Lincoln's First Inaugural was written in Springfield in January of 1861. According to his law partner, William Herndon, Lincoln used 4 sources for his speech: Henry Clay's Great Speech delivered in 1850, President Andrew Jackson's Proclamation Against Nullification, Senator Daniel Webster's Reply to Senator Robert Hayne, and the Constitution. Lincoln had the first draft set in print and allowed David Davis, Orville Browning, Francis Blair, and William Henry Seward to read it. upon their recommendations Lincoln made revisions that made it a more conciliatory document.