In December, Christie's is auctioning off this 1858 letter while preparing to debate Stephen Douglas. Did the debates between Douglas and Lincoln help break apart the Democratic Party in 1860 as the description claims? I know, contrary to what it says, Lincoln would've won the Electoral College vote even if the Democrats hadn't split.

http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/books...tails.aspx

I am sitting here reading the papers in a folder I marked, "Courtship with Lincoln." The folder contains several newspaper articles and a copy of a letter written by North Todd Gentry.
These documents claim that in 1840, Lincoln traveled to Rocheport, Missouri to attend a Whig political meeting.

Most historians dispute the story stating that Lincoln was in Springfield at court on June 18 - 20.

The letter from North Todd Gentry does not give specific dates, just that the rally lasted several days. The newspaper articles only state that the visit was in June.

Thoughts?

I was wondering if anybody had any information on the history of the more well-known Sarah Bush Johnston photograph. I have a link to the image of it here, so you know which photo I'm talking about:

https://www.lincolncollection.org/discov...item=37250

I know it's a copy of an apparently lost original. If I remember correctly, it was a member of the Johnston family who brought the photo to public attention. Does anybody know which Johnston that was? Also, have there been any attempts to date the image based on clothing, etc; or try and make educated guesses as to what kind of photograph the original was; or try and figure out approximately when the copy was made?

I recently saw a brief mention online that young Mr. Lincoln was attacked by a group of black men intent on robbing him and his riverboat companion on one of their treks down river. Is this true?

The article seemed to imply that this attack played a role in Lincoln's early statements about racial inequality. Comments?

Here is a short poem about Lincoln's mother, written in 1933

https://edgalloway.wordpress.com/2014/05...ncy-hanks/

The poem was set to music by Katherine Davis around 1941.
I found several recordings on Youtube sung by soprano's, but I didn't care for any of them. This one by Calvin Marsh is a little easier to understand the words. I like the melody, but to me, the style of singing doesn't fit the subject. What do you think?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeOKUb60vec

Mi spiace!

Lo siento!

Je suis desole!

I'm sorry, soooo sorry, Brenda Lee, 1960.

On page 61 of New Salem: A History of Lincoln's Alma Mater, I "over-researched" the meaning of the word "do" and, while my research led me to one possible meaning it was not the correct one. The word "do" simply stands for "ditto" in reference to the grocery stock item listed before. Since I am not sure this erratum can be corrected in future printings I am correcting it here. Now, perhaps, I can stop obsessing over this!

Don't let the words Glenn Beck sway you from reading this article. It was written by an 11th grader from Kilgore High School and the winner of our “Before They Were Famous” essay writing contest exploring the early life Abraham Lincoln.

It thought it was a sweet tribute and am happy to hear students being impacted by such a great historical figure.


http://www.glennbeck.com/2017/04/19/abra...GB-Control

Most of us know about the projects to preserve and make available the documentary papers related to Lincoln's law practice. A current technical leaflet produced by the American Association of State and Local History contains a reference to this project.

"In 2000, the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency published the complete documentary edition of Lincoln's law practice - 91,000 documents relating to 5600 cases and non-litigation activities. In 2008, the University of Virginia Press published The Papers of Abraham Lincoln: Legal Documents and Cases in a four-volume edition.

"The principal purpose...was to assemble the documentation relating to Lincoln's law practice to understand better the breadth and depth of his twenty-five year legal career. As a result...a wealth of books and articles have been published on the subject. While the documents provide information about Lincoln, they also provide a plethora of information about society in antebellum Illinois.

"We learn, for example, that several counties had an unusually large number of slander cases. ...These cases show a sharp gender divide. Men were typically accused of theft or other petty crimes, but women were more often accused of improper sexual behavior. Most all slander cases resulted in a judgment for the plaintiff/accused against the defendant/accuser, but in many cases, the plaintiff remitted (or returned) the damage award. This indicates that the purpose of the suit was not to gain a monetary award, but to restore the reputation of the accused. Reputation was very important in antebellum society...and common law remedy of slander was one legal action to regain that reputation."

That quote led me to wonder how often then-President Lincoln contemplated suing someone for slander. He and Mrs. Lincoln were certainly the targets of many a mud-slinger's sling-shot.

Like a lot of kids growing up, Abraham Lincoln had a nickname.
What was it, who gave it to him, and why?

What did people who knew Lincoln's father have to say about his religious beliefs and practices? When they were about to leave for Illinois, the Pigeon Creek Baptist church granted him a letter of dismission, stating that he had been a member of the church in good standing but it was withdrawn after objections by members of the Grigsby family:

http://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.asp...xtRnpjSGc9

I would guess this was based more on personal issues than religion, but I still would like to know more about Thomas Lincoln's religious beliefs and if they changed over time, ie if he became more religious after he started his family in Kentucky.