The Everyday Life of Abraham Lincoln
A Narrative And Descriptive Biography With Pen-Pictures And Personal
Recollections By Those Who Knew Him: Francis Fisher Browne
_"How beautiful to see
Once more a shepherd of mankind indeed.
Who loved his charge, but never loved to lead;
One whose meek flock the people joyed to be,
Not lured by any cheat of birth,
But by his clear-grained human worth,
And brave old wisdom of sincerity!
They knew that outward grace is dust;
They could not choose but trust
In that sure-footed mind's unfaltering skill,
And supple-tempered will
That bent like perfect steel to spring again and thrust.
His was no lonely mountain-peak of mind,
Thrusting to thin air o'er our cloudy bars,
A sea-mark now, now lost in vapors blind;
Broad prairie rather, genial, level-lined,
Fruitful and friendly for all human kind,
Yet also nigh to heaven and loved of loftiest stars_.
_"Great captains, with their guns and drums,
Disturb our judgment for the hour,
But at last silence comes;
These all are gone, and, standing like a tower,
Our children shall behold his fame,
The kindly-earnest, brave, foreseeing man,
Sagacious, patient, dreading praise, not blame,
New birth of our new soil, the first American."_
JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL.
FRANCIS FISHER BROWNE
_1843-1913_
The present revision of "The Every-day Life of Abraham Lincoln" was the
last literary labor of its author. He had long wished to undertake the
work, and had talked much of it for several years past. But favorable
arrangements for the book's republication were not completed until about
a year ago. Then, though by no means recovered from an attack of
pneumonia late in the previous winter, he took up the task of revision
and recasting with something of his old-time energy. It was a far
heavier task than he had anticipated, but he gave it practically his
undivided attention until within three or four weeks of his death. Only
when the last pages of manuscript had been despatched to the printer did
he yield to the overwhelming physical suffering that had been upon him
for a long time past. His death occurred at Santa Barbara, California,
on May 11.
Francis Fisher Browne was born at South Halifax, Vermont, on December 1,
1843. His parentage, on both sides, was of the purest New England stock.
Early in his childhood, the family moved to Western Massachusetts, where
the boy went to school and learned the printing trade in his father's
newspaper office at Chicopee. As a lad of eighteen, he left the high
school in answer to the government's call for volunteers, serving for a
year with the 46th Massachusetts Regiment in North Carolina and with the
Army of the Potomac. When the regiment was discharged, in 1863, he
decided to take up the study of law. Removing to Rochester, N.Y., he
entered a law office in that city; and a year or two later began a brief
course in the law department of the University of Michigan. He was
unable to continue in college, however, and returned to Rochester to
follow his trade.
Immediately after his marriage, in 1867, he came to Chicago, with the
definite intention of engaging in literary work. Here he became
associated with "The Western Monthly," which, with the fuller
establishment of his control, he rechristened "The Lakeside Monthly."
The best writers throughout the West were gradually enlisted as
contributors; and it was not long before the magazine was generally
recognized as the most creditable and promising periodical west of the
Atlantic seaboard. But along with this increasing prestige came a series
of extraneous setbacks and calamities, culminating in a complete
physical breakdown of its editor and owner, which made the magazine's
suspension imperative.
[Illustration: FRANCIS F. BROWNE]
The six years immediately following, from 1874 to 1880, were largely
spent in a search for health. During part of this time, however, Mr.
Browne acted as literary editor of "The Alliance," and as special
editorial writer for some of the leading Chicago newspapers. But his
mind was preoccupied with plans for a new periodical--this time a
journal of literary criticism, modeled somewhat after such English
publications as "The Athenæum" and "The Academy." In the furtherance of
this bold conception he was able to interest the publishing firm of
Jansen, McClurg & Co.; and under their imprint, in May, 1880, appeared
the first issue of THE DIAL, "a monthly review and index of current
literature." At about the same time he became literary adviser to the
publishing department of the house, and for twelve years thereafter
toiled unremittingly at his double task-work. In 1892, negotiations were
completed whereby he acquired Messrs. McClurg & Co.'s interest in the
periodical. It was enlarged in scope, and made a semi-monthly; and from
that time until his death it appeared uninterruptedly under his guidance
and his control.
Besides his writings in THE DIAL and other periodicals, Mr. Browne is
the author of a small volume of poems, "Volunteer Grain" (1895). He also
compiled and edited several anthologies,--"Bugle Echoes," a collection
of Civil War poems (1886); "Golden Poems by British and American
Authors" (1881); "The Golden Treasury of Poetry and Prose" (1883); and
seven volumes of "Laurel-Crowned Verse" (1891-2). He was one of the
small group of men who, in 1874, founded the Chicago Literary Club; and
for a number of years past he has been an honorary member of that
organization, as well as of the Caxton Club (Chicago) and the Twilight
Club (Pasadena, Cal.). During the summer of 1893 he served as Chairman
of the Committee on the Congress of Authors of the World's Congress
Auxiliary of the Columbian Exposition.
THE PUBLISHERS
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
The original edition of this book was published about twenty years after
Lincoln's death at the close of the Civil War. At that time many of the
men who had taken a prominent part in the affairs, military and civil,
of that heroic period, many who had known Lincoln and had come in
personal contact with him during the war or in his earlier years, were
still living. It was a vivid conception of the value of the personal
recollections of these men, gathered and recorded before it was too
late, that led to the preparation of this book. It was intended to be,
and in effect it was, largely an anecdotal Life of Lincoln built of
material gathered from men still living who had known him personally.
The task was begun none too soon. Of the hundreds who responded to the
requests for contributions of their memories of Lincoln there were few
whose lives extended very far into the second quarter-century after his
death, and few indeed survive after the lapse of nearly fifty
years,--though in several instances the author has been so fortunate as
to get valuable material directly from persons still living (1913). Of
the more than five hundred friends and contemporaries of Lincoln to whom
credit for material is given in the original edition, scarcely a dozen
are living at the date of this second edition. Therefore, the value of
these reminiscences increases with time. They were gathered largely at
first hand. They can never be replaced, nor can they ever be very much
extended.
This book brings Lincoln the man, not Lincoln the tradition, very near
to us. Browning asked, "And did you once see Shelley plain? And did he
stop and speak to you?" The men whose narratives make up a large part of
this book all saw Lincoln plain, and here tell us what he spoke to them,
and how he looked and seemed while saying it. The great events of
Lincoln's life, and impressions of his character, are given in the
actual words of those who knew him--his friends, neighbors, and daily
associates--rather than condensed and remolded into other form. While
these utterances are in some cases rude and unstudied, they have often a
power of delineation and a graphic force that more than compensate for
any lack of literary quality.
In a work prepared on such a plan as this, some repetitions are
unavoidable; nor are they undesirable. An event or incident narrated by
different observers is thereby brought out with greater fulness of
detail; and phases of Lincoln's many-sided character are revealed more
clearly by the varied impressions of numerous witnesses whose accounts
thus correct or verify each other. Some inconsistencies and
contradictions are inevitable,--but these relate usually to minor
matters, seldom or never to the great essentials of Lincoln's life and
personality. The author's desire is to present material from which the
reader may form an opinion of Lincoln, rather than to present opinions
and judgments of his own.
Lincoln literature has increased amazingly in the past twenty-five
years. Mention of the principal biographies in existence at the time of
the original edition was included in the Preface. Since then there have
appeared, among the more formal biographies, the comprehensive and
authoritative work by Nicolay and Hay, the subsequent work by Miss Ida
Tarbell, and that by Herndon and Weik, besides many more or less
fragmentary publications. Some additions, but not many, have been made
to the present edition from these sources. The recently-published Diary
of Gideon Welles, one of the most valuable commentaries on the Civil War
period now available, has provided some material of exceptional interest
concerning Lincoln's relations with the members of his Cabinet.
In re-writing the present work, it has been compressed into about
two-thirds of its former compass, to render it more popular both in form
and in price, and to give it in some places a greater measure of
coherency and continuity as an outline narrative of the Civil War. But
its chief appeal to the interest of its readers will remain
substantially what it was in the beginning, as set forth in its title,
"The Every-day Life of Abraham Lincoln, by Those Who Knew Him."
F.F.B.
SANTA BARBARA, CAL., _April, 1913._
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
This book aims to give a view, clearer and more complete than has been
given before, of the personality of Abraham Lincoln. A life so full of
incident and a character so many-sided as his can be understood only
with the lapse of time. A sense of the exhaustless interest of that life
and character, and the inadequacy of the ordinarily constructed
biography to portray his many-sidedness, suggested the preparation of a
work upon the novel plan here represented. Begun several years ago, the
undertaking proved of such magnitude that its completion has been
delayed beyond the anticipated time. The extensive correspondence, the
exploration of available sources of information in the books, pamphlets,
magazines, and newspapers of a quarter of a century, and in the scraps
and papers of historical collections, became an almost interminable
task. The examination and sifting of this mass of material, its
verification amidst often conflicting testimony, and its final molding
into shape, involved time and labor that can be estimated only by those
who have had similar experience.
To the many who have kindly furnished original contributions, to others
who have aided the work by valuable suggestions and information, to
earlier biographies of Lincoln--those of Raymond, Holland, Barrett,
Lamon, Carpenter, and (the best and latest of all) that of Hon. I.N.
Arnold--hearty acknowledgment is made. Much that was offered could not
be used. In the choice of material, from whatever source, the purpose
has been to avoid mere opinions and eulogies of Lincoln and to give
abundantly those actual experiences, incidents, anecdotes, and
reminiscences which reveal the phases of his unique and striking
personality.
It scarcely need be pointed out that this work does not attempt to give
a connected history of the Civil War, but only to sketch briefly those
episodes with which Lincoln is personally identified and of which some
knowledge is essential to an understanding of his acts and character.
Others are brought into prominence only as they are associated with the
chief actor in the great drama. Many of them are disappearing,--fading
into the smoky and lurid background. But that colossal central figure,
playing one of the grandest roles ever set upon the stage of human life,
becomes more impressive as the scenes recede.
F.F.B.
CHICAGO, _October, 1886._
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
Ancestry--The Lincolns in Kentucky--Death of Lincoln's
Grandfather--Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks--Mordecai
Lincoln--Birth of Abraham Lincoln--Removal to Indiana--Early
Years--Dennis Hanks--Lincoln's Boyhood--Death of Nancy Hanks--Early
School Days--Lincoln's First Dollar--Presentiments of Future
Greatness--Down the Mississippi--Removal to Illinois--Lincoln's
Father--Lincoln the Storekeeper--First Official Act--Lincoln's
Short Sketch of His Own Life
CHAPTER II
A Turn in Affairs--The Black Hawk War--A Remarkable Military
Manoeuvre--Lincoln Protects an Indian--Lincoln and
Stuart--Lincoln's Military Record--Nominated for the
Legislature--Lincoln a Merchant--Postmaster at New Salem--Lincoln
Studies Law--Elected to the Legislature--Personal
Characteristics--Lincoln's Love for Anne Rutledge--Close of
Lincoln's Youth
CHAPTER III
Lincoln's Beginning as a Lawyer--His Early Taste for
Politics--Lincoln and the Lightning-Rod Man--Not an
Aristocrat--Reply to Dr. Early--A Manly Letter--Again in the
Illinois Legislature--The "Long Nine"--Lincoln on His Way to the
Capital--His Ambition in 1836--First Meeting with Douglas--Removal
of the Illinois Capital--One of Lincoln's Early
Speeches--Pro-Slavery Sentiment in Illinois--Lincoln's Opposition
to Slavery--Contest with General Ewing--Lincoln Lays out a
Town--The Title "Honest Abe"
CHAPTER IV
Lincoln's Removal to Springfield--A Lawyer without Clients or
Money--Early Discouragements--Proposes to become a
Carpenter--"Stuart & Lincoln, Attorneys at Law"--"Riding the
Circuit"--Incidents of a Trip Round the Circuit--Pen Pictures of
Lincoln--Humane Traits--Kindness to Animals--Defending Fugitive
Slaves--Incidents in Lincoln's Life as a Lawyer--His Fondness for
Jokes and Stories
CHAPTER V
Lincoln in the Legislature--Eight Consecutive Years of Service--His
Influence in the House--Leader of the Whig Party in Illinois--Takes
a Hand in National Politics--Presidential Election in 1840--A "Log
Cabin" Reminiscence--Some Memorable Political Encounters--A Tilt
with Douglas--Lincoln Facing a Mob--His Physical Courage--Lincoln
as Duellist--The Affair with General Shields--An Eye-Witness'
Account of the Duel--Courtship and Marriage
CHAPTER VI
Lincoln in National Politics--His Congressional
Aspirations--Law-Partnership of Lincoln and Herndon--The
Presidential Campaign of 1844--Visit to Henry Clay--Lincoln Elected
to Congress--Congressional Reputation--Acquaintance with
Distinguished Men--First Speech in Congress--"Getting the Hang" of
the House--Lincoln's Course on the Mexican War--Notable Speech in
Congress--Ridicule of General Cass--Bill for the Abolition of
Slavery--Delegate to the Whig National Convention of 1848--Stumping
the Country for Taylor--Advice to Young Politicians--"Old Abe"--A
Political Disappointment--Lincoln's Appearance as an Officer Seeker
in Washington--"A Divinity that Shapes Our Ends"
CHAPTER VII
Lincoln again in Springfield--Back to the Circuit--His Personal
Manners and Appearance--Glimpses of Home-Life--His Family--His
Absent-Mindedness--A Painful Subject--Lincoln a Man of
Sorrows--Familiar Appearance on the Streets of Springfield--Scenes
in the Law-Office--Forebodings of a "Great of Miserable End"--An
Evening Whit Lincoln in Chicago--Lincoln's Tenderness to His
Relatives--Death of His Father--A Sensible Adviser--Care of His
Step-Mother--Tribute From Her
CHAPTER VIII
Lincoln as a Lawyer--His Appearance in Court--Reminiscences of a
Law-Student in Lincoln's Office--An "Office Copy" of Byron--Novel
Way of Keeping Partnership Accounts--Charges for Legal
Services--Trial of Bill Armstrong--Lincoln before a Jury--Kindness
toward Unfortunate Clients--Refusing to Defend Guilty
Men--Courtroom Anecdotes--Anecdotes of Lincoln at the Bar--Some
Striking Opinions of Lincoln as a Lawyer
CHAPTER IX
Lincoln and Slavery--The Issue Becoming More Sharply
Defined--Resistance to the Spread of Slavery--Views Expressed by
Lincoln in 1850--His Mind Made Up--Lincoln as a Party Leader--The
Kansas Struggle--Crossing Swords with Douglas--A Notable Speech by
Lincoln--Advice to Kansas Belligerents--Honor in Politics--Anecdote
of Lincoln and Yates--Contest for the U.S. Senate in
1855--Lincoln's Defeat--Sketched by Members of the Legislature
CHAPTER X
Birth of the Republican Party--Lincoln One of Its Fathers--Takes
His Stand with the Abolitionists--The Bloomington
Convention--Lincoln's Great Anti-Slavery Speech--A Ratification
Meeting of Three--The First National Republican
Convention--Lincoln's Name Presented for the
Vice-Presidency--Nomination of Fremont and Dayton--Lincoln in the
Campaign of 1856--His Appearance and Influence on the
Stump--Regarded as a Dangerous Man--His Views on the Politics of
the Future--First Visit to Cincinnati--Meeting with Edwin M.
Stanton--Stanton's First Impressions of Lincoln--Regards Him as a
"Giraffe"--A Visit to Cincinnati
CHAPTER XI
The Great Lincoln-Douglas Debate--Rivals for the U.S.
Senate--Lincoln's "House-Divided-against-Itself" Speech--An
Inspired Oration--Alarming His Friends--Challenges Douglas to a
Joint Discussion--The Champions Contrasted--Their Opinions of Each
Other--Lincoln and Douglas on the Stump--Slavery the Leading
Issue--Scenes and Anecdotes of the Great Debate--Pen-Picture of
Lincoln on the Stump--Humors of the Campaign--Some Sharp
Rejoinders--Words of Soberness--Close of the Conflict
CHAPTER XII
A Year of Waiting and Trial--Again Defeated for the
Senate--Depression and Neglect--Lincoln Enlarging His
Boundaries--On the Stump in Ohio--A Speech to Kentuckians--Second
Visit to Cincinnati--A Short Trip to Kansas--Lincoln in New York
City--The Famous Cooper Institute Speech--A Strong and Favorable
Impression--Visits New England--Secret of Lincoln's Success as an
Orator--Back to Springfield--Disposing of a Campaign
Slander--Lincoln's Account of His Visit to a Five Points Sunday
School
CHAPTER XIII
Looking towards the Presidency--The Illinois Republican Convention
of 1860--A "Send-Off" for Lincoln--The National Republican
Convention at Chicago--Contract of the Leading Candidates--Lincoln
Nominated--Scenes at the Convention--Sketches by
Eye-Witnesses--Lincoln Hearing the News--The Scene at
Springfield--A Visit to Lincoln at His Home--Recollections of a
Distinguished Sculptor--Receiving the Committee of the
Convention--Nomination of Douglas--Campaign of 1860--Various
Campaign Reminiscences--Lincoln and the Tall Southerner--The Vote
of the Springfield Clergy--A Graceful Letter to the Poet
Bryant--"Looking up Hard Spots"
CHAPTER XIV
Lincoln Chosen President--The Election of 1860--The Waiting-Time at
Springfield--A Deluge of Visitors--Various Impressions of the
President-Elect--Some Queer Callers--Looking over the Situation
with Friends--Talks about the Cabinet--Thurlow Weed's Visit to
Springfield--The Serious Aspect of National Affairs--The South in
Rebellion--Treason at the National Capital--Lincoln's Farewell
Visit to His Mother--The Old Sign, "Lincoln & Herndon"--The Last
Day at Springfield--Farewell Speech to Friends and Neighbors--Off
for the Capital--The Journey to Washington--Receptions and Speeches
along the Route--At Cincinnati: A Hitherto Unpublished Speech by
Lincoln--At Cleveland: Personal Descriptions of Mr. and Mrs.
Lincoln--At New York City: Impressions of the New President--Perils
of the Journey--The Baltimore Plot--Change of Route--Arrival at the
Capital
CHAPTER XV
Lincoln at the Helm--First Days in Washington--Meeting Public--Men
and Discussing Public Affairs--The Inauguration--The Inaugural
Address--A New Era Begun--Lincoln in the White House--The First
Cabinet--The President and the Office-Seekers--Southern Prejudice
against Lincoln--Ominous Portents, but Lincoln not Dismayed--The
President's Reception Room--Varied Impressions of the New
President--Guarding the White House
CHAPTER XVI
Civil War--Uprising of the Nation--The President's First Call for
Troops--Response of the Loyal North--The Riots in
Baltimore--Loyalty of Stephen A. Douglas--Douglas's Death--Blockade
of Southern Ports--Additional War Measures--Lincoln Defines the
Policy of the Government--His Conciliatory Course--His Desire to
Save Kentucky--The President's First Message to Congress--Gathering
of Troops in Washington--Reviews and Parades--Disaster at Bull
Run--The President Visits the Army--Good Advice to an Angry
Officer--A Peculiar Cabinet Meeting--Dark Days for Lincoln--A
"Black Mood" in the White House--Lincoln's Unfaltering
Courage--Relief in Story-Telling--A Pretty Good Land
Title--"Measuring up" with Charles Sumner--General Scott "Unable as
a Politician"--A Good Drawing-Plaster--The New York Millionaires
who Wanted a Gunboat--A Good Bridge-Builder--A Sick Lot of
Office-Seekers
CHAPTER XVII
Lincoln's Wise Statesmanship--The Mason and Slidell
Affair--Complications with England--Lincoln's "Little Story" on the
Trent Affair--Building of the "Monitor"--Lincoln's Part in the
Enterprise--The President's First Annual Message--Discussion of the
Labor Question--A President's Reception in War Time--A Great
Affliction--Death in the White House--Chapters from the Secret
Service--A Morning Call on the President--Goldwin Smith's
Impressions of Lincoln--Other Notable Tributes
CHAPTER XVIII
Lincoln and His Cabinet--An Odd Assortment of
Officials--Misconceptions of Rights and Duties--Frictions and
Misunderstandings--The Early Cabinet Meetings--Informal
Conversational Affairs--Queer Attitude toward the War--Regarded as
a Political Affair--Proximity to Washington a Hindrance to Military
Success--Disturbances in the Cabinet--A Senate Committee Demands
Seward's Removal from the Cabinet--Lincoln's Mastery of the
Situation--Harmony Restored--Stanton becomes War Secretary--Sketch
of a Remarkable Man--Next to Lincoln, the Master-Mind of the
Cabinet--Lincoln the Dominant Power
CHAPTER XIX
Lincoln's Personal Attention to the Military Problems of the
War--Efforts to Push forward the War--Disheartening
Delays--Lincoln's Worry and Perplexity Brightening Prospects--Union
Victories in North Carolina and Tennessee--Proclamation by the
President--Lincoln Wants to See for Himself--Visits Fortress
Monroe--Witnesses an Attack on the Rebel Ram "Merrimac"--The
Capture of Norfolk--Lincoln's Account of the Affair--Letter to
McClellan--Lincoln and the Union Soldiers--His Tender Solicitude
for the Boys in Blue--Soldiers Always Welcome at the White
House--Pardoning Condemned Soldiers--Letter to a Bereaved
Mother--The Case of Cyrus Pringle--Lincoln's Love of Soldiers'
Humor--Visiting the Soldiers in Trenches and Hospitals--Lincoln at
"The Soldiers' Rest"
CHAPTER XX
Lincoln and McClellan--The Peninsular Campaign of 1862--Impatience
with McClellan's Delay--Lincoln Defends McClellan from Unjust
Criticism--Some Harrowing Experiences--McClellan Recalled from the
Peninsula--His Troops Given to General Pope--Pope's Defeat at
Manassas--A Critical Situation--McClellan again in Command--Lincoln
Takes the Responsibility--McClellan's Account of His
Reinstatement--The Battle of Antietam--The President
Vindicated--Again Dissatisfied with McClellan--Visits the Army in
the Field--The President in the Saddle--Correspondence between
Lincoln and McClellan--McClellan's Final Removal--Lincoln's
Summing-Up of McClellan--McClellan's "Body-Guard"
CHAPTER XXI
Lincoln and Slavery--Plan for Gradual Emancipation--Anti-Slavery
Legislation in 1862--Pressure Brought to Bear on the
Executive--The Delegation of Quakers--A Visit from Chicago
Clergymen--Interview between Lincoln and Channing--Lincoln and
Horace Greeley--The President's Answer to "The Prayer of Twenty
Millions of People"--Conference between Lincoln and
Greeley--Emancipation Resolved on--The Preliminary
Proclamation--Lincoln's Account of It--Preparing for the Final
Act--The Emancipation Proclamation--Particulars of the Great
Document--Fate of the Original Draft--Lincoln's Outline of His
Course and Views Regarding Slavery
CHAPTER XXII
President and People--Society at the White House in
1862-3--The President's Informal Receptions--A Variety of
Callers--Characteristic Traits of Lincoln--His Ability to Say
_No_ when Necessary--Would not Countenance Injustice--Good
Sense and Tact in Settling Quarrels--His Shrewd Knowledge of
Men--Getting Rid of Bores--Loyalty to His Friends--Views of
His Own Position--"Attorney for the People"--Desire that They
Should Understand Him--His Practical Kindness--A Badly Scared
Petitioner--Telling a Story to Relieve Bad News--A Breaking
Heart beneath the Smiles--His Deeply Religious Nature--The
Changes Wrought by Grief
CHAPTER XXIII
Lincoln's Home-Life in the White House--Comfort in the
Companionship of his Youngest Son--"Little Tad" the Bright Spot in
the White House--The President and His Little Boy Reviewing the
Army of the Potomac--Various Phases of Lincoln's Character--His
Literary Tastes--Fondness for Poetry and Music--His Remarkable
Memory--Not a Latin Scholar--Never Read a Novel--Solace in
Theatrical Representation--Anecdotes of Booth and
McCullough--Methods of Literary Work--Lincoln as an Orator--Caution
in Impromptu Speeches--His Literary Style--Management of His
Private Correspondence--Knowledge of Woodcraft--Trees and Human
Character--Exchanging Views with Professor Agassiz--Magnanimity
toward Opponents--Righteous Indignation--Lincoln's Religious Nature
CHAPTER XXIV
Trials of the Administration in 1863--Hostility to War
Measures--Lack of Confidence at the North--Opposition in
Congress--How Lincoln Felt about the "Fire in the Rear"--Criticisms
from Various Quarters--Visit of "the Boston Set"--The Government on
a Tight-Rope--The Enlistment of Colored Troops--Interview between
Lincoln and Frederick Douglass--Reverses in the Field--Changes of
Military Leaders--From Burnside to Hooker--Lincoln's First Meeting
with "Fighting Joe"--The President's Solicitude--His Warning Letter
to Hooker--His Visit to the Rappahannock--Hooker's Self-Confidence
the "Worst Thing about Him"--The Defeat at Chancellorsville--The
Failure of Our Generals--"Wanted, a Man"
CHAPTER XXV
The Battle-Summer of 1863--A Turn of the Tide--Lee's Invasion of
Pennsylvania--A Threatening Crisis--Change of Union
Commanders--Meade Succeeds Hooker--The Battle of
Gettysburg--Lincoln's Anxiety during the Fight--The Retreat of
Lee--Union Victories in the Southwest--The Capture of
Vicksburg--Lincoln's Thanks to Grant--Returning
Cheerfulness--Congratulations to the Country--Improved State of
Feeling at the North--State Elections of 1863--The Administration
Sustained--Dedication of the National Cemetery at
Gettysburg--Lincoln's Address--Scenes and Incidents at the
Dedication--Meeting with Old John Burns--Edward Everett's
Impressions of Lincoln
CHAPTER XXVI
Lincoln and Grant--Their Personal Relations--Grant's Success at
Chattanooga--Appointed Lieutenant-General--Grant's First Visit to
Washington--His Meeting with Lincoln--Lincoln's First Impressions
of Grant--The First "General" Lincoln had Found--"That Presidential
Grub"--True Version of the Whiskey Anecdote--Lincoln Tells Grant
the Story of Sykes's Dog--"We'd Better Let Mr. Grant Have His Own
Way"--Grant's Estimate of Lincoln
CHAPTER XXVII
Lincoln's Second Presidential Term--His Attitude toward it--Rival
Candidates for the Nomination--Chase's Achillean Wrath--Harmony
Restored--The Baltimore Convention--Decision "not to Swap Horses
while Crossing a Stream"--The Summer of 1864--Washington again
Threatened--Lincoln under Fire--Unpopular Measures--The President's
Perplexities and Trials--The Famous Letter "To Whom It May
Concern"--Little Expectation of Re-election--Dangers of
Assassination--A Thrilling Experience--Lincoln's Forced
Serenity--"The Saddest Man in the World"--A Break in the
Clouds--Lincoln Vindicated by Re-election--Cheered and
Reassured--More Trouble with Chase--Lincoln's Final Disposal of
Him--The President's Fourth Annual Message--His Position toward the
Rebellion and Slavery Reaffirmed--Colored Folks' Reception at the
White House--Passage of the Amendment Prohibiting Slavery--Lincoln
and the Southern Peace Commissioners--The Meeting in Hampton
Roads--Lincoln's Impression of A.H. Stephens--The Second
Inauguration--Second Inaugural Address--"With Malice toward None,
with Charity for All"--An Auspicious Omen
CHAPTER XXVIII
Close of the Civil War--Last Acts in the Great Tragedy--Lincoln
at the Front--A Memorable Meeting--Lincoln, Grant, Sherman, and
Porter--Life on Shipboard--Visit to Petersburg--Lincoln and the
Prisoners--Lincoln in Richmond--The Negroes Welcoming Their
"Great Messiah"--A Warm Reception--Lee's Surrender--Lincoln
Receives the News--Universal Rejoicing--Lincoln's Last Speech to
the Public--His Feelings and Intentions toward the South--His
Desire for Reconciliation
CHAPTER XXIX
The Last of Earth--Events of the Last Day of Lincoln's Life--The
Last Cabinet Meeting--The Last Drive with Mrs. Lincoln--Incidents
of the Afternoon--Riddance to Jacob Thompson--A Final Act of
Pardon--The Fatal Evening--The Visit to the Theatre--The Assassin's
Shot--A Scene of Horror--Particulars of the Crime--The Dying
President--A Nation's Grief--Funeral Obsequies--The Return to
Illinois--At Rest in Oak Ridge Cemetery
INDEX
ILLUSTRATIONS
Abraham Lincoln
_From an Original Drawing by J.N. Marble, never before published_
Francis F. Browne
Abraham Lincoln
[Illustration: A. Lincoln]
THE EVERY-DAY LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
CHAPTER I
Ancestry--The Lincolns in Kentucky--Death of Lincoln's
Grandfather--Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks--Mordecai
Lincoln--Birth of Abraham Lincoln--Removal to Indiana--Early
Years--Dennis Hanks--Lincoln's Boyhood--Death of Nancy Hanks--Early
School Days--Lincoln's First Dollar--Presentiments of Future
Greatness--Down the Mississippi--Removal to Illinois--Lincoln's
Father--Lincoln the Storekeeper--First Official Act--Lincoln's
Short Sketch of His Own Life.
The year 1809--that year which gave William E. Gladstone to England--was
in our country the birth-year of him who wears the most distinguished
name that has yet been written on the pages of American history--ABRAHAM
LINCOLN. In a rude cabin in a clearing, in the wilds of that section
which was once the hunting-ground and later the battle-field of the
Cherokees and other war-like tribes, and which the Indians themselves
had named Kentucky because it was "dark and bloody ground," the great
War President of the United States, after whose name History has written
the word "Emancipator," first saw the light. Born and nurtured in
penury, inured to hardship, coarse food, and scanty clothing,--the story
of his youth is full of pathos. Small wonder that when asked in his
later years to tell something of his early life, he replied by quoting a
line from Gray's Elegy:
"The short and simple annals of the poor."
Lincoln's ancestry has been traced with tolerable certainty through five
generations to Samuel Lincoln of Norfolk County, England. Not many
years after the landing of the "Mayflower" at Plymouth--perhaps in the
year 1638--Samuel Lincoln's son Mordecai had emigrated to Hingham,
Massachusetts. Perhaps because he was a Quaker, a then persecuted sect,
he did not remain long at Hingham, but came westward as far as Berks
County, Pennsylvania. His son, John Lincoln, went southward from
Pennsylvania and settled in Rockingham County, Virginia. Later, in 1782,
while the last events of the American Revolution were in progress,
Abraham Lincoln, son of John and grandfather of President Lincoln, moved
into Kentucky and took up a tract of government land in Mercer County.
In the Field Book of Daniel Boone, the Kentucky pioneer, (now in
possession of the Wisconsin Historical Society), appears the following
note of purchase:
"Abraham Lincoln enters five hundred acres of land on a Treasury
warrant on the south side of Licking Creek or River, in Kentucky."
At this time Kentucky was included within the limits and jurisdiction of
Virginia. In 1775 Daniel Boone had built a fort at Boonesborough, on the
Kentucky river, and it was not far from this site that Abraham Lincoln,
President Lincoln's grandfather, located his claim and put up a rude log
hut for the shelter of his family. The pioneers of Kentucky cleared
small spaces and erected their humble dwellings. They had to contend not
only with the wild forces of nature, and to defend themselves from the
beasts of the forest,--more to be feared than either were the hostile
Indians. The settlers were filled with terror of these stealthy foes. At
home and abroad they kept their guns ready for instant use both night
and day. Many a hard battle was fought between the Indian and the
pioneer. Many an unguarded woodsman was shot down without warning while
busy about his necessary work. Among these was Abraham Lincoln. The
story of his death is related by Mr. I.N. Arnold. "Thomas Lincoln was
with his father in the field when the savages suddenly fell upon them.
Mordecai and Josiah, his elder brothers, were near by in the forest.
Mordecai, startled by a shot, saw his father fall, and running to the
cabin seized the loaded rifle, rushed to one of the loop-holes cut
through the logs of the cabin, and saw the Indian who had fired. He had
just caught the boy, Thomas, and was running toward the forest. Pointing
the rifle through the logs and aiming at a medal on the breast of the
Indian, Mordecai fired. The Indian fell, and springing to his feet the
boy ran to the open arms of his mother at the cabin door. Meanwhile
Josiah, who had run to the fort for aid, returned with a party of
settlers. The bodies of Abraham Lincoln and the Indian who had been
killed were brought in. From this time forth Mordecai Lincoln was the
mortal enemy of the Indian, and it is said that he sacrificed many in
revenge for the murder of his father."
In the presence of such dangers Thomas Lincoln spent his boyhood. He was
born in 1778, and could not have been much more than four years old on
that fatal day when in one swift moment his father lay dead beside him
and vengeance had been exacted by his resolute boy brother. It was such
experiences as these that made of the pioneers the sturdy men they were.
They acquired habits of heroism. Their sinews became wiry; their nerves
turned to steel. Their senses became sharpened. They grew alert, steady,
prompt and deft in every emergency.
Of Mordecai Lincoln, the boy who had exhibited such coolness and daring
on the day of his father's death, many stories are told after he reached
manhood. "He was naturally a man of considerable genius," says one who
knew him. "He was a man of great drollery. It would almost make you
laugh to look at him. I never saw but one other man who excited in me
the same disposition to laugh, and that was Artemus Ward. Abe Lincoln
had a very high opinion of his uncle, and on one occasion remarked that
Uncle Mord had run off with all the talents of the family."
Thomas Lincoln was twenty-eight years old before he sought a wife. His
choice fell upon a young woman of twenty-three whose name was Nancy
Hanks. Like her husband, she was of English descent. Like his, her
parents had followed in the path of emigration from Virginia to
Kentucky. The couple were married by the Rev. Jesse Head, a Methodist
minister located at Springfield, Washington County, Kentucky. They lived
for a time in Elizabethtown, but after the birth of their first child,
Sarah, they removed to Rock Spring farm, on Nolin Creek, in Hardin
(afterward LaRue) County. In this desolate spot, a strange and unlikely
place for the birth of one destined to play so memorable a part in the
history of the world, on the twelfth day of February, 1809, Abraham
Lincoln the President was born.
Of all the gross injustice ever done to the memory of woman, that which
has been accorded to Nancy Hanks is the greatest. The story which cast a
shadow upon her parentage, and on that of her illustrious son as well,
should be sternly relegated to the oblivion whence it came. Mr. Henry
Watterson, in his brilliant address on Lincoln, refers to him as "that
strange, incomparable man, _of whose parentage we neither know nor
care_." In some localities, particularly in Kentucky and South Carolina,
the rumor is definite and persistent that the President was not the son
of Thomas Lincoln, the illiterate and thriftless, but of one Colonel
Hardin for whom Hardin County was named; that Nancy Hanks was herself
the victim of unlegalized motherhood, the natural daughter of an
aristocratic, wealthy, and well-educated Virginia planter, and that this
accounted for many of her son's characteristics. The story has long
since been disproved. Efforts to verify it brought forth the fact that
it sprang into being in the early days of the Civil War and was
evidently a fabrication born of the bitter spirit of the hour.
It was not from his father, however, that Lincoln inherited any of his
remarkable traits. The dark coarse hair, the gray eyes, sallow
complexion, and brawny strength, which were his, constituted his sole
inheritance on the paternal side. But Nancy Hanks was gentle and
refined, and would have adorned any station in life. She was beautiful
in youth, with dark hair, regular features, and soft sparkling hazel
eyes. She was unusually intelligent, and read all the books she could
obtain. Says Mr. Arnold: "She was a woman of deep religious feeling, of
the most exemplary character, and most tenderly and affectionately
devoted to her family. Her home indicated a love of beauty exceptional
in the wild settlement in which she lived, and judging from her early
death it is probable that she was of a physique less hardy than that of
those among whom she lived. Hers was a strong, self-reliant spirit,
which commanded the love and respect of the rugged people among whom she
dwelt."
The tender and reverent spirit of Abraham Lincoln, and the pensive
melancholy of his disposition, he no doubt inherited from his mother.
Amid the toil and struggle of her busy life she found time not only to
teach him to read and write but to impress upon him ineffaceably that
love of truth and justice, that perfect integrity and reverence for God,
for which he was noted all his life. Lincoln always looked upon his
mother with unspeakable affection, and never ceased to cherish the
memory of her life and teaching.
A spirit of restlessness, a love of adventure, a longing for new scenes,
and possibly the hope of improving his condition, led Thomas Lincoln to
abandon the Rock Spring farm, in the fall of 1816, and begin life over
again in the wilds of southern Indiana. The way thither lay through
unbroken country and was beset with difficulties. Often the travellers
were obliged to cut their road as they went. With the resolution of
pioneers, however, they began the journey. At the end of several days
they had gone but eighteen miles. Abraham Lincoln was then but seven
years old, but was already accustomed to the use of axe and gun. He lent
a willing hand, and bore his share in the labor and fatigue connected
with the difficult journey. In after years he said that he had never
passed through a more trying experience than when he went from
Thompson's Ferry to Spencer County, Indiana. On arriving, a shanty for
immediate use was hastily erected. Three sides were enclosed, the fourth
remaining open. This served as a home for several months, when a more
comfortable cabin was built. On the eighteenth of October, 1817, Thomas
Lincoln entered a quarter-section of government land eighteen miles
north of the Ohio river and about a mile and a half from the present
village of Gentryville. About a year later they were followed by the
family of Thomas and Betsy Sparrow, relatives of Mrs. Lincoln and
old-time neighbors on the Rock Spring farm in Kentucky. Dennis Hanks, a
member of the Sparrow household and cousin of Abraham Lincoln, came
also. He has furnished some recollections of the President's boyhood
which are well worth recording. "Uncle Dennis," as he was familiarly
called, was himself a striking character, a man of original manners and
racy conversation. A sketch of him as he appeared to an observer in his
later days is thus given: "Uncle Dennis is a typical Kentuckian, born in
Hardin County in 1799. His face is sun-bronzed and ploughed with the
furrows of time, but he has a resolute mouth, a firm grip of the jaws,
and a broad forehead above a pair of piercing eyes. The eyes seem out of
place in the weary, faded face, but they glow and flash like two diamond
sparks set in ridges of dull gold. The face is a serious one, but the
play of light in the eyes, unquenchable by time, betrays a nature of
sunshine and elate with life. A glance at the profile shows a face
strikingly Lincoln-like,--prominent cheek bones, temple, nose, and chin; but best of all is that twinkling drollery in the eye that flashed in the White House during the dark days of the Civil War." |
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