A. Lincoln_ A Biography Part 4
AS THE JUNIOR PARTNER AT THE OFFICE on Hoffman's Row in Springfield, Lincoln prepared the legal pleadings and briefs. From the first he was a fine draftsman, writing in a neat hand. When comparing Lincoln's legal writing to that of his peers, one is struck by his absence of corrections. Whether writing a declaration or plea, by the time Lincoln put pen to paper he knew what to say and how to say it. Despite what must have been his anxiety at his new challenge, a calm confidence was evident in his fine writing. on Hoffman's Row in Springfield, Lincoln prepared the legal pleadings and briefs. From the first he was a fine draftsman, writing in a neat hand. When comparing Lincoln's legal writing to that of his peers, one is struck by his absence of corrections. Whether writing a declaration or plea, by the time Lincoln put pen to paper he knew what to say and how to say it. Despite what must have been his anxiety at his new challenge, a calm confidence was evident in his fine writing.
Lincoln could be flexible with his spelling in an era when the art of orthography was not as exact as it would become in later years. He wrote "colateral" and "colatteral" for collateral, and varied his spelling between "prossecution" and "prosecutor." Compared to his contemporaries, however, his spelling was mostly free of peculiarities.
Stuart gave Lincoln the task of keeping the financial records for the firm. One has only to look at the fee book to see that Lincoln was not always adept at this a.s.signment. There are long intervals between entries, and the entries themselves are sometimes quite casual; for example, "I have received five dollars from Deed of Macon, five from Lewis Keeling, five from Andrew Finley, one-half of which belongs to Stuart and has not been entered on the books."
John Todd Stuart decided to make a second run for a seat in Congress within a year of inviting Lincoln to become a partner. He had run in 1836 and lost to Democrat William L. May. His Democratic opponent in 1838 would be Stephen Douglas. The contest between Stuart and Douglas epitomized a campaign on the frontier. The candidates often traveled together, ate meals together, and now and again "slept in the same bed." Stuart and Douglas "debated the issues of the election from the same platform" across the expansive Third Congressional District, which made up one-half of the state's territory. The election took place in August, but it was not until September 1, 1838, that Stuart was declared the winner over Douglas by 36 votes out of 36,495 total.
After Stuart left for Washington in November 1839, Lincoln wrote in their fee book, "Commencement of Lincoln's administration 1839 Nov 2." Lincoln would now miss Stuart's mentoring, yet with his absence, he gained the opportunity to plead a wider variety of cases. In doing so, he was forced to fill in the gaps of his theoretical knowledge. Even more important, he had to stand alone, in small village courtrooms, and before the district court and the Illinois Supreme Court, both of which met in Springfield. During this time, Lincoln seldom sought the advice of other lawyers. He learned early on in law, as in politics, to trust his own counsel.
Lincoln and Stuart's caseload had increased when they decided to expand the territory they would serve. When Lincoln first joined the firm in 1837, both he and Stuart traveled what was then the First Judicial Circuit. In 1839, the legislature divided the state into nine judicial circuits, each circuit presided over by one of nine supreme court judges. Samuel H. Treat served as judge of the new Eighth Judicial Circuit, which included fifteen counties. With Stuart away in Congress, it fell to Lincoln to travel the new circuit, which he did twice a year.
Lincoln journeyed by horseback in the early spring on mud-covered roads and across swollen streams. Bridges were in short supply. The roads usually ran right through the middle of the prairies. There would be stretches where the lawyers could travel nearly all day without meeting anyone. Nearly everyone on the circuit had a latch-string hung on their homes for hospitality for traveling lawyers.
James C. Conkling, Lincoln's Springfield neighbor and a fellow lawyer, described those early days of traveling the circuit. The hotel accommodations were meager. "The rooms were generally crowded with jurors, witnesses, parties litigant" and lawyers. The fortunate slept in beds, sometimes two or three together, but frequently the occupants slept on the floor. The coming of the circuit court to these small towns became the center of a community celebration. Farmers and people from adjoining villages flocked to town "not merely to attend court, but to witness a horse-race, or a circus, or some theatrical performance, which were generally the side-shows of a Circuit Court in those primitive places."
Anna Hyatt Huntington's sculpture Life on the Circuit depicts Lincoln as a young lawyer on horseback, studying as he traveled across the Eighth Judicial Circuit in central Illinois.
Lincoln shone not only by day in court, but also in the evening around the fireplace in a local hotel or tavern. While on the circuit, the lawyers had plenty of time for conversation, cards, music, and playing practical jokes on one another. Lincoln "seemed to possess an inexhaustible fund" of stories and anecdotes. "No one could relate a story without reminding him of one of a similar character." In these sessions, Lincoln also became known for his laughter, taking pleasure in his own humor as well as that of others. There was something about "the heartiness of his own enjoyment" that drew others to him.
Life on the circuit combined politics and law. In traveling the huge Eighth Judicial Circuit, Lincoln was building a name for himself that would translate into votes. The fall term often took place in the midst of political campaigns. Lawyer politicians moved directly from the courthouse to the town square for political debate. As Lincoln learned to practice law inside numerous small-town courtrooms, he came to know and be known by farmers and merchants by staying in their homes and trading in their stores. He also sowed friendships and alliances with other lawyer politicians that he would harvest in future years.
IN SPRINGFIELD, his friendship with Joshua Fry Speed, the store clerk, continued to grow. At twenty-two, Speed was five years younger than Lincoln. He was a fellow Kentuckian, but their backgrounds were very different. Named after his mother's father, Speed was born into a wealthy family on a large estate called "Farmington," five miles southeast of Louisville. His father, John Speed, was a plantation proprietor who owned more than seventy slaves. Young Joshua had attended private schools to prepare him for a professional career. After working for several years in a store in Louisville, he moved to Springfield in 1835. Both young men sought their own ident.i.ty by leaving their fathers and their fathers' vocations and making fresh starts in a new city.
Speed realized quickly that Lincoln, despite his position in the Illinois legislature, was "almost without friends" in Springfield. Lincoln considered attending a church in Springfield, but remarked, "I've never been to church yet, nor probably shall not be soon. I stay away because I am conscious I should not know how to behave myself." Lincoln, shy in ordinary social relationships, was grateful to Speed for becoming a conduit to new acquaintances. That first winter, Lincoln began to break through some of his social inhibitions. Eight or ten men-"choice spirits"-would gather "by a big wood fire" in Speed's general store to talk, laugh, debate, and carry on a running conversation about many topics. They came night after night "because they were sure to find Lincoln" and his stories and wit. Speed observed the paradox of seeing this reserved man at the center of attention. "Mr. Lincoln was a social man, though he did not seek company; it sought him." After talking politics and sharing stories around the fire, when the others left, Lincoln and Speed would talk for hours into the night.
A SOCIETY ORIENTED AROUND the spoken word rewarded those who learned its ways. In his constant drive for self-improvement, Lincoln sought out opportunities to enhance his speaking ability. In January 1838, he accepted an invitation to speak to the Young Men's Lyceum in Springfield. The Lyceum began in 1835, and by Lincoln's arrival in 1837 occupied a leading cultural place in the community. the spoken word rewarded those who learned its ways. In his constant drive for self-improvement, Lincoln sought out opportunities to enhance his speaking ability. In January 1838, he accepted an invitation to speak to the Young Men's Lyceum in Springfield. The Lyceum began in 1835, and by Lincoln's arrival in 1837 occupied a leading cultural place in the community.
On a wintry Sat.u.r.day evening, the twenty-eight-year-old Lincoln stood to address the Lyceum meeting at the Second Presbyterian Church on "The Perpetuation of Our Political Inst.i.tutions." He began by offering praise to the founders of the republic. He evoked the inheritance pa.s.sed down to his generation. The young Lincoln, still learning the art of rhetoric, often used more words than necessary, thus, "We find ourselves under the government of a system of political inst.i.tutions, conducing more essentially to the ends of civil and religious liberty, than any of which the history of former times tells us." If the major melody in his address was honor to the founders, a contrapuntal theme was the role of Lincoln's generation, just now coming into their maturity, in shaping the nation's future. Their task was much more limited, Lincoln concluded; "'tis ours only, to transmit these" values "to the latest generation."
Underneath Lincoln's towering language we hear a lament. A half century after the election of George Washington as the nation's first president, Lincoln had become convinced that the epic labor of putting together the country had already been consummated. Instead of builders, Lincoln and his generation were conferred the lesser role of transmitters, or custodians.
He did acknowledge his generation's commission to protect the nation's hard-won freedom. Lincoln, always attentive to his social context, spoke of the threat of a "mobocratic spirit" seen in an outbreak of mob violence that had "pervaded the country, from New England to Louisiana." The immediate occasion of the address may have been the murder two and a half months earlier of Elijah Lovejoy, a Presbyterian minister and editor killed defending his abolitionist newspaper in Alton, Illinois, across the river from St. Louis. Lincoln, in embracing the Whig Party in the 1830s, believed that a departure from tradition and order had taken place on the watch of the Democratic Jacksonian administrations.
Lincoln predicted that the danger to "The Perpetuation of Our Political Inst.i.tutions" would not come from "some transatlantic military giant," but rather from foes and forces that "must spring up amongst us." In words that would be remembered, Lincoln declared, "If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide."
ONE MONTH LATER, on February 24, 1838, Lincoln announced his intention to run for a third term in the Illinois legislature. His championing of internal improvements, followed by the disastrous economic recession of 1837, did not seem to dampen his reelection prospects. By now he had won the trust of an ever-widening part of the public. On August 6, Lincoln received the highest vote total of sixteen candidates.
On a cold Friday morning, November 30, 1838, Lincoln boarded the stage to take his seat in the Eleventh General a.s.sembly, the last to be held in Vandalia. As an indication of how far and fast he had traveled, the Whigs nominated Lincoln for Speaker of the lower house of the legislature. As the candidate of the minority party, Lincoln was defeated on the fourth ballot in a close vote: 43 to 38.
At the beginning of the session, legislators talked incessantly about the status of the internal improvements legislation and program. John J. Hardin of Morgan County brought a resolution calling for an investigation of internal improvements, which he and others called disdainfully the "grand system." In the course of the ensuing debate, Lincoln reaffirmed that "his own course was identified with the system." He was not about to back away now. "We have gone too far to recede, even if we were disposed to do so." Reporting for the Finance Committee on January 17, 1839, he acknowledged the problems in a seriously weakened economy, but remained adamant. "We are now so far advanced in a general system of internal improvements that, if we would, we cannot retreat from it, without disgrace and great loss." After discussing the purchase of still more public lands as part of the program of internal improvements, Lincoln declared, "The conclusion then is, that we must advance." must advance."
Behind Lincoln's specific proposals for building roads and ca.n.a.ls lay his ardent belief in the promise of Illinois. "Illinois surpa.s.ses every other spot of equal extent upon the face of the globe, in fertility in fertility of soil, and in the proportionable amount of the same which is sufficiently level for actual cultivation." At twenty-nine, Lincoln was living proof that in Illinois a young man could begin with nothing and through hard work rise to statewide influence. of soil, and in the proportionable amount of the same which is sufficiently level for actual cultivation." At twenty-nine, Lincoln was living proof that in Illinois a young man could begin with nothing and through hard work rise to statewide influence.
The session adjourned on March 4, 1839. As Lincoln prepared to leave Vandalia, he could look back on a record of solid accomplishment, especially in championing transportation as the best means to promote growth throughout the state. From December 1834 through March 1839, he had spent nearly an entire year, forty-four weeks total, in Vandalia. He had arrived largely unknown; he left with a growing reputation for political intelligence, judgment, and honesty.
DURING THE BREAK between legislative sessions, Lincoln joined his fellow Whigs in a series of debates with Democrats in a prelude to the 1840 political campaigns. Stephen Douglas, still regarded as a leader of the Democratic Party despite his congressional defeat, began the debates by defending President Van Buren's plan for a subtreasury system, a new way to solve the old problem of a national bank. between legislative sessions, Lincoln joined his fellow Whigs in a series of debates with Democrats in a prelude to the 1840 political campaigns. Stephen Douglas, still regarded as a leader of the Democratic Party despite his congressional defeat, began the debates by defending President Van Buren's plan for a subtreasury system, a new way to solve the old problem of a national bank.
The national bank had been a contentious issue throughout President Jackson's two terms. First proposed by Alexander Hamilton, the Bank of the United States had been chartered in 1791 during the presidency of George Washington as a vehicle to bring order and accountability to banking and currency in the new nation. Charged by its foes with being unconst.i.tutional, the bank was dissolved just twenty years later, in 1811. Faced with financial hardship from the War of 1812, the United States chartered a Second Bank of the United States in 1816. The second bank acted to control notes issued by state banks and private speculative banks.
In 1832, Henry Clay and Daniel Webster pa.s.sed a bill in Congress to recharter the second bank, even though the charter was not due until 1836. The Whigs wanted to force Jackson's hand in the upcoming presidential election. Sure enough, Jackson vetoed the bill, criticizing the bank for being an enclave of the rich and powerful and in violation of the Const.i.tution, against states' rights, and subversive of the rights of the people. Jackson's successor, Martin Van Buren, pressed ahead to set up an independent treasury, which was called a "subtreasury."
The Whigs were robust proponents of a national bank. Lincoln closed the debate with an intelligent attack on the subtreasury, the centerpiece of a Democratic plan for an independent treasury system. He supported the Whig political belief in the role of government to promote economic growth and development, and the national bank fit well within this philosophy.
The next evening, Lincoln spoke again, but this time his remarks did not hit the target. "Mr. L. of Wednesday night was not the L. of Tuesday." Reporting on the debates, the Illinois State Register, Illinois State Register, a Democratic newspaper in Springfield, accused Lincoln of "clownishness" in his manner and speaking style, which the newspaper advised him to correct. Lincoln, upset with himself, knew he had not done his best. His fellow legislator Joseph Gillespie commented, "He was conscious of his failure and I never saw any man so much distressed." After this, Lincoln was looking for an opportunity to redeem himself. a Democratic newspaper in Springfield, accused Lincoln of "clownishness" in his manner and speaking style, which the newspaper advised him to correct. Lincoln, upset with himself, knew he had not done his best. His fellow legislator Joseph Gillespie commented, "He was conscious of his failure and I never saw any man so much distressed." After this, Lincoln was looking for an opportunity to redeem himself.
The Illinois legislature convened in Springfield for the first time on December 9, 1839. With the construction of the new capitol only in the beginning stages, the House met at the Second Presbyterian Church. Springfield, now swelling to nearly three thousand residents, proudly offered hospitality to the arriving legislators.
On the evening of December 26, 1839, after careful preparation, Lincoln offered a speech on the subtreasury. Though he usually spoke with few or no notes, he came prepared with full doc.u.mentation for an extended address. Clearly disappointed by the small post-Christmas audience, he began by telling the few in attendance that he found it "peculiarly embarra.s.sing" to be put in this situation. He let his pique show as he complained that the reason for the low turnout must be "the greater interest interest the community feel in the the community feel in the Speakers Speakers who addressed them who addressed them then then [referring to Stephen Douglas] than they do in [referring to Stephen Douglas] than they do in him him who is to do so who is to do so now." now." Lincoln declared, "This circ.u.mstance casts a damp upon my spirits, which I am sure I shall be unable to overcome during the evening." Lincoln declared, "This circ.u.mstance casts a damp upon my spirits, which I am sure I shall be unable to overcome during the evening."
In a highly partisan speech, Lincoln criticized the Democratic plan to establish a subtreasury that would collect, hold, and disburse revenues. He complained that the new banking system would decrease the quant.i.ty of money in circulation. He spent much of the speech arguing that the subtreasury would be a less secure depository of public money.
But it was his conclusion that attracted widespread attention. Shifting away from the careful, technical descriptions of monetary matters, Lincoln articulated the underlying issues at stake. "Many free countries have lost their liberty; and ours may ours may lose hers." Lincoln then launched into an attack against his opponents. lose hers." Lincoln then launched into an attack against his opponents.
I know that the great volcano at Washington, aroused and directed by the evil spirit that reigns there, is belching forth the lava of political corruption, in a current broad and deep, which is sweeping with frightful velocity over the whole length and breadth of the land, bidding fair to leave unscathed no green spot or living thing, while on its bosom are riding like demons on waves of h.e.l.l, the imps of that evil spirit, and fiendishly taunting all those who dare resist its destroying course.
After portraying his opponents' evil intentions in romantic-even apocalyptic-language, Lincoln responded to their challenge in a growing crescendo of strongly evocative words. He started out simply and directly. "Broken to it, I, too may be; bow to it I never will." If his opponents rode the "waves of h.e.l.l," Lincoln staked out his own position under the "Almighty Architect" and "before High Heaven." Lincoln, who was always careful of both his words and actions as a politician, declared he was determined to act "without contemplating consequences."
Having made his political stand with a use of the personal p.r.o.noun "I" twelve times in the last sentence, he suddenly switched to "we," as if to rally those in his hearing to the cause: "We still shall have the proud consolation of saying to our consciences, and to the departed shade of our country's freedom, that the cause approved of our judgment, and adored of our hearts, in disaster, in chains, torture, in death, WE NEVER faultered in defending."
In his conclusion, the thirty-year-old Lincoln exposed the moral core of his national economic vision. Rejecting the charge that Whigs were the party of privilege, he laid at the feet of his Democratic opponents his indictment of their economic and political corruption. Lincoln's continual use of "I," his long complex sentences, and his use of dramatic contrasts between h.e.l.l and heaven reflected the spirit of a self-confident if sometimes verbose young legislator. His speech, reprinted widely in the 1840 political campaigns, became a rallying cry. Lincoln portrayed in dramatic moral imagery how the Whigs, contenders but never victors, viewed the stakes in the upcoming presidential election.
The House adjourned on February 3, 1840. On February 10, two days before his thirty-first birthday, Lincoln was praised at an all-day Whig "Festival" in Peoria for "fearlessly and eloquently exposing the iniquities of the subtreasury scheme" in his address six weeks earlier. Lincoln was riding a crest of political popularity.
WITH THE LEGISLATURE ADJOURNED, Lincoln entered into a presidential campaign for the first time. Andrew Jackson, elected in 1828, had served two terms and then handpicked his successor, Vice President Van Buren. The combination of the economic panic of 1837 and Van Buren's effete manner compared to his predecessor eroded the electorate's confidence in Van Buren after his first term. At their first national convention in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in December 1839, the Whigs turned away from party stalwarts Henry Clay and Daniel Webster and nominated William Henry Harrison, a graying hero of the battle of Tippecanoe in the War of 1812.
Lincoln did not attend the convention but threw himself into the presidential campaign, taking a lead in organizing the Whigs in Illinois. Setting aside his earlier fears that an enlarged party machinery could be ripe for manipulation by party elders, in January 1840, he became a coauthor of a circular that would "appoint one person in each county as county captain," with the precinct captain and section captain "to perform promptly all the duties a.s.signed him." The Whigs, put on the defensive by the organizational structures of their Democratic opponents, were determined to tighten their own organization. "Our intention is to organize the whole State, so that every Whig can be brought to the polls in the coming presidential election."
Lincoln set out on a whirlwind speaking campaign on behalf of Harrison and other Whig candidates in the spring. He spoke at Whig rallies in Carlinville, Alton, and Belleville. He debated Stephen Douglas and other Democrats in Tremont. Many Whig campaigners, sensing that the campaign of 1840 could bring them their first presidential victory, spoke about war-hero Harrison and avoided speaking about the issues. Lincoln, on the other hand, spoke astutely about economic problems. He extolled the Second Bank of the United States, both its "const.i.tutionality" and "utility," and attacked "the hideous deformity and injurious effects" of the subtreasury. The Quincy Whig Quincy Whig wrote of his speech at Decatur that the opposition forces "have not been able to start a man that can hold a candle to him in political debate." wrote of his speech at Decatur that the opposition forces "have not been able to start a man that can hold a candle to him in political debate."
On August 3, 1840, the day of the state elections, Sangamon County elected five Whigs to the lower house of the Illinois General a.s.sembly. Lincoln voted for four Whigs but, not willing to vote for himself, cast his final vote for a Democrat. He won election to a fourth term, receiving the lowest number of Whig votes, although 578 more than the leading Democrat.
Abraham Lincoln threw himself into the 1840 presidential campaign to elect Whig candidate William Henry Harrison, hero of the battle of Tippecanoe in the War of 1812, as depicted on this campaign ribbon.
On August 18, 1840, Lincoln started from Springfield on a campaign trip to the southern part of the state. Traveling through steamy weather punctuated by thunderstorms, Lincoln met with Whig leaders in county-seat towns. Along the route he spoke in Waterloo, debated John A. McClernand about the state bank, and continued on to Carmi, Mount Carmel, Shawneetown, Marshall, and Casey. At Equality, Lincoln was "listened to with so much patience that the Whigs were in extacies."
Lincoln did not simply speak for Harrison, but against Van Buren. The Sangamo Journal Sangamo Journal reported that Lincoln, speaking at Tremont, "re viewed the political course of Mr. Van Buren, and especially his votes in the New York Convention in allowing Free Negroes the right of suffrage." reported that Lincoln, speaking at Tremont, "re viewed the political course of Mr. Van Buren, and especially his votes in the New York Convention in allowing Free Negroes the right of suffrage."
Lincoln, new to national politics, more than once became antagonistic-if not angry-with adversaries in the campaign. On a summer afternoon, Jesse Thomas, a young Democratic lawyer and politician, criticized Lincoln while speaking in a political debate in the Sangamon County Court. Not present when Thomas began his speech but alerted by friends, Lincoln came quickly. He came angry. He asked for the platform to reply, and then proceeded to a.s.sail Thomas. His attack quickly moved beyond the content of Thomas's remarks. "He imitated Thomas in gesture and voice, at times caricaturing his walk and the very motion of his body." The crowd began to yell and cheer. Lincoln, emboldened by the crowd's response, continued his ridicule until Thomas, humiliated and reduced to tears, fled the platform.
The story quickly became known in Springfield as "the skinning of Thomas." The incident would stay in the public memory for years. Lincoln was mortified. Sometime later he found Thomas and offered an apology. The young Lincoln, the man who prized reasonableness, struggled to control his emotions when he felt he was wronged.
In November, the 1840 presidential election drew an astounding 80.2 percent of eligible voters to the polls, up from 57.8 percent in 1836. American political democracy was surging.
For Lincoln, who had worked so hard in the election campaign, the results were bittersweet. Harrison became the first Whig to win the presidency, but he failed to carry Illinois, losing to Van Buren 47,433 to 45,576. The 1840 presidential election represented a coming-of-age in national politics for the thirty-one-year-old Lincoln. His leadership as a party organizer as well as his thoughtful campaign speeches brought him to the forefront of the Whig Party in Illinois.
THE ELECTION OF JOHN TODD STUART to a second term in Congress prompted the senior and junior partner to dissolve their law practice. In four years, the firm had taken on at least seven hundred cases. Stuart had served as Lincoln's first mentor, but when he moved to Washington in 1839, Lincoln lost the benefit of his tutelage. to a second term in Congress prompted the senior and junior partner to dissolve their law practice. In four years, the firm had taken on at least seven hundred cases. Stuart had served as Lincoln's first mentor, but when he moved to Washington in 1839, Lincoln lost the benefit of his tutelage.
Lincoln entered immediately into partnership with Stephen T. Logan, the most esteemed jurist in Springfield. Logan, of Scotch-Irish lineage, was small and stern in appearance, with a wrinkled face and an enormous head of red hair. Logan's plain, bedraggled dress and shrill, unappealing voice masked an impressive legal mind. On the bench, Logan was known both for the impartiality of his courtroom demeanor and his penchant for whittling; he always kept a stack of white pine shingles near at hand.
Before they became partners, Lincoln and Logan had gone head-to-head three times in the Illinois Supreme Court, and the younger Lincoln had won all three court verdicts. Lincoln was idealistic but raw, ready to be seasoned by Judge Logan. The senior partner instructed Lincoln in the discipline of preparation. Stuart, who was more or less absent in their four-year partnership, had pretty much left Lincoln to his own patterns of preparedness. Logan did not allow any spontaneous or slapdash approaches to serious legal matters.
Logan reread Blackstone every year. He believed that success was a by-product of hard and consistent work. He taught Lincoln that he should know his adversary's case as well as his own so that he was never surprised by the argument of an opponent. He impressed upon Lincoln that it was crucial to understand both the logic and the pa.s.sion of those who stood on the other side of the courtroom.
EVEN AFTER LIVING for five years in Springfield, Lincoln did not join societies, organizations, or churches. He enjoyed his time alone, when he could read without interruption. Although comfortable in political meetings, he remained uncomfortable in ordinary social gatherings. for five years in Springfield, Lincoln did not join societies, organizations, or churches. He enjoyed his time alone, when he could read without interruption. Although comfortable in political meetings, he remained uncomfortable in ordinary social gatherings.
He did, however, speak at the meetings of various voluntary societies, especially temperance societies. The American Temperance Society established a Springfield branch in 1832. It was one of thousands of societies springing up in which members took a pledge of total abstinence. On George Washington's birthday, February 22, 1842, Lincoln gave the oration at the first large gathering of the Springfield branch of a new national temperance movement. The Washingtonians, named for the first president, had been founded in Baltimore in 1840. Whereas the American Temperance Union worked through religious organizations, the Washingtonians was a secular organization that appealed directly to the drunkard, seeking to portray him not as a sinner, but as a man to respect.
Lincoln began his address by recognizing that the temperance "cause," although at work for several decades, was "just now, "just now, being crowned with a degree of success, hitherto unparalleled." He then offered an astute and withering critique of the temperance movement's founding ideas before offering his a.n.a.lysis of the way forward. The problem lay with both leaders and tactics. The earliest champions had been "Preachers, Lawyers, and hired agents," but he faulted all three for their "want of being crowned with a degree of success, hitherto unparalleled." He then offered an astute and withering critique of the temperance movement's founding ideas before offering his a.n.a.lysis of the way forward. The problem lay with both leaders and tactics. The earliest champions had been "Preachers, Lawyers, and hired agents," but he faulted all three for their "want of approachability." approachability." Lincoln a.s.serted that these first leaders lacked sympathy with the very persons they tried to help. He believed there was "too much denunciation against the dram sellers and dram drinkers." Rather than "the thundering tones of anathema and denunciation," Lincoln counseled "the accents of entreaty and persuasion." He spoke out of his own social morality when he told his audience, "If you would win a man to your cause, Lincoln a.s.serted that these first leaders lacked sympathy with the very persons they tried to help. He believed there was "too much denunciation against the dram sellers and dram drinkers." Rather than "the thundering tones of anathema and denunciation," Lincoln counseled "the accents of entreaty and persuasion." He spoke out of his own social morality when he told his audience, "If you would win a man to your cause, first first convince him that you are his sincere friend." convince him that you are his sincere friend."
Although ostensibly about temperance, this speech revealed Lincoln's larger understanding of human nature. He argued that if you approach a man and "mark him as one to be shunned and despised ... he will retreat within himself, close all the avenues to his head and heart." Lincoln set up a contrast between old and new reformers. To the old reformers, "all habitual drunkards were utterly incorrigible, and therefore, must be turned adrift, and d.a.m.ned without remedy." Lincoln found this approach "repugnant to humanity, so uncharitable, so coldblooded and feelingless."
A problem arising within the new Washingtonian movement was the place and att.i.tude of those who had never been drunkards. "But," say some, "we are no drunkards; and we shall not acknowledge ourselves such by joining a reformed drunkard's society, whatever our influence might be." Lincoln's answer to a secular temperance group critical of the earlier religious reform efforts was, paradoxically, to invoke the central a.n.a.logy of the Christian narrative. "Omnipotence condescended to take on himself the form of sinful man, and, as such, to die an ignominious death for their sakes, surely they will not refuse submission to the infinitely lesser condescension ... of a large, erring, and unfortunate cla.s.s of their own fellow creatures." Despite Lincoln's use of the a.n.a.logy of Christ's death on the cross, his criticism of earlier religious temperance reformers ended up antagonizing some religious leaders in Springfield.
THE INVITATION TO SPEAK to the Washingtonians in 1842 was one more sign of how far Lincoln had come in his professional and public life in his five years in Springfield. He had now been elected to the Illinois legislature four times. He enjoyed a partnership with one of the most eminent lawyers in Illinois. His distinctive speaking abilities brought him numerous invitations to speak on behalf of Whig candidates and to a variety of reform organizations. to the Washingtonians in 1842 was one more sign of how far Lincoln had come in his professional and public life in his five years in Springfield. He had now been elected to the Illinois legislature four times. He enjoyed a partnership with one of the most eminent lawyers in Illinois. His distinctive speaking abilities brought him numerous invitations to speak on behalf of Whig candidates and to a variety of reform organizations.
If Lincoln was finding his professional footing in Springfield during these years, privately he often felt awkward and unsure of himself. He was proving himself in his public life with men, but could he find a woman with whom to share his private life?
This first photograph of twenty-eight-year-old Mary Lincoln reveals her style and taste. She wears a silk dress with a large pin and ruffles visible at her wrists. In contrast to the photographs of most other women of the time, she exhibits a feminine sensuality.
CHAPTER 7.
A Matter of Profound Wonder 183142
I AM NOW THE MOST MISERABLE MAN LIVING. I IF WHAT I I FEEL WERE EQUALLY DISTRIBUTED TO THE WHOLE HUMAN FAMILY, THERE WOULD NOT BE ONE CHEERFUL FACE ON THE EARTH. FEEL WERE EQUALLY DISTRIBUTED TO THE WHOLE HUMAN FAMILY, THERE WOULD NOT BE ONE CHEERFUL FACE ON THE EARTH.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN TO JOHN TODD STUARTJanuary 23, 1842
-HEN LINCOLN GREW UP IN INDIANA, HIS STEPMOTHER, SALLY BUSH Lincoln, remembered, "He was not very fond of girls as he seemed to me." Anna Caroline Gentry, a schoolmate, reported that Lincoln "did not go much with the girls-don't like crowds-didn't like girls much." In New Salem, Lincoln was even shy about waiting on young women in his store. Lincoln, remembered, "He was not very fond of girls as he seemed to me." Anna Caroline Gentry, a schoolmate, reported that Lincoln "did not go much with the girls-don't like crowds-didn't like girls much." In New Salem, Lincoln was even shy about waiting on young women in his store.
But if young women did not know what to make of Lincoln, older women adored him. In New Salem, several older women mothered this awkward young man, cooking and cleaning for him and repairing his clothes. Lincoln reciprocated their affection, finding a safe harbor in their matronly company. One young woman from New Salem recalled, "Lincoln loved my Mother and would frequently ask her for advice on different questions-Such as love-prudence of movements." Jack Armstrong's wife, Hannah, took a liking to Lincoln. Fun-loving Jack enjoyed telling people that one of the boys in his family might actually be "Abe's son," an allusion that Lincoln, although a pretty good practical joker himself, did not find funny. Some of these women, in mothering Lincoln, also wanted to a.s.sist him in finding a suitable bride.
IN NEW SALEM, Lincoln broke through his shyness to court the young Ann Rutledge. He did not need to go far to find her; he had boarded with the James and Mary Rutledge family in his first months in New Salem.
Ann was eighteen years old when Lincoln arrived in 1831. She was five feet three inches tall and pretty, with blue eyes and light, auburn hair. Bill Greene called her "a young lady ... of Exquisite beauty." Neighbors remembered her as "intelligent" and "smart." Her brother, Robert Rutledge, said, "My sister was esteemed the brightest mind of the family."
Lincoln was attracted to this gentle young woman but knew that Ann's hand was being sought by several men. She became engaged to John McNeil in 1832. McNeil told Ann he had changed his name from McNamar to McNeil because his father had failed in business, and the son was determined to make enough money to return to New York, pay off his father's debts, and restore the family name. He promised that upon his return from New York they would be married. Ann shared his story with members of her family, some of whom were dubious about its truth.
Her engagement did not discourage Lincoln, and a door opened for him to visit with Ann when McNeil left. How their friendship blossomed into romance is not known. No letters have survived from Ann Rutledge, and nothing in Abraham Lincoln's correspondence tells us about her. How did Abraham overcome his inhibitions?
At some point in 1835, Lincoln and Ann entered into what couples at that time called an "understanding" about their relationship. Ann's cousin, James McCrady Rutledge, about her same age, remembered that while Lincoln was boarding with his uncle, he "became deeply in love with Ann." Lincoln, as postmaster, would be privy to the early letters and then lack of letters from McNeil. It became apparent to everyone that McNeil was not going to return, but vows were honored for a long time in that era. Lincoln and Ann may also have paused because he as yet had no profession except as a part-time legislator, and she wished to pursue more education. Rutledge said his cousin Ann "concented to wait a year for their Marriage after their Engagement until Abraham Lincoln was admitted to the bar." Rutledge firmly believed, "Had she lived till spring they were to be married."
In the long, hot, rainy summer of 1835, Ann fell ill with what people called "brain fever," probably typhoid fever, perhaps caused by the flooding of the Rutledge well. She died on August 25, 1835. Her uncle, John M. Cameron, a c.u.mberland Presbyterian minister, preached her funeral sermon.
Lincoln was devastated by Ann's death. He had lost his mother and his sister to early deaths, and now he had lost the first woman he had loved. He had perhaps surprised himself in reaching out to young Ann Rutledge, and now she had been taken from him prematurely.
Lincoln was staying with Elizabeth and Bennett Abell at the time. Elizabeth Abell said later, "It was a great shock to him and I never seen a man mourn for a companion more than he did for her[.] He made a remark one day when it was raining that he could not bare the idea of its raining on her Grave." Robert Rutledge remarked, "The effect upon Mr. Lincoln's mind was terrible; he became plunged in despair, and many of his friends feared that reason would desert her throne." The residents of New Salem, in remembering Abraham and Ann, did not claim they knew the details of their love for each other, but, as Robert Rutledge summarized, Lincoln's "extraordinary emotions were regarded as strong evidence of the existence of the tenderest relations between himself and the deceased."
A LITTLE MORE THAN A YEAR after Ann's death, Lincoln entered into a relationship with a more mature, imposing woman. Mary Owens, born in Green County, Kentucky, in 1808, grew up in a wealthy family, the recipient of a fine education. Lincoln met her while she was visiting her sister, Elizabeth Abell, in New Salem in 1833. Mary, a good-looking woman with dark eyes, black hair, and a generous figure, exhibited a spirited and witty personality. after Ann's death, Lincoln entered into a relationship with a more mature, imposing woman. Mary Owens, born in Green County, Kentucky, in 1808, grew up in a wealthy family, the recipient of a fine education. Lincoln met her while she was visiting her sister, Elizabeth Abell, in New Salem in 1833. Mary, a good-looking woman with dark eyes, black hair, and a generous figure, exhibited a spirited and witty personality.
Three years later, in 1836, Elizabeth Abell prepared to travel to Kentucky to visit her sister. Elizabeth told Lincoln lightheartedly that she would bring Mary back if he would marry her. Mary, twenty-eight, was reaching the age when society would label her an old maid. Lincoln, probably in the same blithe spirit, boasted that he would marry Mary if she returned. After the death of Ann Rutledge, Abell and other women in the village had been encouraging Abraham to look for a wife.
Mary Owens returned to New Salem in November 1836, aware of Lincoln's boast. Their relationship flowered, but from the beginning it also p.r.i.c.kled. On one occasion, a party of men and women on horseback on their way to a gathering had to cross a stream. Mary said, "The other gentlemen were officious in seeing that their partners got over safely," but Lincoln never looked back "to see how I got along." When Mary rode up beside him, she remarked, "You are a nice fellow; I suppose you did not care whether my neck was broken or not." Lincoln laughed and replied that he "knew I was plenty smart to take care of myself."
Abraham and Mary had barely begun their courtship when Lincoln left New Salem for the opening of the new legislative session in Vandalia. They may have reached some kind of understanding, but each was already experiencing some apprehension in their relationship. Lincoln was circ.u.mspect about the exact nature of his uneasiness. Did he compare this strong, mature woman, a year older than himself, with pretty young Ann? He does not say. Mary, a woman born to privilege, may well have wondered about a man who had not yet established himself in a profession and lacked the social graces of a gentleman.
After two weeks in Vandalia, Lincoln wrote Mary expressing all kinds of discomfort. He began by telling her about his "mortification" in looking for a letter from her and not finding one. In the rest of his letter he talked mostly about himself and said almost nothing about her. Toward the end he confessed that his spirits were not well: "With other things I can not account for, have conspired and have gotten my spirits so low, that I feel I would rather be any place in the world than here." As he was about to conclude, perhaps having reread the letter, Lincoln blurted out, "This letter is so dry and [stupid] that I am ashamed to send it, but with my pres [ent] feelings I can not do any better." The letter revealed Lincoln's deep insecurities within himself in relation to women.
Lincoln began to court Mary Owens, daughter of a well-to-do Kentucky family, about a year after Ann Rutledges death. They differed in educational background and temperament, and their relationship struggled and then ended.
Within a month after moving to Springfield in 1837, Lincoln wrote to Mary, who had returned to Kentucky. By now Lincoln seemed to be looking for a way out of their relationship. He told Mary that she would not enjoy living in Springfield. "This thing of living in Springfield is rather a dull business after all, at least it is so to me." He confided, "I am quite as lonesome here as [I] ever was anywhere in my life. I have been spoken to by but one woman since I've been here, and should not have been by her, if she could have avoided it"-an unusual comment to tell another woman. In Lincoln's courtship of Mary Owens, he atypically went out of his way to emphasize the negative. This may have been his obverse way of speaking of his own lack of self-a.s.surance. He wrote, "I am afraid you would not be satisfied" living in Springfield. Women ride about "flourishing" in carriages, but "it would be your doom to see without shareing in it." Owens "would have to be poor without the means of hiding your poverty." Lincoln finally got around to speaking of his own commitments. "Whatever woman may cast her lot with mine, should any ever do so, it is my intention to do all in my power to make her happy and contented."
In August 1837, Lincoln traveled to New Salem to see Mary, who had returned from Kentucky. On the day they parted he wrote her an earnest but painful letter. "I want in all cases to do right, and most particularly so, in all cases with women." He pleaded "ignorance" about her true feelings for him. "What I do wish is, that our further acquaintance shall depend upon yourself." Lincoln then poured out his heart, but in a sentence filled with qualifications. "If you feel yourself in any degree bound to me, I am now willing to release you, provided you wish it; while, on the other hand, I am willing and even anxious to bind you faster, if I can be convinced that it will in any considerable degree, add to your happiness." Finally, he told her, "If it suits you best to not answer this-farewell-a long life and a merry one attend you." He hoped she would write back and "speak as plainly as I do."
She never replied.
Lincolns letter to Mary Owens on August 16, 1837, reflects his conflicted feelings about their relationship. He writes mostly about himself and his feelings, and little about her.
Lincoln found himself deeply hurt-again. Was he blindsided by her silence? Lincoln's letters to Owens revealed him, again and again, conflicted about what to do. It seemed as if his mind told him he should ask her to marry him, but his heart wasn't in it.
That the wound did not heal quickly became apparent by a letter Lincoln wrote nearly eight months later-to another woman. This time he wrote to Eliza Caldwell Browning, the wife of his lawyer friend Orville Browning, and poured out the story of his relationship with Mary Owens in astonishing detail. By now he was not so complimentary of Mary, writing, a bit cruelly, "for her skin was too full of fat, to permit its contracting in to wrinkles; but from her want to teeth, weather-beaten appearance in general." But the burden of his letter was his own deeply wounded self. He confessed, "I was mortified, it seemed to me, in a hundred different ways. My vanity was deeply wounded by the reflection that I had so long been too stupid to discover her intentions, and at the same time never doubting that I understood them perfectly." It is telling that Lincoln did not write to a male friend. Somehow he felt the freedom to admit to Eliza Browning his lack of social intelligence about women. He admitted something more. Mary Owens "had actually rejected me with all my fancied greatness."
Years later, Mary Owens said that she found Lincoln "deficient in those little links which make up the chain of a woman's happiness, at least it was so in my case." She quickly added, "Not that it proceeded from a lack of goodness of heart." Why did their relationship not work? Mary Owens surmised, "His training had been different from mine, hence there was not that congeniality which would have otherwise existed."
Lincoln, who had lost his first love to death, had now reached a murky parting of the ways with a woman he never really loved.
WHEN THE CAPITAL MOVED to Springfield in 1839, Lincoln began to socialize more than ever before. With the legislature scheduled to meet in Springfield for the first time in December, Lincoln's sense of self-a.s.surance became more secure. He now felt freer to meet young women in the new capital city. He was about to meet the woman who would change his life. to Springfield in 1839, Lincoln began to socialize more than ever before. With the legislature scheduled to meet in Springfield for the first time in December, Lincoln's sense of self-a.s.surance became more secure. He now felt freer to meet young women in the new capital city. He was about to meet the woman who would change his life.
Mary Elizabeth Todd was born on December 13, 1818, in Lexington, Kentucky. Her grandfathers, Levi Todd and Robert Parker, had helped settle Lexington. Her father, Robert Smith Todd, grew up in the family home, Ellerslie, a twenty-room mansion. The Todd family counted as a neighbor Henry Clay, rising Kentucky politician. Six feet tall with brown hair and large brown eyes, Robert Todd became a prominent second-generation leader of Lexington, which fancied itself a civilized town that had moved beyond the frontier.
At twenty-one, Todd married the teenage Eliza Parker, a distant cousin, in 1812. Mary, their fourth child, grew up in a two-story, nine-room, Georgian brick home on Short Street in the center of Lexington. A child of privilege, she knew herself to be part of one of Kentucky's leading political families.
Mary's mother, Eliza, died in the summer of 1825 after the birth of her seventh child, probably from a post-birth bacterial infection, at the age of thirty-one. Mary was six years old. When Mary was eight, her father married Elizabeth Humphreys, a wealthy young woman whose family had strong political connections with the Todds. "Betsy" Humphreys, from Frankfort, nine years younger than her husband, would bear nine children in the following fifteen years. Mary would now grow up in the vortex of an absentee father, often away on business or politics, and a stepmother who many said favored her own children.
Robert Todd was an uncommon father who encouraged the education of his daughters as well as his sons. In the fall of 1827, Mary entered the Shelby Female Academy, housed in a two-story brick house at the corner of Second and Market. Dr. John Ward, an eccentric Episcopal minister, led the school, which was later known as Dr. Ward's Academy.
One of Mary's cousins, Elizabeth Humphreys, remembered her as an aspiring scholar. "Mary was far in advance over girls of her age in education." Dr. Ward believed in beginning cla.s.s at 5 a.m. on summer mornings and in leading early morning recitations throughout the year. Mary flowered in this disciplined academic atmosphere. Her cousin said, "She had a retentive memory and a mind that enabled her to grasp and thoroughly understand the lessons she was required to learn."
Much of Sunday was spent at the McChord Presbyterian Church. Her father had been one of the founding members of the church. In 1823, when Mary turned five, the church organized the first Sunday school in Lexington. Here Mary partic.i.p.ated in the standard Presbyte rian education of children and youth by catechizing, a method used by Presbyterians, as well as Congregationalists and many Baptists, in America. Young people were expected to memorize the 107 questions and answers of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, Westminster Shorter Catechism, beginning with the well-known first question. beginning with the well-known first question.