1. Abraham Lincoln spent less than
12 months in all attending schools as a youth growing up on the frontier.
Each one was very small, and the lessons were most often taught orally, and
schools thus got the nickname "blab" schools. Abraham attended school in Kentucky for a few weeks in the fall of 1815 and
again in the fall of 1816. In 1815 his teacher was Zachariah Riney, and in
1816 the school was taught by Caleb Hazel. In Indiana in 1819-1820 Abraham
attended school briefly. The teacher was Andrew Crawford. In 1822 Abraham
attended a school for a few months. The teacher was a man named James
Swaney. Finally, in 1824 he attended (for several months) a school taught
by Azel Dorsey.
2. Lincoln was the tallest president. Artist Francis B. Carpenter measured Lincoln's height in the White
House. He measured six feet three and three-quarter inches in his
stocking feet. Most sources round it off to 6 feet 4 inches. Lincoln's average weight was 180 pounds.
3. Lincoln's hat size was 7 1/8.
His shoe size is normally listed as between 12 and 14.
4. Abraham Lincoln was brought up by
Baptist parents and occasionally attended Presbyterian churches in Springfield and
Washington. He was married by an Episcopal minister. However, he never
joined a church during his life.
He sporadically attended services with his wife; she was a church member, and he was not.
5. Lincoln's coffin has been moved 17 times, mostly due to numerous reconstructions of the Lincoln Tomb and fears for the safety of the president's remains. The coffin itself has been opened five times: December 21, 1865, September 19, 1871, October 9, 1874, April 14, 1887, and September 26, 1901. In 1876 grave robbers tried to steal his remains.
6. Lincoln did not attend his own father's funeral. The two were not close. Upon being informed of his father's declining health, Lincoln refused to visit him and asked his stepbrother to "Say to him that if we could meet now, it is doubtful whether it would not be more painful than pleasant." Thomas Lincoln died 5 days later.
7. Lincoln, the 16th president, was the first president to be assassinated.
8. Abraham Lincoln is the only president to
have a patent. The patent was for a Lincoln-devised
device for freeing ships that had run aground in shallow water. Lincoln
received patent number 6469 in 1849 for his invention.
9. The items in Abraham Lincoln's pockets the night of the assassination were as
follows: a pocketknife, a linen handkerchief, a sleeve button, a fancy watch
fob, two pairs of spectacles, a lens polisher, a tiny pencil, tiny fragments of hard red and green candy, a fine brownish powder which appeared to be snuff, and a brown
leather wallet (one section was engraved "U.S. Currency" and another section
was engraved "Notes"). The wallet contained a Confederate five dollar bill,
and nine old newspaper clippings. Included among these clippings were two
articles of praise and five others dealing with the issues that were on Lincoln's mind
during his final months. These items are now in the Library of Congress.
10. Abraham never once was photographed with his wife Mary.
11. Abraham Lincoln had no middle
name. He was named after his paternal grandfather who had been killed by
Native Americans in 1786. He was simply (and legally) just Abraham Lincoln
his entire life.
12. Sometimes Abraham Lincoln's stovepipe hat was called was his "desk and
memorandum
book" and also sometimes his "filing cabinet". This was because he kept
mail, his bankbook,
important papers, etc.in it.
13. There are various theories on the origin of the nickname "Honest Abe."
When Abraham Lincoln was
working as a clerk in a store in New Salem, he once took 6 1/4 cents too
much from a customer. That night when the store closed, he walked three miles to
return the woman's money. Another time
a customer who asked for 1/2 pound of tea was mistakenly given only 1/4
pound because Lincoln had absent-mindedly left a 1/4 weight on the scales.
Very early in the morning, when he discovered the mistake, he walked a long
way to give the customer the right amount of tea. Another theory is that
it had to do with Lincoln's honesty in judging horse races in the New Salem
area. A final possibility
was his habit from early on in his legal career to charge little or no legal
fees when he knew his client was poor. Other Lincoln nicknames included "The
Rail Splitter," "The Great Emancipator," and "Father Abraham." "The Great Emancipator" refers to Lincoln's issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation and his strong support of the Thirteenth Amendment which ended slavery in the United States.
"Father Abraham" refers to Lincoln's leadership during the Civil War and his goal of ending slavery.
The Illinois Republican State Convention was held in Decatur in 1860.
During that convention, John
Hanks, Abraham Lincoln's cousin, carried two rails down the aisle. He also
carried a banner which said, "ABRAHAM LINCOLN The Rail Candidate for
President in 1860 Two rails from a lot of 3,000 made in 1830 by John Hanks
and Abe Lincoln, whose father was the first pioneer in Macon County."
Hanks became famous for his role in creating the "Rail Splitter" candidate
for President!
Thus, this nickname recalled the days when, as a young man, Lincoln had
split logs to make fence rails.
14. Lincoln was the first president to be born beyond the boundaries of the original 13 states. He was the first president born in Kentucky.
15. Lincoln was the first president to wear a beard.
16. Abraham Lincoln earned his first dollar ferrying passengers to a steamer on the Ohio River in 1827.
17. For 87 years it was thought no photographs of Abraham Lincoln in an open coffin existed. Then, in 1952, 14-year-old Ronald Rietveld discovered one hidden away in the Illinois State Historical Library while researching the papers of Lincoln's personal secretaries. (Dr. Rietveld retired in 2009 as a professor emeritus at California State University in Fullerton.) The photograph had been taken by photographer Jeremiah Gurney, Jr., on April 24, 1865, as the body lay in state in City Hall in New York. Afterwards, it was immediately confiscated by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and was unknown until re-discovered by Rietveld.
Illinois State Historical Library Photograph Discovered by Ronald Rietveld
18. Lincoln vetoed or pocket vetoed only seven bills during his presidency.
19. Lincoln could quote many parts of the Bible, but his absolute favorite book was Psalms. His favorite poem was Mortality written by William Knox.
20. There is no mention of Lincoln ever playing a musical instrument (with the possible exception of the harmonica).
21. The name of Abraham Lincoln's horse is stated
differently in different sources. I have seen the horse called "Old Bob" or
"Old Robin" or sometimes just "Robin" or "Bob." The most frequently used
one, though, is "Old Bob."
Abraham Lincoln's Horse "Old Bob" (Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum)
22. Abraham Lincoln never owned a slave during his life. Lincoln's father's brother,
Mordecai, owned one slave. Lincoln's father's uncle, Isaac, owned
roughly 40
slaves. Mary Todd Lincoln's father, Robert Smith Todd, owned several
slaves. Abraham Lincoln's parents, Thomas and Nancy, owned no slaves;
in fact they were so opposed to slavery that they joined a Baptist
congregation which had withdrawn from another church due to opposition to
slavery. Mary Todd
Lincoln, herself, was very opposed to her father's owning of slaves and
never owned a slave herself. Once again, Abraham Lincoln himself
never owned a slave.
23. During the Black Hawk War in 1832 Abraham Lincoln
joined a volunteer company and was elected captain. He never fought in a battle.
24. Once a shot was fired
through Lincoln's hat (possibly by a hunter but probably by a sniper) while
the president was on horseback near the Soldiers' Home. The incident happened in August of 1864. The president asked
that no mention of it be made to the public as it might worry his family.
25. As a boy Lincoln's dog was named Honey. In Springfield Lincoln had a dog named Fido. In the White House his dog was named Jip. Lincoln also liked kittens and cats.
The name of the White House cat was Tabby, and Abraham would feed the cat who was seated on a chair next to the president. He used White House utensils to feed Tabby. Once Mary Lincoln suggested that it was in poor taste to feed the cat at the table with White House utensils, and Lincoln replied, "If the gold fork was good enough for Buchanan I think it is good enough for Tabby," and he continued to feed the cat throughout the meal.
26. The first foreign statue honoring Abraham Lincoln was erected
in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was unveiled on August 21, 1893. The sculptor
was a man named George Edwin Bissell.
27. Lincoln often suffered from depression during his life. On January
23, 1841, he wrote a letter to John T. Stuart, his first law partner.
In the letter, Lincoln stated, "I am now the most miserable man living. If
what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would
not be one cheerful face on the earth. Whether I shall ever be better I can
not tell; I awfully forebode I shall not. To remain as I am is impossible;
I must die or be better, it appears to me."
28. Abraham Lincoln once saw his eventual assassin in a play. On November 9, 1863, he attended Ford's
Theatre to see The Marble Heart starring John Wilkes Booth.
29. In
1825 Abraham borrowed a book
titled Life of Washington by Parson Mason Weems. However, the book got soaked
with rain. Unfortunately Abe left the book inside the cabin near where
there was a chink in the logs and an all-night rain had soaked the book. He
worked off its worth for his neighbor from whom he had borrowed it (Josiah
Crawford). This was the very
first book Abraham ever personally owned.
30. During his presidency Lincoln obtained the services of a man named John Summerfield
Staples to be his substitute (representative recruit) during the Civil War. Both Staples and Staples'
father were invited to the White House to meet the president.
31. There is one known photograph of Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg. It was discovered in 1952 among a collection of Mathew Brady negatives in the National Archives. It's quite hazy, but that is President Lincoln in the center of the crowd.
NOTE: In November 2007 historian John Richter announced his discovery of two other images that arguably show Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg in 1863.
National Archives Photograph
32. Abraham Lincoln died intestate (without a will). His estate at the time of his death was worth approximately $85,000.
33. As a lawyer Lincoln argued one case before the United States Supreme Court. This happened in 1849 in the case of Lewis v. Lewis.
34. The carriage used by the Lincolns on the night of the assassination is on display at the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Indiana.
The carriage that took the Lincolns to Ford's Theatre on the night of April 14, 1865.
35. The Chicago History Museum has the bed where Lincoln died. The Brooks Brothers suit Lincoln wore to the play on his last night is located in the museum at Ford's Theatre.
36. William Herndon, Lincoln's long time law partner, described Lincoln's walk as follows: "When he walked he moved cautiously but firmly; his long arms and giant hands swung down by his side. He walked with even tread, the inner sides of his feet being parallel. He put the whole foot flat down on the ground at once, not landing on the heel. He likewise lifted his foot all at once, not rising from the toe, and hence he had no spring to his walk. His walk was undulatory-catching and pocketing tire, weariness, and pain, all up and down his person, and thus preventing them from locating. The first impression of a stranger, or a man who did not observe closely, was that his walk implied shrewdness and cunning-that he was a tricky man; but, in reality, it was the walk of caution and firmness."
37. Herndon reported that Lincoln said of his mother, "God bless my mother; all that I am or ever hope to be I owe to her."
38. Nothing is really known about Abraham Lincoln's teeth. His photos show him with his mouth closed (due to the length of time a person had to sit for a photo in those days it was impossible to smile; also it was not the custom at that time to appear in a photograph with a grin).
The one reference to his teeth that Lincoln made in a letter goes as follows:
"Do you remember my going to the city while I was in Kentucky, to have a tooth extracted, and making a failure of it? Well, that same old tooth got to paining me so much, that about a week since I had it torn out, bringing with it a bit of the jawbone; the consequence of which is that my mouth is now so sore that I can neither talk, nor eat. I am litterally 'subsisting on savoury remembrances'---that is, being unable to eat, I am living upon the remembrance of the delicious dishes of peaches and cream we used to have at your house."
This quote is from a letter Lincoln wrote to Mary Speed (his best friend's half sister) on September 27, 1841.
39. As an Illinois state legislator Lincoln once jumped from a window of the Second Presbyterian Church, the temporary location of the Illinois House of
Representatives, in December 1840. The motive of the rash action, for which
Lincoln suffered considerable humiliation, was to break a quorum when
Democrats called for a vote to cripple the Whig-favored state bank. Two
other legislators, Joseph Gillepsie and Asahel Gridley, jumped with Lincoln.
Springfield's Old Second Presbyterian Church where Lincoln jumped out a window on December 5, 1840.
40. On Monday morning, March 8, 1830, during the Lincolns' move from Indiana to Illinois, at Vincennes they headed for Haines' ferry, drove the caravan onto the ferry, and crossed the Wabash River into Illinois. Here, the Lincolns' dog, Honey, jumped overboard, landed on a thin sheet of ice, was about to drown, but Abraham, seeing the crisis, jumped into the icy water and saved Honey's life.
41. Abraham Lincoln was the first president to receive a transcontinental telegraph message.
42. The Illinois Republican State Convention was held in Decatur in 1860.
During that convention, John
Hanks, Abraham Lincoln's cousin, carried two rails down the aisle. He also
carried a banner which said, "ABRAHAM LINCOLN The Rail Candidate for
President in 1860 Two rails from a lot of 3,000 made in 1830 by John Hanks
and Abe Lincoln, whose father was the first pioneer in Macon County."
Hanks became famous for his role in creating the "Railsplitter" candidate
for President.
Thus, this nickname recalled the days when, as a young man, Lincoln had
split logs to make fence rails.
43. In a letter written (prior to his nomination) on April
29, 1860, Lincoln wrote (of the presidency), "The taste is in my mouth a
little."
44. There are three statues of Lincoln in Mexico located in Tijuana, Mexico City, and Juarez. Additionally, there is a statue of Lincoln in Parliament Square in London.
45. Abraham Lincoln favored women's rights
in an era where they
could not vote. On June 13, 1836, Lincoln wrote a letter to the editor of a
newspaper called the Sangamo Journal. He said, "I go for admitting
all whites to the right of suffrage who pay taxes or bear arms - by no means
excluding females."
46. In 1842 Abraham Lincoln almost fought a duel with the
Illinois State Auditor, James Shields, over some inflammatory letters which
appeared in a
Springfield newspaper poking fun at the auditor. Weapons were to be
"cavalry broad swords of the largest size." At the last minute
two men who were present, John Hardin and R.W. English, intervened and brought
an end to the quarrel. The duel never took place.
47. On May 30, 1859, Abraham Lincoln became the owner of a German newspaper in
Springfield named the Illinois Staats-Anzeiger. He sold the newspaper on
December 6, 1860.
48. At his second inauguration on March 4, 1865, President Abraham
Lincoln wore a magnificent coat specially crafted for him by Brooks
Brothers.
Hand stitched into the coat's lining was an intricate design featuring an
eagle and the inscription "One Country, One Destiny."
Sadly, it was also this coat Lincoln was wearing when he was assassinated at
Ford's Theatre.
49. Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith passed
away on December 24, 1985. He was the last living Lincoln descendant. Thus
there are no descendants alive today.
50. AWARDS: Knox College conferred on Abraham Lincoln an honorary degree of Doctor of
Laws on July 3, 1860. Columbia University followed with a similar degree on
June 26, 1861. The College of New Jersey, now Princeton University, did
likewise on December 20, 1864. The town of Lincoln, Illinois, was named after Abraham Lincoln in 1853.
On February 11, 1859, the Phi Alpha Society of Illinois College elected
Abraham Lincoln as an honorary member. The Republic of San Marino bestowed honorary citizenship on Abraham
Lincoln on May 7, 1861. On July 4, 1863, the Union League of Philadelphia presented a gold medal
to Abraham Lincoln. On October 24, 1863, the Union League of Philadelphia made Abraham
Lincoln an honorary member.
51. The log cabin in which Abraham Lincoln was born measured approximately
16 by 18 feet. The logs were oak and chestnut and numbered approximately
143. They were chinked with clay. Rough wooden shingles covered the roof.
There was a stone fireplace, one door which swung on leather hinges, and one
window (without glass) which was once covered with greased paper or thin
animal skin. There was a small box-like stick-and-clay chimney. The floor
was dirt.
52. Lincoln became a lawyer under an Illinois law enacted in 1833. This law
stated that to be a lawyer someone had to "obtain a certificate procured
from the court of an Illinois county certifying to the applicant's good
moral character." Lincoln actually went to the Illinois Supreme Court to
get his certificate. On September 9, 1836, a license to practice law was
issued to Abraham Lincoln by two of the justices of the Illinois Supreme
Court. Later, in a more formal session, on March 1, 1837, Lincoln appeared
before the clerk of the Illinois Supreme Court and took an oath to support
the Constitution of the United States and of Illinois. Lincoln swore he
would "in all things faithfully execute the duties of Attorney and Counselor
at Law." Lincoln was then formally enrolled as an attorney licensed to
practice law in all the courts of the state of Illinois.
53. On October 3, 1863, President Lincoln made the traditional Thanksgiving celebration a nationwide holiday to be commemorated each year on the fourth Thursday of November.
He did so at the urging of Sarah Josepha Hale. Her letters to Lincoln urged him to have the
"day of our annual Thanksgiving made a National and fixed Union Festival." Perhaps she is best known as the author of the poem
Mary Had a Little Lamb.
54. The
Lincoln Penny was first issued in 1909 to commemorate Abraham Lincoln's 100th birthday. It was the first American coin to bear a president's image on its face.
55. There are 130 known photos of Abraham Lincoln...90 with a beard and 40 beardless.
56. While living at New Salem Lincoln wrestled Jack Armstrong. Although Lincoln's wrestling ability was excellent, he wasn't unbeatable. On April 22, 1832, Lincoln was thrown in two straight falls by Lorenzo Dow Thompson during a wrestling match in Beardstown, Illinois.
Harold von Schmidt painted the drawing of Lincoln wrestling Armstrong for Esquire in 1949.
57. During the warmer months of the year Abraham Lincoln relocated from the White House to a comfortable cottage located in the wooded hills north of Washington. This rural cottage, on the grounds of the government-run Soldiers' Home, was about three miles from the White House.
The cottage has been restored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is open to the public.
58. Abraham Lincoln's salary as president was $25,000 a year.
59. As a youngster Lincoln had two close calls. Once a friend saved him from drowning. A few years later he was kicked in the head by a horse.
60. Lincoln remained physically strong until the end. Just six days before he was shot, and while mingling with Union troops, he picked up an ax by the thick end of the handle. Holding his arm straight out, and with the handle parallel to the ground, he held the seven pound tool motionless. “Strong men who looked on, men accustomed to manual labor, could not hold the same ax in that position for a moment,” wrote Francis Fisher Browne, a Union soldier who authored a biography called The Every-Day Life of Abraham Lincoln.
The ax is now in the possession of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.
Also, the doctors who did Lincoln's autopsy were amazed
at the fine condition of his body. For example, Army Assistant Surgeon Edward Curtis wrote, "I was
simply astonished at the showing of the remains, where well-rounded
muscles built upon strong bones told the powerful athlete. Now did I
understand the deeds of prowess recorded of the President's early days."
61. Most historians agree that Lincoln's mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, was born out of wedlock. Lincoln confirmed this by telling his law partner, William Herndon, that his mother was "the illegitimate daughter of Lucy Hanks and a well-bred Virginia farmer or planter." Lincoln felt he himself had inherited the positive traits of this unknown Virginian, and this was why he was so different from his other family members who were generally uneducated, poor, and often unmotivated.
62. A tragic fire struck President Lincoln's private stable on February 10, 1864. At about 8:30 P.M. that night the president himself came running out of the White House and threw open the stable doors, but it was too late. Lost in the blaze were Lincoln's two horses, Tad Lincoln's ponies (one of which belonged to Willie Lincoln before his death in 1862), and John Nicolay's two horses.
63. To obtain the latest war news, President Lincoln had to walk over to the War Department because the White House wasn't equipped with a telegraph.
64. The number of books written about Abraham Lincoln is in excess of 15,000.
65. In 1846 some of his political friends raised $200 for Lincoln's
campaign expenses when he ran for the U.S. House of Representatives. After
the election, Lincoln gave the friends back
$199.25 saying he had spent only 75 cents for a barrel of cider. He said he
made the canvas on his own horse, stayed at the houses of friends (which
cost him nothing), and that his only outlay was 75 cents for a barrel of
cider which some farmhands insisted he enjoy as a treat.
66. The doctors who attended Lincoln after he was shot and at the post-mortem examination clipped many locks of hair to be kept as relics. In fact they clipped so many locks that David Chambers Mearns, writing in his book Largely Lincoln, titled his third chapter "The Scalping of Abraham Lincoln." President Theodore Roosevelt wore a ring containing a lock of Abraham Lincoln's hair when he was inaugurated in 1905.
67. There may have been an attempt to injure or possibly kill President Lincoln in 1863. On July 2nd of that year Mary Todd Lincoln was returning to the White House from the Soldiers' Home. During the trip the bolts of the driver's seat became loose, and the coachman was thrown to the side of the road. The horses bolted and took off in a gallop. Mary was either thrown or leaped out of the carriage. She hit her head hard against a rock. Her wound became infected, and she required constant medical attention for the next three weeks. Because of the way that the driver's seat had become detached, there was some speculation that this actually was an assassination attempt against Abraham Lincoln (who fortunately was not in the carriage at the time). Possibly someone had purposely loosened the bolts on the driver's seat. No definitive cause has ever been determined.
68. In the many years following the assassination over 20 men claimed
(or were given credit) to have helped carry the stricken president across the street from Ford's Theatre to the Petersen House.
The names include Dr. Charles Leale, Dr. Charles Taft, Dr. Albert King, Albert Daggett, Augustus
Clark, Capt. Obadiah Jackson Downing, Capt. Edwin Bedee, Major Isaac Walker
McClay, W.H. Flood, Frederick Johnstone, Jacob J. Soles, John Corey, Jacob
Griffiths, William Sample, William McPeck, John Weaver, Joseph Hazelton,
Capt. Owen, Capt. John Sears, Capt. John Busby, Capt. Oliver C. Gatch,
George A. Clark, Thomas Gourlay, and William Greer.
69. Three of the Lincolns' four children died very young.
Eddie Lincoln: In December of 1849 Eddie became quite ill with what
was thought to be diphtheria. Most likely the disease was really pulmonary
tuberculosis. Mary rubbed his chest with balsam. However, after 52 days of
acute illness, Eddie passed away on February 1, 1850. He wasn't even four
years old.
Willie Lincoln: Just before Christmas, 1861, Willie turned 11. His
future seemed extremely bright.
Shortly thereafter Willie became ill. His condition fluctuated from day to
day. Most likely the illness was typhoid fever possibly caused by drinking
contaminated water. Gradually Willie weakened. Both parents spent much time
at his bedside. Finally, on Thursday, February 20, 1862, at 5:00 P.M. the
young boy passed away in the White House.
Tad Lincoln: During the spring of 1871 Tad caught a bad cold. By late
May he developed difficulty in breathing when lying down and had to sleep
sitting up in a chair. By early June he was dangerously ill. He then rallied
for a short time. As July approached he weakened again. Tad's pain and agony
worsened as his face grew thinner. On Saturday morning, July 15, 1871, Tad
passed away at the age of 18. The cause of death was most likely
tuberculosis.
70. Although Lincoln was involved in a business that failed in 1833, and
his debts were so large he jokingly referred to them as the "National Debt,"
he never actually filed for bankruptcy. He slowly brought himself out of
his indebtedness through his salary as a state legislator, fees he collected
as a surveyor and postmaster for New Salem, and more importantly, his law
practice. During the 1835-1845 period Lincoln was able to pay off his
entire debt (which, at its worst, was roughly $1100).
71. In 1839 Lincoln met Mary Ann Todd who had moved to Springfield from Lexington, Kentucky. Mary was living at the home of her older sister, Elizabeth Edwards. Most likely, the two met at a ball.
When Mary caught sight of Abraham her first words were, "Who is that man?"
72. "...he'll never come to much, fur I'll tell you he wuz the puniest, cryin'est little youngster I ever saw."
Said by Dennis Hanks, a first cousin of Nancy Hanks Lincoln, on the day Abraham Lincoln was born. Source: p. 726 of Herndon's Informants edited by Douglas L. Wilson and Rodney O. Davis (University of Illinois Press, Urbana, 1998).
73. When he was a 13 year old newsboy in 1860 Thomas A. Edison sold Abraham Lincoln's campaign picture on railroad trains.
Source: Abraham Lincoln: The Full Story of our Martyred President by Emil Ludwig (New York, Liveright Publishing Corporation, 1929).
74. After Lincoln was elected president the King of Siam offered him a gift of elephants. The King said that "elephants being animals of great size and strength can bear burdens through uncleared woods and matted jungles where no carriage and cart roads have yet been made." The King continued:
"If the President of the United States and Congress, who conjointly with him
rule the country, see fit to approve, let them provide a large vessel loaded
with hay and other food suitable for elephants on the voyage, with tanks
holding a sufficiency of fresh water, and arranged with stalls so that the
elephant can both stand and lie down in the ship. We, on our part, will
procure young male and female elephants, and forward them, one or two pairs
at a time. When the elephants are on board the ship, let a steamer take it
in tow, that it may reach America as rapidly as possible, before they become
wasted and diseased by the voyage. When they arrive in America, do not let
them be taken to a cold climate out of the regions of the sun's declinations
or torrid zone , but let them, with all haste, be turned out to run wild in
some jungle suitable for them, not confining them any length of time. If
these means can be done, we trust that the elephants will propagate their
species hereafter in the continent of America. It is desirable that the
President of the United States and Congress give us their views in reference
to this matter at as early a date as possible." However, Lincoln politely declined the offer.
75. During his presidency Lincoln experienced considerable foot discomfort. He was treated by a chiropodist named Isachar Zacharie (1827-1900). Dr. Zacharie operated on Lincoln's feet, and Lincoln wrote, "Dr. Zacharie has operated on my feet with great success and considerable addition to my comfort."
76. In 1927 William E. Barton's The Women Lincoln Loved was published. The book includes chapters on Lucy Hanks, Betsy Sparrow, Bathsheba Lincoln, Nancy Hanks, Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln, Sarah Lincoln Grigsby, the Johnson girls, the girl in the covered wagon, Katie Roby, Caroline Meeker, Polly Warnick, Ann Rutledge, Mary Owens, and Mary Todd Lincoln.
77. During his years as president, Abraham Lincoln had the
following secretaries: John Hay, John Nicolay, William O. Stoddard,
and Edward Neill. Of this group Hay and Nicolay were BY FAR
the two most famous ones.
78. During his time in New Salem, Illinois, Abraham Lincoln was a
business partner of William F. Berry. Together they operated a store. On
March 6, 1833, Berry and Lincoln were issued a tavern license (liquor
license), but Berry alone signed the $300 bond for the license. He signed
both his own and Lincoln's name. A resident named Bowling Green also signed
the bond. The license was issued by the Sangamon County Commissioners and
was good for one year. The license itself cost Berry and Lincoln $7. The
liquor license allowed them to sell 1/2 pint of wine or French brandy for
$.25. Also, they could sell 1/2 pint of rum, peach brandy, or Holland gin
for $.1875.
79.
Early in 1860, before Lincoln was nominated for president, he
sat in sculptor Leonard Volk's Chicago studio, and Volk made a plaster life
mask of Lincoln. Later in the year, Volk made plaster copies of Lincoln's
hands. Volk made several different versions of his Lincoln bust. In 1886
Richard Gilder of Century
Magazine obtained subscriptions from 33 people to purchase the originals of
the
mask and hands from Volk's son, Douglas. These 33 people in turn received a
copy of the mask and hands executed by Augustus St. Gaudens. The originals
were then presented to the Smithsonian Institution where they now reside.
It is also known that Volk's work was pirated by several manufacturers, and
unauthorized copies of Volk's work were therefore sold.
80. Lincoln signed his name in a variety of ways. Here is just one example:
81. In 1911 a spectacular fire destroyed the railroad car that transported Lincoln's remains back to Springfield.
President Lincoln’s Funeral Car (National Park Service Photo) |
Minnesota Historical Society Photo |
Thank you to Richard Lewis whose father,
Carl Lewis, took this picture after the fire in 1911. (Richard Lewis's picture is not in the public domain.) |
