Andrew Gregg Curtin, the governor of Pennsylvania during the Civil War, was a staunch supporter of Lincoln’s candidacy and helped ensure that he received 56.3 percent of Pennsylvania’s votes in the 1860 presidential election. In the 1864 election, Lincoln received 51.6 percent of the state’s votes compared to Democratic candidate George B. McClellan’s 48.4 percent.
Curtin was also influential in hosting the Loyal Governor’s Conference on Sept. 24-25, 1862, at the Logan House Hotel in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Thirteen governors—representing Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, Ohio, Maine, Illinois, and Maryland and Francis Pierpont representing loyal Virginians—met to discuss support for Lincoln’s management of the war and his ideas for the Emancipation Proclamation. Only Augustus Bradford, the governor of Maryland, did not vote to approve the proposed declaration of support.