Lincoln and Ann Rutledge

[Lewis Gannett]

(06-28-2014 12:53 PM)L Verge Wrote:  " This is a roundabout way of commenting on Hanchett's attitude. I think he's saying that the historian must deal with evidence and revise--or not revise--accordingly, regardless of one's own private feelings. Let me hasten to add that I don't speak for William Hanchett. This is my understanding."

Your closing sentences above, Mr. Gannett, make more sense to me than anything else that has been so far posted. I have been friends with Bill Hanchett for over thirty years. We correspond very little now because of his advanced age and ill health, and I don't intend to drag him personally into this thread. However, I will say that I (and others) were very surprised when he "accepted" the Tripp thesis. It was so unlike him.

Your comment makes more sense to me -- he was accepting the idea of considering new angles to the Lincoln story, not putting his stamp of approval on the idea that Lincoln had gay tendencies. (I use that latter word to indicate that I believe his love of Ann, his devotion to Mary, his prowess at producing four sons, and his enjoyment of sexual topics all show proof of his heterosexual preference.)

As for my thoughts on Ann Rutledge: I can easily imagine that they had a thing going (and I don't mean sexual) and that Lincoln was devastated when she died. As a child, he had endured the loss of his mother and sister; and here was another loved one dying on him. It had to dredge up old memories of the previous hurts. I also get the sense that his personal side (outside of the political world) was a kind and caring one and that certain things hurt him deeply. But, life goes on.

It took nearly a decade before he took the plunge with Mary, so he had time to recuperate, judge other young ladies, consider the situation of marriage, and even make a choice to be a life-long bachelor (and maybe a gay one at that!). He chose a heterosexual, committed marriage with Mary Todd that had both good and bad sides to it. The finished product of Lincoln the Man is what matters to me...not the ups and downs that it took to mould him into the President of the United States who served during our country's most difficult time.

Dear L Verge,

Thank you for your comments. You certainly know Prof. Hanchett far better than I. He and I corresponded about the Tripp thesis and Lincoln scholarship, but we didn't discuss his prior views about Lincoln's personal life. How much of a departure the Herald article is, I can't say. But I did get the sense that it was indeed a departure. I hope he's well; I haven't heard from Bill for some time now. In reply to your thoughts about Ann and Mary I don't have much more to say beyond views already expressed. My strong sense is that Lincoln's collapse in New Salem must be taken in the context of the whole town and surrounding area having also more or less collapsed under the brunt of a major epidemic. Not enough well people to take care of the sick, and so on. I think Lincoln cared deeply for Ann and mourned her passing. Bottom line, though: if Elizabeth Abell couldn't confirm a romance, a romance almost surely didn't happen. The Abell house, by the way, stood atop the same bluff below which the Bowling Greens lived a mile or so outside of town, and it was at the Greens' that Lincoln recovered from whatever it was that ailed him. Additionally, Lincoln had been staying at the Abells' when Ann Rutledge died. Elizabeth thus saw a lot of Lincoln during this period. It's significant that apart from the "rain comments," mentioned in the dim above reaches of this thread, Elizabeth had so little to tell Herndon about what was on Lincoln's mind. Ditto for his caretaker Nancy Green (Bowling had died by the time of Herndon's investigation). A final thought about Mary Todd Lincoln. I think she and Lincoln had a genuine, quite valuable partnership. She faltered toward the end of Lincoln's life, but consider the stresses beyond the devastating loss of Willie, all those young Southern cousins dead, gossip in the capital that she was a spy, it's unimaginable. History has not been fair to Mary Lincoln.