"Our One Common Country" author talk in Stratford, CT

[David Lockmiller]

(08-21-2014 05:19 PM)David Lockmiller Wrote:  

(08-20-2014 08:09 PM)LincolnToddFan Wrote:  Never, at any time or anywhere in over 30 years of reading about Mary Lincoln, have I ever heard that she opposed the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Lincoln scholar, Professor Allen C. Guelzo, wrote in his book, “Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America,” Simon & Schuster, Copyright 2004, 2005 (paperback edition), pages 204 -05:

Professor Michael Burlingame published his material containing the very same Mary Lincoln quote in 2008, in “Abraham Lincoln: A Life,” Vol. Two, pages 468-69. This was four years after Professor Guelzo’s book was first published in 2004. I prefer the Professor Allen C. Guelzo version. It is much more informative.

And, I never quite understood Lincoln’s shortened reply to Mary’s question ("Well, what do you intend doing?") in Professor Burlingame’s book: “I am a man under orders, I cannot do otherwise.” By contrast, Professor Guelzo wrote above: Lincoln only looked upwards, “as to heaven,” and replied, “I am a man under orders, I cannot do otherwise.”

I do not have access to the footnote source reference used by Professor Guelzo since I used Google books and the footnote material was not available to me.

Last week, I went to the San Francisco Public Library and did a microfiche search for The Christian Science Monitor article. It turns out the Professor Guelzo had the wrong date source for the story (September 27, 1937) and Professor Burlingame had the correct date (February 12, 1935). [It just goes to show that not everybody is perfect.]

On February 12, 1935, the 126th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, the following story was published on page one of The Christian Science Monitor and entitled “New Light on Lincoln’s Character.” The lengthy subtitle reads as follows: “Inspiration of Sturges Etching Recalls Long Night of Prayer When the Great Emancipator Was Struggling Against Opposition to His Proposed Edict That Freed the Slaves – Letter Reveals Mrs. Lincoln Was Against the Emancipation Proclamation.

An abbreviated introduction to the full letter of Mrs. Florence W. Stanley follows:

From boyhood Dwight C. Sturges, Monitor staff artist and considered among the leading modern etchers, has held a deep reverence for and interest in the Great Emancipator. . . . Mr. Sturges’ mental sketchbook accumulated many scenes: Lincoln the thorough; Lincoln the conciliator; Lincoln the humble. It was among such conceptions that there grew the picture of Abraham Lincoln the divinely led, the man who almost unfailingly, during those sorely trying days of the rebellion, turned his weary thought to higher vistas for wisdom to follow the path of right.

Mr. Sturges transferred this mental image to copper. He named the etching “Guidance.” It pictures Honest Abe, his homely face creased by the lines of deep stresses, his head tilted at an almost listening angle, and his kind, deep eyes gazing out beyond the temporal realm into regions where dwelt the source of that hope that was in him. And, unusual among the pictures of Lincoln of the Civil War period, that face, so easily recollected by the world’s millions, has lost its note of sadness.

This etching was chosen to illustrate an article in appreciation of Lincoln which appeared in the Monitor’s weekly magazine section on Feb. 6. The piece and its illustration brought many responses, but none more in keeping with the subject than that written to the artist by Mrs. Florence Weston Stanley of Needham, Mass. The letter, which is self-explanatory, reads as follows:

Feb. 7, 1935

Dear Mr. Sturges:

Both of your etchings of Abraham Lincoln impressed me, but the one with the sadness removed called to thought an incident in Lincoln’s life.

It was my privilege to know from the time I was four years old Robert Todd Lincoln. Because of my great love for Abraham Lincoln he spoke very freely to me of homely incidents and when I wanted some material on Lincoln in the course of my studies he told me many things among which was the following:

“My mother was very much opposed to the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and expressed her views at great length before retiring. My father never retired that night but paced his study—back and forth—stopping now and then to read a few favorite verses from the Bible or to gaze at the sky.

“In the morning my mother and I went to his study, my mother inquiring in her quick sharp way, ‘Well, what do you intend doing?’

“My father looked up, as to heaven, a great light illuming his face and for the moment removing the care-worn lines, replied, ‘I am a man under orders, I cannot do otherwise.’”

Mr. Robert Lincoln commented that there seemed to be a “presence” which silenced further comment from his mother or himself. That day Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

The above is from my notes taken as Mr. Robert Todd Lincoln spoke.

Very sincerely yours,
(Mrs.) Florence W. Stanley

Mrs. Stanley reports that to the best of her knowledge this is the first time that this important incident in the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation has been recorded in print.