Lincoln writing the Gettysburg Address on the train.

[LincolnMan]

Of course, it is accepted now by most (I think?)- that President Lincoln did not write the Gettysburg Address en route to Gettysburg. The book The Perfect Tribute was largely responsible for that notion? Author Kent Gramm writing in the Summer 2004 edition of the Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association in an article: A More Perfect Tribute also notes that in 1866 Harriet Beecher Stowe made the same claim-that he wrote it on the train. He also notes that Stowe was in Boston at the time of the Gettysburg trip. He also notes that Andrew Carnegie made the claim that he gave the broken pencil that Lincoln used to write the Address on the train-to Lincoln. However, Carnegie was in Pittsburg at that time. John Nicolay, who was with Lincoln on the train-stated that Lincoln did no writing whatsoever on the train trip. I guess Nicolay would know gosh darn it-he was there!

[RJNorton]

There is another story about Harriet Beecher Stowe that I have wondered about. Upon meeting her, Lincoln is supposed to have said, "So, this is the little lady who started this great war." The only source I know of for this alleged interchange between Lincoln and Stowe is Mrs. Stowe's word (which over the years became part of Stowe family lore). If the meeting happened as Mrs. Stowe said it did, it was probably in November, 1862, when she visited Washington. However, there is no independent, 100%-type source that I can locate that indicates the two ever met (other than, of course, Mrs. Stowe's word). Many historians "accept" the story, but "Lincoln Day By Day" which I feel is the most authoritative source of Lincoln's daily activities, does not list any meeting of the two. I have wondered if the "So, this is the little lady who started this great war" story is (1) true or (2) falls into the same category as Lincoln writing the Gettysburg Address on the train.

[LincolnMan]

Roger: Another interesting tid-bit! I glanced over at Wikipedia (for shame! )about it-which noted that Stowe, and, apparently, her daughter met with President Lincoln on November 25, 1863. Wiki goes on to comment that neither Stowe or her daughter had mentioned the comment. Like you say, there are no independent sources listed for the comment, either. I do think it sounds like something Lincoln would say, however, Do you agree? I hope the story is true. I'm not sure at all why she would have claimed to be on the train to Gettysburg with Lincoln (when in fact she was in Boston)-or to claim that she "knew" he wrote the Address on the train (if she wasn't an eye witness (which she wasn't). Well, here is another item (the Stowe comment) we'll have to take with a grain of salt.

[RJNorton]

Hi Bill. This situation reminds me of a story about George Pickett's wife and Abraham Lincoln. Mrs. Pickett reported Lincoln came to the Pickett home in Richmond in April, 1865. Only Mrs. Pickett reported this meeting as having occurred. None of the companions or observers of Abraham Lincoln in Richmond recalled his having taken time out to call at the Pickett home and kiss the baby as Mrs. Pickett said. Again "Lincoln Day By Day" does not indicate Lincoln ever met either Mr. or Mrs. Pickett.

P.S. Yes, regarding the Stowe story, I do agree that it's the kind of thing Lincoln might say.

[LincolnMan]

I've have told that "Pickett and Lincoln" story many times-always with the disclaimer you mentioned. Of course, we know there was a Lincoln and Pickett connection. Its another story that I hope is true. You would think that those who were with Lincoln would have documented somewhere the stop by the Pickett residence-if it happened!

[Barry Doohan]

(07-31-2012 09:13 AM)LincolnMan Wrote:  I've have told that "Pickett and Lincoln" story many times-always with the disclaimer you mentioned. Of course, we know there was a Lincoln and Pickett connection. Its another story that I hope is true. You would think that those who were with Lincoln would have documented somewhere the stop by the Pickett residence-if it happened!

The lovely 'Sallie' was also responsible for spreading the story that Lincoln was responsible for George Pickett's appointment at West Point. While this legend has been debunked, it is surprising how often this anecdote appears in Gettysburg articles. Pickett's appointment cane via Congressman John T. Stuart.

[LincolnMan]

Was there any kind of connection then between Lincoln and Pickett?

[LincolnMan]

Since we have new members here since this thread was posted I'd like to ask again if there was any connection between Lincoln and Pickett?

[STS Lincolnite]

(12-03-2019 09:07 AM)LincolnMan Wrote:  Since we have new members here since this thread was posted I'd like to ask again if there was any connection between Lincoln and Pickett?

I found this question asked in another online forum.
https://civilwartalk.com/threads/fact-or...ett.87367/

It sounds like there is no real connection at all and that much of the so-called connection was concocted by Pickett’s widow.

The following is part of an answer from a poster called “Copperhead-mi” on the forum linked above:

I checked Pickett biographer, Edward G. Longacre's book and it stated the following about the oft told Lincoln - Pickett story:
"In the late summer of 1841 Stuart apparently confided to Captain Symingtqn that were he reelected to Congress the following February he would make the nomination in George's favor. Late in August Andrew Johnston wrote Stuart asking whether George's family might 'look for his appointment in February next.' Presumably he was assured that such was the case. In the end Stuart decided not to stand for reelection but came through anyway. On April 19, 1842, Secretary of War John Canfield Spencer sent George his conditional appointment to the Military Academy. The young man promptly returned his acceptance along with his father's consent to George's serving in the U.S. Army 'eight years unless sooner discharged.' Because Stuart had once been a law partner of Abraham Lincoln, tales later surfaced that the latter had helped obtain George Pickett's appointment. An equally enduring myth is that Lincoln himself secured Pickett's place in the West Point Class of 1846-a neat trick since Lincoln was not a national Congressman at the time George applied and thus lacked the power to nominate applicants.

"In the writings she published after her husband's death, La Salle Corbell Pickett created the enduring fiction that Lincoln not only secured her late husband's appointment but that the future President took an avid interest in his Academy career as well as in his service as a Confederate officer. To support her claims, Mrs. Pickett fabricated at least two letters from the Illinois legislator to his young protege, one supposedly written before and one shortly after George's matriculation at the Academy. The general's widow was also responsible for the fiction that her husband was so grateful to Lincoln for his interest and assistance that he never permitted anyone, in his presence, to criticize his benefactor.

"Mrs. Pickett went to elaborate lengths to persuade her readers that her husband and the President remained close even in the throes of civil war. She concocted and several times repeated the tale that Lincoln, visiting dying Richmond at the close of the conflict, stopped by the house at Sixth and Leigh, introduced himself to the general's widow, assured her that he bore no ill will toward her husband, and exchanged kisses with one-year-old George Pickett, Jr. By evoking the image of the.martyred President, a supposed friend of the South whose lenient plan of Reconstruction had been thwarted by radicals in his own party, Mrs. Pickett invested her story with mythic properties while exploiting a reunion theme popular with her postwar audience. By the time Mrs. Pickett wrote, on the threshold of the twentieth century and after, close acquaintances of 'her soldier' and of Lincoln, who might have exposed her accounts as fabrications, were few. One who doubted the credibility of her stories was Union Major George A. Bruce, who had been in Richmond during Lincoln's April 1865 visit and who in after years contributed to the history of the war. Like other critics North and South, Bruce chose not to go public with his contention that Mrs. Pickett was perpetrating a literary fraud. He never doubted, however, that the Lincoln-Pickett relationship was a carefully crafted piece of fiction."
Leader of the Charge - A Biography of General George E. Pickett, pp. 6-7

[LincolnMan]

(12-12-2019 10:33 PM)STS Lincolnite Wrote:  

(12-03-2019 09:07 AM)LincolnMan Wrote:  Since we have new members here since this thread was posted I'd like to ask again if there was any connection between Lincoln and Pickett?

I found this question asked in another online forum.
https://civilwartalk.com/threads/fact-or...ett.87367/

It sounds like there is no real connection at all and that much of the so-called connection was concocted by Pickett’s widow.

The following is part of an answer from a poster called “Copperhead-mi” on the forum linked above:

I checked Pickett biographer, Edward G. Longacre's book and it stated the following about the oft told Lincoln - Pickett story:
"In the late summer of 1841 Stuart apparently confided to Captain Symingtqn that were he reelected to Congress the following February he would make the nomination in George's favor. Late in August Andrew Johnston wrote Stuart asking whether George's family might 'look for his appointment in February next.' Presumably he was assured that such was the case. In the end Stuart decided not to stand for reelection but came through anyway. On April 19, 1842, Secretary of War John Canfield Spencer sent George his conditional appointment to the Military Academy. The young man promptly returned his acceptance along with his father's consent to George's serving in the U.S. Army 'eight years unless sooner discharged.' Because Stuart had once been a law partner of Abraham Lincoln, tales later surfaced that the latter had helped obtain George Pickett's appointment. An equally enduring myth is that Lincoln himself secured Pickett's place in the West Point Class of 1846-a neat trick since Lincoln was not a national Congressman at the time George applied and thus lacked the power to nominate applicants.

"In the writings she published after her husband's death, La Salle Corbell Pickett created the enduring fiction that Lincoln not only secured her late husband's appointment but that the future President took an avid interest in his Academy career as well as in his service as a Confederate officer. To support her claims, Mrs. Pickett fabricated at least two letters from the Illinois legislator to his young protege, one supposedly written before and one shortly after George's matriculation at the Academy. The general's widow was also responsible for the fiction that her husband was so grateful to Lincoln for his interest and assistance that he never permitted anyone, in his presence, to criticize his benefactor.

"Mrs. Pickett went to elaborate lengths to persuade her readers that her husband and the President remained close even in the throes of civil war. She concocted and several times repeated the tale that Lincoln, visiting dying Richmond at the close of the conflict, stopped by the house at Sixth and Leigh, introduced himself to the general's widow, assured her that he bore no ill will toward her husband, and exchanged kisses with one-year-old George Pickett, Jr. By evoking the image of the.martyred President, a supposed friend of the South whose lenient plan of Reconstruction had been thwarted by radicals in his own party, Mrs. Pickett invested her story with mythic properties while exploiting a reunion theme popular with her postwar audience. By the time Mrs. Pickett wrote, on the threshold of the twentieth century and after, close acquaintances of 'her soldier' and of Lincoln, who might have exposed her accounts as fabrications, were few. One who doubted the credibility of her stories was Union Major George A. Bruce, who had been in Richmond during Lincoln's April 1865 visit and who in after years contributed to the history of the war. Like other critics North and South, Bruce chose not to go public with his contention that Mrs. Pickett was perpetrating a literary fraud. He never doubted, however, that the Lincoln-Pickett relationship was a carefully crafted piece of fiction."
Leader of the Charge - A Biography of General George E. Pickett, pp. 6-7

Thank you for making this post. It supplies a much needed history to the "Lincoln-Pickett" connection. Well done!