Abe Lincoln and His Ancestors by Ida Tarbell

[David Lockmiller]

(01-08-2021 08:04 AM)Gene C Wrote:  Great question.

The info is on the bottom of page 307-308

"As a finale, I sang 'He Doeth All Things Well,' after which Mr. Lincoln, in a very
grave manner, thanked me for the evening's entertainment, and said: 'Don't let
us spoil that song by any other music tonight.' Many times afterwards I sang that
song for Mr. Lincoln and for Governor Oglesby, with whom it was also a
favorite."
https://archive.org/details/infootstepso...6/mode/2up

Continuing on page 308:

There is another paragraph in Mrs. Johns' "Recollections" which should be quoted in this connection. It is a point which needs frequent emphasizing to counteract that caricaturing of Mr. Lincoln's personal appearance which has been going on ever since he became a candidate for the Presidency — a caricaturing which a multitude of photographs, from 1848 on, contradict:

"When I first knew Lincoln," Mrs. Johns says, "the ungainliness of the pioneer, if he ever had it, had worn off and his manner was that of a gentleman of the old school, unaffected, unostentatious, who 'arose at once when a lady entered the room, and whose courtly manners would put to shame the easy-going indifference to etiquette which marks the twentieth century gentleman."

---

Senator Joe Blackburn of Kentucky used to tell a story, less familiar than many of the kind. He was very young, and for the first time was appearing in the United States Circuit Court in Chicago. The opposing counsel was Isaac N. Arnold, one of the most distinguished men of the Chicago bar and a friend of Mr. Lincoln. When the case was reached Blackburn was so nervous that he became bewildered and made only a very feeble effort.

"I was about to sit down," his story goes, "and let the case go by default, as it were, when a tall, homely, loose-jointed man sitting in the bar, whom I had noticed as giving close attention to the case, arose and addressed the court in behalf of the position I had assumed in my feeble argument, making the points so clear that when he closed the court at once sustained my demurrer. I didn't know who my volunteer friend was, but Mr. Arnold got up and attempted to rebuke him for interfering in the matter, when I for the first time heard that he was Abraham Lincoln, of Springfield. Mr. Lincoln, in his good-natured reply to Mr. Arnold's strictures on his interference, said that he claimed the privilege of giving a young lawyer a boost when struggling with his first case, especially if he was pitted against an experienced practitioner. Of course I thanked him and departed from the court as proud as a young field marshal.

I never saw Mr. Lincoln again, and he died without ever knowing who the young, struggling lawyer was he had so kindly assisted and rescued from defeat in his maiden effort before a United States tribunal.

Ida Tarbell book at pages 311-312.

Incidentally, I remember reading this same story in the book by Emanuel Hertz, Lincoln Talks, A Biography in Anecdote, at pages 49-50. This version was more extensive. The first two paragraphs read as follows:

When I was nineteen years of age I located in Chicago, and commenced the practice of law. One of my first cases was in the United States Court. The opposing counsel was Isaac N. Arnold, then at the head of the Chicago bar. I had filed a demurrer to Mr. Arnold's pleadings in the cause, and when the case was reached on the calendar I was quite nervous at having such a formidable and experienced antagonist, while the dignity of the tribunal and presence of a large number of lawyers in the court all aided to increase my timidity and embarrassment. I was young, inexperienced, and naturally diffident and nervous; in fact, I was willing that any disposition should be made of the case, so I could get rid of it. I was ready to adopt any suggestion of the opposing counsel which would relieve me from my embarrassing situation. Mr. Arnold made an argument in which he criticized my demurrer in a manner that greatly tended to increase my confusion.

However, I had to make an effort. I said but little, and that in a very bewildered manner, and was about ready to sit down and let the case go by default, as it were, when . . . [the Ida Tarbell recounting of the same story continues from there].

So, in short, I would have to say that I prefer Emanuel Hertz's much fuller version of the same story.