Lincoln and Ann Rutledge

[Lewis Gannett]

(06-25-2014 05:37 PM)Mike B. Wrote:  Aren't two references to the rain and snow beating on her grave important in the sense that it was so memorable that people independently remembered he said it decades later?

Heart buried in her grave is of course nothing.

Mike: Yes, the rain comments are important. They're fascinating and strange and spooky: in other words, they're very Lincoln. One thing to get out of the way: "snow" only figures in William Greene quotes in Tarbell; neither Greene nor Elizabeth Abell mentioned snow to Herndon. I should have mentioned that the other person who reported that Lincoln had lamented rain on Ann's grave was none other than Elizabeth Abell, in my opinion one of the most reliable New Salem witnesses. I devote pages to this in JALA. Short answer, Mike: you are quite right. Tripp talks about it. He makes the point that Lincoln was extremely sensitive to bad weather (so does Joshua Shenk in his valuable book on Lincoln and depression). I think of this in the context that the area had endured extraordinarily heavy rains from late spring right through the summer of '35, which fostered an explosion of mosquitos, which, experts think, spread the "brain fever" epidemic. It was so bad that outdoor latrines overflowed, generating yellow flies and black flies, no window screens of course, vomit & diarrhea on the floors attracting the flies, etc.: it was just horrible. I haven't seen references in the literature to support a thought that crossed my mind, but I've wondered about how hard it might have been simply to dig graves. Excellent point, Mike.