The life and public services of Abraham Lincoln

Front matter

/VYVUoT.

in 2010 witli funding from

Tine Institute of Museum and Library Services through an Indiana State Library LSTA Grant

Introduction

On our country's record are inscribed the names of many that live and should live, and in their memorial our Republic is honored in their remembrance.

Among those worthies who have passed to their reward, there are none whose life-work shines with a brighter luster than that of him who, in the interests and services of humanity and freedom, has perfected the ideal, and executed the grandest work for his country and his race the world has ever witnessed — whom his countrymen loved and delighted to honor — Abraham Lincoln.

I have written, and now present to the American public, a brief account of the life and public services of that great and good man. I have been moved to this, in part, by a personal acquaintance of thirty-five years with Mr. Lincoln — commencing at the time of his majority, in daily business associations with him for a period which resulted in an intimacy and friendship which continued through his life, and which friendship and confidence he manifested during his administration in giving the writer appointments of offices of trust and honor on the Pacific Coast. Incentives formed by those personal relations with Mr. Lincoln have made the writing of his life a pleasure. It is an offering to his friendship and memory, while opportunity is presented to illustrate his personal character, to portray those interesting features of his private and public life, and to exhibit his social, religious and political principles.

It has been my aim and purpose to present a true and faithful exhibition of the character and eminent services of that good man, narrating in an abbreviated form the events of his Hfe, the inception, the growth and fruition of those grand and humane principles which have made his name and fame iv. INTRODUCTION.

immortal, and to impress upon the minds of my youtliful readers that success in our purposes and aspirations in life is attained by constant effort and perseverance ; and to give them an example wortliy of emulation in their devotion to principle and love of country, as well as to finally strengthen their purpose and aim in sustaining those principles and measures of National unity and personal liberty which he left us as our heritage, and whicli have been and are the policy of our Government, and which, under succeeding administrations, have guided our Nation and people to a state of prosperity, to an eminence unparalleled in the history of the world.

I have freely consulted the biographies of Lincohi by Messrs. Raymond and Holland, to the correctness of which I can bear testimony.

I trust that this volume will give pleasure and inspiration to the reader in the contemplation of the life and public services of the martyred President, and incentives to a high and consecrated love of country and humanity. With this, its objects will have been successful and its designs accomplished.

CHARLES MALTBY.

CONTENTS :

CHAPTER. PAGE.

I. Birth and Childhood --_____ 9

III. Early Manhood ---^-___ 24

IV. Outline of Principles and Character ----- 31

V. Early Military Record — Black Hawk War _ - - 37

VI. Characteristics -___ -___ 42

VII. Election to the Legislature — Early Anti-Slavery Record 47

VIII. Location at the State Capitol — Admittance to the Bar - 51

IX. Marriage — Election to Congress - _ _ _ 55

X. Congressional Record ------- qi

XI. Kansas and Nebraska Bill — Senatorial Election - - 67

XII. Organization of the Republican Party - - _ 72

XIII. Senatorial Contest of Lincoln and Douglass - - 78

XIV. Senatorial Contest Continued - - - _ _ 33

XV. Republican Candidate for the Presidency - - - §9

XVI. Nomination for President - - - - _ 94

XVII. Result of the Presidential Election - _ _ j^qI

XVIII. From Springfield to Washington — Inauguration - - 106

XIX. The Great AVork of Lincoln's Life— Douglass for the Union 119

VI. CONTENTS.

XX. Uprising of Patriotism — Our Foreign Relations - - 125

XXI. California's liOyaltj' to the Union _ _ _ - 130

XXII. Battle at Bull's Run — Appointment of General McClellan 135

XXIII. General Scott Retired— The Trent Affair - - - 141

XXIV. General McClellan's Peninsula Campaign _ _ _ 147

XXV. General McClellan's Failure ----- 153

XXVI. General McClellan Superceded — Union Success — Stanton,

Secretary of War _ - - _ - _ 15^

XXVII. Diffdrences Relative to Slavery — Republican Principles - 103

XXVIII. The R3 il Cause of the Reballioa— The President's Appeal 167

XXIX. Emancipation Proclamation - - _ _ - 172

XXX. Reasons for Emancijiation — Battle of Gettysburg - 180

XXXI. Lee's Retreat — Capture of Vicksburg — Bragg's Defeat - 186

XXXII. Thirty-seventh Congress — Financial Policy — Character-

istic Incidents -------- 191

XXXIII. Suspension of Writs of Habeas Corpus — Arrests for

XXXIV. Vallandigham Sent to his Friends — Albany Meeting —

President's Reply __--__- 20I

XXXV. The Missouri Imbroglio— Characteristic Letters — I^lection

XXXVI. The President's Daily Experience and Inner Life - - 211

XXXVII. Thirty-eighth Congress — President's Message — General

Grant made Lieutenant-General - - _ 2I8

XXXVIII. Reconstruction Measures - - _ - - - 223

XXXIX. Champion of the Industrial Classes - - - - 227 XL. Glimpses of Christian Character - _ - _ - 232 XLI. Discontent and Disquiet in the Republican Party - 237 XLII. President Lincoln's Second Nomination - - - _ 241

CONTENTS. Vn.

XLIII. Presidential Canvass, 1864 ------ 246

XLIV. Result of the Presidential Contest ----- 251

XLV. Movements of Generals Grant and Sherman - - 257

XL VI. National Affairs, Close of 1864 _ - _ _ _ 262

XLVII. Sherman's March Through Georgia— Defeat of Hood - * 267

XLVIII. Passage of Amendment Abolishing Slavery - - - 273

XLIX. President's Simplicity — Charity and Equanimity - 278

L. Peace Conference at Hampton Roads - - - - 284

LI. United States Sanitary and Christian Commissions - 289

LII. President Lincoln's Second Inauguration - - - 294

LIII. Sherman's March Through the Carolinas— Fall of Richmond 299

LIY. Evacuation of Richmond — Lee's Surrender - - - 305

LV. Joy of tlie President and People — Raising the Old Flag on

LVI. Assassination of the President — Funeral Services at Washington - ---_____ 316

LVII. From Washington to Springfield — Funeral Obsequies —

AND

PUBLIC SERVICES

OF

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Chapter I. Btrth And Childhood

The character of the subject of these memoirs is so unique, and his life so illustrious, that a narrative of his parentage and early history is of peculiar interest to the American people. It is a notable career. His devotion to the Nation's interest, his connection with and management of the great and most momentous events of orr country's history give special importance and interest to the place of his nativity, to his earlj' life, to his youthful hardships, to his Jimited facilities for obtaining an early education and to his success amidst his struggles and toils for an upright manhood.

When, in 1860, he was about to be called to the highest office in the gift of the people, he was consulted with reference to incidents of his early history. His reply was characteristic : " You will find the whole of my life in a sin^^le line of Gray's Elegy, ' The short and simple annals of the poor.' " At that time he did not realize the interest and curiosity that were being manifested by his fellow-citizens to be informed of his early life and parentage.

Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of the United States, was born in Hardin jounty, Kentucky, on the 12th day of February, 1809, in a rustic log cabin, such as were'the tenements of most of the emigrants in that State at that early day.

The early slmnbers of the young stranger were not broken by the shrill whistle of the locomotive, nor by the sound of the church bells calling their devotees to their regular hours of worship. The woodman's ax as he felled the forest, the crack of the huntsman's rifle, or the shrill screech of the panther or howl of the wolf broke the stillness of his surroundings. Here no scholastic or collegiate edifice with its portals stood open to receive the youthful student, but in Nature's unpolluted and stately surroundings was planted the germ of those principles and deeds that have made his name and fame immortal.

The ancestors of Abraham Lincoln settled in Berks county, Pennsylvania, at an early day ; they were of English extraction ; they were of the Quaker order and principles. Mr. Lincoln held that they came over from England under the auspices of William Penn, while some of his biographers, from the similarity of family Christian names, class them as a branch of the Lincoln families of New England. The more immediate ancestors of Lincoln, previous to 1752, removed from Berks county, Pennsylvania, to Virginia, and settled in Shenandoah valley. Abraham Lincoln, the grandfather of the President, was born in that valley, Rochingham county, and removed from there to Kentucky in 1780. The desire of change and love of adventure, which appears peculiar to the Lincoln family, and the captivating reports from the Western lands of promise, seem to have been the inducements for him with his young and tender wife to leave the home of his nativity and the land of security and plenty for the then savage wilderness of Kentucky. He settled in Bullitt county, and in 1784 he was killed by the savages while at work in the field, a short distance from his family and cabin. He left a widow and five helpless and dependent children ; sons — Mordecai, Josiah and Thomas (the father of the President) ; daughters — Mary and Nancy. The widow, soon after the m.urder of her husband, removed to Washington county and there, as necessity and poverty prescribed, raised to mature years her dependent and helpless family. Mordecai removed .late in life from Kentucky to Illinois. Josiah; while young, settled in Indiana. The daughters married and settled in Kentucky.

Thomas, the youngest son (father of the President), by the death of his father when he was six years of age, was left in the care of a widowed mother in straitened circumstances, with no immediate friends or relatives to help her bear her burdens, and only the kind offices of the neighbors, many of whom were almost as needy and helpless as herself. There were no schools, and the mother had no time to devote to the instruction of her children. Thomas grew up to manhood with no knowledge of his own language and no knowledge of letters except those of his own name, and this only could he write. As soon as he was able to provide for himself he became a day laborer and a number of years were spent in laboring for others, and when not thus engaged he was hunting game, of which Kentucky was noted for the abundance and variety. Laboring under these disadvantages he grew up to manhood ignorant, wanting in those energetic and enterprising impulses which give success to the efforts and industries of life..

He was held by his friends and neighbors as a man of strict integrity, notably fond of telling anecdotes and stories, loved by his family and respected by all his associates. He was of medium stature, well-proportioned, robust and elastic in his movements, and clothed in the rustic gar,b which his indigence necessitated, he was a fair representative of the humble pioneers of that day and age.

Thus, from early boyhood until he was twenty-eight years of age, was his life spent with no plans for the future and no opportunities for acquiring a competence for the present or future wants. He now concluded to settle in life and to assume the duties, relations and responsibilities of a married life.

In 1806 he married Nancy Hanks. She was a native of Virginia, and came to Kentucky, some years previous to her marriage, with some relatives. Coming from Virginia to Kentucky at an early age, her opportunities and facilities for obtaining a common education had been very limited and meao'er. She Mas of medium stature, light and fragile in form, of a grave and sensitive nature, pure and heroic, and of a deep and abiding affection, loving all and beloved by all her associates.

Soon after their marriage her husband took her to their humble dwelling, which he had prepared for their residence. It was a lowly home, still it was a home where love, affection and virtue reigned supreme.

This was the birthplace of the President, and here, within a few years of her married life, she had born to her husband three children; the first, a daughter named Sarah ; second, Abraham ; third, Thomas, who died in infancy. The father and mother of Abraham were members of the Baptist Church, and inculcated in the minds and hearts of their children the essential holy truths of the Bible. The mother, following at her humble distance in the footsteps of the illustrious mothers of Adams, Washington, Madison and Clay, began early in her humble way to instill in the minds of her children lessons of patriotism, love, purity and fidelity from the inspiration of God's holy word, and from the history of the revolution and the lives of Franklin and Washington, and other books which could be obtained. Thus were their young minds directed to lives and pursuits noble and elevating in their h aracter.

12 LIFE AND PUBIIC SERVICES

Here, in this lowly cottage, with mother for teacher and sister for a companion, the first eig:lit years of the President's life were passed. Those days of his childhood were the most impressive and important in the history of his life. Drawn by the secluded and tender relations of his humble home to those endearing and delicate affections of son and brother, he early evinced a wonderful love and affection for his mother and sister, which grew with his growth and increased with his years, until it became a leading and absorbing principle of his life, and on it was engrafted all of the humanity and kindness of his later years.

The associates of Abraham Lincoln who were favored with his friendship and confidence in his youth, and in those days when he was struggling with poverty and adversity for place and influence with his fellow-citizens, and heard from his own lips how a devoted mother labored to instill correct principles into his young mind, and to guide his footsteps in the paths of virtue .and Christian influence, saw early in his life omens of success and grand ideals of human excellence. But to the American people, and to the world, it required the labor of a life and a martyr's death to exhibit fully his manhood, his tender, sympathetic regard for suffering humanity and his patriotic principles which inspired the people with a devotion to country and nationality such as the world has never witnessed.

The historian, the patriot, looking back for the first cause of those grand results, will find that in the lowly cottage, in the humble family circle, his mother was his inspiration ; her wise counsels and her blessed words and example planted the seeds in a heart that was filial, obedient and affectionate, and at the death of his mother, when he was ten years of age, her lessons of divine wisdom and hallowed influences had become a part of his being, and he could say as he often said in his later years : " All that I am, or hope to foe, I owe to my angel mother — blessings on her sacred memory."

The parents of Abraham were desirous that their children should receive at least the first rudiments of an education, but in those early days in Kentucky, schools were few and irregular. Abraham, when he was seven years old, with his sister, commenced his attendence at the nearest school, which was four miles distant from their home. His first teacher was Zachariah Einey, and second, Caleb Hazen. He attended those two schools six months, and learned to read well and write a fair, legible hand.

At this period of his life, being eight years old, his father became dissatisfied with his location and surroundings in Kentucky, and proposed to sell his humble home and remove to a more desirable locality. The State at that time was settling up rapidly, and many of the settlers, by slave labor, were becoming prosperous and wealthy. Abraham's father inherited the Quaker principles of his Pennsylvania ancestors in regard to slavery, and realized fully the fact that the institution of slavery was making the situation of the poor man hopeless and unpleasant, and that the future was not promising and hopeful for himself and family. Defective land titles in Kentucky were an additional cause of removal. The Northwestern Territory, which had been set apart and dedicated to freedom by the fathers of the Republic, was. at that time attracting the attention of those who desired to remove from the slave States to free territory.

The father finally decided to remove to Indiana, it having been admitted the year previous as a State into the Union, and althougii then an unbroken wilderness it was rapidly settling up with a vigorous and enterprising population. Mr. Lincoln soon found a purchaser for his homestead, for which he received ten barrels of whisky and $20 in money. The homestead was on the Rolling Fork river, and as soon as the sale was concluded he constructed a small flat-boat, and putting aboard his heavy household goods, tools and whisky, he bid adieu to liis family and was soon sailing down the river on his way to select a new home in Indiana. Soon after reaching the Ohio river his frail boat upset and the cargo was thrown into the river. Some men on the bank, witnessing the accident, assisted in saving the boat; all the freight was lost, except three barrels of whisky, some carpenter's tools and a few other articles. He soon proceeded down the river to a ferry, where the road crossed the river, and procuring a guide and team made his way, cutting a road most of the way through the forest, eighteen miles, when Spencer county was reached and the site of his new home selected. Mr. Lincoln, now leaving*his goods in care of a family living a few miles distant,, returned to Kentucky on foot, and made preparations at once to remove his. family. Before leaving the old homestead, Mr. Lincoln, with Abraham and sister, visited the grave of the little son and brother and paid their last tribute of affection and sorrow, an incident often mentioned by Abraham with tender emotion and interest.

In a short time the Lincoln family bid adieu to their old home and slavery, and on horseback, Mrs. Lincoln and her daughter riding one horse, Abraham another and tjie father a third, and driving two or three pack animals, after seven days' journey through the wilderness, they reached thelocation selected for their future home. The next morning after their arrival Mr. Lincoln and Abraham, with his small ax in hand, were engaged in clearing a site for a log cabin. This being done the assistance of a neighbor was procured, and in a few days Mr. Lincoln had a comfortable log house, eighteen feet square, erected; the roof was covered with shakes, the floor was laid with slabs hewn with a broad ax and the door was made of the same

14 LIFE AND PUBDIC SERVICES

material. Slabs laid on poles overhead formed Abraham's chamber, and he, who was in after years to occupy the White House, here in his humble loft enjoyed many nights of sweet, undisturbed repose. With an ax, saw, hammer and a few nails, a bedstead, table and a few stools were made, and the building was ready for occupancy. The loss of the household goods by the upsetting of the boat on the river while in transit could not be immediately made good and thus the household furnishing department was very plain and meager.

Persons whose lives have been spent in the old settlements of the country, and the youth of the present day, cannot realize or imagine the humility and lowliness of border life and the simplicity and plainness of the household appointments of that period.

The Lincoln family, settled in their new home, have hard and constant labor to perform. The land must be cleared and prepared for the crops necessary for the sustenance of the family and stock, and for supplying the simple wants of the household. Abraham was now eight years of age. He was furnished with a light ax and early learned to use it efficiently, and in this new field of labor he entered with zeal and earnestness, assisting his father, as far as his age and strength would permit, in clearing the land for cultivation. This labor and exercise strengthened and made elastic his physical system, which became fully developed in his early manhood.

Here, on the outskirts of civilization, surrounded only by pure and gentle influences which were forming his character and habits for industry, integrity and usefulness, was Providence preparing him for the leadership in a momentous strife for National unity and universal liberty.

Abraham had but little taste and desire for outdoor sports. He usually spent his evenings at home, reading such books as he could obtain, after the labors and duties of the day were performed. It was some time after their settlement in Indiana before schools were established in the neighborhood, and during the several years the family lived in Indiana, Abraham attended school six months, making his attendance at the different schools about one year during his life. In this attendance he became a good reader and writer, and proficient in arithmetic.

Two years after the settlement of the family in Indiana, when Abraham was ten years of age, his mother, frail and delicate, was taken with consumption and quickly and gently passed away. The daughter and son were now as orphans ; the humble home was now desolate ; the loving, kind voice, the tender embraces and instructions of a fond, affectionate mother were to be remembered as mementos of the past. But she had been spared for a time to plant the seeds of love, virtue and affection, which had taken deep root, and which in after years produced the richest and most abundant fruit.

They lay the beloved wife and mother away to rest beneath the overspreading trees near the humble cottage, and there the son and the daughter often repaired to weep and mourn over their sad and irreparable bereavement. The mother was laid away to rest without a formal Christian burial. But with this the husband, son and daughter were not content, in this their sad affliction. They remembered their parson, Elkin, who had ministered to their spiritual wants in Kentucky. Some months after his mother's death Abraham wrote a letter to Parson Elkin informing him of his mother's death, and requested him to come to Indiana and perform the last sad and sacred funeral rites at his mother's grave.

When the kind parson received Abraham's letter it recalled vividly to his mind the stricken Christian family, and how often their humble hospitable door had been opened to him to receive his spiritual ministrations and to minister to their temporal wants. These recollections induced a favorable reply to the request, and he informed Abraham that on a Sabbath not far ■distant he would be present to officiate as he desired. Notice was given to the friends and neighbors, and at the time appointed the settlers and friends gathered to the sequestered place where the remains of the loved wife and mother were buried.

On that solemn Sabbath morning, accompanied by the stricken family, the good parson was received by the neighbors, seated on logs and rustic seats around the grave, assembled to pay the last tribute of respect to one so universally beloved.

It is Spring time. The majestic trees overshadowing the consecrated spot are putting on their livery of green — fit emblems of man's immortality. Flowers, in all their variety and beauty, are springing up all around the hallowed ground, representing the Christian's hope beyond the grave. The parson takes a seat at the head of the grave and bows his head in meditation ; the stillness is only broken by the sobs of the bereaved and the melody of the feathered songsters as they flit from tree to tree.

The occasion becomes more impressive as the beloved minister rises and invokes the mercies and blessings of the Great Author of our being on the friends and bereaved for their reliance on and submission to the Divine will, and following in his discourse to his audience he illustrates the graces of Christian character, the ground of the Christian's hope beyond the grave, which were so signally manifested in the life and death of the devoted Christian wife and mother who had departed, and with that warm praise which her hfe had merited and deserved, he holds her up as an example worthy to jbe imitated in all the walks of true Christian experience and womanhood.

Those tender, solemn services were treasured up in the heartand memory of Abraham, and it was many years before the desolation and sorrows of that sad bereavement passed away, and the frequent reference of Mr. Lincoln in his mature years to his early life and his mother's teachings prove how vividly were impressed on his mind and life her Christian example, her constant^ diligent efforts to create and impress his young and tender heart with pure and noble motives. His after life proved that he was true to her teachings^ to her pious and exemplary life, and to the high and noble principles implants ,1 by her in his heait and memory in his young and tender years.

Chapter II. Boyhood

The period of our boyhood lives, from ten to twenty years, is regarded as the most important and interesting. Examples and principles inculcated now become lasting and salutary. Habits are now formed, and principles are interwoven into our natures which, with few exceptions, shape our destiny and circumstances tlirough life. The principles inculcated and implanted in our earlier years grow with our growth, form character in our youth, and produce their fruit later in life.

Abraham Lincoln had now passed childhood, and entered into boyhood. We now more fully recognize the graces and principles impressed and implanted by a devoted Christian mother, which gave basis to his character, which led him in the paths of honor and virtue and into fellowship with tlie people, and joined him in heart and purpose with the laboring classes. No elevation in society or political honors lessened his respect for the sons of toil. His home was in the far West, and on its broad prairies he was to learn lessons of self-reliance which would lead him to an upright manhood. Simple in life and manners, he was now growing up with the people ; his love of home, his devotion to and tender regard for his sister, his fidelity and respect for the memory of his mother, and his habits of study and fondness for books made him noted with his associates and acquaintances as a boy of unusual and remarkable reputation, and won the esteem and interest of all his neighbors and companions.

He was genial and sociable with his comrades, and entered at times with zest and pleasure into all the innocent pastimes and amusements of the day. He loved labor, was actively industrious and assisted, as far as age and strength would permit, in the improvement and cultivation of the homestead.

He had early acquired a taste and love for reading, which was remarkable for one of iiis age, and all the books he could obtain by borrowing from his friends and neighbors were read and re-read. His early reading was limited by the scarcity of books and the want of means to purchase those that could be obtained. The Bible, Bunj'an's Pilgrim's Progress, J^^sop's Fables and Dillworth's Spelling Book constituted the family library, and they were diligently studied, and their contents soon became as familiar to him as household words. These books, with his mother's teachings, laid the foundation for that purity and excellence of character, simplicity and earnestness of purpose which has never been excelled.

He afterwards procured Ramsey's and Ward's life of Washington, the life of Franklin and subsequently the life of Henry Clay. From the life of Washington he had lessons of patriotism and love of»country worthy of imitation, and a history of the revolution which he loved to study. From the lives of Franklin and Clay he had examples from those who had risen by their own efforts and industry to professional and political distinction, from conditions in life almost as humble as his own. He studied over those books until his heart glowed with a noble emulation and true patriotism which were the moving spirit and purpose of his subsequent life.

As an evidence of his love of books and his integrity, the following notable incident may be mentioned : A Mr. Crawford had loaned Abraham a copy of Ramsey's life of Washington. After reading it one evening he laid it by, as he tliought safely, but a storm arose during the night and the rain beat in through a crack in the house, and the book was soaked through and its appearance much soiled. What could he do? He had no money to pay for the book. He, however, took it and went to Mr. Crawford and showed him the injury, and offered to work for him until he was fully satisfied. Mr. Crawford accepted the offer, and Abraham received the book as his own for three days' labor in pulling corn fodder. His manliness and honesty won the respect and esteem of Mr. Crawford and all his neighbors, who were soon informed of the incident.