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Question of the day

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* Tomorrow is Abraham Lincoln’s birthday and the blog will be closed through Monday, which is Presidents’ Day.

* The Question: What’s your favorite Abe Lincoln-related story?

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 11:05 am

Comments

I’ve always enjoyed the story of when Abe was on the southwest side riding his horse, and a little black girl looked at him and said, “Aren’t you Stephen Douglas?!”

Comment by Heartless Libertarian Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 11:10 am
As a judicial circuit-riding lawyer, he traveled between county seats to represent clients, one of those being the courthouse at Taylorville. He became friends with my great,great grandfather and would stay at his house when in court at Taylorville about 3 miles away. Growing up in that 100+ year old farmhouse, I periodically would nap on the four poster bed in the guestroom in which Lincoln slept, and always wondered how someone who was 6′4″ could ever be comfortable in that bed.

Comment by Blogger2 Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 11:11 am
Lincoln pretty much founded an entire new political party based on protecting the rights of minorities, even if you didn’t like them. I wish the modern day version of that party felt the same way.

Comment by Its Just Me Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 11:20 am
Lincoln attempting to jump out the window to avoid a quorum call by Democrats. Its a CLASSIC!

http://archpundit.com/blog/2003/05/20/lincoln-the-quorum-breaker/

” LINCOLN BROKE A QUORUM Back in 1839, the Illinois House was meeting in special session and hatched a plan to vote on a Democratic bill to require the state’s central bank to make payments in gold or silver, rather than paper money. The Whig Party strongly opposed the idea, and, led by Rep. Abraham Lincoln, decided on the spot that the best way to kill the proposal was to deny the majority Democrats a quorum. So, they left the building, the

Second Presbyterian Church in Springfield. But two members were required under law back then to demand that a quorum call be made. Lincoln and another House Whig, Joseph Gillespie, walked into the chambers and made the motion. No quorum was present and a vote couldn’t be taken. The next day, though, Lincoln and the Whigs made the same attempt, but the House Speaker ordered the doors locked behind them and summoned some members who had previously been too ill to attend the session. A quorum was now present.

Lincoln realized the problem and he and the other Whigs jumped out of a window to try to halt the vote, but the quorum was already certified and the Whigs lost. According to Lincoln friend William Herndon, the window jumping had no effect ‘other than to provide the Democrats with capital material for ridicule.’”

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 11:24 am
I love the story of the orgmathorical court. After watching Lincoln take less money for his services than the other lawyers on the circuit, they held an “orgmathorical court”. He was found guilty of trying to bankrupt the bar by his pecuniary practices.

Comment by lincolnlover Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 11:32 am
As Grant started to produce battlefield victories in the West, other more senior generals became jealous, and started spreading rumors that he was drinking again and frequently drunk in the field.

The rumors finally became overwhelming and made it to Stanton, the Secretary of War. He brought his concerns to Lincoln, who replied:

“Find out what he’s drinking, and send a case to each of my other generals.”

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 11:43 am
His skewering of Stephen Douglas in the 1858 debates, particularly the line from the Quincy Debate: “Has it not got down as thin as the homeopathic soup that was made by boiling the shadow of a pigeon that had starved to death?”

Comment by Anon Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 11:50 am
I just realized that my earlier comment wasn’t a story. I always thought it hilarious that Lincoln arrived in D.C. as the President-elect in a disguse in order to evade would-be assassins.

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Almost-Assassination-of-Abraham-Lincoln,-Allan-Pinkerton&id=1470966

Comment by Its Just Me Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 11:50 am
Heartless Libertarian, thanks for the levity. Well played!

Comment by SpfldJimbo Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 11:51 am
Lincoln was asked how it felt to be President. He said he felt like the man who was tarred and feathered and ridden out of town on a rail, and said, “If it wasn’t for the honor of the thing, I would rather have walked.”

Comment by jake Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 12:17 pm
lincoln and the pigs in Christian County. I just love hearing “writ of quietus”. This story is just goofy.

Comment by bored on 1 Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 12:24 pm
The trial he had in Urbana-Champaign… I think it was Urbana… makes Urbana all the more historic for me…

Abraham Lincoln’s court case involving the trial of William “Duff” Armstrong for murder in 1858. The previous year, Mason County, Illinois, authorities arrested Armstrong for killing Preston Metzker during a drunken brawl. Lincoln took the case as a favor to the defendant’s mother, an old friend from New Salem. The prosecution’s case hinged on the testimony of an eyewitness, Charles Allen. Allen claimed to have seen Armstrong strike the fatal blow in the bright light of a full moon. At the trial, Lincoln produced an almanac to show that the night actually was too dark for Allen to have seen the murder. Allen was acquitted, and the “almanac case” entered the Lincoln lore. (lifted off a u of i website)

Comment by illini-er Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 12:48 pm
I like the story, I think from Herndon, that Lincoln preferred to read out loud, and felt he didn’t always get what he was reading unless he heard it.

For me, that’s a big reminder of just how different the world was, particularly for the poor folk near the frontier. He learned to read rather later than most of us do today, and it wasn’t quite as ingrained as it would be for us. More like a second language that you knew quite well, whereas for most of us today, reading is simply a subset of our English comprehension - part of our first language.

That may be one reason he was so in touch with the poetry of what he wrote.

Comment by earnest Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 12:55 pm
An irritated voter complained to Lincoln that he was “two-faced”. To which he replied, “Lady, if I was two-faced, do you think I’d be wearing this one?”

Comment by chiatty Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 1:10 pm
Man, I really thought this would get a better response.

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 1:17 pm
“My Dear General McClellan:

If you are not using the army, I should like to borrow it for a short while.

Yours respectfully,

Abraham Lincoln

Comment by Tracy Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 1:17 pm
Heh, I got a friend who insist that Lincoln wasn’t much different than Josef Stalin.

Comment by Levois Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 1:21 pm
The stories of his insane wife. Mary Todd was bonkers.

Comment by Pickles!! Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 1:45 pm
In response to Miller’s request for more stories: I highly doubt this actually happened, but nonetheless: While in route to a political event Lincoln and a friend were talking about self sacrifice and altruism. After Lincoln argued that selfishness prompts all good deeds, he noticed a sow making a terrible noise. Her piglets had gotten into a pond and were in danger of drowning. Lincoln called the coach to a halt, jumped out, ran back, and lifted the little pigs to safety. Upon his return, his companion remarked, “Now, Abe, where does selfishness come in on this little episode?” “Why, bless your soul, Ed, that was the very essence of selfishness. I should have no peace of mind all day had I gone and left that suffering old sow worrying over those pigs.”

Comment by Its Just Me Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 2:00 pm
True story from the Lincoln farm in Coles County.
Lincoln’s father was a ne’re do well often in financial trouble. He lived on a 40 A. farm south of Charleston.
When the heat got too bad from creditors, Honest Abe agreed to accept a deed to the farm so that the creditors could not take it from Thomas Lincoln.
That was while Abe the lawyer was still in Springfield. It was in his estate when he died.
The land later became a scandal in its own right in the 1970’s when business owners went broke trying to sell it one inch at a time and failed to pay the property taxes on the land, but that is a different story.

Comment by Skeptic Cal Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 2:09 pm
I’ve always been especially impressed with Lincoln’s magnanimity and foresight. It seems almost inhuman how he was able to play situations out for a greater purpose, and pardon many of the slights that came his way. Many that in our time would have spurred our former Gov to do something along the lines of, oh let’s say close down a major department office in that legislator’s district and move it to another town.

One of my favorite examples of this was how he dealt with Salmon Chase, his Sec. of the Treasury who was blasting him behind his back in order to gear up for a Presidential bid against Lincoln. When many of the President’s friends came to him with concern, and urged him to fire his subordinate, he gave them this response:

“One day my brother and I were plowing. I was driving the horse and my brother was holding onto the plow. The horse was usually lazy, but all of a sudden he ran across the field so fast that even I, with my long legs, had trouble keeping pace with him. When we got to the end of the furrow, I found that an enormous chin-fly had fastened upon him, causing him to bolt. I knocked the fly off. My brother asked me what I did that for, and I told him I didn’t want to see the old horse bitten like that. My brother protested, ‘that’s the only thing that made him go.’

Lincoln gazed at his friends before continuing, “If Chase has a Presidential chin-fly biting him, I’m not going to knock it off, if it will only make his department go.”

By the time the primary came about for the next election Lincoln was so admired for his shrewdness and wisdom that Chase couldn’t even get Ohio, the state where he was previously Governor, to nominate him. The story just amazes me.

Comment by Kevin Fanning Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 2:22 pm
==Man, I really thought this would get a better response==

They just don’t compare to the Illinois political stories of the last 40 years! I’ll give you my two Lincolns worth: Paul Simon said in the early 1960s as he was working on a book his daughter Sheila was asked what his father did, and she said he works on Abraham Lincoln. I butchered this story, but it was one I heard most often from Paul (and Sheila).
Of the actual stories about Lincoln, the one where he rode back to refund some overpayment to a client is one of my favorites.

Comment by Vote Quimby! Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 2:31 pm
Years ago on a case found myself in Rushville, IL in a beautifully restored courtroom that Lincoln once tried a case in. Found out for the first time that he represented railroads and other monied interests and that he won that case.

I spent hours there while the Chief Judge, who was primarily responsible for the restoration project, showed me around pointed out some archived documents about that case and how they actually restored the court room.

Comment by Louis G. Atsaves Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 2:40 pm
On September 22, 1842 Lincoln was about to enter into a duel allowed by state law….

Licoln once remarked about his notorious duel with James Shields, “If all the good things I have ever done are remembered as long and as well as my scrape with Shields, it is plain I shall not be forgotten.” The duel, however, has been almost completely forgotten, although it had far-reaching effects on Lincoln; he learned a great deal from the experience.

He almost fought to the death with Illinois Auditor James Shields. The duel was called off after their friends negotiated a truce.

For me; The most interesting part of the story was that Lincoln, as President, named Shields a General in the Army…

Comment by Larry Mullholland Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 2:48 pm
Bravo, Heartless Libertarian.

I clicked on comments to read some serious posts, but I’m glad yours was first - almost spit water all over my computer.

Comment by JonShibleyFan Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 2:59 pm
It’s just me @11:20am,

=Lincoln pretty much founded an entire new political party based on protecting the rights of minorities, even if you didn’t like them. I wish the modern day version of that party felt the same way. =

Not only is that not a Lincoln story as requested it is a statement w/out basis. The civil rights and voting rights acts that LBJ pushed thru congress 40+ years ago had no chance of being passed if LBJ relied on congressional democrats. It was the republicans in congress who were instrumental in those bills passing with their support. Please know your history before opining.

As for a story I read Kearns book on Lincoln and was transported to that time learning about how he brought his rivals into the administration and how they became some of his staunchest allies. He had such courage in his convictions that he pursued his course despite horrendous opposition from all sides. But I did enjoy hearing about his telling ribald jokes on the circuit - I just wish I could remember them.

Comment by dupage dan Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 3:10 pm
Sorry, Rich, I never met the man.

;)

The full moon story is one of my favorites, but I believe the case was tried in Beardstown.

Comment by Pot calling kettle Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 3:23 pm
(From “Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. Sketches of Debates at the Annual Meeting,” The Liberator, 28 February 1840.)
[Mr. Bradburn] This discussion reminds me of the boy who said to his father, “Father, how many legs would this calf have, calling the tail a leg? ‘Why five, my son.’ ‘No, father, he can not. He would have only four.’ ‘Why, calling the tail a leg, you said, my boy.’ ‘Ah father! but calling the tail a leg, does not make it so, you know.’ So also I would say to that gentlemen. You may call him an abolitionist any length of time you choose. It will not make him one.
If the above joke was in circulation in mid-19th century America, why should Lincoln have been any less likely than the next man to re-tell it in conversation?
(From “Irenaeus,” “Letters from the City,” The New York Observer and Chronicle, 22 January 1863.)
THE PRESIDENT AND DR. CHEEVER.
Just before the first of January, Dr. Cheever was appointed by a ministers’ meeting, at which a lawyer presided and a newspaper reporter was secretary, to go to Washington and help stiffen the backbone of the President in the matter of the Proclamation. At the interview, as it is described by Dr. Cheever to his friends, the President was as usual in excellent humor . . . As the conference [with the President] continued, the President expressed his fear that the Proclamation would not amount to much of anything, and the doctor predicted great things from it. Mr. Lincoln said it reminded him of a farmer out in Illinois who asked his little boy a question in figures. “If you call a sheep’s tail a leg, how many legs will you have?” “Five,” said the boy. “No, it won’t, you fool,” said the farmer, “calling a thing so, don’t make it so!”

The President seemed to feel that calling a man free and making him so were not exactly the same thing.

Comment by Mighty M. Mouse Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 3:37 pm
A couple of married friends of mine who used to live in Springfield have two T shirts which they both wear at the same time to some political events. The one worn by the wife has a picture of Mary Lincoln and says: “I’d have to be crazy to live in Springfield”. The one worn by the husband bears a picture of Abe and says: “I’d have to be dead to come back to Springfield”.

Comment by MikeintheSuburbs Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 5:13 pm
Rich,

For those who are interested, Lincoln scholar Dr. Michael Burlingame will be speaking at a luncheon at the Union League Club on Wednesday, March 4.

He will talk about his new two-volume biography, Abraham Lincoln: A Life. There will be a reception starting at 11:30 a.m., followed by the lunch and program at 12 p.m.

Publisher’s Weekly writes that “Burlingame has produced the finest Lincoln biography in more than 60 years. Future Lincoln books cannot be written without it, and from no other book can a general reader learn so much about Abraham Lincoln. It is the essential title for the bicentennial.” Abraham Lincoln: A Life has been rated one of “Publisher’s Weekly Best Books of the Year.”

Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of Team of Rivals, adds, “”Lincoln scholars have waited anxiously for this book for decades. Its triumphant publication proves it was well worth the wait. Few scholars have written with greater insight about the psychology of Lincoln. No one in recent history has uncovered more fresh sources than Michael Burlingame. This profound and masterful portrait will be read and studied for years to come.”

For anyone who is interested, the cost is $30. Reservations can For reservations, contact The Book Stall at Chestnut Court at 847-446-8880 or books@TheBookStall.com.

Comment by Lincoln Reader Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 5:39 pm
Mike, AA has one of those shirts. They were sold during the infamous “LincolnFest” in the 80’s and say under Abe’s pic:

“They’d have to shoot me to get me back to Springfield.” -A.Lincoln, February 11, 1861

My favorite Lincoln story deals with preparations for the first visit by British officials to the White House to visit the President. An assistant assures Abe that all necessary details have been tended to, including tidying up the White House guest outhouses. Lincoln offers a suggestion, saying “Why don’t you hang a picture of General Washington on the back of the door? That ought to make any Brit have a s***.” I believe that’s from David Herbert Donald’s bio “Lincoln”, but I could be wrong. I’ve read a lot of them.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 6:44 pm
Lets just hope that Durbin doesn’t play comedian and try his hand at more jokes!!

Comment by 4 percent Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 6:49 pm
Not a story, just a referral. Gore Vidal’s “Lincoln” has a lot of great stories, but as historical fiction, I don’t know how much of it is true. But it’s a must read if you haven’t.

Comment by Bobs yer Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 8:13 pm
Rich, sorry to disappoint.

Class, as penance, I suggest the following: read the collected writings of Lincoln, Grant and Twain. Contemporaries, and all from the same neck of the woods, they invented American English.

Many suggest that Twain ghosted much of the dying Grant’s memoirs, and reading some of the recollections, I don’t doubt it.

But when you read Grant’s contemporary battlefield memos, you’re struck by the clarity and brilliance of this drunken failure from Galena.

And certainly the most beautiful poetry of any American writer can be found in Lincoln’s addresses at Gettysburg and the Second Inaugural.

I’ll be re-reading both tomorrow.

Here’s to you, Springfield. Because of Lincoln, you’ll always be in the hearts of free people, and those who aspire to be, the world over for all time.

Lincoln and Springfield can never be separated. As John Hay said to Lincoln after he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, “Now you belong to the ages.”

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 8:15 pm
Also, personal experience, was in Boone County courthouse on a case. Noted how old it was, and asked if it was a ‘Lincoln’ courthouse, i.e one where Lincoln appeared. Was told it was and that Clarence Darrow also tried a case there. My reaction was, ‘how the heck did I get in the door?’

Comment by Bobs yer Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 8:18 pm
Bobs, as all of Gore Vidal’s American Chronicle books, “Lincoln” is exhaustively researched, authenticated and well-written.

Like him or hate him for whatever reasons, but the books are extraordinary.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 8:49 pm
Last post, I promise. Just tough subject to leave alone, especially after you’ve let it simmer a bit.

Words are important, especially words that sum things up well. You could write a thousand books about war, how stupid it is, how wasteful of the young, or the fact that someimes it accoomplishes things, and never beat this:

“– that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

That “last full meaure of devotion” is timeless.

Thanks, Abe.

B-Y

Comment by Bobs yer Wednesday, Feb 11, 09 @ 9:24 pm
I remember reading someplace (perhaps in Jim Bishop’s “The Day Lincoln Was Shot”) that Lincoln continually had a pile of papers on his desk which was labelled, “If you can’t find it anywhere else, look here.” I’ve retold that story any number of times to excuse the perennial pile on my desk. Don’t know if it’s true or not, but I take great comfort in that story!

Comment by Steve Thursday, Feb 12, 09 @ 1:57 am
I did a lot of reading when I worked at Lincoln’s Tomb many years ago. I don’t remember the exact details of the story, but it goes something like this. Lincoln told the story after the fact. He was in a carriage with a man he didn’t know. The man didn’t know him. The man offered him some chewing tobacco. He declined. The man offered him a cigar. He declined. the man then offered him some alcohol. Again, he declined. The man looked at him and said something to the effect of, Mister, it’s been my experience that a man with few vices has d**n few virtues.

Comment by Cranky Old Man Thursday, Feb 12, 09 @ 7:21 am
In the latter part of the of the Civil War there was a battle at Fort Stephens just outside Washington DC. President Lincoln went out to the battlefield to see what it was like to be in an actual battle of that war. He wore his top hat and was a very recognizeable figure due to his size and dress. It is assumed that southern soldiers recognized him standing at the breastwork of the Union defensive position. A Union surgeon that was standing beside him was wounded and fell to the ground. He was well within range of the attacking troops. After seeing what he wanted to see he left the fort. He is the only American President to be under fire as a President. To me this speaks a lot about the man. He was very deeply troubled by the terrible casualties of this great conflict and I suppose felt guilty about sitting comfortably at home while young and old died in tremendous numbers.

Comment by Irish Friday, Feb 13, 09 @ 10:43 am
The story of Abe Lincoln and his first and only “true” love, Ann Rutledge. Her death has been attributed by Lincoln’s closest personal friends with originating Lincoln’s life-long bouts with melancholy and depression.

Lincoln struggled with the idea of marrying Mary Todd. His close friends say this was because of his unceasing love of Ann Rutledge. Abe, however, was a practical man. He was extremely “fond” of Mary Todd and more importantly, he knew that his legal and political career would be more likely to flourish if he married the socially and financially prominent Mary Todd. Lincoln gave in to practicality and tried to bury his unceasing emotional devotion to his one and only true love, Ann Rutledge. He was never able to bury her memory, however. This showed another dimension of Lincoln and his willingness to make the “personal sacrifices” required in order to achieve what he considered worthy goals. A Christ-like figure in many ways but also a flawed man with frailties like the rest of us.

Comment by Beowulf Sunday, Feb 15, 09 @ 8:45 am