Preponderance of the Evidence in a Civil Trial

[David Lockmiller]

(03-26-2020 10:45 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Steve, here is a post I made about the Fehrenbachers' book back in 2012:

Personally I consider this one of the best Lincoln quote books ever published. Although the book is arranged in alphabetical order by source, it is easy to find quotes on particular topics using the index. The authors grade each quote from "A" (most likely to be authentic) to "E" (probably not authentic). Obviously this is a judgment call on the Fehrenbachers' part, and I am sure historians and experts would probably argue with some of their ratings. Sources are given for all quotes. I really like the book as it contains Lincoln quotes from conversations, diaries, newspapermen, etc. that cannot be found in The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. My young mentor, Dr. Thomas Schwartz, considers the book the second best place to look for a Lincoln quote after checking The Collected Works first. I put this book in a similar category to P.M. Zall's Abe Lincoln Laughing: Humerous Anecdotes From Original Sources by and About Abraham Lincoln. Zall set out to write the definitive source on Lincoln's jokes by disgarding the hundreds of stories attributed to Lincoln without reliable sources. I think both books are very valuable resources to have on a Lincoln bookshelf.

I do agree that some of the "D's" given to Herndon's recollected Lincoln stories and quotes could have been rated higher.

"the book is arranged in alphabetical order by source"

There is no listing in the Fehrenbachers' book for Henry Wing as a quotable source of "Lincoln history".

"The authors grade each quote from "A" (most likely to be authentic) to "E" (probably not authentic). Obviously this is a judgment call on the Fehrenbachers' part, and I am sure historians and experts would probably argue with some of their ratings."

I would rate Henry Wing's story about relaying Grant's personal message to President Lincoln as instructed by Grant as an "A."

Apparently, Lincoln historian Doris Kearns Goodwin believed two stories with Henry Wing as a quotable source of truthful "Lincoln history." I commend her for doing so as she briefly quotes him twice in the text of her book "Team of Rivals." But she does not relate the entire Lincoln stories as written by Henry Wing in either instance and only anonymously refers to Henry Wing in the text of her book as either a "reporter" or a "visitor" to the White House. It is only in the footnote references that the true identity of Henry Wing is divulged.

"I really like the book as it contains Lincoln quotes from conversations, diaries, newspapermen, etc. that cannot be found in The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. My young mentor, Dr. Thomas Schwartz, considers the book the second best place to look for a Lincoln quote after checking The Collected Works first."

Henry Wing was a newspaperman covering the Battle of the Wilderness for the New York Tribune. President Lincoln permitted his story on the battle to be transmitted on the government telegraph to the newspaper and the story was published for an anxious nation on the morning of May 7, 1864.

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Michael Burlingame also believed Henry Wing's story on the Grant message to President Lincoln. [I wonder what Laurie Verge would have thought at this point. She would have probably been "on fire," as usual, with just the mention of the "Burlingame" name.]

On May 5, the North held its collective breath as Grant attacked Lee near Chancellorsville. The armies slugged it out in the dense, tangled wilderness, inflicting heavy casualties on each other. "These are fearfully critical, anxious days," George Templeton Strong remarked, speaking for millions of his fellow citizens. "The destinies of the continent for centuries depend in great measure on what is now being done." The first to bring Lincoln word of the bloody doings was a young New York Tribune reporter, Henry Wing, who briefed the president and cabinet on the morning of May 7. After he had finished describing the various movements, and the cabinet was leaving, Wing repeated to the president a message Grant had asked him to convey: "whatever happens, there is to be no turning back." Overjoyed at this declaration of steely resolve, the president kissed the youthful reporter on the forehead.

(Source: Abraham Lincoln: A Life, Vol. Two, p. 649)

And the the footnote reference made therein to Henry Wing is: Henry E. Wing, When Lincoln Kissed Me: A Story of the Wilderness Campaign (New York: Eaton & Mains, 1913), 38.