Lincoln In Worcester Massachusetts

[RJNorton]

Hi Dan. From what I can tell this may be more of an anecdote than historical truth. The story goes that Lincoln and Seward shared a room at the Lincoln House in Worcester in September of 1848. Seward allegedly said, "We spent the greater part of the night talking. I insisted that the time had come for sharp definitions of opinions and boldness of utterance. Before we went to sleep Mr. Lincoln admitted that I was right in my anti-slavery position and principles."

In Walter Stahr's new Seward biography, he finds this story to be questionable. He says the train schedules did not match up, and the story is probably apocryphal. Stahr writes, "Seward and Lincoln were not in Worcester on the evening after their joint appearance in Boston."

Author Ralph Gary checked the large newspaper file formerly at the Lincoln Museum in Ft. Wayne and could find no reference to Lincoln and Seward being in Worcester together.