Lincoln Douglas Debates

[STS Lincolnite]

I have been doing some reading on the Lincoln-Douglas debates of late and have come across this anecdote a number of times. So far I have seen it attached variably to Ottawa, Freeport, Galesburg, and Alton. Accounts also vary as to who he hands his “duster” to. Those described include: “Judge Trumbull”, a “young lady with whom he had been having a conversation”, “the chairman of the first debate”, “Judge T. Lyle Dickey”, a more non-descript “young woman”, and also “a bystander”. In some accounts Lincoln says his line about stoning Stephen in quiet tones to the person to whom he handed his duster, in others he says the line out loud to the crowd and elicits laughter.

Though this is an interesting little anecdote, its variations are all over the board. I have yet to find an account I find particularly credible.