Category: Abraham Lincoln

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Lincoln Applies for a Patent

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Abraham Lincoln is the only president ever to get a patent, for “an improved method of getting vessels over shoals.” He submitted his patent application on March 10, 1849. It was approved two months later. The story leading up to the patent had begun years ago.

Soon after moving to Illinois at the age of 21, Lincoln took his second flatboat trip to New Orleans. Early in the trip his flatboat found itself stuck on the New Salem mill dam. A heroic and ingenious escape involving a bored hole in the bow of the boat put him back on his way. He was so enamored with the people of New Salem that he moved there upon his return.

Lincoln Patent Model

Years later the lawyer Lincoln tried several patent cases. He also served a term in the U.S. Congress. After his first session in Congress he toured New England campaigning for Zachary Taylor as the Whig nominee for president. Lincoln then took a roundabout route past Niagara Falls and through the Great Lakes by steamship, and along the newly opened Illinois and Michigan Canal on his way back to Springfield. While passing through the Detroit River he witnessed another steamboat stuck on a shoal. The captain ordered crew to jam logs, boards, barrels, and anything else floatable under the hull of the ship. It worked, and the ship was able to free itself from the obstruction.

Always observant, Lincoln noted this effort and upon arriving back to his legal practice in Springfield started sketching out a method for rectifying the problem. Lincoln’s invention “combine[d] adjustable buoyant air chambers with a steam boat for the purpose of enabling their draught of water to be readily lessened to enable them to pass over bars, or through shallow water, without discharging their cargoes.” With the help of a local woodworker he constructed a wooden model. He also hired a patent lawyer in Washington to help him prepare the application.

Lincoln Patent Drawing

He received Patent No. 6469. The system was never put to practical use, but it demonstrated Lincoln’s analytical mind and interest in technology, skills that often came into place in his court cases.

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 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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Cooper Union – The Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln President

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Lincoln at Cooper UnionOn February 27, 1860, a tall, lanky lawyer from Illinois gave a speech at a place called Cooper Union in New York City. The speech would make Abraham Lincoln president. Sounds a bit hyperbolic to say such a thing, and there were many other factors that contributed to Lincoln’s success that election season, but the speech did more to make his name in eastern society than any other event.

While Lincoln was renowned in Illinois, his stories and jokes the highlight of the Eighth Judicial Circuit, he was virtually unknown in the rest of the country. In early 1860 his name was not on anyone’s lips as a possible nominee for the Republican party. And then came Cooper Union.

Lincoln had been invited to speak at Henry Ward Beecher’s church in Brooklyn. He spent months researching his topic in preparation, only to find after arriving in New York that the event had been moved to the larger Cooper Union building in Manhattan. Retouching his speech for a more connected political audience, he stood up on the stage and began with his surprisingly high-pitched voice, which warmed up to a commanding presence after a few minutes.

Eminent Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer in his book, Lincoln at Cooper Union, describes the painstaking research and effort Lincoln put in to prepare for the most important speech of his life. He parses the intricate language of the 90-minute speech, then goes into its structure – three main sections.

The first section provides a historical accounting of the founder’s beliefs regarding slavery. And by accounting I mean in the literal sense, counting up the various votes and statements of the founders as indications of their views on slavery. In short, they didn’t approve of slavery (even though many were slaveholders) but as slavery already was firmly entrenched, they saw not how to eliminate it in one fell swoop. So they opted for a piecemeal approach under the, perhaps naïve, belief that slavery would die under its own immoral weight. Lincoln documents this in great detail.

In the second section, Lincoln directs his words at the people of the South. “You say you are conservative…while we are revolutionary, destructive, or something of the sort. What is conservative? Is it not adherence to the old and tried, against the new and untried?” Lincoln notes that being conservative would mean adhering to the beliefs of the founders that slavery was wrong and inconsistent with a nation where “all men are created equal.”

In his final section, the shortest, he asserts that Republicans cannot relinquish their principle that slavery is wrong just to placate the South. He ends with words that have become as famous as his later Gettysburg Address:

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.

As one looks back on this speech 159 years later we see how Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party were progressive in their views while remaining true to the Declaration that “all men are created equal.” Southern Democrats of the age were the conservatives in that they sought to preserve an aristocracy-based Southern society where a few rich plantation owners controlled an economy based on inequality.

Oh how the parties have switched places in the intervening years to get us to today.

All Americans would benefit from reading the full Cooper Union speech and learning more about this singular era in American history.

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 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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Willie Lincoln’s Tragic Death Leads to Advances in Embalming Sciences

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Willie LincolnWilliam Wallace Lincoln, “Willie,” died of typhoid fever on February 20, 1862. President Abraham Lincoln and his wife Mary Lincoln were devastated. Willie’s younger brother Tad was also afflicted, but would live. This personal tragedy on top of the ongoing Civil War was almost too much to bear for both of them; Mary would never completely recover. But Willie’s death, and those of 700,000 soldiers during the Civil War, also ushered in advances in the embalming sciences.

Called in to care for the body, the Charles D. Brown and Joseph B. Alexander undertaking firm embalmed Willie Lincoln using a new process. Their senior employee, Henry Platt Cattell did the actual embalming, as well as that for President Lincoln three years later.

The process of embalming was relatively new. Generally the blood was drained from the body, although it wasn’t necessary in all cases to do so. In Willie’s (and Abraham’s) case, blood was drained through the jugular vein in the neck, while the embalming fluid was pumped into the body via the femoral artery in the thigh. There were several recipes for the embalming fluid. Zinc chloride was the most common preservative, often made by dissolving strips of zine sheets in hydrochloric acid. The fluid slowed down the degradation process, thus preserving the appearance of the body for a longer period of time.

Because of the ongoing Civil War, Willie Lincoln was interred in Oak Hill Cemetery in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC. He remained in the Carroll family mausoleum until Lincoln’s assassination, after which Willie’s body accompanied that of the fallen President on the train back to Springfield, Illinois, where both were interred in Oak Ridge Cemetery. Later, all the Lincolns except Robert were laid to rest in the Lincoln Tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery. Because of his brief Civil War military service and his long service to subsequent presidents, Robert’s tomb is in Arlington National Cemetery across the river from the Lincoln Memorial.

Interestingly, the Carroll family mausoleum, long forgotten as the temporary location of Willie’s body, has one again become a tourist destination following the 2017 publication of Lincoln in the Bardo, a novel by George Saunders. The book takes place in the Oak Hill Cemetery, where Lincoln visits the site of his son’s tomb. The “bardo” is an intermediate space between life and rebirth; the book features conversations with various specters dealing with their sudden deaths, all watching Lincoln’s overwhelming grief.

Prior to the Civil War, those who died were buried quickly to avoid the nastiness of decomposing bodies. Because of advances made in the art and science of embalming during the Civil War and after, led by the work of Dr. Thomas Holmes, it became standard practice to preserve the dead so that they may make the long trips home for proper burial by their families. When Lincoln himself was embalmed, Dr. Brown remained with the funeral train through its winding route from Washington to Springfield, making necessary touchups along the way to preserve Lincoln as much as possible for the grieving populace. To many, we still grieve today, asking ourselves and those around us – What would Lincoln do?

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 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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Annual Wreath Laying at the Lincoln Memorial for Lincoln’s Birthday

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Today is Abraham Lincoln’s birthday! Born in 1809, this year would have been Lincoln’s 210th birthday. And as is customary, there is a wreath laying at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

I’ve been privileged to represent the Lincoln Group of DC for the last three years to lay our wreath, which joins wreaths from other Lincoln organizations across the nation. Someone else will have those duties this year because of my travel schedule, but it’s an honor I’ll never forget.

Joining me in the video is Wendy Swanson, the editor of the Lincolnian newsletter for the Lincoln Group of DC.

Lincoln Memorial Wreath LayingIf you aren’t already a member, please consider joining the Lincoln Group of DC. We have members all over the country. For those who are local to the District of Columbia, we have monthly dinner meetings featuring well-known authors and Lincoln scholars, run at least one Civil War battlefield tour a year, have an engaging monthly book study group, and a host of other events and meetings. The Lincolnian newsletter comes out quarterly and includes news about the group as well as scholarly articles about Abraham Lincoln.

Check out the website at http://lincolngroup.org/

 

Pre-order Lincoln: The Fire of Genius now on Amazon and Barnes and Noble (click on the respective links to pre-order). The price is likely to drop before the final shipment, and any pre-orders will automatically get charged the lower price at fulfillment. Pre-ordering now helps the publisher get a sense of the interest, which could mean a bigger print run. So please go ahead and pre-order without worries. While you’re there, check out my other books.

The book is also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. That will also ensure you get informed of the release date AND will let you try for one of ten free hardcover copies of the book that I’ll be giving away this summer. I’ll also be giving away as many as a hundred e-books. [The book will also be put out on audio]

You also follow my author page on Facebook.

I’ll have much more about the book over the next few months, so join my mailing list here to keep informed.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America. 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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My Book Review in Civil War Times Magazine

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Last year my book, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, was reviewed by Jonathan W. White in Civil War Times, the preeminent Civil War magazine. And now I’ve written a book review that is published in the most recent issue of Civil War Times.

The book I reviewed is called Leadership in Turbulent Times and is written by noted presidential scholar Doris Kearns Goodwin. 

My CWT ReviewMost people of heard of Doris Kearns Goodwin from her bestselling book, Team of Rivals, about Abraham Lincoln picking many of his political rivals to key cabinet positions. Initially well sold, it got a huge boost after then-candidate Barack Obama was seen carrying it on the campaign trail prior to his 2008 election, then again when Obama picked his rival Hillary Clinton to be Secretary of State, much like Lincoln put William Seward in that position. Another boost came from Steven Spielberg’s movie, Lincoln, which was based on a tiny part of Goodwin’s book.

Goodwin has written several other biographies of American presidents, including Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and her one-time boss, Lyndon Johnson. She draws on all of these to extract leadership qualities exhibited by the four men, each of whom faced significant crises during their terms as president.

As I note in the review, she parses out each man’s characteristics separately and doesn’t explicitly compare their leadership traits. It becomes clear that each man was different in how they led, with these differences reflective both of their own personalities and the needs of the times they lived in. It’s an interesting book from which readers should gain a lot of thoughtful insight.

This is my first published book review in a national magazine, although not my first published book review. Since late 2015 I’ve published two dozen book reviews in The Lincolnian, the quarterly newsletter of the Lincoln Group of DC. There are many more reviews to come, including one for a book sent to me by the publisher that will appear in the next issue. I also hope to do more book reviews in Civil War Times and other national magazines. In addition, I’ll be pitching some article ideas that I hope will garner interest.

Up to this point my main writing focus has been on books, but my goals for 2019 include writing more magazine articles and entering more writing contests. This review of Goodwin’s book counts towards the former and I’ve already entered one contest (I’ll know if I made the cut by the end of the month).

If you haven’t seen Jonathan W. White’s review of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, here is a photo of the page in Civil War Times. You can read more about the review in this previous article.

Jonathan White review of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved AmericaDavid 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 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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Thomas, Abraham Lincoln’s Father, Dies Today in 1851

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Abraham Lincoln seems to have had a falling out with his father later in life, rarely visiting once he had a family of his own. When Thomas passed away at the age of 73, Abraham was home tending to a sick wife and his rambunctious boys. Thomas died on January 17, 1851.

I recently visited Thomas Lincoln’s gravesite near Lerna, Illinois. Today there is a beautiful headstone marker noting Thomas Lincoln and his second wife, Lincoln’s stepmother, Sarah Bush Lincoln. It guards a small fenced area that also includes small individual markers at the foot of each of their graves.

Originally the Gordon Burial Ground, then the Shiloh Cemetery, and now called the Thomas Lincoln Cemetery, the gravesite sits next to the Shiloh Presbyterian Church on the way to the Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site. Abraham Lincoln visited his father’s grave shortly before heading to Washington to be inaugurated as our 16th president.

He would not have seen a grave marker. Likely no more than a rock marked the site at the time, a nephew said that Abraham placed a board with the initials T.L. during his visit. Whether that story is true or not, a permanent gravestone was not erected until 1880 after donations by local friends and Robert Todd Lincoln.

But that isn’t the end of the story, for the gravestone erected then is not the one passersby see today, unless they pay attention. The beautiful grey headstone most obvious to visitors was installed in 1924 by the Illinois Lions Club, with the two smaller footstones donated by the Kiwanis Club a year later. The more unassuming original marker sits in its own wrought iron fenced area about 50 yards from the modern marker. This small spire had been slowly chipped away by tourists seeking souvenirs, hence the need for a surrogate stone. A “Looking for Lincoln” sign sits in the small parking lot in back of the church, and only its readers are tipped off to the location of the original gravestone.

Thomas Lincoln grave, Lerna, IllinoisGeorge Balch, a local farmer and poet who knew Thomas and Sarah Lincoln, wrote a poem years later to bring public attention to the neglected condition of the grave. A portion graces the waymarker sign; the following presents the entire poem.

I
In a low, sweet vale, by a murmuring rill,
The pioneer’s ashes are sleeping.
Where the white marble slabs are so lonely and still,
In the silence their vigil are keeping.

II
On their sad, lonely faces are words of fame,
But none of them speak of his glory,
When the pioneer died, his age and his name,
No monument whispers the story.

III
No myrtle, nor ivy, nor hyacinth blows,
O’er the lonely grave where they laid him;
No cedar, nor holly, nor almond tree grows
Near the plebian’s grave to shade him.

IV
Bright evergreens wave over many a grave
O’er some bow the sad weeping willow,
But no willow trees nor evergreens wave
Where the pioneer sleeps on his pillow.

Some are inhumed with honors of state
And laid beneath temples to moulder;
The grave of the father of Lincoln the great,
Is known by a hillock and boulder.

VI
Let him take his lone sleep, and gently rest,
With naught to disturb or awake him,
When the angels shall come to gather the blest
To Abraham’s bosom, they’ll take him.

Abraham would never see his stepmother again as she was too old to make the trip to Washington and President Lincoln never traveled back to Illinois. He was assassinated in office on April 14-15, 1865, days after the end of the Civil War. Sarah Bush Lincoln outlived her stepson, passing away on April 12, 1869.

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 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 Book Acquisitions for 2018

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Lincoln book towerMy Abraham Lincoln book collection continues to grow, quickly filling the new library space I created last year. I acquired 69 new Lincoln books in 2018. This compares to 59 in 2017, 43 in 2016, and 59 and 60 books obtained in 2015 and 2014, respectively. My big year was the 98 books in 2013.

The oldest book acquired was published in 1893, while the newest book was officially published in 2019 (released in December 2018). Of the 69 books, 10 were new books published in 2018 (plus the one 2019 official date). I was able to find books from a variety of places. In addition to the usual Amazon/Barnes and Noble, books came to me from various library books sales, used book stores (including Bob’s Bookstore in Charleston, IL), and at stops during my two big Chasing Abraham Lincoln road trips. I also picked up books at the annual Lincoln Forum in Gettysburg, PA, plus won a couple of books in the Lincoln Group of DC and Civil War Round Table of DC raffles.

The list of books follows my signature block. Among them are some unique examples of Lincoln scholarship: Lincoln and the Irish by Niall O’Dowd; They Knew Lincoln by John Washington (originally published in 1942 and reprinted in 2018 with an introduction by Kate Masur); a set of five small booklets with new Introductions by preeminent Lincoln scholars; and Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Leadership in Turbulent Times. Look for my published review of Goodwin’s book in the next issue of Civil War Times magazine.

Several of the books are signed and inscribed to me by their authors. Both Anna Gibson Holloway and Jonathan W. White inscribed my copy of their book, Our Little Monitor, during the annual Battle of Hampton Roads conference this year. I’m doubly honored because Anna says it was the very first book she has ever signed for a fan. During the Lincoln Forum I was happy to have conversations with and get my copies of their books inscribed by David Blight (Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom), Kate Masur (They Knew Lincoln), and Harold Holzer (Monument Man: The Life & Art of Daniel Chester French). French, of course, is the man who created the iconic statue of Lincoln that graces the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

I’m sure I’ll continue to collect dozens of new (and new to me) Lincoln books in 2019. My new library shelves seem to be filling up rather quickly, so I may have to start planning where I’m going to put the overflow. Maybe I need to buy a bigger house.

I’m hard at work on my new Abraham Lincoln book, plus beginning the process of editing a compendium volume for the Lincoln Group of DC. If that wasn’t enough, on my most recent travel to Asia I started writing a historical science fiction novel featuring Lincoln and his science adviser, Joseph Henry. My previous Lincoln book, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, is into a second printing and available at Barnes and Noble stores nationwide.

Also, if you’re not already a member of the Lincoln Group of DC, please consider joining. In addition to the monthly dinner meetings with Lincoln scholar presentations, we have a monthly Lincoln book study group, periodic special events, tours, and more. And with a new year approaching, we’re planning to introduce even more to our members, including new activities for students and non-scholars. Take a look at our Lincoln Group of DC website and contact me or any of the other officers for more information.

Finally, a reminder that I’ve begun something I call the Abraham Lincoln Bibliography Project in which I plan to catalog the known books about Abraham Lincoln. I’ll include only actual books, not other documents and not pamphlets. As the website develops I’ll add a searchable database, book reviews, lists of books by topic (e.g., assassination, general biography, law career), and summary papers for those topics. The idea is to create a useful resource for both Lincoln researchers and the general public. Check out the blog and stay tuned.

See the 2017 list showing author/title/publication date below my signature blurb below.

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 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!

Here is the 2018 list! [Author, Title, Date of Publication]

Abraham Lincoln: A Living Legacy: A Guide to Three Abraham Lincoln National Park Sites 2008
The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln: A Tribute of the Nations 2009
Lincoln: Legacy of the Great Emancipator (Intro by Edna Greene Medford) 2009
Lincoln and His Critics (Intro by Eric Foner) 2009
Lincoln as Self-Made Man (Intro by Catherine Clinton) 2009
Lincoln as American Redeemer (Intro by Harold Holzer) 2009
Lincoln as Literary Genius (Intro by Ted Widmer) 2009
Abrams, Dan and Fisher, David Lincoln’s Last Trial: The Murder Case That Propelled Him to the Presidency 2018
Alter, Donald R. The Lincoln Legend and Other Programs 1956
Arnold, Isaac N. The Life of Abraham Lincoln 1893
Baker, C.T. Sand Creek Landing Greets the Lincolns: An Historical Sketch of Pioneer Days in This Community and County 1931
Blight, David W. Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom 2018
Burlingame, Michael Lincoln and the Civil War 2011
Burstein, Andrew Lincoln Dreamt He Died: The Midnight Visions of Remarkable Americans From Colonial Times to Freud 2013
Carwardine, Richard Lincoln’s Sense of Humor 2017
Carwardine, Richard and Sexton, Jay (Eds) The Global Lincoln 2011
Chapman, Ervin Latest Light on Abraham Lincoln and War-time Memories 1917
DeRose, Chris The Presidents’ War: Six American Presidents and the Civil War That Divided Them 2014
Donald, David Herbert (ed) Inside Lincoln’s Cabinet: The Civil War Diaries of Salmon P. Chase 1954
Fornieri, Joseph R. The Language of Liberty: The Political Speeches and Writings of Abraham Lincoln 2003
Fraysse, Olivier (translated by Sylvia Neely) Lincoln, Land, and Labor, 1809-60 1994
Freehling, William W. Becoming Lincoln 2018
Furtwangler, Albert Assassin on Stage: Brutus, Hamlet, and the Death of Lincoln 1991
Goodwin, Doris Kearns Leadership in Turbulent Times 2018
Gross, Ruth Belov True Stories About Abraham Lincoln 1973
Guelzo, Allen C. Abraham Lincoln as a Man of Ideas 2009
Guttridge, Leonard F. and Neff, Ray A. Dark Union: The Secret Web of Profiteers, Politicians, and Booth Conspirators That Led to Lincoln’s Death 2003
Hogan, Michael Abraham Lincoln and Mexico: A History of Courage, Intrigue, and Unlikely Friendships 2016
Holloway, Anna Gibson and White, Jonathan W. Our Little Monitor: Theh Greatest Invention of the Civil War 2018
Holmes, Fred L. Abraham Lincoln Traveled This Way: The Log Book of a Pilgrim to the Lincoln Country 1930
Holzer, Harold Monument Man: The Life & Art of Daniel Chester French 2019
Jepsen, Thomas C. My Sisters Telegraphic: Women in the Telegraph Office, 1846-1950 2000
Johnson, David Alan The Last Weeks of Abraham Lincoln: A Day-By-Day Account of His Personal, Political, and Military Challenges 2018
Kauffman, Michael W. American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies 2004
Kauffman, Michael W. In the Footsteps of an Assassin: An Illustrated History and Guided Tour of the Lincoln Assassination and Escape Route of John Wilkes Booth 2012
King, C.J. Four Marys and a Jessie: The Story of the Lincoln Women 2005
Larson, Kate Clifford The Assassin’s Accomplice: Mary Surratt and the Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln 2008
Lehrman, Lewis E. Lincoln & Churchill: Statesmen at War 2018
Maihafer, Harry J. War of Words: Abraham Lincoln & The Civil War Press 2001
McGinnis, Ralph Y. and Smith, Calvin N. (Eds) Abraham Lincoln and the Western Territories 1994
McPherson, James M. (Ed) “We Cannot Escape History”: Lincoln and the Last Best Hope of Earth 1995
Morris, Roy Jr. The Long Pursuit: Abraham Lincoln’s Thirty-Year Struggle With Stephen Douglas For The Heart and Soul of America 2008
Nathan, Adele Gutman The First Transatlantic Cable 1959
Neely, Mark E. Jr. The Boundaries of American Political Culture in the Civil War Era 2005
Neely, Mark E. Jr. Lincoln and the Democrats: The Politics of Opposition in the Civil War 2017
Nicolay, Helen The Boys’ Life of Abraham Lincoln 1933
Niebuhr, Gustav Lincoln’s Bishop: A President A Priest, and the Fate of 300 Dakota Sioux Warriors 2014
North, Sterling Abe Lincoln: Log Cabin to White House 1956
O’Dowd, Niall Lincoln and the Irish: The Untold Story of How the Irish Helped Abraham Lincoln Save the Union 2018
Ostendorf, Lloyd Abraham Lincoln: The Boy, The Man 1962
Pitch, Anthony S. They Have Killed Papa Dead! The Road to Ford’s Theatre, Abraham Lincoln’s Murder, and the Rage for Vengeance 2018
Pratt, Harry E. Concerning Mr. Lincoln: In Which Abraham Lincoln is Pictured as he Appeared to Letter Writers of his Time 1944
Puleo, Stephen The Caning: The Assault That Drove America to Civil War 2012
Randall, J.G. Lincoln and the South 1946
Ross, Ishbel The President’s Wife: Mary Todd Lincoln 1973
Segal, Charles M. (Editor, Compiler and Annotator) Conversations with Lincoln 1961
Simon, John Y., Holzer, Harold, and Vogel, Dawn (Eds) Lincoln Revisited 2007
Speed, Joshua Fry Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln, And Notes on a Visit to California 2014
Starr, John W., Jr. Lincoln and the Railroads 1927
Stephenson, Nathaniel Wright Lincoln 1922
Striner, Richard Lincoln’s Way: How Six Great Presidents Created American Power 2012
Tackach, James Lincoln and the Natural Environment 2019
Tucker, Wilson The Lincoln Hunters 1958
Turner, Justin G. and Turner, Linda Levitt Mary Todd Lincoln: Her Life and Letters 1987
Villard, Harold G. and Oswald Garrison Lincoln on the Eve of ’61: A Journalist’s Story by Henry Villard 1941
Washington, John E. with introduction by Kate Masur They Knew Lincoln 2018
Weaver, John D. Tad Lincoln: Mischief-Maker in the White House 1963
White, Ronald C. Jr. A. Lincoln: A Biography 2009
Abraham Lincoln 1958

 

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An Abraham Lincoln Christmas

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A few days before Christmas 1864, Abraham Lincoln received a Christmas present from General William T. Sherman – capture of the city of Savannah, Georgia. Lincoln was pleased, but continued to work through Christmas day on the business of running the government during war time. As I had written previously:

President Abraham Lincoln sent no Christmas cards and set up no Christmas tree. Of course, Christmas itself didn’t become a national holiday until President Ulysses S. Grant signed a congressional bill into law in 1870.

As a young state legislator in 1834, Lincoln voted against making Christmas a state holiday. Throughout his life, Christmas was a normal day at the office. That wasn’t unusual. Up until the mid 1800s, Christmas was celebrated with church services, not parties and presents, which were seen as unchristian.

Perhaps ironically given today’s current affairs, on Christmas day 1863 Lincoln wrote to Bayard Taylor, who had just returned from his post as secretary of legation in St. Petersburg, Russia. Lincoln suggested:

I think a good lecture or two on “Serfs, Serfdom, and Emancipation in Russia” would be both interesting and valuable. Could not you get up such a thing? Yours truly A. LINCOLN.

A few days earlier, Lincoln offered a more Lincolnesque example of goodwill and charity when he wrote a letter only recently revealed. In it he provides for Mr. and Mrs. Craig, cousins to Mrs. Lincoln, to return to their plantation in Arkansas after the area had been reclaimed by Union forces, solely to live out their final days in the home that had been in their family for years, and without the slaves they previously owned. Mr. Craig died shortly after their return; Mrs. Craig two years later. This gesture of compassion by Lincoln during a time of war “affords a glimpse of what Reconstruction would have been like had Lincoln lived.”

Even though Christmas was a work day for Lincoln, that hasn’t stopped history from adding him to the Christmas theme. Thomas Nast became famous during the Civil War as a prolific illustrator and cartoonist for Harper’s Weekly magazine. It was Nast who first introduced Santa Claus (aka, Father Christmas) as a recruiting tool for the Union army. Other illustrators showed Lincoln enjoying toys and stockings with his children, and pulling them on a sled. Modern commercialization has him featured on the traditional “ugly Christmas sweater,” dressed up in Santa hats, and as Christmas ornaments. In 1999, the White House featured Abraham Lincoln on their official holiday ornament.

If Lincoln were alive today, he most assuredly would have offered his Hanukkah greetings and given a Christmas message of hope and faith.

In his absence I wish to do the same. Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, and all my best wishes for a Happy and Productive New Year!

Safe travels, wherever life takes you.

Fire of Genius

 

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America is available at booksellers nationwide.

Limited signed copies are available via this website. The book also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you like the book.

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David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

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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Illinois – Dan Fogelberg and Abraham Lincoln in Peoria

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Dan Fogelberg, Peoria, Illinois“Will it play in Peoria?” It did. They did. And I did. How a Chasing Abraham Lincoln tour turned into a pilgrimage to the singer Dan Fogelberg.

The turn of phrase has its roots in the vaudeville era, where traveling vaudeville acts knew if they played well in Peoria, which at the time reflected the diversity of the nation as a whole with respect to race, income, age, rural, urban, and educational background. Peoria became the first stop on national tours – if it played well there it likely would play well all over the country. This was true not only for vaudeville acts, but for test marketing consumer products and politics too.

Abraham Lincoln gave one of his most famous speeches in Peoria, and certainly one of his most powerful speeches on the wrongs of slavery. The speech has been studied by many Lincoln scholars and was the focus of an entire book by Lewis E. Lehrman, Lincoln at Peoria: The Turning Point. I visited Peoria on Part 2 of my Chasing Abraham Lincoln tour, where I saw several Lincoln statues and related sites.

While there I made sure to head for the memorial grove in Riverfront Park where three large stones remember Dan Fogelberg. Fogelberg, one of my favorite performers, was born and raised in Peoria. His mother was a classical pianist, his father the local high school band director. Dan wrote the song “Leader of the Band” to honor his father; I used it as a framework for a dedication to my own father. Besides singing the vocals (including multitracking background harmony), Dan played many instruments, notably guitar (acoustic, 12-string, electric), bass, piano, and mandolin. He was a talent beyond the norm. He had commercial success, but I think the songs I love the most are those that tell stories that develop over time not conducive to the radio crowd.

Lyrics from three of Dan’s songs are etched into the three memorial stones. A park bench has been added and features a quote from Dan about why he was a musician. Unfortunately, Dan died in late December 2007 from prostate cancer. I was lucky enough to see him three times in concert and listened to him this morning while exercising on the elliptical. He is still a part of my life (along with Lincoln, of course).

Among Dan’s many amazing songs is a tribute to his home state, “Illinois,” from his Souvenirs album released in 1974. While I’m not a native of Illinois, I thought of Dan’s song as I realized how many Lincoln sites and statues I missed on my Chasing Abraham Lincoln tours.

And it looks like you’re gonna
Have to see me again
…
Illinois, oh, Illinois.
Illinois, I’m your boy.

As I write this there is a blizzard raging in Fogelberg/Lincoln country, so Part 3 of my Chasing Abraham Lincoln tour will have to wait until spring. But be prepared Illinois; it looks like you’re gonna have to see me again…

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 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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General and Chief at the Lincoln Forum

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Lincoln Forum logo by Wendy AllenThe annual Lincoln Forum in Gettysburg is in the books and we have a new General, get to keep the Chief, and took a few steps into the future. Oh, and we had some great speakers, a ton of Lincoln humor, and even a few spirits (the dead kind).

This was the 23rd annual Lincoln Forum and the last in with “The Chief” in command. The Chief is Frank Williams, whose moniker stems from his time as Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court. Frank, along with Harold Holzer, founded the Lincoln Forum about 24 years ago and have served as Chair and Vice Chair since its inception. That is, until now. Frank has stepped down as Chair while Harold has stepped into the General role. A new Vice Chair was voted in – Jonathan W. White, current President of the Abraham Lincoln Institute, prolific author, and Professor at Christopher Newport University in Virginia. We will all miss Frank (though he will remain active under his new Emeritus status), but we’re in superb hands under Harold’s continuing leadership and Jonathon’s new enthusiasm.

The weather toyed with the meeting agenda a bit, delaying some and cancelling others (alas, one speaker was in a car crash on his way east; he’s fine but his car isn’t so well). Luckily we have a great cast of Lincoln scholars able to step into the gap. One lesson learned – always have a presentation on a thumb drive ready to go in a pinch.

This year’s Forum included some celebrities of sorts. Not just the inimitable George Buss as President Abraham Lincoln (who most attendees agreed should run again, and soon), but stars of the Lincoln world. Edward Ayers led our opening night with his “Gettysburg and the Web of War.” George Saunders – yes, that George Saunders – not only talked about his best selling book, Lincoln in the Bardo, he led a performance of it with the help of five Forum volunteers. “The Bardo,” as we affectionately call it, is one of the more unique takes on the Lincoln story, both because it is fiction and because it brings in the voices of those lingering in the intermediate spaces between life and rebirth.

Not to be outdone, David W. Blight brought home the final keynote speech on the last night with his discussion of Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Many of us know the highlights of Douglass’s life, from slave in Baltimore to free abolitionist to one of the greatest leaders of the African-American – and all American – community. Normally I focus on Lincoln himself, but Blight has inspired me to dig deeper into the life of Douglass as well. He was also nice enough to sign me copy of his book (plus quite a few copies for the other attendees as well).

We had many other speakers of course. From Andrew Delbanco (one of the highlights for sure) to Kate Masur (likewise) to Joseph Fornieri (doing a wonderful job as pinch hitter) to a panel on “Women in the Civil War” featuring Catherine Clinton, Candice Shy Hooper, and Edna Greene Medford. And we can’t forget the team of Abbott and Costello John Marszalek and Craig Symonds discussing the Ulysses S. Grant memoirs.

As the Forum officially ended, many attendees stayed to attend the annual Remembrance Day activities at the nearby Gettysburg Battlefield. George Buss as Abraham Lincoln read the Gettysburg Address and the crowd embraced the overwhelming mixed feelings of sorrow and rebirth that this hallowed ground reflects.

I can’t wait for next year’s Forum (check out www.thelincolnforum.org for details). Please join us.

[Photo Credit: Lincoln Forum logo leading this piece is designed by the incomparable Wendy Allen. Check out her other Lincoln designs at www.lincolnintoart.com]

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 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!