@Abraham @Lincoln is one of the United States' best-known presidents. We know a great deal about him, both as a man and as a leader. He grew up in a log cabin. He was very honest. He was president during the Civil War, and he helped end slavery at that time. What's more interesting, though, are some of the stories told about him. Many of these are true. Others have become tall tales or legends. They give us more a sense of the man than simple facts can. The following are just a few:
This was reported by @A.B. @Chandler, who worked for the War Department during the Civil War. He also handled the mail.
On New Year's morning, 1864, President Lincoln entered the War Department building. He was always a bit jumpy. Now, though, he had become very tense. He was upset by a crying woman holding a child. @Major @Eckert asked her what was wrong. The answer was not surprising. She was the wife of a soldier. She had come to Washington with her baby, hoping to get a pass to see her husband. She learned that this was not true. If she were the wife of an officer, she could easily get such a pass. Her husband, though, was a private. It would not be so simple. She had little money, and @Washington was an expensive city. She couldn't afford to wait.
"Come, Eckert," Lincoln demanded. "Let's send the woman down there!"
It wasn't that easy. He was told that the war office had orders not to let women into camp.
"Hmm!" replied Lincoln, glaring at the man. "Let us whip the devil around the stump since he will not step right over! Send the woman's husband a leave of absence. He will report here to see his wife and baby!"
The officer on duty wrote the order, and the couple were soon together.
Another story goes as follows:
Creditors treated the struggling Lincoln with the utmost patience. They often quoted the moral that patience is not pardon. Lincoln was given the chance to show his own patience when his turn came. Before he became president, Lincoln was a lawyer. One of his clients was long overdue in paying his bill. He ran into the man by chance on the steps of the @Springfield court house.
He greeted him politely and commented about the man's accident. @Cogdale had lost a hand in a gunpowder accident. He began to apologize for his overdue bill, showing that he was crippled. Lincoln plainly expressed his sympathy and sorrow.
"I have been thinking about that bill of yours," he said. He took the paper out of his wallet and forced it upon him. "I won't think of it any more."
Cogdale took the bill. He told Lincoln that he did not know when he could pay it.
But Lincoln hurried away, saying, "If you had the money, I would not take it out of your only hand!"
A third story is told that:
On September 17, 1862, the Confederate march into @Maryland ended with the decisive defeat at @Antietam. When the South pulled back, Lincoln called the Cabinet to a special meeting. He told the men that the time had come at last for his announcement of freedom to the slaves everywhere in the United States. After much doubt, he believed public opinion would now support this action.
"Besides, I promised my God I would do it. I made a solemn vow before God that, if General @Lee was driven back from @Pennsylvania, I would crown the result by the declaration of freedom to the slave!"
People said that his signature appeared hesitant and uneven. However, Lincoln assured them that was not "because of any uncertainty or hesitation on my part." He told the painter of the "Signing the Emancipation Act," Mr. @Carpenter, "I believe that I am about as glad over the success of this work as you are!"
The original document was destroyed in the great fire at @Chicago, where it was on display. The pen and the table it was written on are in the Lincoln Museum. The ink-stand was a wooden one, in private hands. It was bought at public sale when Lincoln relics were not at the current high price.
And then there is the one:
The passing of time brings about strange events. @General @McClellan was chosen to visit the seat of the @Crimean War. When he returned home, he saw no opportunities in his profession. He had to look for another job. He became director of the @Illinois Central Railroad Company. In December, 1855, a bill was laid on his desk. It was the demand of Abraham Lincoln, of the law firm of Lincoln & @Herndon, Springfield, Illinois.
The firm had represented the company the past October. It defended the company against a suit brought by @McLean County. Lincoln had won the case. The fee was $1,000. One-fourth of that had been paid for the retainer. To prevent any objection about the rest, Lincoln had six members of the bar add their names to testify the charge was usual and just. Even so, McClellan saw it and refused to pay, saying that, "This is as much as a first-class lawyer would charge!"
Even with his success, others though of Lincoln as still "the one-horse lawyer of a one-horse town."
But perhaps the story that tells us most about "Honest @Abe" goes:
If you look at the history of the Presidents, you will see that Lincoln's origin is described as "English." But the @English love of fair play is joined with the art of not knowing when a man is beaten. If Lincoln is English, he differs from his ancestors on this point.
During the Black Hawk War, the soldiers in camp entertained themselves by sports contests. The captain of the @Sangamon company topped all his men in such events. This led the men to challenge the entire army. They offered Lincoln as a contestant against the whole field.
A man in another regiment, named @Thompson, showed up to fight Lincoln. Their preliminary match made Lincoln believe that this time he had bitten off more than he could chew. He suggested as much to his backers, who were betting not only all their money, but all their equipment, too, on Lincoln's win. They didn't believe him. But the first bout ended disastrously for Illinois. Lincoln was clearly "downed." The next, or settling bout, ended the same way. Lincoln's supporters, though, would not "see," and refused to pay up their bets. The whole company was about to fight over the decision, when Captain Lincoln spoke up:
"Boys, Thompson threw me fair and clean the first time. And he did the same the next time, but not so clearly."
"In peace or in war," it was always the same "Honest Abe."
