Summer, 2018 FOR THE PEOPLE 1

F o r T h e P e o p l e

A NEWSLETTER OF THE ASSOCIATION www.abrahamlincolnassociation.org

VOLUME 20 NUMBER 2 SUMMER 2018 SPRINGFIELD,

ALA Board Tours Lincoln’s New Salem

New Salem. Abraham Lincoln called the place home for six forma- Assembly provides operational and capital funding. In addition, tive years of his life. In June the Board of Directors of The Abra- private entities, both individuals and organizations, can play a vital ham Lincoln Association visited this important place, now called role. For example, the New Salem Lincoln League, a local non- Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site. One of the principal mis- profit group, has supported New Salem for four decades, funding sions of the ALA, as expressed in its corporate charter, is “to pre- educational and cultural events, including Candle Light Tours, Old serve and make more readily accessible the landmarks associated Time Music Festival and outdoor theater. In recent years, the with [Lincoln’s] life.” At its February meeting, the Board was in- League has provided thousands of dollars to repair cabin roofs, formed of the damage that time and weather are taking on New steps and porches. Salem, and resolved, as its contribution to Illinois’s bicentennial, to support the repair and improvement of the log structures of the his- Joining the Board for a tour of New Salem was , a mem- toric village. ber of the Illinois House of Representatives whose district includes the historic site; Sarah Watson, executive director of the Abraham The members of the Board gathered in the conference room of the Lincoln National Heritage Area (known also as Looking for Lin- Visitors Center at New Salem and engaged in a wide-ranging dis- coln); and Jack Alexander, the New Salem site manager. The tour cussion of New Salem’s history and needs. It was acknowledged was led by Terry Jones, the site interpretive coordinator, but instead that the immediate task must be to quantify the deficiencies at New of being told about how the buildings would have been used during Salem and obtain estimates of the repair costs. Preliminary govern- Lincoln’s time, the Board learned about the wear and tear suffered ment estimates indicate that up to $10 million would be necessary. by these buildings. Rotting wood, water seeping through roofs, There is no expectation that ALA would be able to raise an amount collapsing chimneys that prevent any fireplaces from being used in of that size. Rather, the buildings – these ALA could play an are the types of prob- important partner- lems that must be ship role urging addressed if New entities in Illinois Salem is going to be and beyond to in- able to provide the sure a stable future visitor experience it for New Salem. has been known for Primary responsi- for nearly a century. bility belongs to the State of Illinois. ALA has established New Salem is man- a Board committee, aged by the Depart- chaired by Blooming- ment of Natural ton, Illinois attorney Guy Fraker to lead Resources, and the Terry Jones, Site interpreter, describes deterioration of structures in Lincoln’s New Salem. Illinois General the ALA New Salem efforts. “A Sort of Backwoods Plato—Western Aristotle” James Quay Howard’s Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln By Michael Burlingame had published the Lincoln-Douglas debates) when the interviewer was not yet known by commissioned one of its employees – twenty- name even to himself.” To help his shy three-year-old William Dean Howells – to author, Foster assigned Howells’s law-student write a campaign biography of the Republican friend James Quay Howard to act as a standard bearer. In Howells’s autobiography, research assistant and sent him to the he noted that the publisher had “the very just Illinois capital. There, in late May and early and reasonable expectation, that I should go to June, Howard interviewed Lincoln and Springfield, Illinois, and gather the material several of his friends in both Springfield for the work from Lincoln himself, and from and nearly Petersburg. Among them were his friends and neighbors.” But, as he recalled, William Butler; his first and second law In May 1860, shortly after Lincoln won the “this part of the project was distasteful to me,” partners, John T. Stuart and Stephen T. Logan Republican presidential nomination, the in fact it “was impossible; I felt that there was Columbus, firm Follett & Foster (which nothing of the interviewer in me, at a time (Continued on page 5) 2 FOR THE PEOPLE Summer, 2018

Lincoln Twice Considered Quitting His 1858 Campaign By Reg Ankrom legislators from twenty districts. But he believed favorable story published in the Paris Beacon he would win outright the vote of twenty-seven the following week. He was unable to get it legislators from nineteen districts. He listed as done. uncertain twenty-six legislators from the twenty other districts. Lincoln would become increasingly alarmed as several of his friends and former Whigs Then, using the Miller-Moore contest as a affiliated themselves with Douglas’s party. John conservative measure, Lincoln calculated the Todd Stuart, Lincoln’s mentor, first law partner, districts in which voters tended more often to and his wife’s cousin, joined the Democrats. select Democratic candidates. In the “doubtful Others to stray included James W. Singleton of Although his friends might agree with Billy districts,” Democrats had elected fourteen Quincy and Usher F. Linder of Charleston, Herndon that his Springfield law partner, representatives. Added to the twenty-two influential Whigs on either side of the all- Abraham Lincoln, “was a little engine that knew Lincoln figured he could not win, that would be important Central Illinois electorate. no rest,” by September 1858 the Republican a total of thirty-six votes against his Senate bid. Party’s senatorial candidate was seriously tiring. Adding the votes of the twelve Republicans Former Whig Theophilus L. Dickey, a lawyer Arriving in Jacksonville the morning of elected in the doubtful districts to the twenty- who once edited a Whig newspaper and with Monday, September 27, 1858, Lincoln admitted seven Lincoln was certain he had, the tabulation Lincoln in 1856 campaigned for James C. to Republican friend, President showed he would win thirty-nine votes. He then Fremont, thought Republicans by 1858 had Julian Sturtevant, who walked with him from listed county-by-county the votes in each become tools of the abolitionists. Dickey the Great Western train station to his hotel, that legislative district. The results projected his announced that he would support Douglas and he had considered quitting the race. strength in Eastern and Central Illinois where he run against Republican Congressman Owen would focus his campaign. He expected Lovejoy, an avowed abolitionist, in Central

Although he had local committees, Lincoln was Douglas’s strength to be in Western Illinois Illinois. running his campaign, and the intellectual and areas, where his political career had been A significant blow was Dickey’s arrangement to physical demands were exhausting. His launched and sustained. For all his research, speeches usually ran at least two hours. He felt obtain an endorsement for Douglas from Lincoln knew Douglas and his campaign team Kentucky Senator John J. Crittenden, successor compelled to satisfy requests for appearances would know, too, what Lincoln had learned. that often had him amending his calendar. He to the mantle of Henry Clay. By 1858, was stung by criticism of his tactic to speak The Douglas campaign got a two-month head Crittenden had served Kentucky, where Lincoln where Douglas had spoken the day before—the start on Lincoln’s. From mid-June to mid- was born, as U.S. senator for four terms. Lincoln opposition press charged he could not attract his August, Lincoln continued to work on several became acquainted with Crittenden during own audiences. Accommodations often were legal cases he had undertaken. He believed he Lincoln’s single Congressional term between inhospitable. His opponent’s supporters tended owed his clients his best legal representation and 1847 and 1848. to be hostile. would not let his campaign violate that standard. Lincoln launched his run for Douglas’s U.S. The number and complexity of cases declined as If he was exhausted, Lincoln brought it upon senate seat on June 16, 1858, with a speech that the summer progressed. But a good number of even his family and closest friends condemned. himself. He had burdened himself with the court appearances required his attention. In - In his “House Divided” speech, he cast the strategy for campaigning in the nearly 57,000 June, Lincoln had to decline an invitation to be - morality of slavery as the singular issue of the square mile state of Illinois. In July he analyzed at the Clinton County Republican Convention, 1856 Republican presidential, statewide, and 1858 Illinois senatorial contest and warned that which started the day after the beginning of the the nation would become “all one thing, or all congressional election results to determine the U.S. District Court’s summer session. He areas of strengths and weaknesses in his the other,” all slave or all free, if Douglas was appeared ten times for clients before Judge re-elected. candidacy. It was painstaking research. Samuel Treat in the United States District Court - - Lincoln’s district by district tally of votes in the in Springfield. He appeared in the United States Democrats and many of Lincoln’s own 1856 presidential race and the contest for state Supreme Court twice. In July, Lincoln handled Republican Party believed Douglas’s treasurer, an office elected statewide, filled eight two cases in Circuit Court, an appeal before the proposition was right, that the nation could exist pages of notes. They helped him understand Illinois Supreme Court, and three U.S. Supreme as the founders created it—free and slave. Many where voters were likely to be for him and Court cases. He handled no cases from August in Lincoln’s party seemed willing to endorse against him. In his own Sangamon County, for on, devoting full attention to his campaign. Douglas, whose doctrine of popular sovereignty example, presidential candidates James C. would allow people to vote slavery up or down. Fremont and Millard Fillmore, whose voters With an understanding of the importance and Lincoln expected to win, had a total of 2,786 power of the press, Lincoln included Douglas’s feuds with his own president, fellow votes compared to 2,475 votes for Buchanan. communications with editors from around the Democrat James Buchanan, over the Lecompton Lincoln recorded, “311 nett for us.” On the other state in his arsenal of campaign strategies. At Constitution made Douglas an outcast among hand, Democratic treasurer nominee John the beginning of the campaign, he pleaded with Buchanan partisans and an apparently worthy Moore won 2,597 votes against Republican Joseph Medill, editor of the Tribune, to candidate for Republicans. At their 1856 James Miller, who received 2,450 votes. Lincoln deny charges in the Douglas-leaning Chicago convention, Democrats had installed Douglas’s noted, “147 nett against us.” Using the Moore Times that he had voted as a congressman popular sovereignty doctrine in the party and Miller statewide contest, Lincoln calculated against supplying troops fighting the Mexican platform. Elected president that year, Buchanan that he would win legislator’s votes in thirty- War. Although he strongly opposed resolutions promised to let Kansas settlers vote on any nine legislative districts. Presidential returns supporting the war like those of Douglas’s proposed constitution. But what the Lecompton indicated he would win forty-eight districts. Democratic protege, Congressman William A. constitutional convention offered would have Lincoln concluded that Illinoisans tended to vote Richardson of Quincy, Lincoln always voted for planted slavery in Kansas, no matter how Democratic for local offices and Republican for materiel for the troops. On July 2 Lincoln asked Kansans voted. Douglas refused Buchanan’s national offices. By his analysis, he decided it Robert Moseley, who was running for state order to support Lecompton. Some Republicans was useless to struggle for twenty-two representative from Edgar County, to get a (Continued on page 4)

For The People (ISSN 1527-2710) is published four times a year and is a benefit of membership of The Abraham Lincoln Association. James Cornelius, Editor. Richard Hart, and Bob Willard, Assistant Editors. Summer, 2018 FOR THE PEOPLE 3

The Abraham Lincoln Association President’s Message Bob Willard President In 2005, I traveled 1,000 miles, from Lincoln’s birth- Michael Burlingame place to his tomb over four weeks. I walked nearly 200 Vice President miles with the remainder covered by lifts from friends, James M. Cornelius taxis, car rentals, even hitch-hiking. One night I slept Secretary in a primitive cabin steps away from the memorial Douglas M. Barringer building that holds a Kentucky cabin that closely re- Treasurer sembles Lincoln’s birthplace. I visited Lincoln’s boy- Kathryn M. Harris Immediate Past-President hood home in southern Indiana where I was able to see Jessica C. McPeek re-enactors in reconstructed buildings perform the Executive Manager chores of early autumn that Lincoln and his family would have faced nearly two centuries earlier. Board of Directors Kenneth L. Anderson On one brilliant October day, I walked from Lincoln’s William E. Bartelt J. Steven Beckett New Salem to Springfield, a trip Lincoln would have Roger D. Billings, Jr. made – maybe on foot, probably on horseback – nu- Justin A. Blandford merous times. I avoided main roads, taking the route Roger D. Bridges used by Scouts on their Lincoln Pilgrimage. Corn had Julie Cellini Robert J. Davis already been harvested, and the wind through Future ALA President Bob Willard at Lincoln the Chris DeRose the drying corn stalks played a one chord symphony to Surveyor statue by John McClarey in Lincoln’s Jim Edgar accompany my walk. New Salem State Historic Site (October 2005). Guy C. Fraker Donald D. Funk If I thought of it at the time, I would have realized it Sara Vaughn Gabbard was nearly 39 years to the date since I first visited New Salem in 1966. I would have taken it for granted Joseph E. Garrera that I could wander the reconstructed village, enter the recreated homes and shops, and experience early Donald R. Graham Allen C. Guelzo 19th Century village life as a young Abraham Lincoln experienced it for six formative years. Even if my Richard E. Hart focus were not Lincoln, I could still see in these humble structures, the challenges our ancestors faced as Matthew Holden, Jr. they settled and expanded our Nation for all of us. Erika Holst Devin V. Hunter New Salem is important because it was where Abe Lincoln tried on a number of occupations and devel- David Joens oped his mental and emotional skills. He emerged as a lawyer and legislator who would develop into a Ron J. Keller Robert J. Lenz statesman with great intellect and instinctive empathy. Russell Lewis Richard W. Maroc The reconstructed buildings that comprise the village that Lincoln loved, face the same reality as the origi- Dan Monroe nal village. They will deteriorate and disappear unless they are constantly cared for. Keri L. Nekrasz th James W. Patton III As the State of Illinois observes its 200 anniversary, The Abraham Lincoln Association will support and Mark A. Plummer work closely with the organizations – governmental and private – that are dedicated to the ongoing restora- Mark Pohlad tion, preservation, and interpretation of the village where Lincoln became Lincoln. William Read William G. Shepherd Ronald D. Spears Your obt. servt. Robert A. Stuart, Jr. James L. Swanson Louise Taper Donald R. Tracy Andy Van Meter Daniel R. Weinberg Jonathan W. White Barbara Wysocki

Honorary Directors Directors News President Donald Trump The newest Board Member of The Abraham Lin- served as Secretary and then President of the Lin- Governor Bruce Rauner Senator Richard Durbin coln Association, John T. Elliff died suddenly at his coln Group of the District of Columbia. John’s fu- Senator Tammy Duckworth home on August 15. He had attended the June neral was held in Mr. Lincoln’s Church, the New Congressman Darin LaHood Board meeting in New Salem and was actively en- York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, Congressman John Shimkus gaged in the ALA’s efforts to D.C. Congressman Rodney Davis support Lincoln’s New Salem. Chief Justice Lloyd Karmeier Edna Greene Medford, professor of history at How- Mayor James Langfelder John, an Illinois native who lived in Alexandria, Virginia, ard University in Washington, D.C., resigned from Emeritus Directors the ALA Board of Directors. She was recently ap- Cullom Davis became a part of the Lincoln Richard Mills community in 2008 and over pointed interim dean of the College of Arts and N. Ronald Thunman the past decade spearheaded Sciences at Howard, responsible for over 500 facul-

Distinguished Directors many Lincoln programs in- ty and more than 3500 students. Doris Kearns Goodwin cluding commemorations on John T. Elliff th Robert J. Davis is resigning from his role as ALA Lewis E. Lehrman the 150 anniversary of the Wigwam Convention, Thomas F. Schwartz and the First and Second Inaugurals. He was a vol- Second Vice President but continuing to serve as a Wayne C. Temple Director. Robert has begun a major genealogical Garry Wills unteer for the National Park Service at Ford’s Thea- tre and was active in many Lincoln organizations. study based on a trove of records including those In addition to the ALA Board, he was a member of describing his family’s journey North in 1921 dur- the Board of Advisors of The Lincoln Forum, and ing the Great Migration. 4 FOR THE PEOPLE Summer, 2018

(Continued from page 2) said in a speech in Springfield in July. “Still, in before us and he gave utterance to the the right to put into his mouth the bread that his memorable words: ‘A house divided against thought Douglas had come over to their side. own hands have earned, he is the equal of every itself can not stand . . . .’” That troubled Lincoln greatly. He charged that other man, white or black.” Douglas’s stand against the Lecompton Six weeks after he helped Lincoln launch his Constitution was demagoguery. Douglas had There were other aggravations along the way. campaign at Beardstown, Sturtevant met gallantly challenged his party’s president over Enroute to the first debate at Ottawa, Lincoln Lincoln on his arrival at Jacksonville. Lincoln Lecompton, saying he wanted the people to stopped at Beardstown to launch his campaign. was scheduled to make a speech in Jacksonville have the opportunity to vote on the entire Republicans who sought to welcome Lincoln that afternoon and two more at Winchester over constitution. But, Lincoln pointed out, those with a blast from the cannon Democrats had the next two days. Sturtevant was alarmed at voters had to be registered and the deadline for used to welcome Douglas the day before found Lincoln’s appearance. registration had passed. It was, Lincoln chided, it plugged with bricks and useless. The day after the Jonesboro debate, Lincoln waited until “Mr. Lincoln you must be having a weary “wonderful that Judge Douglas could be time.” ignorant of these facts, which everyone else in midnight in the Illinois Central Railroad station the nation so well knew.” at Centralia. When he boarded the train, he Lincoln’s answer was blunt. found every seat filled, reputedly by Democrats. Lincoln also worried about the advantages of Meanwhile, Douglas traveled in a luxury coach “I am,” he told Sturtevant, “and if it were not the Douglas incumbency. Many government the Illinois Central Railroad furnished. Any for one thing I would retire from the contest. I workers owed their livelihoods to the man who other train, including any in which Lincoln know that if Mr. Douglas’ doctrine prevails it at the age of 22 and an Illinoisan only two years rode, were switched to a siding to wait as will not be fifteen years before Illinois itself will created Morgan County’s first Democratic Douglas’s passed. be a slave state.” Party. That apparatus was the seed of the first Sturtevant believed it was more than small talk. statewide political party, which elected Douglas The pressures of planning and speaking, the distances traveled, days of heat that could He believed that Lincoln’s concern about the chairman of the central committee. The fruits spread of slavery that Douglas’s doctrine were political offices. Appointees were bound quickly turn to rain and cold, the constant - - portended was, indeed, the only thing that kept to work for Douglas to keep their offices. attention of the admiring and the not so admiring, costs of campaigning that would have Lincoln in the race. If Lincoln sought to elevate the platform of to be repaid—none of it was easy. For either “So keenly did he feel that slavery must be principles from which he and Douglas spoke, he man. By the end of September, with still more arrested before it subjugated the whole nation. It would be seriously challenged. The planks of than a month remaining, Lincoln was drained. was this conviction that impelled him,” Lincoln’s platform were moral and lofty. Sturtevant wrote. Douglas had achieved his success from a Sturtevant knew both Lincoln, who occasionally platform built on pragmatism and practicality. visited Illinois College, and Douglas, whose rise Lincoln’s response had not been flippant. Only Lincoln’s challenge was to elevate the discourse in politics began in Jacksonville 25 years three weeks later, Lincoln in Quincy talked of his fellow citizens, many who had left slave earlier. He considered Douglas the great leader again about the physical strain of the race and, states not because they disliked slavery but of the Democratic Party but regretted the again, talked of quitting. because they disliked blacks and the unfair “artifices (Douglas) used by which men win competition slavery created for their labor. That their way to the hearts of the multitude.” Lincoln’s schedule during the remaining month required him to walk a fine line, which Douglas Lincoln, too, knew human nature’s passions and of the campaign would be no less demanding. exploited. At numerous campaign stops, prejudices but chose truth to accomplish his That September afternoon after his walk with

Lincoln expressed frustration that Douglas kept ends. Sturtevant Lincoln delivered his speech in Jacksonville. The next day, he spoke to a crowd forcing him to answer the same questions over Sturtevant had been on the skirts of Lincoln’s and over. Douglas construed that Lincoln’s in Winchester, where Douglas had taught campaign from its start. He had been at the school, then attended a large barbecue in his view of the Declaration of Independence made Statehouse in Springfield on the evening of June blacks equal to whites. Lincoln rejoined blacks honor. The following day, Lincoln spoke once 16 when Lincoln delivered his “House Divided” again in Winchester. were unequal in some respects. Even free they speech. Unlike those who had heard it earlier in would be unequal in social and political the day, Sturtevant believed the speech one of Lincoln’s campaign went on. respects, he said. At Charleston, he said that just the greatest he had heard. He remembered that because he did not want a black woman for a the Democrats paraded noisily outside. But he Reg Ankrom of Quincy, Illinois, is working on a - slave did not mean he wants a black woman for was too quickly engaged by the power of multi volume study of Stephen A. Douglas. - his wife. Lincoln’s words to be distracted. Volume. 1, "The Political Apprenticeship, 1833 1843," appeared in 2015 “Certainly, the negro is not our equal in color— “I shall never forget,” wrote Sturtevant, “my perhaps not in many other respects,” Lincoln emotions as the tall form of our leader rose Footnotes available on request.

Presidential Puzzlemint

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Summer, 2018 FOR THE PEOPLE 5 (Continued from page 1) walking, he steps deliberately, with his eyes Brunswick, Canada. (He also rewarded Frank upon the ground. His countenance when in E. Foster, whom Treasury Secretary Salmon P. respectively; and several friends from his days repose, has a sad, care-worn expression, but in Chase had recommended for a patronage job.) in New Salem, including William G. Greene, conversation is exceedingly animated and Sixteen years later, Howard parlayed another Mentor Graham, Henry McHenry, Lynn M. expressive – almost making known his presidential campaign biography – of Greene, Royal Clary, L. M. Smith, and George thoughts before their utterance. If there is Rutherford B. Hayes – into a government post Close. anything more striking than another about Mr. (appraiser in the New York Custom House). He Lincoln, it is his power as a logician. Every also worked on newspapers in Columbus and Howard’s notes of those interviews, which sentence has a logical connection and relation New York; his final years he spent as custodian Howells called “very admirable” but “by no with what precedes and succeeds, and he talks of reference works at the Library of Congress. means great in quantity,” are among the in the form of a syllogism, because he seems Howells had a more notable career, acclaimed Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress and unable to do otherwise. The premises are stated as “The Dean of American Letters” for such were published in the Abraham Lincoln cautiously and timidly, but the conclusion with novels as The Rise of Silas Lapham, A Modern Quarterly. The editor of those notes, Roy P. a smile of triumph, which annihilates the Instance, and A Hazard of New Fortune as well Basler (also the future editor of The Collected answer you have prepared. His hair is black, as for his editorship of The Atlantic Monthly. Works of Abraham Lincoln), was unaware that thin and obstinate. His head resembles that of in 1884 Howard had, under the pen name Henry Clay, as also his mouth. His eye is clear, In 1884, Frank Leslie’s Weekly published “Tuscan,” written an account of his time in and has the fire which God gave it. His Howard’s reminiscences, which shed new light Springfield and Petersburg. Thomas Horrocks, complexion is not dark, but has the appearance on Lincoln in the immediate aftermath of his author of Lincoln's Campaign Biographies, was of being tanned by exposure to the sun.” nomination, on the Chicago Convention that similarly unaware of Howard’s recollections. nominated him, and on the publication of his In that same campaign biography, Howard also 1858 debates with Stephen A. Douglas. It also Howard’s notes were used not only by Howells described a visit to the president-elect’s office: offers a fuller, more textured version of his but also by Josiah G. Holland, whose Life of “He sits alone in his antiquated room in the interview with Lincoln, which is rather Abraham Lincoln appeared in 1866. In State House, at Springfield, and receives his cursorily recounted in his notes. addition, Howard himself wrote a campaign friends with the same simplicity with which, as biography soon after returning to Columbus in a clerk [in New Salem], he received his Howard’s reminiscences appear below. June 1860. (He or his publisher – or both – customers; [and] as a lawyer [in Springfield], Michael Burlingame is the Chancellor evidently felt that Howells had taken too little his clients. You open a rickety door at his call, advantage of the evidence in the Springfield- Naomi B. Lynn Distinguished Chair in and, with or without letters or friends to Lincoln Studies, University of Illinois Petersburg interviews and had engaged in too introduce you, [you] are received with sincere many flights of literary fantasy.) In his version Springfield and a Director of The Abraham warmth and conversed with on terms of perfect Lincoln Association. Professor Burlingame of Lincoln’s life, Howard portrayed him thus: equality.” “His form is slightly bent; his frame angular is the author of the prize-winning Abraham and wiry; his arms are long, hands large, and In 1861, Lincoln appointed both Howells and Lincoln: A Life (2009) his general appearance that of one who has Howard to foreign consulates: the former to endured severe physical and mental labor. In Venice, Italy, the latter to St. John, New

Recollections of Lincoln Some Unpublished Facts Judge Noah H. Swayne, subsequently of Equalization, then in session at Columbus. Concerning his First Nomination elevated to the Supreme Bench, conceived Ten days from the transmission of these the idea of bringing Lincoln forward as a letters, Mr. John G. Nicolay, afterwards

By James Quay Howard candidate for the Presidency. Mr. Galloway Lincoln's private secretary, made his I first heard of Lincoln while a student of law was opposed to Seward, then the leading appearance at Mr. Galloway's house, bearing at the capital of Ohio. My preceptor, Hon. Republican candidate, because he thought a reply from Lincoln, in which he said that Samuel Galloway, known for his wit and him too radical on the slavery question, and his Columbus friends would be handed by oratory in and out of Congress, began to call Mr. Baber, being a Virginian by birth, was Nicolay printed copies of his own speeches as almost daily attention to the extracts from opposed to the negro suffrage advocate for reported in newspapers friendly to him, and Lincoln's speeches delivered during the now the same reason. Both thought it impolitic to copies of the speeches of Mr. Douglas as famous Lincoln and Douglas debates. Many make negro suffrage the issue in 1860. Mr. printed in Democratic journals. Nicolay was of these joint debates were published in full Lincoln had three times declared against it; sent on this mission because he was a in the journals of Cincinnati. This was in the Mr. Seward had three times expressed practical printer, and because, as a clerk in Fall of 1858. The effect of this publication himself in favor of manhood suffrage. the office of the Secretary of State at Springfield, he had already established was exceedingly favorable to Mr. Lincoln. The first serious, significant step towards the The Republican journals of Ohio put the case friendly relations with the great man whose nomination of Lincoln for the Presidency was biographer he has since become. These joint in this way: Stephen A. Douglas is now the publication in book form of the Lincoln conceded to be the ablest debater in the debates, including Lincoln's first and most and Douglas debates. This was engineered by famous speech, were published at once by United States Senate. Abraham Lincoln Mr. Galloway and Mr. Baber, the former the proves himself in these joint discussions to be Follet[t], Foster & Co., of Columbus. There most influential, the latter the most active, was no large sale at first, but the book was more than a match for Douglas. Therefore, as politician in Columbus. These “original Lincoln is an abler man than Douglas, the read and favorably commented on by the Lincoln men” drew up two letters addressed newspaper fraternity. The whole edition leader of the United States Senate, he must be to Lincoln, requesting authentic copies of his a very able man himself and one of the published was exhausted the day after speeches and those of Mr. Douglas for Lincoln's nomination at Chicago. Horace leading minds of the country. Early in 1859, publication, to one of which they obtained the Mr. Galloway, who had kept up a Greeley ordered two hundred copies by signatures of Governor [William] Den[n]ison telegraph. correspondence with Lincoln for some time, and all the State officers, and to the other the (Continued on page 6) and R. P. L. Baber, a partner of [his uncle] names of all the members of the State Board 6 FOR THE PEOPLE Summer, 2018

(Continued from page 5) great man I had thus far had the honor to a position which struck me at the time as a know, I thought I detected in Mr. Lincoln's little grotesque for a future President of the A series of editorial articles in the manner the appearance of a feeling that there United States—I had but two conversations Columbus Gazette, setting forth the facts, existed a certain incongruity between his with him: one of which related to the dates and specifications to prove Mr. plain appearance and humble surroundings announcement by the Columbus publishers Seward's record in favor of the odious and the greatness of the office for which he of the forthcoming book; and the other of doctrine of negro suffrage were extensively was a candidate. Calling punctually at ten, I which was brief and formal. While the lack republished, and may have had some found the modest candidate already of dignity of the Chase type and the absence influence on public opinion. They were used surrounded with visitors. He came towards of the grand manner were at all times in all the delegations at Chicago, and me immediately, and, calling Nicolay to apparent, I was not for a moment whether they had half the influence come with him, he led the way to the doors unconscious of the fact that I had been under Governor [John] Greiner claimed for them, of several rooms on the same floor of the the magic influence of an extraordinary man. one fact is certain that John Greiner, the State House, which he tried to open, but editor of the Gazette, who was not the found locked. The last door he tried proved What struck me first and most was his power author, was made the Governor of New to be that of Nicolay's bedroom, which he as a logician. He seemed a sort of Mexico on the strength of them. The author found open. Pointing to a couple of rickety backwoods Plato — a Western Aristotle — is a present contributor to the Graphic. chairs, he seated himself upon the bed. He whose reasoning powers were irresistible began at once to talk business; said he had a and overwhelming. I was next amazed to Upon the nomination of Mr. Lincoln for the most friendly feeling for Follet[t], Foster & find with what reverent and manly affection Presidency, the publishing house of Follet[t], Co. They had done him a great service in he was regarded by men and neighbors who Foster & Co., at once claimed the right, or at publishing the Lincoln and Douglas debates. had known him from boyhood. John T. least the privilege, of publishing the He was inclined to give them whatever Logan [Stuart], his first law partner; William campaign life of the Republican candidate, advantage might result from publishing a Butler, State Treasurer; Dr. [John] Allen, of basing their claim on the ground that their campaign life, which he supposed was Petersburg Menard, County; and [Illinois publication of the joint debates had been expected to appear. Governor] Dick Yates, seemed to know most mainly instrumental in bringing about the about him. When I asked old Dan [George] nomination. Because of his acquaintance “But,” said he, “there is nothing to write a Close if he was not surprised that a man who with Nicolay and relations with Galloway, ‘life’ about. I have done nothing.” once split rails with him should be a the writer of this sketch was equipped with candidate for President of the United States, letters and credentials from the Governor This he repeated several times with he replied, with rough emphasis: “No! Abe and principal State officers, and was posted accumulating emphasis. I referred to his Linkurn was the best man God ever made, off to Springfield to obtain the materials for record in the State Legislature and in and he ought to be President!” a “Life of Mr. Lincoln,” to be written by W. Congress. He said I might possibly find D. Howells, then one of the editors of the something in the legislative journals in the In conclusion, what is Lincoln's place among Ohio State Journal. State library that could be made use of, but our historical men? His rank is very high, he doubted it. but not first, as Nicolay and others insist. He The morning after my arrival I called with was not a statesman of the vast acquirements Jessie K. Dubois, then Auditor of State, at As to his protective tariff record in Congress and versatile genius of Hamilton, the great Mr. Lincoln's modest two-story frame and since, that would have to be treated with organizer and executive man, the creator of dwelling, to leave my letters of great delicacy. What would please the American credit and our whole financial commendation and introduction. My Pennsylvanians, he said, would offend system, and the great writer upon youthfulness rendered it proper and William Cullen Bryant in the same degree. constitutional law. Lincoln was not so well- becoming that the talking should be done by He likened the situation to that of three men read or so many-sided as this peerless Mr. Dubois, who proceeded to say that, as in bed with a blanket too narrow to cover all. statesman. Washington had a weight, the agent of Follet[t], Foster & Co., I had If number one pulled it over him, he pulled it dignity, and solidity of character which no simply called to pay my respects, leave with off number three. With a view to accuracy, I public man in our history has possessed. In him my letters, and inquire when and where requested for Mr. Howells's use a skeleton prudence, foresight, wisdom, soundness, and it would be convenient for him to see me on sketch giving material facts and authentic sobriety of judgment he is first among our the business to which the letters related. dates. He replied that Nicolay could, historical men. I would, therefore, rank the After reading slowly two of these letters Mr. perhaps, prepare some rough notes in a few Founder higher than the Preserver of the Lincoln said that, in view of the smallness of days. A somewhat full sketch was soon Republic. While we have the sanction of his house, and the rapidly increasing number handed me in the handwriting of Nicolay, such learned students of our history as of his visitors “since a certain event at which, with some other memoranda made at [James A.] Garfield and E[win] P[ercy] Chicago,” his State House friends had kindly the time, after their use by Mr. Howells and Whipple in placing Lincoln third, we must given him a room in the State Capitol, where Dr. [Josiah G.] Holland, were some years not forget that this high rank implies that he he could better receive all that might choose since returned to Lincoln's chosen was greater than [Chief Justice John] to call upon him. He said that he would see biographer [Nicolay], at his own request, to Marshall and greater than [Massachusetts me the next morning at ten o'clock if I would be availed of if necessary by him. Senator Daniel] Webster. call at his room in the State House. In After this interview, during which Lincoln TUSCAN [James Quay Howard] contrast with the perfect poise, the would occasionally drop back on his elbows unbending dignity and repose of [Ohio] in an almost recumbent posture on the bed— Footnotes available on request. Governor [Salmon P.] Chase, the only truly

ALA has a new address and phone number Post Office Box 1865 217-LINCOLN (217-546-2656) Springfield, IL 62705-1865 Toll free: 866-865-8500 Summer, 2018 FOR THE PEOPLE 7

Mark your Calendar—Upcoming Lincoln Events

Lincoln Legacy Lecture, October 18, 7:00 pm, Lincoln vs. Douglas—Slavery and Race in Illinois History, featuring Dr. Michael Burlingame, Dr. Graham Peck, and Dr. Roger Bridges. Student Union Ballroom, University of Illinois Springfield, One University Plaza, Springfield, Illinois: www.uis.edu/clas/center-for-lincoln-studies An Evening with Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of Leadership in Turbulent Times, October 29, 5:00 pm, Fundraiser to benefit the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation “Permanent Home” campaign. Tickets priced from $25—$1,000, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Springfield, Illinois: www.PresidentLincoln.Illinois.gov Lincoln and Shakespeare November 2-3, 7:00 pm, Starring Fritz Klein as Abraham Lincoln. Directed by Kevin Purcell, Old State Capitol, 1 Old State Capitol Plaza, Springfield, Illinois: hcfta.org 23rd Annual Lincoln Forum November 16-18, Lincoln and the Civil War in Fact, Fiction and Memory, Wyndham Hotel, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania: www.thelincolnforum.org/our-symposium

Plan now to attend the Benjamin P. Thomas Symposium and the 210th Lincoln Birthday celebration, February 11-12, 2019, in Springfield, Illinois. The banquet speaker will be Dan Abrams, chief legal affairs anchor for ABC news and author of the New York Times bestseller Lincoln’s Last Trial—The Murder Case that Propelled Him to the Presidency. Also scheduled is Dr. Brian Dirck, professor of history at Anderson University, to discuss his book Black Heavens—Abraham Lincoln and Death.

Membership New ALA Members

John Carl, Evansville, Indiana Matters Michele Smith, Chicago, Illinois Rob Spear, Newburgh, Indiana Dear Friends and Members, ing about Lincoln’s life. His challenges and the tragedies he overcame teach us When U.S. Senator Paul Simon (1928- how to deal with troubles in our own 2003) spoke about Abraham Lincoln, he lives, and ultimately how to act in posi- frequently recounted an important true tive and compassionate ways. story. He said that while writing his book, Lincoln’s Preparation for Greatness: The For me, and I believe for many students Illinois Legislative Years, his daughter of the Lincoln story, the senator’s Did you know? would arrive home and see him wading thoughts deftly illustrate why membership through piles of research papers and in the ALA matters. It keeps us in touch The Abraham Lincoln Association drafts of his manuscript. When his daugh- with one of the most inspiring and posi- ter’s friends asked, “What does your tive forces in American history, Abraham was founded in 1908 to celebrate daddy do?” she would answer by saying, Lincoln. Lincoln’s 100th birthday in the “My daddy works on Abraham Lincoln.” following year. Joseph Garrera Senator Simon said, “That was not true. Membership Chair In the 1920s, its mission was In truth,” said Simon, “Abraham Lincoln expanded to preserve and protect works on all of us. He works by teaching P.S. Membership in the ALA is a great Lincoln landmarks and to advance us compassion, tolerance, statesmanship gift to a friend or colleague. Lincoln scholarship. and how to live.” According to Simon, we are all made better by studying and learn-

Join The Abraham Lincoln Association Today Mail this form (or a photocopy) and a check to:

The Abraham Lincoln Association ___ Student………….…..…$25 P.O. Box 1865 ___ Railsplitter……………..$50 Springfield, Illinois 62705 ___ Postmaster………..…..$100

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Penny Drive-Funded Lincoln Artifact

An historic Abraham Lincoln artifact purchased through the Illinois “When Abraham Lincoln was a young man here in Sangamon Proud Penny Drive by Sangamon County schoolchildren is now County the testament to his ‘good moral character’ was required for ready for viewing at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum to him to begin his law career and was recorded in the Sangamon help celebrate Illinois’s 200th birthday this year. County Minute Book,” Representative Jimenez said. “I am so proud of the children and our local partners whose efforts have allowed us The children of Sangamon County gave the Sangamon County to bring home this important piece of our history to kick off our Minute Book to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and bicentennial year celebrations!” Museum. In the April of this year, the students raised more than $18,000 during the Illinois Proud Penny Drive to use toward the From October 1 through December 31, 2018 the Minute Book of purchase and preservation of this historic Sangamon County from July 1835 to July 1838 will document that had belonged to a private owner in be on display in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential New York. If only pennies were collected, there Museum. It may be viewed with regular museum would have been 1.8 million coins, or five to six admission near the Lincoln Law Office scene in tons of pennies. Journey 1, Lincoln’s life before the presidency. State Representative Sara Wojcicki Jimenez, who “The Minute Book also includes information about helped organize the Illinois Proud Penny Drive, some of Abraham Lincoln's first legal cases, which said the Sangamon County Minute Book includes is truly a treasure for generations to learn from and the written certification to Abraham Lincoln’s enjoy. It’s a wonderful birthday present that can "good moral character", which was a necessary now be enjoyed by everyone who visits the certification for a person to become a lawyer in Museum,” Rikeesha Phelon, Illinois Bicentennial Illinois in the 1860's. Commissioner added.