Lincoln and the secret service

[Eva Elisabeth]

Reference above picture from the Wild Wild West for those of you who have met Yankee Joe: The sheriff to the right of Dr. Loveless as you view the photo very much resembles our Yankee Stumper!

I guess I do look a little like the Sheriff, Laurie. I've let me hair grow a little longer since I've seen you. Here's a recently picture of me.

Sorry for interferring conversation, Mr Pitt, with a female's question: What are your anti-aging products and which will you be using after some further adoptions? (I know I'm gonna regret this...)

[J. Beckert]

Moon Pies and Yuengling help me keep my youthful grow, Eva. (I'll stop now, Roger!)

[Eva Elisabeth]

External use? (I'll stop, too!)

[L Verge]

I have so many comments that I won't even begin.....!

[Eva Elisabeth]

Laurie, if I hadn't promised I would have said: "What a Pit(t)y"... (forgive me, temptation was too much for "Eva", the picture CRIED out for this pun).

J.Madonna, from where had you got what you posted? According to Roger's web link (saying exactly what I read somewhere else), the Sec.Serv.'s duties covered presidental security not until 1901, and before had just combatted counterfeit. Wouldn't this contradict its interference in the kidnapping attempt in 1876? By now, although I would like to believe (would be a pleasant "event to be hammered in the tale") I, too, begin to doubt about it. Roger, I agree, it would feel more certain reading about this in a book or an official document.

[RJNorton]

Eva, school children have been writing me for 17 years on this issue. Their teachers have taught them that Lincoln created (or signed Secret Service legislation) hours before he was assassinated on April 14th. Makes for a great story, doesn't it? The students ask for proof, and I come up clueless. I simply cannot find it in any of my Lincoln books. You would think it would be in McCulloch's memoirs for April 14, 1865, but I do not see it. I have looked in many Lincoln books and cannot find he did this on the day of his assassination.

Like I said before, I am not saying it didn't happen; I am simply saying I have not been able to find the proof it did.

[J. Beckert]

It makes sense Lincoln would act on the counterfeiting issue. I forget the percentage, but an astronomical amount of the paper money circulating during the Civil War was counterfeit. I think it was around 50%.

[RJNorton]

Eva, one last clarification. Jerry and Laurie were both correct regarding the Secret Service and the attempt to steal Lincoln's body. The gang that tried to carry it out was involved in counterfeiting.

What I am questioning is whether or not Lincoln signed legislation creating the Secret Service only hours before his assassination. I simply cannot find proof he did that.

[L Verge]

Roger,

In my previous posts, I took my answer directly from the Secret Service website and an NARA site about the Secret Service - plus the Time article, which is online. Do you not consider those reliable sources? Maybe authors did not consider the creation of a counterfeiting agency relevant to the history of Lincoln? Maybe it was something that they had to cut from their text to satisfy publishers' demands?

BTW: I first learned of the April 14 creation from Mike Kauffman before his book ever hit the stands.

[RJNorton]

Laurie, when it comes to Lincoln's last day activities the first source I check is Lincoln Day By Day. If what I am seeking is not there I will check Reck's A. Lincoln: His Last 24 Hours. If it's not there I will check Sandburg's War Years and Starr's Lincoln's Last Day. In this case I also checked McCulloch's memoirs regarding his interactions with Lincoln on April 14th. Additionally, I checked Neely's Abraham Lincoln Encyclopedia. And I checked Gerald Prokopowicz's book as it has a ton of Lincoln-related facts and stories. It sounds like a story Emanuel Hertz would certainly include in Lincoln Talks, but it's not there, either. Jim Bishop says nothing about this (not the most reliable source, but he usually mentions things that would be "of interest"). Everywhere I look I draw a blank. Kids have asked me about this since 1996 as teachers in the USA are teaching it, so it's "out there." I just haven't found why, so I simply tell the kids I cannot verify what their teacher is teaching. I agree the idea that Lincoln created the Secret Service hours before being shot makes for a good story, but I cannot find an original source regarding the veracity of it.

[Liz Rosenthal]

Laurie, do you think that U.S. government web sites (indeed, any web site) would consider it unseemly to adopt and publish harmless but attractive-sounding facts that are mere "urban legends"? My answer to that would be "no."

Roger,

In my previous posts, I took my answer directly from the Secret Service website and an NARA site about the Secret Service - plus the Time article, which is online. Do you not consider those reliable sources? Maybe authors did not consider the creation of a counterfeiting agency relevant to the history of Lincoln? Maybe it was something that they had to cut from their text to satisfy publishers' demands?

BTW: I first learned of the April 14 creation from Mike Kauffman before his book ever hit the stands.

[L Verge]

Liz,

I would hope that at least the NARA (popularly known as the National Archives) would attempt to be factual. But then again, a government branch that appoints its own Attorney General to investigate the Department of Justice does make you wonder what else is highly spurious... No further comment.

[Joe Di Cola]

I have scoured every source I can think of and still cannot find any mention of Lincoln's signing legislation on April 14, 1865 creating that body. The Secret Service went into operation in July of that year so something must have occurred early to create the agency. I agree with Roger that you would think that Lincoln Day-by-Day would have a reference to this. I am surprised at the lack of documentation.