Extra Credit Questions

[RJNorton]

Joe B. is correct - the quote comes from John D. Johnston, Lincoln's stepbrother.

The prize vault is currently empty, so I'll just send cash, Joe.

[RJNorton]

Who is this?

[ReignetteC]

Could it be RTL's grandson, Lincoln Isham?

[RJNorton]

Excellent guess, Reignette, but it's not him.

Hint #1: It is the son of someone whose name would be very familiar to everyone on the forum.

[J. Beckert]

I know RTL was photographed with him in the late 1860's, so I'll guess Stanton's son.

[RJNorton]

You are correct, Joe. The entire picture is here.

[L Verge]

A handsome pose. Has anyone ever seen a photo of Mrs. Stanton?

[Linda Anderson]

(03-09-2013 04:31 PM)L Verge Wrote:  A handsome pose. Has anyone ever seen a photo of Mrs. Stanton?

Ellen Hutchinson Stanton was sixteen years younger than her husband but she died only four years after him at the age of forty-three.



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[J. Beckert]

Those long exposures made for some very unflattering pictures, but I can see how pretty she must have been in life.

[Hess1865]

(03-09-2013 10:38 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  You are correct, Joe. The entire picture is here.

Wow! Great picture! Never saw that one before.

[L Verge]

Mrs. Stanton was a lovely lady, and a very well-dressed one. Why do I think that she was wife #2?

[Linda Anderson]

(03-10-2013 10:18 AM)L Verge Wrote:  Mrs. Stanton was a lovely lady, and a very well-dressed one. Why do I think that she was wife #2?

You're right, Laurie. Ellen Stanton was Stanton's second wife. From Wikipedia:

Marriage and Family

On May 31, 1836, Edwin Stanton married Mary Lamson, and they had two children: Lucy Lamson Stanton (b. March 11, 1837) and Edwin Lamson Stanton (b. August 1842). They built a house in the small town of Cadiz, Ohio, and he practiced law there. Their daughter Lucy died in 1841.

Mary Lamson Stanton died on March 13, 1844. The loss of his beloved wife sent Stanton spiraling into a deep depression. Then, in 1846, Stanton's brother Darwin cut his own throat – "The blood spouted up to the ceiling," a doctor recalled.

So many losses in so short a time changed Stanton, replacing a hearty good humor with a brusque, even rude, intensity. He moved to Pittsburgh, lost himself in legal work, and turned into a ferocious litigator. He also met and wooed Ellen Hutchison, who became his second wife and later survived him. Stanton had taken a large pay cut to serve as Secretary of War, and his finances were not in good shape when he died. Congress voted Mrs. Stanton a sum the equivalent of one year's pension for a U.S. Supreme Court justice, since her late husband had been confirmed to the Court but not sworn in. Friends also collected a generous fund to care for her and her family.

[L Verge]

Linda's response to my question about Stanton's wife piqued my curiosity about the tragedies in his life, so I did a little searching. I did not know that Edwin Stanton was an asthmatic, with attacks so severe that he had seizures. He apprenticed himself to a book seller and spent every moment reading. He was eventually accepted to Kenyon College. The president of Kenyon at that time was Bishop Philander Chase, who took an interest in Stanton and worked him hard. The bishop was also the uncle of Salmon P. Chase.

Stanton left college after two years and returned to his job at the book store. In the summer of 1833, cholera swept eastern Ohio. Edwin had developed a close relationship with the daughter of the owner of the boardinghouse where he was living. Her name was Ann Howard. One day, Edwin came home at the dinner hour (what we call lunch), and Ann served him his meal. He returned to his job, and one hour later, Ann collapsed. She was dead within four hours.

Fearing the contagion, she was buried immediately. Edwin had a premonition that she was still alive, and by lamplight, he and a young medical student dug up her body to make sure that she was really dead -- this while exposing themselves to the dreaded disease.

As Linda reported above, Stanton married Mary Lamson in 1836. Their first child was born in 1837 and lived only four years. Wife Mary died in 1844, and then his brother, a doctor, committed suicide in 1846. The combination of asthma and continuing tragedy led to bouts of depression in Edwin Stanton. One of his friends that he turned to during these trying times was Salmon P. Chase. Mr. Chase understood tragedy very well. He lost two wives and three young children.

Again, I preach, I think we need to understand what our ancestors' lives were like and what incidents, tragedies, and triumphs shaped their personalities and their roles in history. When I read of Ann Howard's friendship with Stanton and her sudden death, I immediately thought of Lincoln and Ann Rutledge. The death of his daughter, Lucy, would have given him even more reason for bonds with Mr. Lincoln. And, they were both subject to fits of depression -- for good reason. It's this human side of history that fascinates me more than the politics.

[Dawn E Foster]

(03-10-2013 06:54 PM)L Verge Wrote:  ... It's this human side of history that fascinates me more than the politics.

Yes!

[Joe Di Cola]

I highly recommend, as I have before, the Benjamin Thomas and Harold Hyman biography of Edwin Stanton. I have it on my list of books to re-read this summer.