Abraham Lincoln Quotes

"If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what's said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference." The Inner Life of Abraham Lincoln: Six Months at the White House by Francis B. Carpenter (Lincoln, Nebraska, University of Nebraska Press, 1995), pp. 258-259. "Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, "Letter To Henry L. Pierce and Others" (April 6, 1859), p. 376.

"As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume II, (August 1, 1858?), p. 532.

"Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it." Lincoln's Cooper Institute Address, February 27, 1860.

"I leave you, hoping that the lamp of liberty will burn in your bosoms until there shall no longer be a doubt that all men are created free and equal." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume II, "Speech at Chicago, Illinois" (July 10, 1858), p. 502.

"My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume V, "Letter to Horace Greeley" (August 22, 1862), p. 388.

"Common looking people are the best in the world: that is the reason the Lord makes so many of them." Lincoln and the Civil War In the Diaries and Letters of John Hay selected by Tyler Dennett (New York, Da Capo Press, 1988), p. 143.

"I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day." Lincoln Observed: The Civil War Dispatches of Noah Brooks edited by Michael Burlingame (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998), p. 210.

"Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration." Lincoln's First Annual Message to Congress, December 3, 1861.

"I cannot make it better known than it already is that I strongly favor colonization." Lincoln's Second Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862.

"I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume VII, "Letter to Albert G. Hodges" (April 4, 1864), p. 281.

"In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free - honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just - a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless." Lincoln's Second Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862.

"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan - to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations." Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865.

"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half-slave and half-free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved - I do not expect the house to fall - but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other." Lincoln's 'House-Divided' Speech in Springfield, Illinois, June 16, 1858.

"I would rather be defeated with this expression ('house divided against itself cannot stand') in the speech, and uphold and discuss it before the people, than be victorious without it." The Lincoln Reader edited by Paul M. Angle (New Brunswick, Rutgers University Press, 1947), p. 228. For more details on Lincoln's comment see pp. 324-325 of Herndon's Life of Lincoln by William H. Herndon and Jesse W. Weik (Da Capo reprint of original 1942 edition published in Cleveland by World Publishing Company).

"Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came." Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865.

"I am rather inclined to silence, and whether that be wise or not, it is at least more unusual nowadays to find a man who can hold his tongue than to find one who cannot." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume IV, "Remarks at the Monogahela House" (February 14, 1861), p. 209.

"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." Lincoln's Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863.

"Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, "Lincoln-Douglas Debate at Ottawa" (August 21, 1858), p. 27.

"...that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom; and that this government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863.

"I have never studied the art of paying compliments to women; but I must say that if all that has been said by orators and poets since the creation of the world in praise of women were applied to the women of America, it would not do them justice for their conduct during this war. I will close by saying, God bless the women of America!" The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume VII, "Remarks at Closing of Sanitary Fair, Washington D.C." (March 18, 1864), p. 254.

"I have not permitted myself, gentlemen, to conclude that I am the best man in the country; but I am reminded, in this connection, of a story of an old Dutch farmer who remarked to a companion once that 'it was not best to swap horses while crossing streams'." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume VII, "Reply to Delegation from the National Union League" (June 9, 1864), p. 384.

"Whenever I hear any one arguing for slavery I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume VIII, "Speech to One Hundred Fortieth Indiana Regiment" (March 17, 1865), p. 361.

"The probability that we may fall in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just; it shall not deter me." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume I, "Speech on the Sub-Treasury" (in the Illinois House of Representatives, December 26, 1839), p. 178.

"Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume II, "Notes for a Law Lecture" (July 1, 1850?), p. 81.

"In regard to this Great Book, I have but to say, it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this book." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume VII, "Reply to Loyal Colored People of Baltimore upon Presentation of a Bible" (September 7, 1864), p. 542.

"Property is the fruit of labor...property is desirable...is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume VII, "Reply to New York Workingmen's Democratic Republican Association" (March 21, 1864), pp. 259-260.

"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country." Lincoln's Second Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862.

"My friends, no one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe everything. Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young to an old man. Here my children have been born, and one is buried. I now leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of the Divine Being who ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail. Trusting in Him who can go with me, and remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell." Lincoln's Farewell Address at the Great Western Depot in Springfield, Illinois, February 11, 1861.

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• Other Abraham Lincoln Quotes Alphabet Order

Abraham Lincoln's Favorite Poem

"I would give all I am worth, and go into debt, to be able to write so fine a piece as I think that is. Neither do I know who is the author. I met it in a straggling form in a newspaper last summer, and I remember to have seen it once before, about fifteen years ago, and this is all I know about it." Abraham Lincoln wrote those lines in a letter to a friend, Andrew Johnston (a lawyer in Quincy, Illinois) on April 18, 1846.

The piece Lincoln was referring to was titled Mortality or Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud? The author was a Scotsman named William Knox (1789-1825). Lincoln was first introduced to the poem by Dr. Jason Duncan when the two were living in New Salem. Lincoln memorized the entire poem and recited it so often that some folks mistakenly thought he was the author. The poem's melancholy tone appealed to Lincoln. William Herndon, Lincoln's law partner, thought the poem was (for Lincoln) a remembrance of Ann Rutledge as well as a discourse on the delicate nature of human life.

Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud?Like a swift-fleeting meteor, a fast-flying cloud,A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave,He passes from life to his rest in the grave.

The leaves of the oak and the willow shall fade,Be scattered around, and together be laid;And the young and the old, the low and the high,Shall molder to dust, and together shall lie.

The infant a mother attended and loved;The mother that infant's affection who proved;The husband, that mother and infant who blessed;Each, all, are away to their dwelling of rest.

The maid on whose cheek, on whose brow, in whose eye,Shone beauty and pleasure - her triumphs are by;And the memory of those who loved her and praised,Are alike from the minds of the living erased.

The hand of the king that the sceptre hath borne,The brow of the priest that the mitre hath worn,The eye of the sage, and the heart of the brave,Are hidden and lost in the depths of the grave.

The peasant, whose lot was to sow and to reap,The herdsman, who climbed with his goats up the steep,The beggar, who wandered in search of his bread,Have faded away like the grass that we tread.

The saint, who enjoyed the communion of Heaven,The sinner, who dared to remain unforgiven,The wise and the foolish, the guilty and just,Have quietly mingled their bones in the dust.

So the multitude goes - like the flower or the weedThat withers away to let others succeed;So the multitude comes - even those we behold,To repeat every tale that has often been told.

For we are the same that our fathers have been;We see the same sights that our fathers have seen;We drink the same stream, we feel the same sun,And run the same course that our fathers have run.

The thoughts we are thinking, our fathers would think;From the death we are shrinking, our fathers would shrink;To the life we are clinging, they also would cling -But it speeds from us all like a bird on the wing.

They loved - but the story we cannot unfold;They scorned - but the heart of the haughty is cold;They grieved - but no wail from their slumber will come;They joyed - but the tongue of their gladness is dumb.

They died - aye, they died - we things that are now,That walk on the turf that lies over their brow,And make in their dwellings a transient abode,Meet the things that they met on their pilgrimage road.

Yea, hope and despondency, pleasure and pain,Are mingled together in sunshine and rain;And the smile and the tear, the song and the dirge,Still follow each other, like surge upon surge.

'Tis the wink of an eye - 'tis the draught of a breath -From the blossom of health to the paleness of death,From the gilded saloon to the bier and the shroudOh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud?

Abraham Lincoln had a lifelong interest in both reading and writing poetry. Another favorite of his was The Last Leaf by Oliver Wendell Holmes. To read some poems written by Lincoln please see the 1991 Applewood Books publication entitled The Poems of Abraham Lincoln.

A good source of poetry written about Abraham Lincoln is The Poets' Lincoln: Tributes in Verse to the Martyred President edited by Osborn H. Oldroyd.

Abraham Lincoln's Letter to Major General Hooker

Abraham Lincoln's Letter to Major General Hooker

Executive Mansion, Washington, D.C., January 26, 1863

 

Major General Hooker:

 

General: I have placed you at the head of the Army of the Potomac. Of course I have done this upon what appears to me to be sufficient reasons, and yet I think it best for you to know that there are some things in regard to which I am not quite satisfied with you. I believe you to be a brave and skillful soldier, which, of course, I like. I also believe you do not mix politics with your profession, in which you are right. You have confidence in yourself, which is a valuable, if not an indispensable, quality. You are ambitious, which, within reasonable bounds, does good rather than harm; but I think that during General Burnside's command of the army you have taken counsel of your ambition, and thwarted him as much as you could, in which you did a great wrong to the country and to a most meritorious and honorable brother officer. I have heard, in such a way as to believe it, of your recently saying that both the Army and the Government needed a dictator. Of course, it was not for this, but in spite of it, that I have given you the command. Only those generals who gain successes can set up dictators. What I now ask of you is military success, and I will risk the dictatorship. The Government will support you to the utmost of its ability, which is neither more nor less than it has done and will do for all commanders. I much fear that the spirit which you have aided to infuse into the army, of criticizing their commander and withholding confidence from him, will now turn upon you. I shall assist you as far as I can to put it down. Neither you nor Napoleon, if he were alive again, could get any good out of an army while such a spirit prevails in it.

 

And now beware of rashness. Beware of rashness, but with energy and sleepless vigilance go forward and give us victories.

 

Yours, very truly,

 

A. Lincoln

Found at The Civil War Home Page

Abraham Lincoln's Lost Speech

"Abraham Lincoln's 'Lost Speech' may have been the most influential oration delivered in America since the founding of the Republic." *

"The Illinois State Republican Convention met at Bloomington on May 29, 1856. It furnished the setting for one of the most dramatic episodes of Lincoln's life ... A speech by Lincoln was rarely an ordinary occurrence, but on this occasion he made one of the really great efforts of his life. So powerful was his eloquence that the reporters forgot to take notes of what he was saying. Several commenced, but in a few minutes they were entirely captured by the speaker's power, and their pencils were still." **

When most people think of Abraham Lincoln's greatest speeches, they think of the Gettysburg Address, the Second Inaugural, the House Divided Speech, or the Cooper Institute Address. However, some think his best speech was "lost." Although roughly 40 news reporters were present for his May 29, 1856, speech in Bloomington, not one remembered to take notes. Over 1,000 people were present for the speech. Apparently Lincoln's effort was so captivating, the audience was simply mesmerized. What are the circumstances surrounding this amazing speech?

In 1856 Illinois, along with other states, held a state convention to help organize and strengthen the new Republican Party. In Illinois the convention met in Bloomington in Major's Hall located upstairs over Humphrey's Cheap Store. A broad spectrum of political beliefs were present: Whigs, Free Soilers, Know-Nothings, and abolitionists. The convention, composed of about 270 delegates, declared that Congress had and should employ its power to stop the spread of slavery westward. It adopted the following resolution:

"Resolved, That we hold in accordance with the opinions and practices of all the great statesmen of all parties for the first sixty years of the administration of the government, that under the Constitution, Congress possesses full power to prohibit slavery in the territories; and that while we will maintain all constitutional rights of the South, we also hold that justice, humanity, the principles of freedom, as expressed in our Declaration of Independence and our National Constitution, and the purity and perpetuity of our government require that that power should be exerted, to prevent the extension of slavery into territories heretofore free."

After a series of speeches, there were cries for Abraham Lincoln to take the platform. At 5:30 P.M. he did so.

The people listened for about 90 minutes. William Herndon, Lincoln's law partner, "attempted for about fifteen minutes, as was usual with me then to take notes, but at the end of that time I threw pen and paper away and lived only in the inspiration of the hour." Lincoln spoke extemporaneously, and he clearly identified slavery as the root cause of the country's problems. One delegate said, "Never was an audience more completely electrified by human eloquence. Again and again, during the delivery, the audience sprang to their feet, and by long-continued cheers, expressed how deeply the speaker had roused them." Although no verbatim report of the speech exists, it seems clear from statements of those present that the key ideas Lincoln stressed were as follows:

1. That there were pressing reasons for the formation of the Republican Party.2. That the Republican movement was very important to the future of the nation.3. All free soil people needed to rally against slavery and the existing political evils.4. The nation must be preserved in the purity of its principles as well as in the integrity of its territorial parts, and the Republicans were the ones to do it.

It was a truly a speech full of hypnotic inspiration as Lincoln attempted to unify all the discordant anti-slavery factions into a concerted party that could defeat the Democrats in upcoming elections. Writing in the Chicago Democrat, reporter John Wentworth said, "Abraham Lincoln for an hour and a half held the assemblage spellbound by the power of his argument, the intense irony of his invective, the brilliancy of his eloquence. I shall not mar any of its fine proportions by attempting even a synopsis of it." Herndon concluded, "His speech was full of fire and energy and force. It was logic; it was pathos; it was enthusiasm; it was justice, equity, truth, and right set ablaze by the devine fires of a soul maddened by the wrong; it was hard, heavy, knotty, gnarly, backed with wrath."

"The audience sat enthralled. Men listened as though transfixed. Reporters forgot to use the pencils in their hands, so that no complete and authentic record of what may have been his greatest speech has ever been found. At the end, the hall rocked with applause. The Republican Party was reborn in Illinois."***

Over the years a few "versions" of Lincoln's Lost Speech have been published. The most famous of these was by Henry Clay Whitney, a lawyer and Lincoln biographer. Whitney's version was published in McClure's Magazine in 1896. Whitney said that he had transcribed notes that were taken down while the speech was being delivered. The majority of Lincoln experts reject Whitney's report of the speech. One reason for this is that there was a 40 year gap between the speech itself and the publication of Whitney's version.

* Elwell Crissey's opening sentence in Lincoln's Lost Speech: The Pivot of His Career.

** Paul M. Angle (1900-1975), noted Lincoln scholar, author, and Director of the Chicago Historical Society for 20 years.

*** Benjamin P. Thomas (1902-1956), noted Lincoln biographer.For much more information on the lost speech and the events surrounding it, see Lincoln's Lost Speech: The Pivot of His Career, a 400+ page book by Elwell Crissey (New York, Hawthorn Books, 1967). Mr. Crissey put 13 years of research into his fascinating effort. His paternal grandfather was in the audience for Lincoln's historic speech in Bloomington.

Major's Hall, where Lincoln gave his Lost Speech, was built in 1852 by William Trabue Major. It was a three story building, and the auditorium in which Lincoln spoke comprised the 3rd floor. The term Major's Hall was used both for the auditorium and the building itself. Fire destroyed the auditorium in 1872, and the remaining two floors were razed by the city of Bloomington in 1959.

Abraham Lincon Presidency

Though Douglas won the senatorial election, Lincoln had made his mark by the debates; he was now a potential presidential candidate. His first appearance in the East was in Feb., 1860, when he spoke at Cooper Union in New York City. He gained a large following in the antislavery states, but his nomination for President by the Republican convention in Chicago (May, 1860) was as much due to the opposition to William H. Seward, the leading contender, as to Lincoln's own appeal. He was nominated on the third ballot. In the election the Democratic party split; Lincoln was opposed by Douglas (Northern Democrat), John C. Breckinridge (Southern Democrat), and John Bell (Constitutional Unionist). Lincoln was elected with a minority of the popular vote.

To the South, Lincoln's election was the signal for secession. All compromise plans, such as that proposed by John J. Crittenden, failed, and by the time of Lincoln's inauguration seven states had seceded. The new President, determined to preserve the Union at all costs, condemned secession but promised that he would not initiate the use of force. After a slight delay, however, he did order the provisioning of Fort Sumter, and the South chose to regard this as an act of war. On April 12, 1861, Fort Sumter was fired upon, and the Civil War began.

Although various criticisms have been leveled against him, it is generally agreed that Lincoln attacked the vast problems of the war with vigor and surpassing skill. He immediately issued a summons to the militia (an act that precipitated the secession of four more Southern states), ordered a blockade of Confederate ports, and suspended habeas corpus. The last action provoked much criticism, but Lincoln adhered to it, ignoring the Supreme Court ruling against him in the Merryman Case. In the course of the war, Lincoln further extended his executive powers, but in general he exercised those powers with restraint. He was beset not only by the difficulties of the war, but by opposition from men on his own side. His cabinet was rent by internal jealousies and hatred; radical abolitionists condemned him as too mild; conservatives were gloomy over the prospects of success in the war.

In the midst of all this strife, Lincoln continued his course, sometimes almost alone, with wisdom and patience. The progress of battle went against the North at first. Lincoln himself made some bad military decisions (e.g., in ordering the direct advance into Virginia that resulted in the Union defeat at the first battle of Bull Run), and he ran through a succession of commanders in chief before he found Ulysses S. Grant. In the early stages of the war Lincoln revoked orders by John C. Frémont and David Hunter freeing the slaves in their military departments. However, the Union victory at Antietam gave him a position of strength from which to issue his own Emancipation Proclamation.

The restoration and preservation of the Union were still the main tenets of Lincoln's war aims. The sorrows of war and its rigorous necessity afflicted him; he expressed both in one of the noblest public speeches ever made, the Gettysburg Address, made at the dedication of the soldiers' cemetery at Gettysburg in 1863. For a time Lincoln was threatened by the desertion of the Republican leaders as well as by a strong opposition party in the presidential election that loomed ahead in the dark days of 1864; but a turn for the better took place before the election, a turn brought about to some extent by a change of military fortune after Grant became commander and particularly after William T. Sherman took Atlanta.

Lincoln was reelected over George B. McClellan by a great majority. His second inaugural address, delivered when the war was drawing to its close, was a plea for the new country that would arise from the ashes of the South. His own view was one of forgiveness, as shown in his memorable phrase “With malice toward none; with charity for all.� He lived to see the end of the war, but he was to have no chance to implement his plans for Reconstruction. On the night of April 14, 1865, when attending a performance at Ford's Theater, he was shot by the actor John Wilkes Booth. The next morning Lincoln died. His death was an occasion for grief even among those who had been his opponents, and many considered him a martyr.

Abraham Lincon Slavery and the Lincoln-Douglas Debates

The prairie lawyer emerged again into politics in 1854, when he was caught up in the rising quarrel over slavery. He stoutly opposed the policy of Stephen A. Douglas and particularly the Kansas-Nebraska Act. In a speech at Springfield, repeated at Peoria, he attacked the compromises concerning the question of slavery in the territories and invoked the democratic ideals contained in the Declaration of Independence. In 1855 he sought to become a Senator but failed.

He had already realized that his sentiments were leading him away from the Whigs and toward the new Republican party, and in 1856 he became a Republican.

He quickly came to the fore in the party as a moderate opponent of slavery who could win both the abolitionists and the conservative Free-Staters, and at the Republican national convention of 1856 he was prominent as a possible vice presidential candidate. Two years later he was nominated by the Republican party to oppose Douglas in the Illinois senatorial race.

Accepting the nomination (in a speech delivered at Springfield on June 16), Lincoln gave a ringing declaration in support of the Union: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.� The campaign that followed was impressive. Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of debates (seven were held), in which he delivered masterful addresses for the Union and for the democratic idea. He was not an abolitionist, but he regarded slavery as an injustice and an evil, and uncompromisingly opposed its extension

Abraham Lincon The Lincoln Legend

As time passed Lincoln became more and more the object of adulation; a full-blown “Lincoln legend� appeared. Yet, even if his faults and mistakes are acknowledged, he stands out as a statesman of noble vision, great humanity, and remarkable political skill.

It is not surprising that the Illinois “rail-splitter� is regarded as a foremost symbol of American democracy. Paintings, sculptures, and architectural works memorializing Lincoln are legion; the most famous shrines are his home and tomb in Springfield, Ill., and the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Early Political Career

In 1834, Lincoln was elected to the state legislature, in which he served four successive terms (until 1841) and achieved prominence as a Whig. In 1836 he obtained his license as an attorney, and the next year he moved to Springfield, where he became a law partner of John T. Stuart. Lincoln's practice steadily increased.

That first partnership was succeeded by others, with Stephen T. Logan and then with William H. Herndon, who was later to be Lincoln's biographer. Lincoln displayed great ability in law, a ready grasp of argument, and sincerity, color, and lucidity of speech.

In 1842 he married Mary Todd after a troubled courtship. He continued his interest in politics and entered on the national scene by serving one term in Congress (1847–49).

He remained obscure, however, and his attacks as a Whig on the motives behind the Mexican War (though he voted for war supplies) seemed unpatriotic to his constituents, so he lost popularity at home. Lincoln worked hard for the election of the Whig candidate, Zachary Taylor, in 1848,but when he was not rewarded with the office he desired—Commissioner of the General Land Office—he decided to retire from politics and return to the practice of law.

Letter to Mrs. Bixby

Letter to Mrs. Bixby

Executive Mansion, Washington, Nov. 21, 1864

Dear Madam,

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

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

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

Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln's Funeral Train

Abraham Lincoln's box at Ford's Theater. On April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington DC. Lincoln was attending a presentation of the play "Our American Cousin" when Booth entered the box where the President, his wife and guests were quietly enjoying the show. At approximately 10:15pm, Booth shot the President in the back of the head with a small revolver. The bullet penetrated behind Lincoln's ear and lodged in his brain - death was imminent. The entire legacy of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln is a topic that has been discussed time and time again. What we are concerned with here is the train that brought the body of Lincoln from Washington back to his home in Springfield, Illinois. While the assassination itself was a shocking and unforgiving tragedy that engulfed the nation after four brutal years of Civil War, the funeral train was a sort of closure. The man who had tried to keep the country together throughout his entire presidency was dead, and the train that carried the slain martyr symbolized not only the end of the war, but the fact that an era was truly finished. As thousands witnessed the train, many asked if the struggle was it worth it in the end. The train left Washington on April 21, 1865, retracing the same route Lincoln took when he made the 1654 mile journey from Springfield to Washington to accept the Presidency of the United States back in February of 1861. After stopping in Baltimore, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, New York and Albany, the funeral train finally arrived in Buffalo at 7:00am on April 27, 1865 at the Exchange Street Station. The Buffalo Morning Express was there to cover the occasion. "The solemn spectacle has passed. The body of the great martyr has been borne through our hushed streets and onward to its rest. We have looked upon the immortal face and a sacred memory is in our hearts. We have hallowed a shrine in our midst forever, the touch of the dead man's bier. The procession of cities and States has swept on to the West, and the funeral dirge which wailed upon us from the ocean a week ago is dying along the lakes. What a journey of the dead we have seen! What a nation's performance of the funeral rites of a nation's Chief! What a nation's great testimony of love and grief! We have borne our part. In the majestic spectacle we have paid our tribute of honor to the illustrious dead; we have done it lovingly and well. The remembrance of the great solemnity is made forever grateful to us by the perfect harmony and decorum of its every circumstance. Our city has done honor to itself in the method and the manner of Abraham Lincoln. The Scene at Batavia. The funeral train was met at Batavia yesterday morning by the Committee from this city which included Honorable Millard Fillmore. The Committee left here at 6:00 o'clock Wednesday evening by a special car provided for their accommodation, passing the night at Batavia. At 5:00 o'clock yesterday morning, the funeral train arrived at that point, where it was received, as at every halting point along the line of its long, sad journey, by an immense concourse of people. The assemblage had begun with the very dawn, when the firing of the minute guns awoke the village from its slumbers and hastened the steps of pilgrims from the surrounding country flocking in. Before the train appeared, it had grown to the proportions of a city throng. The multitude stood with their heads bowed, silent, sorrowful and reverent, paying that sincere homage to the dead which had everywhere been so memorable and remarkable. The pause of the train was but for ten minutes, during which the committee from Buffalo took their places in the car reserved for them. From thence to this city no halt on the journey was made but at every station and almost continuously the train passed between long lines of people, who had come to catch but a floating glimpse of what bore the remains of their beloved President; and everywhere they bowed, with uncovered heads, in afflicting bestowment of their little passing tribute of solemn reverence. The New York Central's Exchange Steet Station. It was here that Lincoln's funeral train arrived on the morning of April 27, 1865. The Arrival in Buffalo With the gray light of morning, people here were astir to prepare for the reception of the funeral train on its arrival as preliminary and unfinished arrangements were completed by the authorities for the carrying out of the program as previously arraigned. The time for the arrival of the train was 7:00 o'clock, but long ore that hour, the streets in the vicinity of the depot were filled with the eager and expectant multitude. At ten minutes before seven, the pilot engine, properly decorated for the use to which it had been assigned, arrived to announce the approach of the funeral train. Punctually to the time, the latter came slowly in - so slowly and silently that it announced in its very manner the solemnity of its nature. The crowds received it with uncovered heads and every mark of respect. The depot had been elaborately draped as also was the Wadsworth House, Bloomer's Dining Saloon and other buildings in the vicinity. On the arrival of the train in the depot, the burial party was shown into Bloomer's Railroad Dining Saloon, where they were entertained in Bloomer's best style, and evidently an acceptable entertainment too after the unrefreshing ride of the night. The Funeral Train The train which bore the remains and the funeral party was a grand affair and attracted much attention. The engine, the Dean Richmond, Leonard Ham, engineer, was very tastefully and richly draped. It had a full length portrait of the President underneath the head lights in front, which was surrounded by the graceful folds of two national flags thrown over the upper part of the engine, each trimmed with black and white crape. Two exquisite bouquets took the place of the engine flags and another still surmounted the sand-box. The hand rails were neatly adorned with festoons of black and white tasteful rosettes. The cab was draped with the national colors. The cars of which the train was made up were also draped with exquisite taste. The Funeral Car But the chief attraction of all was the funeral car which has borne the remains thus far from Washington, and is designed to bear them to the hero's welcome home. It was built by Mr. Jamison of Alexandria for the United States military railroad and was intended for the use of the President and other dignitaries when traveling over the military road. It contains a parlor, sitting room and sleeping apartment; all of which are fitted up to the most approved modern style. Black curtains have been placed at all windows. Inside and out, the car is robed in black. A deep silver flange also hangs from the edge of the roof and the festoons of crape are looped over each window with a silver star and large silver tassel. The Procession At 8:00 o'clock the arrangements for the procession were formed in front of the Depot. The crowd was forced back and the remains of the eminent deceased were taken from the car which had conveyed them hither, and borne to the funeral car in front of the depot, the shoulders of a detachment of the Guard of Honor. The coffin was borne into the funeral car which was drawn by six magnificent white horses, housed to the feet in black. The line of the procession was as follows: up Exchange Street to Main; up Main to Niagara; Niagara to Delaware; Delaware to Tupper; Tupper to Main; Main to Eagle. Moving President Lincoln's body from the Catafalque to St. James Hall, Main Street, Corner of Eagle Street. The number of people along the line of march was immense - thronging all the available space on either side of the streets. The business places were all closed but every window and housetop was filled and covered with a mass of human beings. The crowd in the vicinity of St. James Hall, through the forenoon, was terrible and we heard of many cases of fainting on the part of ladies who were not able to stand the severe pressure brought upon them. Finally the throng was loosened and matters so arranged that free passage was given. At St. James Hall At a few minutes before 10:00 o'clock, the procession arrived at the Young Men's Association Building, at the end of its march. Here the coffin was taken from the bearers and borne into the hall by the Main Street entrance. It was placed upon a double dais erected for that purpose, the upper one inclined to an angle of perhaps twenty degrees, and the whole richly draped with black velvet with silver fringe and rosettes. As the remains of the deceased President were placed upon the dais, the St. Cecelia Society, who were in position on the stage outside the sable apartment, sung the solemn dirge, "Rest, Spirit, Rest," with impressive effect. It was repeated after the body had been prepared for exhibition by the embalmer and undertaker, and coming through the folds of the drapery the sweet strains of melody seemed, indeed, angelic. Appearance of the Hall The appearance of the Hall, as prepared for the occasion, was grandly impressive. It was in the form of an immense pavilion, sable and somber, but adorned in the most exquisite perfection of art. The walls of the pavilion were richly and tastefully decorated and wreathed with black and white crape, lace and fringe. Large bows of crape also decked its sides. Eight columns, elaborately draped with wreaths, rosettes and festoons, were placed in position around the inner line of the apartment. There were three arched entrances, or passage ways, with the folds of the drapery looped up with rosettes and ties of white and black. The whole was set off by a magnificent chandelier suspended from the center, directly over the dais and remains. The Hall will be open today for the inspection of those who did not examine it to their satisfaction yesterday. The Coffin A little after 10:00 o'clock, the lid was removed from the coffin, and after some preparation by the embalmer and undertaker, exposed to public view. The corpse was dressed in plain black and the face wore that same kind, benignant look that characterized the "People's President" when alive. The face was slightly discolored , but not as much as many had been led to expect, and the life-like expression of the features were surprising. The thought would arise as we gazed upon the quiet face that he had found the rest for which he must have so often sighed. This was the scene in New York as thousands of people viewed the open coffin of Abraham Lincoln. The events were very similar in Buffalo. The Crowds of Spectators As soon as the doors were thrown open the people began to pour into, and pass through the hall, to view all that is mortal of the great man who has signally blessed this nation with his wisdom and beneficent government. The marching through the courts of death was an ceaseless as the flow of mighty waters. All day long did they stream pass along uninterruptedly. Persons of all ages, sexes and conditions came to pay their respects to the man whom the had so much admiration and love. It is safe to estimate that the total number of people that passed through there during the day was from eighty to one hundred thousand people. Notwithstanding this immense throng, there was not the slightest incident to mar the decorum of the occasion. The place was oppressively silent, save with the constant tramp of the multitude. The arrangements for the passing of the people was admirable. The main entrance was on Eagle Street, near Washington, up which they came four abreast. Upon entering the hall, they divided, two passing to the right and two passing to the left, only to reunite on the other side of the coffin. They then marched down and out of the entrance on Eagle, near Main Street.   The Closing Ceremonies At a quarter past 8:00 o'clock, the coffin was closed and arrangements made to escort the remains back to the depot. At half past, the procession moved towards the depot. The bands played solemn dirges and with the darkness of the night, all was wrapped in the deepest gloom. A large body of citizens followed to the last point, and only turned their footsteps homeward as they saw the remains deposited in the funeral car which was to bear them away. At a little after 10:00 o'clock, the funeral cortege and escort took the train which had been provided for them and went their sorrowful way to the West. Although seemingly impossible for the same set of unhappy events to happen again in Buffalo, thirty six years later, the body of President William McKinley would lie at death's door within the Queen City. Once again, Buffalo would be brought to her knees in tragedy.