"Our One Common Country" author talk in Stratford, CT

[David Lockmiller]

Lincoln scholar, Professor Allen C. Guelzo, wrote in his book, “Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America,” Simon & Schuster, Copyright 2004, 2005 (paperback edition), pages 204 -05:

Professor Michael Burlingame published his material containing the very same Mary Lincoln quote in 2008, in “Abraham Lincoln: A Life,” Vol. Two, pages 468-69. This was four years after Professor Guelzo’s book was first published in 2004.

I do not have access to the footnote source reference used by Professor Guelzo since I used Google books and the footnote material was not available to me.
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Last week, I went to the San Francisco Public Library and did a microfiche search for The Christian Science Monitor article. It turns out the Professor Guelzo had the wrong date source for the story (September 27, 1937) and Professor Burlingame had the correct date (February 12, 1935). [It just goes to show that not everybody is perfect.]

[The above is from a previous posting that I had made]

Well, I have some good news for all of the "dislikers" of Professor Michael Burlingame on this website.

I wanted to find out the truth regarding the alleged Robert Lincoln statement that his mother, Mary Todd Lincoln, was against President Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation. I was able to find an email address for Professor Guelzo by means of a Google search. So, I sent him an email:

Dear Professor Allen Guelzo:

On page 181 of your book, "Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation," you make reference to a conversation between Mary Lincoln and President Lincoln that took place early on the morning of New Year’s Day of 1863, the day that President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. The text indicates that Mary Lincoln “was very much opposed to the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.” This information came indirectly from Robert Todd Lincoln.

I went to the San Francisco Public Library to check the footnote source of your information, which was listed in footnote 38 of chapter four as The Christian Science Monitor, September 22, 1937. The date apparently was a mistake; the correct date was February 12, 1935. Four years after you published your book, Professor Michael Burlingame made reference to this same Emancipation Proclamation signing incident (“Abraham Lincoln: A Life,” Vol. Two, pages 468-69) and his footnote indicated the correct date. I was able to locate the microfiche copy of the story which included the entire letter of Mrs. Florence W. Stanley.

My question to you is: How were you able to establish the credibility of Mrs. Stanley?

In response, Professor Guelzo sent me an email which began with a big surprise:

David:

My citation in Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was based on a note sent to me by Michael Burlingame; I gather that afterwards he corrected the attribution, but that was too late for me!

In other words, Professor Guelzo published the material that Professor Burlingame provided to him, but used the wrong source date for The Christian Science Monitor article that was provided by Professor Burlingame. I has assumed that Professor Guelzo had made the date mistake because he published first.

Unfortunately, Professor Geulzo was of no additional assistance as to the authenticity question regarding Mrs. Stanley. He did say a couple of other things that might be of interest:"I am sympathetic to a large degree with Prof. Burlingame's take on Mrs. Lincoln, although not perhaps to quite the degree he takes things." And, he did relate the John S. Bradford story (previously posted on this thread) that ended with Mary saying: "Well, one thing is certain; if Mr. Lincoln should happen to die, his spirit will never find me living outside the boundaries of a slave State."