Abe & Fido

[Eva Elisabeth]

Welcome to the forum, Christian!

Welcome to the forum, Christian! The most common explanations I have seen are:

1. President-elect Lincoln worried the dog would not survive the long train ride to the nation's capital.

2. He had noticed that the clanging church bells and loud cannons, which had announced his presidential nomination, had terrified Fido. I am guessing Lincoln felt life in the White House would have been too much of a change for a dog used to life in Springfield.

3. He felt the Roll family could definitely give Fido a comfortable, happy place to live. He feared life in the White House might not do so.

As for #1 - my personal additional speculation:
a) He had vivid and haunting memories of almost losing his dog on the icy river when moving to Illinois,
b) maybe he had noticed Fido got sick on the buggy and/or refused to go on it?