Did William Coggeshall Save Lincoln's Life?

[L Verge]

(09-23-2016 11:26 PM)John Fazio Wrote:  

(09-23-2016 06:11 PM)L Verge Wrote:  

(09-23-2016 01:05 PM)John Fazio Wrote:  

(09-23-2016 12:09 PM)L Verge Wrote:  I am home on leave while my chariot is getting a tune-up, so I have poked around online for more information on Herr Coggeshall. Some interesting statements: Wikipedia (which lists a number of sources) refers to him as the "self-appointed" bodyguard of Lincoln on Feb. 13, 1861, in Cincinnatti. At that time, he's listed as a reporter for the Ohio State Journal en route to D.C. for the Inauguration and part of Lincoln's guard (an early Brian Williams-Hillary Clinton style of reporting while embedded?). No mention of his heroics. It goes on to say that he often served Lincoln as a bodyguard in D.C. -- John, didn't you report that he wasn't in D.C. that much?

Coggeshall also claimed to be on the dais with Lincoln at Gettysburg and to have met with him "privately" (did Hay know that?) on April 14, 1865. He was supposedly part of the guard on the funeral train.

Other elements of Coggeshall's life are interesting, if true. He is said to have accompanied Gen. Lajos (Louis) Kossuth on his speaking tours in the U.S. in the 1850s. From 1854-56, he edited and published (by default when the head of the paper resigned) The Genius of the West, a literary magazine. He soon sold it because he needed cash and he had secured the job of State Librarian for Ohio.

His diplomatic posting as Ambassador to Ecuador came about because he lobbied strongly for it. He had contracted tuberculosis and wanted a less stressful job and a healthier environment. It appears that President Andrew Johnson had other things to worry about and granted him the appointment. Off he went to Ecuador with his 15-year-old daughter, Jesse. He died a year later, and Jesse was caught in Ecuador with red tape. She actually did the ambassador's work for four months before she contracted yellow fever and died.

Other than his newspaper work, I found only one publication that he is credited with having authored. The brief histories of the Ohio State Library System that I found do not even mention him.

CORRECTION: Just found three other publications - Poets and Poetry of the West, Stories of Frontier Adventure, and Protective Policy in Literature

Laurie:

Eva's citations above are valuable. The first lists seven books (not eight--my mistake) written by Coggeshall:

1. Signs of the Times (1851)
2. Easy Warren and His Contemporaries (1854)
3. Oakshaw, Or the Victim of Avarice (1855)
4. Home Hits and Hints (1859)
5. Poets and Poetry of the West (1860)
6. Stories of Frontier Adventure (1863)
7. The Journeys of A. Lincoln as President-Elect and as President Martyred (1865)

Protective Policy in Literature, if bona fide, would be eight.

in addition to contributions to periodical literature.

Your information is also valuable. I do not know how much time he spent in Washington. I surmise only that it wasn't too much inasmuch as he is said to have been assigned secret service missions in Virginia and Ohio.

I can believe he lobbied for the position in Ecuador, but Koch also records, without citation, that his candidacy was supported by Postmaster General, formerly Governor, William Dennison, Governor Jacob D. Cox, Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase and U.S. Senator John Sherman (p. 102)

John

How important a post was Ecuador in 1866? Maybe he got the appointment because it was the only one open and he was the only one who wanted it? And, we all know how political appointments work in D.C. circles.

If true, the story that his 15-year-old daughter served in his capacity for four months after his death speaks volumes.

As for his writings, those titles seem more literary to me -- even semi-journalistic? Has anyone ever heard of them or know their subject matter?

I appreciate your support of a fellow Ohioan, John, but I just don't see a worthy piece of documented history in the Coggeshall story.

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(09-23-2016 11:53 AM)John Fazio Wrote:  

(09-23-2016 11:00 AM)L Verge Wrote:  Just one question: If you were to present your case before the court (either trial by jury or decision of the judge), would Freda's book be accepted as accurate without a reasonable doubt?

Laurie:

The standard of proof required to prevail in a civil case is "the preponderance of evidence". "Beyond a reasonable doubt" is the standard in a criminal case. This being a civil matter, it is necessary to show only that the evidence of authenticity is shown (or not shown) by a preponderance of evidence. I believe Freda Koch's book, together with other evidence relating to Coggeshall's life that we have, does that. That is to say that based on this totality of evidence, I believe most juries and judges would find for authenticity rather than hoax. Whether or not the evidence shows authenticity beyond a reasonable doubt is therefore a purely academic question. In my judgment it does, but reasonable minds can differ.

John

I guess the law thinks in different terms than historians as to what is meant by preponderance...

Laurie:

I assure you that his being an Ohioan has nothing to do with it. I do not relate too much to my home state, but I do relate to being an American, though not always with pride, not when I contemplate some of the serious mistakes we have made as a country, such as the near annihilation of Native Americans; the enslavement of an entire race of people for 76 years, followed by 11 years of wholesale murder and property destruction, otherwise known as Reconstruction, and almost another century of Jim Crow disenfranchisement and subjugation of these same people; and instigation of war against our southern neighbor for no reason other than territorial aggrandizement.

I respect your opinion re Coggeshall, needless to say, but I do have a couple of questions for you: Let us assume that the story of his possibly saving Lincoln's life on the journey from Springfield to Washington is a hoax. In your opinion, what is its source, i.e. who fabricated the story---Coggeshall, Mary or Freda--and why? The Romans used to ask "cui bono", meaning "who benefits" from an act, and one still sees the term occasionally in legal discourse.
Cui bono, with respect to the Coggeshall story? Who benefited and how?

John

My personal opinion is that this is a Coggeshall family story composed of bits and pieces of things that happened around Lincoln and his times as well as the gentleman adding a little spice to the stories as he related them to his wife (and maybe the older children). Sort of a play on, "What did you do in the war, Daddy?"

Forty years later, Mrs. Coggeshall added her versions in relating the story to Freda, and here we are in the next century trying to make sense out of it without clear evidence.

William Coggeshall didn't benefit, neither did his wife, and neither did Freda - unless the book earned her great royalties. We are benefiting right now because trying to make you "see the light" is forcing quite a few of us to do some research as well as inductive and deductive reasoning. All is not lost - just confused.

In some ways, this reminds me of my family's story about David Herold spending the night of April 13, 1865, with my great-grandparents. I can only point to the nightshirt left behind as evidence and tell the public that that is my family's story as to what happened. I do that quite a bit, and it happened to be the way that I met James O. Hall. I think he was happier meeting me because I happened to know where every building was located in T.B. in 1865! He had not be able to pinpoint the T.B. Hotel...