Francis E. Bryant arrived in the young town of Bement in 1856 with a small capital, which he quickly reinvested in general business development as a banker and storekeeper.

Bryant was a member of the U.S. Democratic Party and a personal friend of Senator Stephen A. Douglas, who was running for re-election in 1858.

Fervent emotions among both Democrats and members of the newly formed Republican party led to a demand that both candidates for the Senate campaign directly among the people of Illinois.

Douglas wrote Lincoln from Bement on the morning of July 30, suggesting that the two men debate in Ottawa, Freeport, Jonesboro, Charleston, Galesburg, Quincy, and Alton, Illinois.

Illinois Republicans had nominated him to face Douglas because of his skill at making speeches and his ability to frame the issue of slavery in a manner that conveyed visceral opposition to the institution without antagonizing racist American voters.

The senator chose to voluntarily debate his challenger because he agreed with Lincoln that slavery was a growing crisis and because he had faith that his own doctrine of popular sovereignty would create a solution to the dilemma.

It is clear that Douglas made the key decision, that of accepting Lincoln's challenge, in the Bryant Cottage, but the surviving letters between the two men appear to indicate that they negotiated on paper after their face-to-face roadside meeting of July 29, 1858.

[2] Fay argues that there is some evidence to suggest the meeting in the Bryant parlor took place, but that the mystery surrounding it speaks to the wit and secrecy of the candidates.