History of Sangamon County, Illinois, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 79

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Inter-state publishing company
Number of Pages: 1084

USA > Illinois > Sangamon County > History of Sangamon County, Illinois, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 79

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ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

Abraham Lincoln, the great and the good, the martyr President. The historian, in the neces- sarily short sketches given, can but feel his in- ability to do justice to so worthy a name. The following is a copy of a letter written by Mr. Lincoln in December, 1859, to Jesse W. Fell, of Bloomington, Illinois. The letter was not writ- ten for publication, but, containing the only words ever written by Mr. Lincoln of himself and family, are worthy of preservation:

"I was born February 12,1809, in Hardin county, Kentucky. My parents were both born in Vir- ginia, of undistinguished families-second fami- lies-perhaps I should say. My mother, who died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks, some of whom now reside in Adams, and others in Macon connties, Illinois. My paternal grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, emi- grated from Rockingham county, Virginia, about 1781 or '82, where, a year or two later, he was killed by Indians, not in battle, but by stealth, when he was laboring to open up a farm in the forest. His ancestors, who were Quakers, went to Virginia from Berks county, Pennsylvania. An effort to identify them with the New Eng- land family of the same name ended in nothing more definite than a similarity of Christian names in both families, such as Enoch, Levi, Mordecai, Solomon, Abraham, and the like.

"My father, at the death of his father, was but six years of age, and he grew up literally with- out education. He removed from Kentucky to what is now Spencer county, Indiana, in my eighth year. We reached our new home about the time the State came into the Union. It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. There I grew up. There were some schools, so called, but no quali- fication was ever required of a teacher beyond "'readin', 'ritin', and cipherin" to the rule of three. If a straggler, supposed to understand Latin happened to sojourn in the neighborhood, he was looked upon as a wizard. There was ab- solutely nothing to excite ambition for educa- tion. Of course, when I came of age, I did not know much; still, somehow I could read, write, and cipher to the rule of three, but that was all. I have not been to school since. The little ad- vance I now have upon this store of education, I have picked up from time to time, under the pressure of necessity.

"I was raised to farm work, which I continued till I was twenty-two. At twenty-one I came to Illinois, and passed the first year in Macon county. Then I got to New Salem, at that time in Sangamon, now in Menard county, where I remained a year, as a sort of clerk in a store. Then came the Black Hawk war, and I was elected Captain of Volunteers, a success which gave me more pleasure than any I have had since. I went the campaign, was elated; ran for the legislature the same year-1832-and was beaten, the only time I ever have been beaten by the people. The next, and three suc- ceeding biennial elections, I was elected to the legislature. I was not a candidate afterwards. During this legislative period I had studied law, and removed to Springfield to practice it. In 1846, I was once elected to the lower house of Congress; was not a candidate for re-election. From 1819 to 1854, both inclusive, practiced

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law more assiduously than ever before. Always a Whig in politics, and generally on Whig elec- toral tickets, making active canvasses; I was lus- ing interest in politics, when the repeal of the Missouri Compromise aroused me again. What I have done since then is pretty well known.

" If any personal description of me is thought desirable, it may be said, I am in height, six feet four inches, nearly, lean in flesh, weighing on an average one hundred and eighty pounds, dark complexion, with coarse black hair and gray eyes; no other marks or brands recollected.

"Yours, very truly.

" A. LINCOLN."

Hon. J. W. Fell.

Mr. Lincoln was always active in public af- fairs, and was always an acknowledged leader. As he remarked in nis letter, the repeal of the Missouri Compromise aroused him, and he united with others in the formation of the Republican party, becoming its acknowledged leader. In 1858, he was a candidate for United States Sen- ator, to succeed Stephen A. Douglas, whose term was drawing to a close. Contrary to the usual custom with candidates for that office, instead of aiming to influence the members of the legisla- ture, by whose votes the choice is made, the con- test was brought directly before the people, in order to influence their action in choosing mem bers of the legislature, who were to choose a United States Senator. That led to seven joint debates between Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Douglas, in different parts of the State of Illinois. Mr. Douglas was elected as his own snecessor, but Mr. Lincoln's speeches in that campaign gave him a National reputation, and proved that his understanding of the slavery question was more clear and comprehensive than that of any other man in the Nation. This led to his being chosen by the Republican National Convention, which assembled in Chicago in June, 1860, as the can- didate of that party for the office of President of the United States. After an exciting cam- paign, he was triumphantly elected, in Novem- ber of that year, and inaugurated at Washing- ton, March 4, 1861. It is unnecessary to follow his career during the long and bloody war that followed. In that struggle, he placed his reli- ance upon the Almighty God, as is clearly shown in the following letter, written in September, 1864, to a member of the Society of Friends:

" EXECUTIVE MANSION, "WASHINGTON, September 4, 1864. S

"Eliza P. Gurney:

"MY ESTEEMED FRIEND-I have not forgot- ten-probably never shall forget-the very im-

pressive occasion when yourself and friends vis- ited me, on a Sabbath forenoon, two years ago; nor has your kind letter, written nearly a year later, ever been forgotten. In all, it has been your purpose to strengthen my reliance on God. I am much indebted to the good Christian people of this country for their constant prayers and consolations; and to no one of them more than yourself. The purposes of the Almighty are perfect, and must prevail, although we err- ing mortals may fail to accurately perceive them in advance. We hoped for a happy termination of this terrible war long before this; but God knows best, and has ruled otherwise. We shall yet acknowledge His wisdom and our error therein. Meanwhile, we must work earnestly in the best light He gives us, trusting that so working still conduces to the great ends He or- dains. Surely, He intends some great good to follow this mighty convulsion, which no mortal could make, and no mortal could stay.

" Your people, the Friends, have had, and are having, a very great trial. On principle and faith, opposed to both war and oppression, they can only practically oppose oppression by war. In this hard dilemma, some have chosen one horn, and some the other. For those appealing to me on conscientious grounds, I have done, and shall do, the best I could and can, in my own conscience, under my oath to the law. That you believe this, I doubt not; and, believ- ing it, I shall still receive, for our country and myself, your earnest prayers to our Father in Heaven. Your sincere friend,

"A. LINCOLN."

No man ever discharged his duties more hon- estly, more faithfully, than did Abraham Lin- coln. With a heart full of tender mercy, he loved all mankind, and knowingly would wrong no man. The South never had a more trusty friend, and in his death they lost one who could and would have done them more good than pos- sible for any other man. On the evening of April 14 1865, while in attendance on a per- formance at Ford's Theater, in Washington, he was shot down by the hands of a cowardly assas- sin, and breathed his last on the morning of the 15th. An account of the deep grief, the respect paid his memory, the great funeral cortege reach- ing from the Capital of the Nation to his late home in Springfield, will be found elsewhere in this work. His remains now lay in a beautiful tomb, erected by a grateful people, in Oak Ridge Cemetery, and is annually visited by thousands of people.

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HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.

The following tribute to his memory is em- bodied in an address by Isaac N. Arnold, a life- long friend of Lincoln, before the Royal Histor- ical Society, of London, England, and is worthy of its author and the subject treated:

"The noblest inheritance we Americans, derive from our British ancestors is the memory and example of the great and good men who adorn your history. They are as much appreciated and honored on our side of the Atlantic as on this. In giving to the English-speaking world, Wash- ington and Lincoln we think we repay, in large part, our obligation. Their pre-eminence in American history is recognized, and the repub- lic, which the one founded and the other pre- served, has, already, crowned them as models for her children.

" In the annals of almost every great Nation some names appear standing out clear and prom- inent, names of those who have influenced, or controlled, the great events which make up his- tory. Such were Wallace and Bruce, in Scot- land, Alfred and the Edwards, William the Con- queror, Cromwell, Pitt, Nelson and Wellington, in England, and such in a still greater degree were Washington and Lincoln.

"I am here, from near his home, with the hope that I may, to some extent, aid you in forming a just and true estimate of Abraham Lincoln. I knew him, somewhat intimately, in private and public life for more than twenty years. We practiced law at the same bar, and, during his administration, I was a member of Congress, seeing him and conferring with him often, and therefore, I may hope without vanity, I trust that I shall be able to contribute some- thing of value in enabling you to judge of him. We in America, as well as you in the old world, believe that "blood will tell;" that it is a great blessing to have had an honorable and worthy ancestry. We believe that moral principle, phy- sical and intellectual vigor in the forefathers are qualities likely to be manifested in the descend- ants. Fools are not the fathers or mothers of great men. I claim for Lincoln, humble as was the station to which he was born, and rude and rough as were his early surroundings, that he had such ancestors. I mean that his father and mother, his grandfather and grandmother, and still further back, however humble and rugged their condition, were physically and mentally strong, vigorous men and women; hardy and suc- cessful pioneers on the frontier of American civ- ilization. They were among the early settlers in Virginia, Kentucky and Illinois, and knew how to take care of themselves in the midst of diffi-

culties and perils; how to live and succeed when the weak would perish. These ancestors of Lin- coln, for several generations, kept on the very crest of the wave of Western settlements-on the frontier, where the struggle for life was hard and the strong alone survived.

" His grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, and his father, Thomas, were born in Rockingham County, Virginia.

" About 1781, while his father was still a lad, his grandfather's family emigrated to Kentucky, and was a contemporary with Daniel Boone, the celebrated Indian fighter and early hero of that State. This, a then wild and wooded territory, was the scene of those fierce and desperate con- flicts between the settlers and the Indians which gave it the name of 'The dark aud bloody ground.'

"When Thomas Lincoln, the father of the President, was six years old, his father ( Abraham, the grandfather of the President,) was shot and instantly killed by an Indian. The boy and his father were at work in the corn-field, near their log-cabin home. Mordecai, the elder brother of the lad, at work not far away, witnessed the at- tack. He saw his father fall, and ran to the cabin, seized his ready-loaded rifle and springing to the loop-hole cut through the logs, he saw the Indian, who had seized the boy, carrying him away. Raising his rifle and aiming at a silver medal, conspicuous on the breast of the Indian, he instantly fired. The Indian fell, and the lad, springing to his feet, ran to the open arms of his mother, at the cabin door. Amid such scenes, the Lincoln family naturally produced rude, rough, hardy, and fearless men, familiar with wood-craft; men who could meet the ex- tremes of exposure and fatigue, who knew how to find food and shelter in the forest; men of great powers of endurance-brave and self-reli- ant, true and faithful to their friends and dan- gerous to their enemies. Men with minds to conceive and hands to execute bold enterprises.

"It is a curious fact that the grand-father, Abraham Lincoln, is noted on the surveys of Daniel Boone as having purchased, of the gov- einment, five hundred acres of land. Thomas Lincoln, the father, was also the purchaser of government land, and President Lincoln left, as a part of his estate, a quarter-section ( one hun- dred and sixty acres), which he had received from the United States, for services rendered in early life as a volunteer soldier in the Black Hawk Indian war. Thus for three generations the Lincoln family were land owners directly from the government.

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HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.

" Such was the lineage and family from which President Lincoln sprung. Such was the environ- ment in which his character was developed.

"He was born in a log cabin, in Kentucky, on the 12th of February, 1809.

" It will aid you in picturing to yourself this young man and his surroundings, to know that from boyhood to the age of twenty-one, in winter, his head was protected from the cold by a cap made of the skin of the coon, fox, or prairie wolf, and that he often wore the buckskin breeches and hunt ng-shirt of the pioneer.

" He grew up to be a man of majestic stature and Herculean strength. Had he appeared in England or Normandy, some centuries ago, he would have been the founder of some great Baronial family, possibly of a Royal dynasty. He could have wielded, with ease, the two- handed sword of Guy, the great Earl of War- wick, or the battle-axe of Richard of the Lion- heart.

ITIS EDUCATION AND TRAINING.

" The world is naturally interested in knowing what was the education and training which fitted Lincoln for the great work which he accom- plished. On the extreme frontier, the means of book-learning was very limited. The common free schools, which now closely follow the heels of the pioneer and organized civil government, and prevail all over the United States, had not then reached the Far West. An itinerant school- teacher wandered occasionally into a settlement, opened a private school for a few months, and, at such, Lincoln attended at different times in all about twelve months. His mother, who was a woman of practical good sense, of strong physical organization, of deep religious feeling, gentle and self-reliant, taught him to read and write.

Although she died when he was only nine years old, she had already laid deep the founda- tions of his excellence. Perfect truthfulness and integrity, love of justice, self-control, rev- erence for God, these constituted the solid basis of his character. These were all implanted and carefully cultivated by his mother, and he always spoke of her with the deepest respect and the most tender affection. 'All that I am, or hope to be,' said he, when President, 'I owe to my sainted mother.'

"He early. manifested the most eager desire to learn, but there were no libraries and few books in the back settlements in which he lived. Among the stray volumes, which he found in the possession of the illiterate families by which he was surrounded, were Æsop's Fables, Bun-

yan's Pilgrim's Progress, a life of Washington, the poems of Burns, and the Bible. To these his reading was confined, and he read them over and over again, until they became as familiar almost as the alphabet. His memory was marvelous, and I never yet met the man more familiar with the Bible than Abraham Lincoln. This was apparent in after-life, both from his conversation and writings, scarcely a speech or State paper of his in which illustrations and allusions from the Bible cannot be found.

"While a young man, he made for himself, of coarse paper, a scrap-book, into which he copied everything which particularly pleased him. He found an old English grammar, which he studied by himself; and he formed, from his constant study of the Bible, that simple, plain, clear An- glo-Saxon style, so effective with the people. He illustrated the maxim that it is better to know thoroughly a few good books than to skim over many. When fifteen years old, he began (with a view of improving himself) to write on various subjects and to practice in making polit- ical and other speeches. These he made so amusing and attractive that his father had to forbid his making them in working hours, for, said he, 'when Abe begins to speak, all the hands flock to hear him.' His memory was so retentive that he could repeat, verbatim, the ser- mons and political speeches which he heard.

"While his days were spent in hard, manual labor, and his evenings in study, he grew up strong in body, healthful in mind, with no bad habits; no stain of intemperance, profanity or vice of any kind. He used neither tobacco nor intoxicating drinks, and, thus living, he grew to be six feet four inches high, and a giant in strength. In all athletic sports he had no equal. I have heard an old comrade say, ' he could strike the hardest blow with the woodman's axe, and the maul of the rail-splitter, jump higher, run faster than any of his fellows, and there were none, far or near, who could lay him on his back.' Kind and cordial, he early developed so much wit and humor, such a capacity for narra- tive and story-telling, that he was everywhere a most welcome guest.

A LAND SURVEYOR.

"Like Washington, he became, in early life, a good practical surveyor, and I have, in my li- brary, the identical book from which, at eight- een years of age, he studied the art of survey- ing. By his skill and accuracy, and by the neat- ness of his work, he was sought after by the set- tlers, to survey and fix the boundaries of their farms, and in this way, in part, he earned a sup-

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HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.

port while he studied law. In 1837, self-taught, he was admitted and licensed, by the Supreme Court of Illinois, to practice law.

A LAWYER.

"It is difficult for me to describe, and, per- haps, more difficult for you to conceive the con- trast when Lincoln began to practice law, be- tween the forms of the administration of justice in Westminster Hall, and in the rude log court- house of Illinois. I recall to-day what was said a few years ago by an Illinois friend, when we visited, for the first time, Westminster Abbey, and as we passed into Westminster Hall. 'This,' he exclaimed, 'this is the grandest forum in the world. Here Fox, Burke, and Sheridan hurled their denunciations against Warren Hastings. Here Brougham defeated Queen Caroline. And this,' he went on to repeat, in the words of Macauley, ( words as familiar in America as here) ' This is the great hall of William Rufus, the hall which has resounded with acclamations at the inauguration of thirty kings, and which has witnessed the trials of Bacon and Somers and Stafford and Charles the First.' 'And yet,' I replied, 'I have seen justice administered on the prairies of Illinois without pomp or ceremony, everything simple to rudeness, and yet, when Lincoln and Douglas led at that bar, I have seen justice administered by judges as pure, aided by advocates as eloquent, if not as learned, as any who ever presided, or plead, in Westminster Hall.'

" The common law of England (said to be the perfection of human wisdom) was adminis- tered in both forums, and the decision of each tribunal were cited as authority in the other; both illustrating that reverence for, and obedi- ence to, law, which is the glory of the English- speaking race.

"Lincoln was a great lawyer. He sought to convince rather by the application of principle than by the citation of authorities. On the whole, he was stronger with the jury than with the court. I do not know that there has ever been, in America, a greater or more successful advocate before a jury, on the right side, than Abraham Lincoln. He had a marvelous power of conciliating and impressing everyone in his favor. A stranger entering the court, ignorant of the case, and listening a few moments to Lin- coln, would find himself involuntarily on his side and wishing him success. He was a quick and accurate reader of character, and seemed to comprehend, almost intuitively, the peculiarities of those with whom he came in contact. His manner was so candid, his methods so direct, so | Florida, and then Texas.

fair, he seemed so anxious that truth and justice should prevail, that everyone wished him success. He excelled in the statement of his case. How- ever complicated, he would disentangle it, and present the important and turning point in a way so clear that all could understand. Indeed, his statement often alone won his cause, rendering argument unnecessary. The judges would often stop him by saying, 'If that is the case, Brother Lincoln, we will hear the other side.'

" His ability in examining a witness, in bring- ing out clearly the important faets, was only sur- passed by his skillful cross-examinations. He could often compel a witness to tell the truth where he meant to lie. He could make a jury laugh, and generally weep, at his pleasure. On the right side, and when fraud or injustice were to be exposed, or innocence vindicated, he rose to the highest range of eloquence, and was irre- sistable. But he must have faith in his cause to bring out his full strength. His wit and humor, his quaint and homely illustrations, his inex- haustible stores of anecdote, always to the point, added greatly to his power as a jury advocate.

"He never mis-stated evidence or misrepre- sented his opponent's case, but met it fairly and squarely.

" He remained in active practice until his nomination, in May, 1860, for the Presidency. He was employed in the leading cases in both the Federal and State Courts, and had a large clientage, not only in Illinois, but was frequently called, on special retainers, to other States.

AN ILLINOIS POLITICIAN.

"By his eloquence and popularity he became, early in life, the leader of the old Whig party, in Illinois. He served as member of the State Legislature, was the candidate of his party for speaker, presidential elector, and United States Senator, and was a member of the lower house of Congress.

SLAVERY.

"When the independence of the American Re- public was established, African slavery was tolerated as a local and temporary institution. It was in conflict with the moral sense, the re- ligious convictions of the people, and the political principles on which the government was founded.

"But having been tolerated, it soon became an organized, aggressive power, and, later, it became the master of the government. Conscious of its inherent weakness, it demanded and obtained additional territory for its expansion. First, the great Louisiana territory was purchased, then

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HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.

"By the repeal, in 1854, of the prohibition of slavery north of the line of thirty-six degrees, thirty minutes of latitude (known in America as the 'Missouri Compromise'), the slavery ques- tion became the leading one i | American politics, and the absorbing and exciting topic of discus- sion. It shattered into fragments the old con- servative Whig party, with which Mr. Lincoln had, theretofore, acted. It divided the Demo- cratie party, and new parties were organized upon issues growing directly out of the question of slavery.

"The leader of that portion of the Democratic party which continued, for a time, to act with the slavery party, was Stephen Arnold Douglas, then representing Illinois in the United States Senate. He was a bold, ambitious, able man, and had, thus far, been uniformaly successful. He had introduced and carried through Congress, against the most vehement opposition, the repeal of the law, prohibiting slavery, called the Missouri Compromise.

THE CONTEST BETWEEN FREEDOM AND SLAVERY IN THE TERRITORIES.

"The issue having been now distinctly made between freedom and the extention of slavery into the territories, Lincoln and Douglas, the leaders of the Free-soil and Democratic parties, became more than ever antagonized. The con- fiet between freedom and slavery now became earnest, fierce and violent, beyond all previous political controversies. and from this time on, Lincoln plead the cause of liberty with an energy, ability and eloquence, which rapidly gained for him a national reputation. From this time on, through the tremendous struggle, it was he who grasped the helm and led his party to victory. Conscious of a great cause, inspired by a gener- ous love of liberty, and animated by the moral sublimity of his great theme, he proclaimed his determination, ever thereafter, 'to speak for free- dom, and against slavery, until everywhere the sun shall shine, the rain shall fall, and the wind blow upon no man who goes forth to unrequited to 1.'

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History of Sangamon County, Illinois, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 79

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, Inter-state publishing company Number of Pages: 1084

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Inter-state publishing company
Number of Pages: 1084