Interesting "little" Lincoln stories

[David Lockmiller]

Mrs. E. M. Stanton, wife of the Secretary of War, had given eight bushels of strawberries to the hospital, and Mrs. Cole, the head dietitian, had supervised the baking of a mammoth strawberry shortcake. As the soldiers were lounging around the kitchen, President Lincoln and his Cabinet entered.

There were few chairs and the dining-room was filled. When Mrs. Cole brought the President a large piece of cake, he graciously took it, walked to the corner of the room, and sat down on the floor. The Cabinet members all followed his example. -- Mrs. Helen B. Cole

In 1862, when I was a cipher operator in the War Department, Mr. Lincoln often visited the office and was always affable and courteous, sometimes even familiar, in his intercourse with the attaches of the office. He did not recognize me as the young telegraph operator he had met in the West. On one occasion, when he was telling a story to a member of the Cabinet and some prominent army officers, he tried to recall the name of a certain man in Illinois. It seemed to annoy him very much that he could not remember the name. With some trepidation I ventured to say: "Mr. President, permit me to suggest; was it not Judge Puterbough?" He turned upon me with a look of surprise, and shouted: "Why, yes! Did you know him?" "Yes, sir." "Where did you know him?" "Down in Pekin, Illinois, where I had the honor of explaining to the present President of the United States the working of the telegraph, in the little office in the Tazewell House." He turned to his surprised audience, and exclaimed: "Well, isn't it funny that we should have met here?" and confirmed to them how he had first witnessed the working of the telegraph in the Tazewell House. --Charles A. Tinker