What did Mr. Lincoln enjoy doing?

[L Verge]

A little extra to the story of Mr. Lincoln caring for three motherless kittens on his March 1865 visit to City Point:

At his first meeting with Lincoln, Colonel Horace Porter watched the President in the telegraph tent at City Point, Virginia and years later recalled, "He would wipe their eyes tenderly with his handkerchief, stroke their smooth coats, and listen to them purring their gratitude to him." Now a General, Porter thought this was quite a sight, as was reported in the New York Times article of February 13, 1906: "Here I was at an army headquarters, upon the eve of a great military crisis in the nation's history, to see the hand which had affixed the signature to the Emancipation Proclamation and had signed the commissions. . . from the general-in-chief to the lowest lieutenant, tenderly caressing three stray kittens."

"I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being."

Abraham Lincoln

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(10-23-2013 07:09 PM)L Verge Wrote:  A little extra to the story of Mr. Lincoln caring for three motherless kittens on his March 1865 visit to City Point:

At his first meeting with Lincoln, Colonel Horace Porter watched the President in the telegraph tent at City Point, Virginia and years later recalled, "He would wipe their eyes tenderly with his handkerchief, stroke their smooth coats, and listen to them purring their gratitude to him." Now a General, Porter thought this was quite a sight, as was reported in the New York Times article of February 13, 1906: "Here I was at an army headquarters, upon the eve of a great military crisis in the nation's history, to see the hand which had affixed the signature to the Emancipation Proclamation and had signed the commissions. . . from the general-in-chief to the lowest lieutenant, tenderly caressing three stray kittens."

"I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being."

Abraham Lincoln

Many times during Lincoln's life, reporters asked Mrs. Lincoln what Mr. Lincoln does for relaxation and/or what is his hobby. She often and simply answered, "Cats. My husband loves cats, and plays with them for hours."