William H. Seward of NY, followed by Abraham Lincoln of IL, Salmon P. Chase of OH, and Edward Bates of MO.
The tide seed to be turning in Lincoln's favor after he gave his famous Cooper Union Speech on February 27, 1860. Connecticut Republican State Chairman Nehemiah Sperry arranged for Mr. Lincoln to make speeches in Connecticut. Lincoln would speak in Hartford on March 5 followed by a visits to New Haven on March 6th and Meriden on March 7th, where he spoke before an enthusiastic audience of 3,000.
Lincoln went to Chicago and secured his parties nomination on the third ballot. He then successfully ran for president by winning a majority of the electoral vote against John C. Breckinridge of KY, John Bell of TN, and Stephen Douglas of IL.
A stone plaque outside Meriden City Hall is engraved with a profile of Abraham Lincoln within a shield and the following inscription:
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
IN SEARCH OF THE NOMINATION FOR THE
PRESIDENCY ADDRESSED A RALLY IN THE
TOWN HALL OF MERIDEN – MARCH 7, 1860
{Profile image of Lincoln}
"– AND THAT GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE,
BY THE PEOPLE AND FOR THE PEOPLE,
SHALL NOT PERISH FROM THE EARTH."
IN MEMORY OF THE CIVIL WAR VETERANS
OF MERIDEN, MAY 30, 1948