February 6, 2009Image at far right is Lee Oprea in front of the fireboard where the damaged 1860 Presidential Campaign poster was found hidden under five layers of wallpaper. The other image to its left, is a restored original 1860 poster for comparison.
Sardinia resident finds Presidential Election of 1860 Poster in Historic House
Washington and Lincoln Images Found on Fireboard Under Layers of Wall Paper.
By Jay Burney
It is not everyday when you come face to face with Abraham Lincoln. But that is just what happened to Sardinia Resident Lee Oprea when she was engaged in removing wall paper from her upstairs bedroom.
Now, Lee Oprea doesn’t live in an ordinary house. She lives in one of the most historic houses on one of the most historic properties in all of WNY. So historic that it is on the National and State Registers of Historic Places.
Lee lives on her families Rider-Hopkins Farm on Benton Road, which is part of the Olmsted Camp property. The home, known as the James and Abigail Hopkins House, dates from the 1840’s. The pre-civil war era brick Greek Revival home is considered to be a rare surviving example of a Western New York settlement era farm.
Lee was doing a bit of renovating and remodeling when she uncovered what she at first thought might be a sheet from an old newspaper. She was looking for a date when she uncovered Lincoln’s face. “I was surprised and knew that this was something unusual, but this is an old house with lots of history” Lee told the Standard.
The Lincoln face is a part of a poster that is in pretty bad shape. The Poster is an interesting original artifact from the Presidential Campaign of 1860, which included candidates Lincoln, Stephan Douglas, and Sam Houston.
The poster is a 27 x 35.5 inch multicolored broadside published by H.H. Lloyd and Company of New York. It is titled “Political Chart-Presidential Campaign, 1860”
The poster features portraits of the 15 previous Presidents with brief biographical information. In the center top of the poster are the various 1860 Presidential Vice-Presidential candidates from the 1860 contest. Candidates include John Bell and Edward Everett of ‘Constitutional Union Party; Stephen Douglas and Herschel Johnson of the Northern Democratic Party; John Breckinridge and Joseph P. Lane of the Southern Democratic Party; Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin of the Republican Party , and Sam Houston who was described by the northern press as being of the “Peoples Party”. Brief party platforms were printed as well as a map of the United States.
These posters and broadsides were widely circulated and hung in classrooms and taverns and became the focal point of debate and discussion. It is really a wonderful relic from Sardinia’s and America’s past. When asked what she was going to do with the poster, Oprea told the Standard, “I am going to try to preserve it and I am talking with several experts about how to do this.” Good luck Lee, and thanks for sharing this wonderful find with us.
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updated February 7
The interesting find by Sardinia Resident Lee Oprea at her family home of the 1860 Presidential Campaign Poster stimulated discussion around the Standard’s office regarding the historical election. Here is some more info about that event:
The Presidential Election of 1860
This was arguably the most important and historic Presidential election in American History. The main focus was whether or not America would remain a Union or become divided. The election set the stage for the American Civil War. The nation had been divided over issues of states rights and slavery. The formerly dominant Democratic Party fractured into Northern and Southern factions. This allowed the Republican Party, and a relative unknown prairie lawyer and former Congressman from Illinois to assume the Presidency without the support of a single Southern State. In fact, Lincoln was not even on the ballot in 9 of the southern states. Lincoln’s main opponent in the election was Illinois Senator Stephan Douglas.
In 1858, prior to the Presidential campaign of 1860, Lincoln, a former Illinois Congressman challenged Douglas for one of the State’s Senate seats. Douglas was the incumbent and was one of the most popular United States Senators. In those days, Senators were chosen by State Legislatures. Lincoln and Douglas agreed to a series of debates and held joint appearances in various Congressional districts in the state. The issues of the campaign included slavery and secession. Lincoln lost the Senate race to Douglas.
After losing the Senate race to Douglas, Lincoln edited the transcripts of the debates and published them in a book. The issues of the debates set the table for the Presidential contest. The popularity of the book helped Lincoln to be nominated for President in the 1860 National Republican Convention, held in Chicago. Ironically, Douglas was nominated by the Northern Democratic Party.
There were four parties contesting in the Presidential race and a fifth candidate in Sam Houston who did not represent an official party. The Republican Party Platform consisted of an opposition to the expansion of slavery, tariffs protecting U.S. industry, a homestead act granting free land to farmers in the West, and the funding of a transcontinental railroad. All of these were unpopular in the South.
Lincoln and Hamlin narrowly won the election held on November 6 with 180 electoral votes. They carried 18 of the 32 States, with 1,865,908 popular votes or 39.8%. The immediate result was a declaration of secession by South Carolina. This was immediately rejected by sitting President James Buchanan and President elect Lincoln. Lincoln did not take office until March 4, nearly four full months after the election. That was a long winter for America.
