The Bixby Letter

[David Lockmiller]

I agree with Professor Michael Burlingame’s conclusion that John Hay is the author of the Bixby letter. And, I am grateful to Lane for calling attention in his posting to the Professor’s work on the subject, “New Light on the Bixby Letter,” published in 1995. A reading of this particular work should also be combined with Professor Burlingame’s later additional commentary on the Bixby letter subject matter contained in his two-volume Lincoln Prize winning work published in 2008, “Abraham Lincoln, A Life” (Volume II, pages 736 -38).

In his “New Light on the Bixby Letter” work, Professor Burlingame’s conclusion that John Hay was the actual author is supported by four principal elements:
1. Hay’s statement to William Herndon in 1866 that Lincoln wrote very few letters and that he gave that task of responding to letters received by the President over to Hay and Lincoln “signed without reading them the letters I wrote in his name.”
2. Authenticated stylistic “fingerprints” of John Hay’s authorship of the Bixby letter.
3. Four individuals, at four different times, claimed to have been told by John Hay, directly or indirectly (Rev. G. A. Jackson quoting Walter Hines Page’s relative), that he himself was the actual author of the Bixby letter.
4. John Hay created a literary scrapbook of his own creations in which he pasted a copy of the Bixby letter along with a few other “Lincoln” letters that he may have written.

According to John Hay, the work pressures upon President Lincoln at the time the Bixby letter was written in November, 1864, were immense:

“In the immediate aftermath of the election, Lincoln was unusually preoccupied. When Charles S. Spencer, head of the Lincoln and Johnson Campaign Club of New York City, asked the president to provide a banquet toast, Lincoln wished to compose the text himself rather than have John Hay do it. But, as Hay told Spencer on November 25, Lincoln ‘was literally crowded out of the opportunity to writing a note’ because the ‘the crush here just now is beyond endurance.’

Nor did Lincoln have time to write a suitable reply when Massachusetts Governor John A. Andrew requested a presidential acknowledgement of the heroic sacrifice made by one of his constituents, a widow named Lydia Bixby, who (falsely) claimed that she had lost five sons in the war. For the president’s signature Hay wrote a letter of condolence.” (“Abraham Lincoln, A Life” Volume II, page 736.)

Professor Burlingame also wrote that in the latter part of November Lincoln was busy drafting his very important Annual Message to Congress. “On November 14, he told Orville H. Browning that he ‘had not yet written a word of his message, and thought he would close [the] doors tomorrow and go to work at it.’” (Id. at 738)

It is, therefore, quite reasonable to conclude that Hay would have been asked by President Lincoln to at least draft the Bixby letter. The Bixby letter was dated November 21, 1864.

Hay was very experienced in mimicking the writing style of President Lincoln. And, it would take a very knowledgeable Lincoln scholar to identify the “fingerprint” details of a letter authored in Lincoln’s stead by Hay. Professor Burlingame noted that “unlike Lincoln, Hay often employed the word beguile” in his writings and proceeded to give twelve detailed examples with citations, thereto. The Professor also pointed out that “unlike Lincoln, [Hay] regularly used the terms ‘Heavenly father,’ ‘Republic,’ and ‘gloriously’” which were all words included within the short Bixby letter. (“New Light on the Bixby Letter”)

I believe not only that Lincoln did not author the Bixby letter, I also believe that if Lincoln had actually reviewed Hay’s draft of the Bixby letter, he would have, as a minimum, struck the word “gloriously” in the first sentence of the letter and substituted the word “heroically.” The first sentence of the letter delivered to Mrs. Bixby read: “I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts, that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.”

President Lincoln did acknowledge that there was heroism on both sides of the American Civil War.

“When the Chronicle, of Washington, had the courage to speak well of ‘Stonewall’ Jackson, accidentally shot, as a brave soldier, however mistaken as an American, Lincoln wrote to the editor: ‘I honor you for your generosity to one who, though contending against us in a guilty cause, was nevertheless a gallant man. Let us forget his sins over a fresh-made grave.’” – Henry L. Williams, quoting the Washington Chronicle. (“Lincoln Talks, a Biography in Anecdote, Emanuel Hertz, 1941, page 567)

But, in my opinion, President Abraham Lincoln considered the American Civil War to be a Shakespearean tragedy, with brother killing brother and Americans killing other Americans over an unjust cause. Glory and tragedy are incompatible words.

Frederick Douglass made the following statement concerning President Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address: “I heard Mr. Lincoln deliver this wonderful address. It was very short; but he answered all the objections raised to his prolonging the war in one sentence – it was a remarkable sentence.” (“Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln, by Distinguished Men of His Time,” edited by Allen Thorndike Rice, 1888, page 191.)

“Fondly do we hope, profoundly do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war shall soon pass away, yet if God wills it continue until all the wealth piled up by two hundred years of bondage shall have been wasted, and each drop of blood drawn by the lash shall have been paid for by one drawn by the sword, we must still say, as was said three thousand years ago, the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.”

In summary, for all the reasons stated above, I agree with Professor Michael Burlingame’s conclusion that John Hay is the author of the Bixby letter.

[ELCore]

(04-01-2013 07:47 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Here is Bullard's interpretation:

What did John Hay mean when he went on record with the statement that "the letter of Mr. Lincoln to Mrs. Bixby is genuine?" A letter is "genuine" when it is not spurious, not counterfeit, when it is written by the person whose name it bears.

Since the central theme of Bullard's book was that Lincoln was the letter's author, this definition comes as no surprise.

No surprise, at all. Bullard's definition is, quite conveniently, too narrow. I suppose, though, that we need more context for Hay's remark. Do we have that?

[GARY POPOLO]

(04-01-2013 05:28 PM)ELCore Wrote:  

(04-01-2013 07:47 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Here is Bullard's interpretation:

What did John Hay mean when he went on record with the statement that "the letter of Mr. Lincoln to Mrs. Bixby is genuine?" A letter is "genuine" when it is not spurious, not counterfeit, when it is written by the person whose name it bears.

Since the central theme of Bullard's book was that Lincoln was the letter's author, this definition comes as no surprise.

No surprise, at all. Bullard's definition is, quite conveniently, too narrow. I suppose, though, that we need more context for Hay's remark. Do we have that?

Roger, I think you are correct that Bullards statement in his book does need to be expanded if to be believed. I wonder if this information is even available? I also have another question about what David said in his post. David you mentioned that Lydia Bixby falsely stated that she had lost five sons in the war. Is it true that she did not lose five sons? Best Gary P.

[ELCore]

(04-01-2013 07:58 AM)LincolnMan Wrote:  This discussion on the subject of the Bixby Letter is a great example of the value of the symposium. I find the posts to be informative, scholarly, and thought-provoking. Its wonderful too that considering the variance of backgrounds and opinions from the members here-that everyone respects each other. And, to be honest, there's a lot of humor here too. Roger, thanks again for being the webmaster. Great stuff everyone!

Hear! Hear!

---

(04-01-2013 09:19 AM)wsanto Wrote:  How are the contents of the letter known if there are no confirmed copies and the original is believed to have been destroyed upon reciept by Mrs. Bixby?

The text was published in the Boston Transcript newspaper, November 25, 1864.

According to Sandburg's Lincoln (page 639 of the one-volume edition), nobody in the White House knew Lydia Bixby's address, so the letter was sent to William Schouler, adjutant general of Massachusetts, who was to deliver the letter to Mrs. Bixby. Schouler copied the letter before delivering it, and gave the text to the newspaper. (It is not clear to me whether the letter was mailed to Schouler or was hand delivered.)

[RJNorton]

Gary, I could not find the entire letter from Hay to Chandler, but here is an expansion on what Hay wrote Chandler regarding the Bixby letter:

The letter of Mr. Lincoln to Mrs. Bixby is genuine, is printed in our edition of his Works, and has been frequently re-published; but the engraved copy of Mr. Lincoln's alleged manuscript, which is extensively sold, is, in my opinion, a very ingenious forgery.

Although there were several facsimiles made over the years, I think Hay was referring to Michael Tobin who registered an engraving of the letter with the Librarian of Congress on April 25, 1891. Tobin sold his copies for $2 a piece.

[wsanto]

(04-02-2013 03:53 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Gary, I could not find the entire letter from Hay to Chandler, but here is an expansion on what Hay wrote Chandler regarding the Bixby letter:

The letter of Mr. Lincoln to Mrs. Bixby is genuine, is printed in our edition of his Works, and has been frequently re-published; but the engraved copy of Mr. Lincoln's alleged manuscript, which is extensively sold, is, in my opinion, a very ingenious forgery.

I admit, I want for Lincoln to have written the letter and that quote from Hay does it for me.

Hay is either lying about Lincoln being the author of the letter (A letter that Hay included in his collection of Lincoln's works) or Lincoln did indeed write the letter. I am now further convinced of the latter.

---

I wonder if Schouler mentions the Bixby family and Lincoln's letter in his two volume "History of Massachusetts in the Civil War."

---

[wsanto]

Schouler's two volumes "A History of Massachusetts in the Civil War" is available for free online and he does mention the Bixby family and the President's letter on page 577 of volume I.

It is interesteing that in a letter to the Governor he mentions Mrs. Bixby's situation in the context of another family, the Newhall's, that is petitioning the Army to discharge one of their sons from service. Apparently the Newhalls also had five sons serve the Union Army. None were apparently dead at the time but one was wounded and they wanted him discharged to home.

In the letter he reminds the Governer of a previous correspondence about a petition from Mrs. Bixby to visit one of her wounded sons and of her recieving $40 from the Governer for her expenses. Now he reports that she came to him with five letters from the War Department each informing her of the death of one (and now all) of her son's.

The Newhall petition and the Bixby situation were reported to the War Department. The reply stated that they would discharge the Newhall boy and request that the President send a special letter of condolence to Mrs. Bixby.

He then summarizes that the Newhall boy was indeed discharged and returned home and that he had the pleasure of hand delivering Lincoln's letter to Mrs. Bixby. He does not mention how it came to be that the letter was published or of Mrs. Bixby's reaction to receiving the letter.

It is interesting that the letter reported Mrs' Bixby's address. In it he also claims "Mrs. Bixby is the best specimen of a true-hearted Union woman I have yet seen.”

.

[wsanto]

Reading through some of these very well written arguments supporting the supposition that Hay was the author of the letter, I've noticed what I consider a contradiction.

Part of the argument is that Hay told Herndon that Lincoln gave the duty of writing letters in general to Hay and that was especially true during certain times when Lincoln was stressed with other duties. It goes on, from Herndon, that Lincoln would sign Hay's letters without reading them. If one is to believe this then one can assume that Hay wrote a large percentage of Lincoln's letters. Lincoln was a very busy man.

Another argument is that certain words and phrases (beguile) in the Bixby letter were never used by Lincoln in his other writings but that these same words and phrases were frequently used in Hay's writings.

Now if Hay wrote the Bixby letter in the course of his normal duties of writing a large percentage of Lincoln's correspondence why did he not use these same words and phrases in these other letters typically credited to Lincoln?

[RJNorton]

Many books do not include a photo of Mrs. Bixby, so I thought I would include one with this thread.

Lydia Bixby

[LincolnMan]

Well, there was Mrs. Bixby-but there was also Sally Sixbey-who lost three sons during the war. See my Lincolnblog posting "Tid-Bit from Lincoln Lore" here:
http://abesblogcabin.org/tid-bit-from-Lincoln-lore

[RJNorton]

Bill, the similarity in names is indeed amazing.

Over the past few days I exchanged emails with David Lockmiller about a story involving a Mrs. Putnam who allegedly lost 7 sons!! The story was in the February 1905 edition of Gunter's Magazine. Upon further investigation, however, the story turns out to be fiction.

[LincolnMan]

Wow, 7 sons! Glad it was fiction.

[David Lockmiller]

(04-03-2013 11:38 AM)wsanto Wrote:  Reading through some of these very well written arguments supporting the supposition that Hay was the author of the letter, I've noticed what I consider a contradiction.

Part of the argument is that Hay told Herndon that Lincoln gave the duty of writing letters in general to Hay and that was especially true during certain times when Lincoln was stressed with other duties. It goes on, from Herndon, that Lincoln would sign Hay's letters without reading them. If one is to believe this then one can assume that Hay wrote a large percentage of Lincoln's letters. Lincoln was a very busy man.

Another argument is that certain words and phrases (beguile) in the Bixby letter were never used by Lincoln in his other writings but that these same words and phrases were frequently used in Hay's writings.

Now if Hay wrote the Bixby letter in the course of his normal duties of writing a large percentage of Lincoln's correspondence why did he not use these same words and phrases in these other letters typically credited to Lincoln?

I was reading last night the letter written by John Hay at the Legation of the United States, Paris, on September 5, 1866 to William Herndon. In that letter John Hay wrote:

“He [Lincoln] wrote very few letters. He did not read one in fifty that he received. At first we tried to bring them to his notice, but at last he gave the whole thing over to me, and signed without reading them the letters I wrote in his name. He wrote perhaps half a dozen a week himself, not more.

I opened and read the letters, answered them, looked over the newspapers, supervised the clerks who kept the records, and in Nicolay’s absence did his work also.”

By my calculations, if “Lincoln wrote perhaps half a dozen a week himself, not more,” and “Lincoln did not read one in fifty that he received,” Lincoln would have received approximately three hundred letters per week, or approximately fifteen thousand letters per year (50 weeks times 300 per week). Now, if Hay is correct in his numbers and Hay responded to only one in ten letters Lincoln received from the public, by writing letters in Lincoln’s behalf and Lincoln signed all these letters without reading them, the total for one year would be 1,500 or approximately 6,000 such letters over Lincoln’s first term of office.

My question to you is: How do you know, without reading copies of each and all of these hundreds of letters, that Hay did "not use these same words and phrases in these other letters typically credited to Lincoln?"

[wsanto]

(04-06-2013 12:00 PM)David Lockmiller Wrote:  I was reading last night the letter written by John Hay at the Legation of the United States, Paris, on September 5, 1866 to William Herndon. In that letter John Hay wrote:

“He [Lincoln] wrote very few letters. He did not read one in fifty that he received. At first we tried to bring them to his notice, but at last he gave the whole thing over to me, and signed without reading them the letters I wrote in his name. He wrote perhaps half a dozen a week himself, not more.

I opened and read the letters, answered them, looked over the newspapers, supervised the clerks who kept the records, and in Nicolay’s absence did his work also.”

By my calculations, if “Lincoln wrote perhaps half a dozen a week himself, not more,” and “Lincoln did not read one in fifty that he received,” Lincoln would have received approximately three hundred letters per week, or approximately fifteen thousand letters per year (50 weeks times 300 per week). Now, if Hay is correct in his numbers and Hay responded to only one in ten letters Lincoln received from the public, by writing letters in Lincoln’s behalf and Lincoln signed all these letters without reading them, the total for one year would be 1,500 or approximately 6,000 such letters over Lincoln’s first term of office.

My question to you is: How do you know, without reading copies of each and all of these hundreds of letters, that Hay did "not use these same words and phrases in these other letters typically credited to Lincoln?"

If you read or browse through the volumes of Lincoln's known writings (all organized and searchable and available for free on-line), you will notice that most are letters that he wrote or is credited to have written while in the White House. This database includes the Bixby Letter.

I suppose someone, while researching this topic, searched this database for the word "beguile" and found it only once; in the Bixby Letter. They then searched for the word "beguile" in all the known writings of Hay and noticed that he used the word with some level of frequency. Some have used these results as a cornerstione of their evidence that Hay, not Lincoln, must have written the Bixby letter.

I contend that if Hay, as claimed in his letter to Herndon, wrote most of this White House correspondence credited to Lincoln then the word "beguile" would appear more often than once in the collected writings of Lincoln.

[ELCore]

(04-03-2013 11:38 AM)wsanto Wrote:  Now if Hay wrote the Bixby letter in the course of his normal duties of writing a large percentage of Lincoln's correspondence why did he not use these same words and phrases in these other letters typically credited to Lincoln?

Perhaps because no other letters were of a kind, or concerning a topic, or about an occasion, that called for their use. How often would the word "beguile" in any of its many possible meanings, or synonyms, be occasioned in presidential correspondence? No matter who actually wrote it, apparently only once during Lincoln's.

I thought it may, or may not, be useful to quote the five letters that Bixby had put in the scrap book that sparked Burlingame's continued defense of Hay's authorship; Burlingame surmises that their inclusion was Hay's silent assertion of authorship. (Which seems plausible to me.) Interestingly enough, one of them is definitely not in Lincoln's handwriting; for another, a draft exists which is in Lincoln's handwriting.

To George Opdyke, et al., 2 Dec 1863:

Quote:Yours of the 28th. ult. inviting me to be present at a meeting to be held at the Cooper Institute, on the 3rd. Inst. to promote the raising of volunteers, is received. Nothing would be more grateful to my feelings, or better accord with my judgment than to contribute, if I could, by my presence, or otherwise, to that eminently patriotic object. Nevertheless the now early meeting of congress, together with a temporary illness, render my attendance impossible.

You purpose also to celebrate our Western victories. Freed from apprehension of wounding the just sensibilities of brave soldiers fighting elsewhere, it would be exceedingly agreeable to me to join in a suitable acknowledgment to those of the Great West, with whom I was born, and have passed my life. And it is exceedingly gratifying that a portion lately of the Army of the Potomac, but now serving with the great army of the West, have borne so conspicuous a part in the late brilliant triumphs in Georgia.

Honor to the Soldier, and Sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country's cause. Honor also to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field, and serves, as he best can, the same cause—honor to him, only less than to him, who braves, for the common good, the storms of heaven and the storms of battle.

That is the letter for which Basler says we have a draft in Lincoln's hand.

To Lydia Bixby, 21 Nov 1864:

Quote:I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts, that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.

I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.

I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom.

To John Phillips, 21 Nov 1864:

Quote:The example of such devotion to civic duties in one whose days have already extended an average life time beyond the Psalmist's limit, cannot but be valuable and fruitful. It is not for myself only, but for the country which you have in your sphere served so long and so well, that I thank you.

That is the letter of which Basler says the original is in an unknown hand. (I figure that means it's in neither Lincoln's nor Hay's nor Nicolay's hand, at the least.)

To L. B. Wyman, 11 Nov 1861. Basler does not include the text of this letter, but indicates it was written by Hay.

To F. B. Loomis, 12 May 1864:

Quote:I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 28th April, in which you offer to replace the present garrison of Fort Trumbull with volunteers, which you propose to raise at your own expense. While it seems inexpedient at this time to accept this proposition, on account of the special duties now devolving upon the garrison mentioned, I cannot pass unnoticed such a meritorious instance of individual patriotism. Permit me, for the Government, to express my cordial thanks to you for this generous and public-spirited offer, which is worthy of note among the many called forth in these times of national trial.