Lincoln & Herndon

[Angela]

[When Lincoln finished his business, he would haul his children back home and meet the same old scolding or a new and intensified one. He bore all quite philosophically."]// quote

Hi Roger,

Can you or someone else please explain to me how in the %$# Herndon knew that Lincoln got a "scolding" when he returned home with the children?? Did AL discuss it with him back at the office.."Oh, Mary slapped me around again"?

Why did he write this, when he already admitted AL never discussed his personal life with him?

That is an interesting question which had me puzzled as well a couple of month ago when I started reading about Herndon.
I think what is important here is to make a distinction between matters he spoke about in public or in his book and private letters.
In a letter to Jessie Weik Herndon described how Lincoln would bring the kids to the office after a fight at home. Herndon would leave them alone for a while and return after an hour, hoping that the mood was better. Sometimes Lincoln would tell him what happened and other times not.
So maybe Herndon thought that certain things discussed were private?