Author: David J. Kent

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler, scientist, and Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of books on Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, and Abraham Lincoln. His website is www.davidjkent-writer.com.
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Lincoln Group of DC – COVID News

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Lincoln Group of DCBack in mid-July, I was happy to report that the Lincoln Group of DC was going back to live, in-person, programming. What a difference a couple of months makes. As readers will already have seen, our October meeting with Ron White, originally planned as a big in-person luncheon shindig complete with special surprises, is not going to happen. Ron has rightfully reconsidered his travel to the east coast because of the pandemic. Instead, Ron will give us a virtual presentation on October 19th.

While we expected the COVID pandemic to have weakened as people received the free and easy to obtain vaccines, the reality is that too many people remain unvaccinated. Because of that, COVID cases have again increased.

This fact has led the Lincoln Group Board to reevaluate our plans. As of now, the Lincoln Group will continue with virtual, Zoom-based lecture meetings for the rest of this year [See details below]. We are scheduled for our annual joint, in-person, meeting with the Civil War Roundtable of the District of Columbia (CWRTDC) in February 2022. That is now expected to be our first in-person meeting. If pandemic conditions allow, we will continue with in-person meetings after that time.

The situation remains fluid, so we appreciate your patience. Please keep checking back to our Lincolnian.org website for updates.

The switch to Zoom-based virtual meetings does have its advantages. There are two huge benefits of going virtual:

  • We could reach our members now spread across the United States

  • We could attract stellar speakers previously unavailable to us because of the costs of distance or scheduling limitations

But we also miss our live social interactions. As we move forward, we plan to continue with a schedule of both virtual and in-person meetings. Both take time and finances to undertake, and donations and volunteers are always welcome. Your support is critical to the continuing, and expanding, role of the Lincoln Group of DC (including plans for a Lincoln Memorial Centennial event in May 2022). [There’s a “Donate” button on the top right of this page. Any amount is appreciated. Feel free to make it a continuing donation.]

So as of now, here is our expected schedule of events. Put them on your calendar!

September 21: James Oakes on The Crooked Path to Abolition [Zoom – RSVP here]

September 25: Our Annual Tour and Picnic Returns! See this post for details!

October 19: Ron White on Lincoln in Private [Zoom – RSVP here]

November 14-19: We’ll see you at the Lincoln Forum in Gettysburg!

December 7: Was Lincoln Audacious, or Cautious? A special Zoom event where the Lincoln Group will debate Lincoln’s modus operandi.

January 2022: To be determined [Zoom]

February 2022: Joint meeting with the CWRTDC featuring Allen Guelzo and Michael Burlingame! [Expected to be In-Person]

March 2022: Abraham Lincoln Institute Symposium at Ford’s Theatre [In-Person]

April 2022: To be determined [In-Person, Maggiano’s]

May 2022: Lincoln Memorial Centennial commemoration with the National Park Service on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial

September 2022: Book Launch Party!

We hope to add some additional special events, so keep checking back here!

David Kent is the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America (Fall River Press: New York, 2017) and is the president of the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia (ed).

[Originally published on Lincolnian.org]

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Abraham Lincoln On Malpractice and Chicken Bones

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Lloyd Ostenforf drawingOn September 10, 1856, Abraham Lincoln wrote an affidavit in a medical malpractice case that involved chicken bones. It was the first medical malpractice case in McLean County.

A small number, less than one percent, of Lincoln’s cases required management of medical expert witnesses. He participated in at least thirty-nine medical-related cases, plus many of his forty-four murder cases needed such expertise. In this case, Lincoln creatively used chicken bones. Samuel Fleming suffered two broken legs when the chimney of a house fell on him during a raging fire in Bloomington, Illinois. Physicians Thomas Rogers and Eli Crothers set the severely damaged bones, saving both legs against the odds. Unfortunately, the right leg healed crooked and slightly shorter than the left. Rogers and Crothers agreed to reset the crooked right leg but Fleming stopped them midway complaining of unendurable pain. He then sued the doctors for malpractice. Defending the doctors, Lincoln demonstrated the difference in pliability between young and old bones using chicken bones. He argued that the doctors could have used the normal remedy for such damage by amputating both legs, but Fleming insisted on saving them.

As with so many cases, this one eventually resulted in a settlement, but Lincoln showed that he understood basic medical principles and could be creative in communicating them to a jury.

On this date in 1863, Lincoln was also involved in a medical case of a sort. He sent Dr. John Gray to Norfolk, Virginia to examine and collect evidence on the sanity or insanity of Dr. David Wright. Wright was a Unionist who stayed in Norfolk when the war started, but one day in June he encountered a column of U.S. Colored Troops (USCT) led by a white officer, Lt. Alanson Sanborn. Angry over the presence of black troops, Wright began yelling at them to leave. Sanborn ordered Wright to leave, but instead, Wright pulled his pistol and shot Sanborn, killing him. Wright pleaded temporary insanity (which had worked for Congressman Dan Sickles). Lincoln asked Gray to determine the case. Wright was found sane, convicted by a military commission, and hanged.

Without prejudice or malpractice.

[Adapted from my forthcoming Lincoln book, due out in 2022]

[Graphic is a Lloyd Ostendorf print]

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Lincoln and the Lost Townships Rebecca Letters…or Not

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Rebecca letter snippetI see you printed that long letter I sent you a spell ago—I’m quite encouraged by it, and can’t keep from writing again.

So begins the second letter of a series that has come to be known as the Lost Townships or the “Rebecca” letters since they were signed off on by that name. Lincoln wrote the second “Rebecca” letter, published in the Sangamo Journal on September 2, 1842. Eventually these letters would lead Lincoln into a duel with James Shields. But did he really write them?

He clearly wrote this second letter. He effectively admitted it as such during the ensuing imbroglio. But the first of the “Rebecca” letters was published in the Journal on August 19, 1842. Despite Lincoln’s letter taking credit for it, he almost certainly didn’t write the first letter. Most likely it was written by the same person who wrote an earlier series of letters from “Lost Townships,” which were printed in the Journal on February 10, May 5, May 26, and September 15, 1838, a full four years previously. There is no reliable evidence that Lincoln had anything to do with the earlier series of letters. Lincoln claims only to have written the second letter quoted above.

The letters didn’t stop there, however, and this is where it gets dicey. A week after Lincoln’s letter, on September 9, 1842, two more letters signed by “Rebecca” appeared in the Journal. The first, dated August 29, was fairly mild, but the second, dated September 8, was a more offensive personal attack on James Shields, the Illinois State Auditor, who was caught up in a controversy over acceptance of the State Bank bills for tax payments. This latter letter was written by Mary Todd and her friend Julia Jayne.

Keep in mind that Lincoln and Mary Todd had previously been engaged, only to have their engagement suddenly end in January 1841 when, presumably, Lincoln got cold feet. They had secretly begun courting again some time in 1842 and would suddenly be married on November 4th, shortly after the letters appeared in print.

This last letter, along with a piece of doggerel signed “Cathleen,” which was printed in the Journal on September 16th, likely was the catalyst for James Shields’ fury. He rushed to the Journal‘s editor, Simeon Francis, and demanded to know who wrote the letters. In an act of chivalry, or something, Lincoln allowed Francis to tell Shields it was Lincoln, even though Lincoln had only written one of them, and certainly not the most offensive one.

The letters had caused quite an uproar in Springfield, whose populace in the still-small town capital relied on any spicy news for entertainment. Feeling ridiculed, with his vanity assailed, Shields challenged Lincoln to a duel. Dueling was illegal in Illinois, so it eventually was scheduled to be held on Bloody Island, a sort of no-mans-land in the middle of the Mississippi River.

Needless to say, both Lincoln and Shields survived the incident. Shields went on to serve as Senator for three different states (the only person to do so), and Lincoln went on to save the Union and end slavery.

But that’s only half the story. For the rest, you’ll have to wait just a little longer.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

 

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Mrs. Lincoln’s Corsets, and Other Abraham Lincoln News

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Mary LincolnOn this auspicious date in 1844, Mrs. Lincoln bought material to make corsets. Six yards of “gimp,” which was a strong twisted silk, wool, or cotton (not to be confused with the plastic form of gimp I used in Boy Scouts), along with ample amounts of lace. Presumably she already had whalebone or simply used over-starched fabric for stiffness. As critical as this was for containing the spreading remnants of Robert’s birth the previous year, this was only one of many important events happening on this day in Lincoln’s life.

August 26th seemed to be a good day for speeches. In 1844, a 35-year-old first term Congressman Abraham Lincoln spoke at the Rough and Ready Club in Rockville, Maryland. In 1852, Lincoln rebutted Stephen A. Douglas’s speech at the Scott Club in Springfield, Illinois. In 1854, Lincoln gives his first speech on the Kansas-Nebraska Act at the Whig Party Convention in Winchester, Illinois. The local paper reports “His . . . masterly effort . . . was replete with unanswerable arguments, which must and will effectually tell at the coming election.” In 1858, Lincoln gets an ambrotype photograph taken in Macomb, IL, before heading out to Amboy, where he makes a short speech that night.

President Lincoln turns to writing in 1863. He declines an invitation to speak in Springfield, IL, noting that such a trip was impossible in the midst of the Civil War. Writing was has become a famous letter to James C. Conkling, he lays out his rationales for his actions to save the Union:

There are those who are dissatisfied with me. To such I would say: You desire peace; and you blame me that we do not have it. But how can we attain it? There are but three conceivable ways. First, to suppress the rebellion by force of arms. This, I am trying to do. Are you for it? If you are, so far we are agreed. If you are not for it, a second way is, to give up the Union. I am against this.

He also called out those white men who disdain his emancipation measures, noting:

Peace does not appear so distant as it did. I hope it will come soon, and come to stay; and so come as to be worth the keeping in all future time. It will then have been proved that, among free men, there can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet; and that they who take such appeal are sure to lose their case, and pay the cost. And then, there will be some black men who can remember that, with silent tongue, and clenched teeth, and steady eye, and well-poised bayonet, they have helped mankind on to this great consummation; while, I fear, there will be some white ones, unable to forget that, with malignant heart, and deceitful speech, they have strove to hinder it.

This day also brings some personal news related to my forthcoming book and my role as president of the Lincoln Group of DC.

Regarding my book, I’ve been waiting for the publisher to get back to me with edits, expecting that the book would be released around February of 2022. I’m now told that the release date has been scheduled for September 2022. This changes my planning considerably. In the interim, I’ve decided to move forward with another book I’ve been working on related to a dialogue I had last year on Confederate monuments. I’ll have more information on that one soon, but I hope to publish it on the Amazon framework by the end of this year.

The Lincoln Group of DC has also been active. In October, I’ll be joined by immediate past-president John O’Brien and distant past-president Ed Steers in teaching a course on Abraham Lincoln via Encore Learning. We’ll be tackling Lincoln’s Youth (Ed), Lincoln as Politician (Me), Lincoln as Commander-in-Chief (Me), and Emancipation and Legacy (John). Here is more detailed information about the course. More info about Encore Learning.

The Lincoln Group is also planning for the Centennial of the Lincoln Memorial. Dedicated in 1922, the 100th anniversary will be celebrated with an entire month of programs in May 2022. The Lincoln Group will have a ceremony with music, speakers, and much more on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. We’ll also be sponsoring Lincoln-associated events with the American Film Institute in Silver Spring, MD, a possible discussion on the Memorial and the Civil Rights movement with the National Archives, and a possible luncheon with speakers at the Willard Hotel. Keep up on the plans via our new Lincolnian.org website.

[Photo from Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9702761]

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Lincoln Witnesses the Coffee Mill Gun in Action

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Coffee mill gunOn August 17, 1861, Abraham Lincoln witnessed an exhibition of what Lincoln dubbed the “coffee mill gun.” Lincoln was always pushing for modernized weaponry beyond the standard muskets, which were inaccurate and slow to reload. He pushed Ordinance Chief James Ripley to put into service various breechloaders, rifles, carbines, and repeaters.

Another type of advanced weapon that Lincoln promoted was the multi-shot guns we might refer to as “machine guns.” Technically called the “Union Repeating Gun” by its salesman J.D. Mills, Lincoln dubbed one the “coffee-mill” gun due to its resemblance to that faithful brewer of morning sustenance. A single barrel was fed by bullets dropped into a hopper, then fired using a hand crank mounted on the rear. In August of 1861, Lincoln wrote Ripley: “If ten of the repeating guns, of the pattern exhibited to me this morning, by Mr. Mills, near the Washington Monument in this City, shall be well made, and furnished to the government of the U.S. within, or about thirty days from this date, I advise that the government pay for them double the sum which good mechanics of that class shall say the material, and labor of making and delivering here are worth.” Getting further concurrence of General McClellan on the potential usefulness in battle, in December Lincoln told Ripley to “let the fifty guns be ordered.”

Lincoln never stopped looking for better versions of weapons he had pushed. In the middle of 1862 Lincoln showed he understood the mechanics of repeating weapons in a letter to Stanton: “I have examined and seen tried the “Raphael Repeater” and consider it a decided improvement upon what was called the ‘Coffee Mill Gun’ in…that it is better arranged to prevent the escape of gas.” Later in the war, another repeating weapon was introduced by Dr. Richard Gatling. He claimed that “it is regarded, by all who have seen it operate, as the most effective implement of warfare invented during the war, and it is just the thing needed to aid in crushing the present rebellion” (underlining in original). To ensure no confusion with what he saw an inferior product, “I assure you my invention is no ‘coffee mill gun.’” Rather than a single barrel, the Gatling had six barrels capable of firing up to 350 rounds a minute. Repeating weapons of varying types were employed occasionally during the war, for example at Middleburg in 1862, but typically these pieces were limited to guarding locations such as bridges, being too unwieldy for infantry movements.

But Lincoln’s push for new technology went far beyond individual guns. More on that soon.

[Adapted from my forthcoming book, due out in early 2022]

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Abraham Lincoln Meets with Frederick Douglass

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Lincoln Douglass DebateOn August 10, 1863, Abraham Lincoln met with Frederick Douglass in the White House. Douglass had arrived unannounced, accompanied by Kansas Senator Samuel Pomeroy. They found the waiting room filled with people seeking an audience with the president, so Douglass, dressed in a dark suit on this sweltering August morning, assumed he would have a long wait. Instead, Lincoln’s secretary John Hay came quickly out to greet him and usher him into the inner sanctum.

Douglass described the meeting in his memoir:

“I entered [the room] with a moderate estimate of my own consequence, and yet there I was to talk with, and even to advise, the head man of a great nation. Happily for me, there was no vine pomp and ceremony about him. I never was so quickly or more completely put at ease in the presence of a great man, than in that of Abraham Lincoln….The room bore the marks of business, and the persons in it, the president included, appeared to be much overworked and tired.”

After describing the “long lines of care” already “deeply written on Mr. Lincoln’s brow,” Douglass writes that:

“As I approached and was introduced to him, he rose and extended his hand, and bade me welcome. I at once felt myself in the presence of an honest man – one whom I could love, honor, and trust without reserve or doubt.”

Douglass then told him of the object of his visit, which was to assist in the raising of African American troops for the war effort, an option now available after the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863. Douglass reported that Lincoln “listened with patience and silence to all that I had to say.” He asked pertinent questions and answered Douglass’s complaints with respect and honesty.

John Hay notes the meeting in his diary, adding that Douglass “intends to go south and help the recruiting among his people.” Later that day, Lincoln endorsed the idea as set forth in a letter signed by Secretary of the Interior and Senator Pomeroy indicated that Douglass is “a loyal, free, man, and is, hence, entitled to travel, unmolested. We trust he will be recognized everywhere, as a free man, and a gentleman.” The trip fell through for lack of a commission and intransigence among military leaders, but three of Douglass’s sons served in the Union army.

Douglass would visit Lincoln twice more in the White House. The final time was on the day of Lincoln’s second inaugural speech, which Douglass professed to be “a sacred effort.”

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Lincoln Wins Seat in Illinois State Legislature

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Candidate LincolnOn August 4, 1834, at the age of 25, Abraham Lincoln was elected to the Illinois State Legislature. This was two years after he ran the first time – and lost.

After failing at his first attempt at political office, Lincoln fell into co-ownership of the store that would later wink out. When the election of 1834 came around, he again ran for the state legislature. This time he took advantage of the wanderings facilitated by his postmaster and surveying duties to meet as many voters in the county as possible. His Black Hawk War service had also given him important contacts, including leading attorneys John Todd Stuart, John Hardin, Edward Baker, and Joseph Gillespie.

Once again, Lincoln supported the Whig position of internal improvements, a strong central bank, protective tariffs, and readily available public education. He favored construction of a canal between Beardstown and the Sangamon River, which would improve health conditions by eliminating stagnant pools and create a way for New Salem–area farmers to transport produce to the Illinois River, their primary route to eastern and southern markets. Mostly, however, Lincoln focused on making himself better known in the county.

On one occasion, in Island Grove, Lincoln came upon a group of men harvesting crops. They told him he would gain their support if he helped with their work. “Well, boys,” Lincoln said, “if that is all then I am assured of your votes…” He then picked up some tools, and jumped in to help for several hours. He got their votes.

Lincoln was in his element, touring on horseback the farms spread around the county, telling humorous stories and chatting about the farmer’s hopes and dreams, crops and planting practices, and the schools their children attended. Because of his own experience on farms he could ingratiate himself with all manner of potential voters, from rich to poor. He also had an affinity for children, often picking them up and telling jokes to keep them happy while he conversed with everyone in the family. All of this retail campaigning worked in his favor; Lincoln won 1,375 votes, the second-highest total of any of the candidates. Fellow canvasser and Black Hawk War Major John T. Stuart also won a seat. Lincoln was reelected in 1836, 1838, and 1840, serving eight years in the legislature over four terms. He later noted that “members of the legislature got four dollars a day, and four dollars a day was more than I had ever earned in my life.” He was about to become one of the leading Whigs in the state of Illinois.

[Adapted from Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America]

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Lincoln Calls for Higher Pay for Women During the Civil War

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Washington Arsenal memorial, Congressional CemeteryOn July 27, 1864, Abraham Lincoln called on Edwin Stanton to increase the pay of women working in the cause of the Civil War. He wrote:

“I know not how much is within the legal power of the government in this case; but it is certainly true in equity, that the laboring women in our employment, should be paid at the least as much as they were at the beginning of the war. Will the Secretary of War please have the case fully examined, and so much relief given as can be consistently with the law and the public service.”

This endorsement was on the back of a letter he had received from Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin, a strong supporter of Lincoln and the Union war effort. He was the principal force behind establishment of a National Cemetery at Gettysburg following the 1863 battle won by Pennsylvanian General George Meade. Curtin had forwarded to Lincoln a petition highlighting the plight of “twenty thousand working women of Philadelphia,” which noted:

“At the breaking out of the rebellion that is now deluging our land with blood, and which for a time threatened the destruction of the Nation, the prices paid at the United States Arsenal in this city were barely sufficient to enable the women engaged upon Government work to earn a scanty respectable subsistence. Since the period referred to, board, provisions, and all other articles of female consumption, have advanced to such an extent as to make an average of at least seventy-five per cent.,—while woman’s labor has been reduced thirty per cent. What need of argument? To an intelligent mind, the result must be apparent; and it is perhaps superfluous to say, that it has produced great suffering, privation, and, in many instances, actual hunger. Such, however, is the truth.”

The petition asked that “To alleviate this misery, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and house the houseless, we appeal to those in authority for a just and reasonable compensation for our labor.” They wanted a raise.

Curtin thought the request was “just and reasonable.”

Lincoln agreed. He had recently attended the burial of 21 women killed in the Washington Arsenal explosion that occurred on June 17, 1864, so Lincoln knew well the dangerous conditions women worked under to support the war effort.

The petition went further than a simple pay raise. It pointed out how the procurement system depressed prices paid to the arsenal while enriching the men with cozy connections to the halls of power.

“We also desire to call your attention to the fact, that there are a large number of men in this city who are making immense fortunes off the Government by their contracts; and who, instead of entering into an honorable competition as to who is willing to work for the smallest profit, seem to go upon the principle, who can pay the lowest prices. We ask you to so modify the contract system as to make it obligatory upon every person taking a contract to pay the Arsenal prices for making the articles for which they put in their bids. This would remedy the evil effectually.”

The petition, and Lincoln’s endorsement of higher pay, highlighted the tremendous contributions of women during the war, much as they contributed during each war in our nation’s history. They demonstrated through action that women were perfectly capable of participating in the work force. Today, of course, it has become a virtual necessity for women to work, as two-income families are the norm. Women still get less pay for the same work as men, so despite addressing the point more than 150 years ago, the struggle remains for equal pay under the law.

[Photo: Washington Arsenal Memorial, Congressional Cemetery, Washington DC, by David J. Kent, 2018]

David J. Kent is the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America. His newest Lincoln book is scheduled for release in February 2022. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Follow me for updates on my Facebook author page and Goodreads.

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Abraham Lincoln, College Guy?

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Illinois College Lincoln statueFamously, Abraham Lincoln wrote that he the “aggregate of all his schooling did not amount to one year.” He added that he “was never in a college or Academy as a student; and never inside of a college or academy building til since he had a law-license.” And yet, Lincoln is a college guy, of sorts.

Lincoln’s formal schooling was “by littles.” As was common on the frontier, children attended school only during the winter months – after the fall harvest and before the spring planting. That is, if there was a teacher available, usually by subscription. Teachers were scarce despite no qualifications beyond “readin, writin, and cipherin’ to the Rule of Three.” The state of education on the frontier was so limited that “if a straggler supposed to understand Latin, happened to so-journ in the neighborhood, he was looked upon as a wizzard.” Of course, Lincoln did what he could to “pick up from time to time under the pressure of necessity” any other education. To give him proper credit, that included teaching himself English grammar, Euclid geometry, surveying, and the law. No small achievements.

But he never went to college. To become a lawyer on the frontier, all he needed to do was pass an oral exam (done informally while walking with his mentor) and have someone vouch for his personal character (done by another mentor). He joked that the only time he walked the halls of college was during the Lincoln-Douglas debate in Galesburg, Illinois, held on the campus of Knox College. To reach the platform Lincoln, Douglas, and other dignitaries needed to enter the building and crawl out a window. The self-taught Lincoln, according to tradition, noted that “At last I have gone through…college.”

All this said, because of his life’s work, Lincoln has been awarded several honorary degrees. Two years after he debated Douglas on its campus, Knox College awarded Lincoln an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1860. The following year, Columbia College (now Columbia University) awarded him the Doctor of Laws, as did the College of New Jersey (now Princeton) in 1864. More recently, Illinois College in Jacksonville, Illinois, awarded an honorary Bachelor of Arts degree in 2009 concurrent with the dedication of a statue of Lincoln. Lincoln’s law partner, William Herndon, is an alumnus of the College.

Lincoln’s son Robert attended Harvard College (now Harvard University), graduating in 1864. He attended Harvard Law School from September 1864 to January 1865, but dropped out to join the army as an aide to General Ulysses S. Grant. Never returning, Robert was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1893.

So yes, Abraham Lincoln, College Guy.

 

[Photo: Lincoln statue on campus of Illinois College, by David J. Kent 2019]

David J. Kent is the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America. His newest Lincoln book is scheduled for release in February 2022. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Follow me for updates on my Facebook author page and Goodreads.

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Lincoln named “Best Lincoln Biography for Young People”

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Reading Lincoln book cover

 

 

Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, which was published by Fall River Press in 2017, has been named “Best Lincoln Biography for Young People” by Tom Peet and David Keck, authors of Reading Lincoln.

I’m back from my post-manuscript submission break. I took a week to decompress, which turned into a week of long-haul driving and visiting with family. I hadn’t seen my immediate family for over a year. I also met up with extended family and one friend I hadn’t seen since I was about 20 (in one case, probably a young teenager).

Immediately upon my return (driving through a tropical storm, no less), I ordered the Peet and Keck book. I had bought the first edition when it came out several years ago. The current volume is listed as the 3rd Edition, but Tom tells me that this edition as actually been revised six times since it was released. It now is a whopping 766 pages containing 550 reviews of books about Abraham Lincoln. I read a ton of Lincoln books – 25 to 35 a year – but this volume is an amazing achievement in itself. Unlike some reviewers who skim books, Peet and Keck read deeply into each book and write insightful reviews. I can appreciate their effort since I take copious notes on most Lincoln books I read and write book reviews for The Lincolnian (the Lincoln Group of DC newsletter) and the Lincoln Herald, as well as for Civil War Times and other outlets.

In their review, Peet notes that with the book I have “accomplished something never done before,” adding that I have “created the Swiss-army knife of Lincoln biographies and much, much more.” In reaching their recommendation as the best biography for young people, Tom notes “there are pictures, pictures, and more pictures. Hundreds of them (paintings, lithographs, newspapers, maps, tintypes, sketches).” He ends the review with:

“There is nothing like this book on the market and I highly recommend it.”

Tom also notes in his review a few lines that he thinks could be controversial, and indeed, two or three readers have referenced the same short paragraph near the end of the book. I’ve addressed this point before, and plan to revisit it a future post, but Tom notes that what I argue is “objectively true.”

The Peet and Keck volume, of course, reviews more than my book. With over 1,500 Lincoln books on my shelves as I write this, I’m eager to see how many they have reviewed that I’m missing. This volume is a wonderful resource to check before buying new Lincoln books. Tom mentions that its size has reached a maximum capacity for binding, but I’m hopeful he’ll start a new volume containing only books not already included in this edition. He can include my forthcoming book, tentatively due out in February 2022. More on that soon.

David J. Kent is the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America. His newest Lincoln book is scheduled for release in February 2022. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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