Eckert and Powell

[RJNorton]

Linda, thank you for a wonderful post. I am a cat-lover and really enjoyed the material about Honeybubbles.

Abraham Lincoln also had a soft spot in his heart for cats and kittens. There was a White House cat, and his name was Tabby. Abraham would feed Tabby who was seated on a chair next to the president. Lincoln used White House utensils to feed Tabby. Once Mary Lincoln suggested that it was in poor taste to feed the cat at the table with White House utensils, and Lincoln replied, "If the gold fork was good enough for Buchanan I think it is good enough for Tabby," and he continued to feed the cat throughout the meal.

SOURCE: p. 274 of "The Inner World of Abraham Lincoln" by Michael Burlingame.