Herndon's Lincoln The True Story Of A Great Life Etiam In Minimis Major The History And Personal Recollections Of Abraham Lincoln By William H. Herndon, For Twenty Years His Friend And Jesse William Weik

Herndon's Lincoln: The True Story Of A Great Life Etiam In Minimis Major The History And Personal Recollections Of Abraham Lincoln By William H. Herndon, For Twenty Years His Friend And Jesse William Weik

William H. Herndon...

13 minute read

Read Chapter

Preface

A quarter of a century has well-nigh rolled by since the tragic death of Abraham Lincoln. The prejudice and bitterness with which he was assailed have disappeared from the minds of men, and the world is now beginning to view him as a great historical character. Those who knew and walked with him are gradually passing away, and ere long the last man who ever heard his voice or grasped his hand will have gone from earth. With a view to throwing a light on some attributes of Lincoln's character her

7 minute read

Read Chapter

I.

Beyond the fact that he was born on the 12th day of February, 1809, in Hardin county, Kentucky, Mr. Lincoln usually had but little to say of himself, the lives of his parents, or the history of the family before their removal to Indiana. If he mentioned the subject at all, it was with great reluctance and significant reserve. There was something about his origin he never cared to dwell upon. His nomination for the Presidency in 1860, however, made the publication of his life a necessity, and att

21 minute read

Read Chapter

II.

Sarah, the sister of Abraham Lincoln, though in some respects like her brother, lacked his stature. She was thick-set, had dark-brown hair, deep-gray eyes, and an even disposition. In contact with others she was kind and considerate. Her nature was One of amiability, and God had endowed her with that invincible combination— modesty and good sense. Strange to say, Mr. Lincoln never said much about his sister in after years, and we are really indebted to the Hankses— Dennis and Johnfor the little

40 minute read

Read Chapter

Chapter3

The First law book Lincoln ever read was “The statutes of Indiana.”He obtained the volume from his friend David Turnham, who testifies that he fairly devoured the book in his eager efforts to abstract the store of knowledge that lay between the lids. No doubt, as Turnham insists, the study of the statutes at this early day led Abe to think of the law as his calling in maturer years. At any rate he now began to evince no little zeal in the matter of public speaking— in compliance with the old not

32 minute read

Read Chapter

IV.

After a fortnight of rough and fatiguing travel the colony of Indiana emigrants reached a point in Illinois Five miles north-west of the town of Decatur in Macon county. John Hanks, son of that Joseph Hanks in whose shop at Elizabethtown Thomas Lincoln had learned what he knew of the carpenter's art, met and sheltered them until they were safely housed on a piece of land which he had selected for them Five miles further westward. He had preceded them over a year, and had in the meantime hewed ou

30 minute read

Read Chapter

V.

The departure of the Talisman for deeper waters, the downfall of Denton Offut's varied enterprises and his disappearance from New Salem, followed in rapid succession, and before the spring of 1832 had merged into summer Lincoln found himself a piece of “Floating driftwood” again. Where he might have lodged had not the Black Hawk war intervened can only be a matter of conjecture. A glance at this novel period in his life may not be out of keeping with the purpose of this book. The great Indian ch

49 minute read

Read Chapter

VI.

Since the days when in Indiana, Lincoln sat on the river's bank with little Kate Roby, dangling his bare feet in the water, there had been no hint in these pages of tender relations with any One of the opposite sex. Now we approach in timely order the “Grand passion” of his life— a romance of much reality, the memory of which threw a melancholy shade over the remainder of his days. For the First time our hero falls in love. The courtship with Anne Rutledge and her untimely death form the saddest

19 minute read

Read Chapter

VII.

Before taking up an account of Lincoln's entry into the Legislature, which, following strictly the order of time, properly belongs here, I beg to digress long enough to narrate what I have gathered relating to another courtship— an affair of the heart which culminated in a sequel as amusing as the One with Anne Rutledge was sad. I experienced much difficulty in obtaining the particulars of this courtship. After no little effort I finally located and corresponded with the lady participant herself

28 minute read

Read Chapter

VIII.

In December, 1834, Lincoln prepared himself for the Legislature to which he had been elected by such a complimentary majority. Through the generosity of his friend Smoot he purchased a new suit of clothes, and entering the stage at New Salem, rode through to Vandalia, the seat of government. He appreciated the dignity of his new position, and instead of walking to the Capitol, as some of his biographers have contended, availed himself of the usual mode of travel. At this session of the Legislatu

50 minute read

Read Chapter

IX.

The year 1840 finds Mr. Lincoln entering his Thirty-second year and still unmarried. “I have come to the conclusion,” he suggests in a facetious letter, Two years before, “Never again to think of marrying.”But meanwhile he had seen more of the world. The State Capital had been removed to Springfield, and he soon observed the power and influence One can exert with high family and social surroundings to draw upon. The sober truth is that Lincoln was inordinately ambitious. He had already succeeded

3 hour read

Read Chapter

X.

After the wedding of Lincoln and Miss Todd at the Edwards mansion we hear but little of them as a married couple till the spring of 1843, when the husband writes to his friend Speed, who had been joined to his “Black-eyed Fanny” a little over a year, with regard to his life as a married man. “Are you possessing houses and lands,” he writes, “And oxen and asses and men-servants and maid-servants, and begetting sons and daughters? We are not keeping house, but boarding at the Globe Tavern, which i

52 minute read

Read Chapter

XI.

A Law office is a dull, dry place so far as pleasurable or interesting incidents are concerned. If One is in search of stories of fraud, deceit, cruelty, broken promises, blasted homes, there is no better place to learn them than a Law office. But to the majority of persons these painful recitals are anything but attractive, and it is well perhaps that it should be so. In the office, as in the court room, Lincoln, when discussing any point, was never arbitrary or insinuating. He was deferential,

41 minute read

Read Chapter

XII.

While Lincoln in a certain sense was buried in the law from the time his career in Congress closed till, to use his own words, “The repeal of the Missouri Compromise aroused him again,” yet he was a careful student of his times and kept abreast of the many and varied movements in politics. He was generally on the Whig electoral tickets, and made himself heard during each successive canvas, In the campaign of 1852, when Pierce was the Democratic candidate for President, Douglas made speeches for

41 minute read

Read Chapter

XIII.

I shall be forced to omit much that happened during the interval between the election of Buchanan and the campaign of 1858, for the reason that it would not only swell this work to undue proportions, but be a mere repetition of what has been better told by other writers. It is proper to note in passing, however, that Mr. Lincoln's reputation as a political speaker was no longer bounded by the border lines of Illinois. It had passed beyond the Wabash, the Ohio, and the Mississippi rivers, and whi

41 minute read

Read Chapter

XIV.

Before Mr. Lincoln surrenders himself completely to the public— for it is apparent he is fast approaching the great crisis of his career— it may not be entirely inappropriate to take a nearer and more personal view of him. A knowledge of his personal views and actions, a glimpse through the doorway of his home, and a more thorough acquaintance with his marked and strong points as they developed, will aid us greatly in forming our general estimate of the man. When Mr. Lincoln entered the domain o

34 minute read

Read Chapter

XV.

The result of the campaign of 1858 wrought more disaster to Lincoln's finances than to his political prospects. The loss of over Six months from his business, and expenses of the canvass, made a severe drain on his personal income. He was anxious to get back to the law once more and earn a little ready money. A letter written about this time to his friend Norman B. Judd, Chairman of the Republican State Committee, will serve to throw some light on the situation he found himself in. “I have been

32 minute read

Read Chapter

XVI.

The election over, Mr. Lincoln scarcely had time enough to take a breath until another campaign and One equally trying, so far as a test of his constitution and nerves was concerned, as the One through which he had just passed, opened up before him. I refer to the siege of the cabinet-makers and office-seekers. It proved to be a severe and protracted strain and One from which there seemed to be no relief, as the President-elect of this renowned democratic Government is by custom and precedent ex

41 minute read

Read Chapter

XVII.

Lincoln, the President, did not differ greatly from Lincoln the lawyer and politician. In the latter capacity only had his old friends in Illinois known him. For a long time after taking his seat they were curious to know what change, if any, his exalted station had made in him. He was no longer amid people who had seen him grow from the village lawyer to the highest rank in the land, and whose hands he could grasp in the confidence of a time-tried friendship; but now he was surrounded by wealth

33 minute read

Read Chapter

XVIII.

Before passing to a brief and condensed view of the great panorama of the war it will interest the reader and no doubt aid him greatly in drawing the portrait of Lincoln to call up for the purpose Two friends of his, whose testimony is not only vivid and minute, but for certain reasons unusually appropriate and essential. The Two were devoted and trusted friends of Lincoln; and while neither held office under him, both were offered and both declined the same. That of itself ought not to be consi

27 minute read

Read Chapter

XIX.

The outlines of Mr. Lincoln's Presidential career are alone sufficient to fill a volume, and his history after he had been sworn into office by Chief Justice Taney is so much a history of the entire country, and has been so admirably and thoroughly told by others, that I apprehend I can omit many of the details and still not impair the portrait I have been endeavoring to draw in the mind of the reader. The rapid shifting of scenes in the drama of secession, the disclosure of rebellious plots and

2 hour read

Read Chapter

Npublished Family Letters

The following letters by Mr. Lincoln to his relatives were at One time placed in my hands. As they have never before been published entire I have thought proper to append them here. They are only interesting as showing Mr. Lincoln's affection for his father and step-mother, and as specimens of the good, sound sense with which he approached every undertaking. The list opens with a letter to his father written from Washington while a member of Congress: Your letter of the 7th was received night be

13 minute read

Read Chapter

Lincoln's Fellow Lawyers

Among Lincoln's colleagues at the Springfield bar, after his re-entry into politics in 1854, and until his elevation to the Presidency, were, John T. Stuart, Stephen T. Logan, John A. Mc-Clernand, Benjamin S. Edwards, David Logan, E. B. Herndon, W. J. Ferguson, James H. Matheney, C. C. Brown, N. Nm. Broadwell, Charles W. Keyes, John E. Rosette, S. T. Zane, J. C. Conkling, Shelby M. Cullom, and G. M. Shutt. There were others, notably John M. Palmer and Richard J. Oglesby, who came in occasionally

36 minute read

Read Chapter

The Truce With Douglas.— Testimony Of Irwin

“The conversation took place in the Office of Lincoln & Herndon, in the presence of P. L. Harrison, William H. Herndon, Pascal Enos, and myself. It originated in this way: After the debate at Springfield on the 4th and 5th of October, 1854, William Jayne, John Cassiday, Pascal Enos, the writer, and others whose names I do not now remember, filled out and signed a written request to Lincoln to follow Douglas until he Ran him into his hole or made him halloo Enough, and that day Lincoln was gi

1 minute read

Read Chapter

The Bloomington Convention

Following is a copy of the call to select delegates to the Bloomington Convention held May 29, 1856, when the Republican party in Illinois came into existence. It will be remembered that I signed Lincoln's name under instructions from him by telegraph. The original document I gave several years ago to a friend in Boston, Mass.: We, the undersigned, citizens of Sangamon County, who are opposed to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and the present administration, and who are in favor of restor

52 minute read

Read Chapter

An Office Discussion— Lincoln's Idea Of War

One morning in 1859, Lincoln and I, impressed with the probability of war between the Two sections of the country, were discussing the subject in the office. “The position taken by the advocates of State Sovereignty,” remarked Lincoln, “Always reminds me of the fellow who contended that the proper place for the big kettle was inside of the little One.”To me, war seemed inevitable, but when I came to view the matter squarely, I feared a difficulty the North would have in controlling the various c

1 minute read

Read Chapter

Lincoln And The Know-Nothings

Among other things used against Lincoln in the campaign of 1860 was the charge that he had been a member of a know- nothing lodge. When the charge was laid at his door he wrote the following letter to One of his confidential political friends. I copy from the original Ms.: My Dear Sir: Yours of the 20th is received. I suppose as good, or even better, men than I may have been in American or Know-Knothing lodges; but, in point of fact, I never was in One, at Quincy or elsewhere. I was never in Qui

2 minute read

Read Chapter

Lincoln's Views On The Rights Of Suffrage

At One time, while holding the office of attorney for the city of Springfield, I had a case in the Supreme Court, which involved the validity or constitutionality of a law regulating the matter of voting. Although a city case, it really abridged the right of suffrage. Being Lincoln's partner I wanted him to assist me in arguing the questions involved. He declined to do so, saying: “I am opposed to the limitation or lessening of the right of suffrage; if anything, I am in favor of its extension o

35 minute read

Read Chapter

The Burial Of The Assassin Booth

“Upon reaching Washington with the body of Booth— having come up the Potomac— it was at once removed from the tug-boat to a gun-boat that lay at the dock at the Navy Yard, where it remained about Thirty-six hours. It was there examined by the Surgeon-General and staff and other officers, and identified by half a score of persons who had known him well. Toward evening of the Second day Gen. L. C. Baker, then chief of the Detective Bureau of the War Department, received orders from Secretary of Wa

1 minute read

Read Chapter

A Tribute To Lincoln By A Colleague At The Bar

The weird and melancholy association of eloquence and poetry had a strong fascination for Mr. Lincoln's mind. Tasteful composition, either of prose or poetry, which faithfully contrasted tie realities of eternity with the unstable and fickle fortunes of time, made a strong impression on his mind. In the indulgence of this melancholy taste it is related of him that the poem, Immortality, he knew by rote and appreciated very highly. He had a strange liking for the verses, and they bear a just rese

2 minute read

Read Chapter