Charlottesville

[Eva Elisabeth]

From M. Burlingame's "A Life":

"Aboard the steamer River Queen, anchored in Hampton Roads, he greeted the commissioners warmly. He and Alexander H. Stephens had worked together for the nomination of Zachary Taylor seventeen years earlier when both of them were serving in Congress. As the diminutive Stephens began to remove his heavy overcoat and large scarf, the president poked gentle fun at him: 'Now, gentlemen, you see what a large among of ‘shuck’ Mr. Stephens has – just wait a minute and you will be surprised to find what a small ‘nubbin’ he is.' The president laughed L heartily when Stephens retaliated with a story from their time in Congress: one day at the capitol several Representatives were discussing the proper pronunciation of 'Illinois.' Some said it was 'Illinoy,' others 'Illinoise.' Smilingly, John Quincy Adams quipped: 'If one were to judge from the character of the representatives in this congress from that state, I should decide that the proper was to pronounce the word would be ‘All noise.’ During the informal conversation which preceded the negotiations, Lincoln was very talkative and pleasant with all of the commissioners,'. Stephens recalled. 'He seemed to be in a splendid humor, and was in excellent spirits.' After these pleasantries, the five men got down to business. According to Stephens, Lincoln was 'perfectly frank,' submitting 'his views, almost in the form of an argument.'”

[Reminiscences of Stephens given to Evan P. Howell in 1882, in Howell to Henry Watterson...]