What did Mr. Lincoln enjoy doing?

[Rob Wick]

Not only that, but I am the one realy responsable for tracking down Booth to Garrett's barn....(that's how I got the diary and Davies original statement).....Fido

Ah, so it was Fido who was in charge of the troops that captured Booth and NOT Conger, after all. Smart dog!

Best
Rob

[Donna McCreary]

What about Jip? Being the Lincoln's White House pup, he had better access to government documents.

[RJNorton]

Jip ate the letter JWB gave to John Mathews as well as the homework Tad claimed he did for the tutor.

[LincolnMan]

Paul Angle states that as president, Lincoln went bowling! I read somewhere else he played billiards.

[LincolnMan]

Did Lincoln play chess or checkers?

[LincolnMan]

Laurie: you mentioned Dr. Mudd's grandson-Dr. Richard Mudd. I paid a visit to his grave earlier this year. He lived and passed away in Saginaw, Michigan. He had worked for Detroit's Henry Ford Hospital followed by employment with GM (I'm pretty sure). And so, another Michigan connection to Lincoln and the assassination story.

[L Verge]

Agreed. Although I did not agree with Dr. Dick's assessment of his grandfather's role in the Lincoln assassination, he was a fine gentleman and very kind to Surratt House. His son, Tom, is still in Saginaw and is a driving force in historic preservation there -- another area hit very hard by changing demographics, crime, and poverty like Detroit.

[LincolnMan]

You're so right. I'm glad to hear of his son's preservation efforts. And as President Lincoln once exclaimed: "Thank God for Michigan!"

[LincolnMan]

One of Lincoln's fondest enjoyments, I would guess, was playing with his children. That was probably a factor in them being spoiled. It also helped him divert away from his worldly cares.

[Rogerm]

Even though it separated him from his family for weeks on end, Lincoln seemed to enjoy the camraderie of riding the circuit when he was a lawyer. He once said that his son, Robert, would be a much better educated lawyer than he, but that his eldest son would not have nearly as much fun as he did.

[LincolnMan]

You are so right. I've read he was on the circuit a total of about 6 months out the year?

[Hess1865]

What about Jip? Being the Lincoln's White House pup, he had better access to government documents.

Jip was the dog that chewed up Booth's autopsy photo!!!

[LincolnMan]

And since we're talking about what Lincoln enjoyed-this might sound like a contradictory statement against what we've already said- but perhaps he also enjoyed solitude. It wasn't the depressive kind of solitude but the contemplative kind. he loved to think...to ponder. As a boy he lost himself in books. The famous statue at New Salem depicting him on a horse as a young man doing what? Reading. One gets the sense he hardly knew where he was as he was so engrossed in the book. Then there is the story that as a father he was pulling his boys down the street in Springfield in a wagon while reading. Apparently, one of the boys fall out of the wagon but he didn't notice. He was lost in his book. As a lawyer he traveled from place to place often on horseback...often alone. Although he looked forward to being with his peers and all that that meant-he probably savored the "down-time" alone. in the end, I don't think Lincoln minded being alone overall. Just speculating...

[RJNorton]

Excellent points, Bill. For one, I agree with you. In addition to what you noted, according to the authors of Twenty Days, Lincoln shut himself off from the world for several Thursdays after Willie died in 1862. Willie died on a Thursday, and each Thursday after that, Lincoln shut himself up in his room and "disappeared." This went on for some time. Finally a Father Francis Vinton convinced Lincoln that Willie "was alive in Paradise." Only then did Lincoln resume a normal schedule on Thursdays.

[L Verge]

Very good points - and this makes Abraham Lincoln and I kindred spirits when it comes to wanting time alone!