I recently read Lincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to Washington by Ted Widmer, a historian. It's the story of Lincoln's 13-day train trip from his home in Springfield, IL to Washington, DC in February, 1861, prior to his inauguration. The country was as divided then as it is now. Instead of "Never Trumpers" there were people determined to assassinate him before he took office or to leave the country and form a new one before his inauguration. In fact, Jefferson David was sworn in as president of the Confederate States of America XX days prior to Lincoln's inauguration on March 2nd.
The country was a house divided. The South had had things its way for decades in Washington, DC, but many in the North, which was beginning to industrialize, were now determined that slavery would not be allowed to spread to new territories and states. The Southern planter class was not about to let its way of life disappear. The South would form a separate country. It's president, Jefferson Davis, was inaugurated in mid-February, while Lincoln was en route to his own inauguration.
Pinkerton detectives traveled on train, providing security and seeing to the removal of suspicious devices on the tracks. Their intelligence gathering indicated plans to kidnap or kill Lincoln in Baltimore.
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