Lincoln Legal Papers

The Washingtonian Temperance Society, founded in April 1840 in Baltimore, Maryland, emerged as a pivotal organization in the nineteenth-century American temperance movement, attracting a diverse membership from the middle and working classes. Unlike earlier temperance groups dominated by clergymen, the Washingtonians focused on helping drinkers achieve total abstinence through moral support and personal narratives of alcohol abuse.

The movement's influence reached Springfield, Illinois, where the local chapter was established in December 1841, rapidly garnering over 300 members by January 1842. Notably, Abraham Lincoln addressed local Washingtonian societies, further highlighting the organization's significant role in community reform and advocacy against alcohol consumption.

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