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A Busy Day in Abraham Lincoln’s Life

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Lincoln MemorialPeriodically I check a website called The Lincoln Log to see what was going on in Lincoln’s life on this day throughout his life. Today was an especially busy day.

The Lincoln Log arose out of a long-term project beginning with Lincoln Day-by-Day: A Chronology, a series of three volumes published in 1960 cataloging the life of Lincoln. The third volume was made possible in part by volunteer work of the Lincoln Group of DC, of which I am a current officer. The Lincoln Log was later augmented by information from the Papers of Abraham Lincoln project, with a special emphasis on Lincoln’s legal work. More information is added periodically. It’s a fun and useful resource.

Which gets to today, May 7th. This date seems to hold several important events in Lincoln’s life over the years.

1832: Lincoln is en route to Rock River in Illinois serving in the Black Hawk War.

1833: Lincoln is appointed postmaster at New Salem by President Andrew Jackson. Lincoln is already identifying himself as a Whig and Jackson is a Democrat more likely to give patronage to party members, Lincoln believes the post office position is “too insignificant to make his politics an objection.”

1837: Lincoln the romantic? Probably not. On this date in 1837 he writes to Mary Owens, whom he has committed to marry despite reservations by both parties. He writes: “I … wish you would think seriously before you decide. . . . My opinion is that you had better not do it. You have not been accustomed to hardship, and it may be more severe than you now immagine.” Lincoln adds, “Whatever woman may cast her lot with mine, should any ever do so, it is my intention to do all in my power to make her happy and contented; and there is nothing I can immagine, that would make me more unhappy than to fail in the effort.”  [At least now he is still free to meet Mary Todd…and Joshua Speed]

1852: Jury begins deliberation in Johnston v Jones and Marsh, a case in which Lincoln later serves an attorney. More familiarly known as the “Sand Bar” case, Lincoln deftly handles the environmental and technical aspects of sand accumulating after a rock wall is built, thus affecting the property owned by two Lake Michigan lakeside owners.

1858: Lincoln defends Duff Armstrong, the son of an old friend from his New Salem days, in a murder trial that becomes known as the “Almanac Trial” due to Lincoln’s use of an almanac to dispute the testimony of a key witness. I visited the site of the trial in Beardstown, Illinois.

1861: Lincoln acknowledges a letter from the Republic of San Marino conferring citizenship upon him. He now has dual citizenship.

1862: The presidential party arrives at Fort Monroe, Virginia and boards the USS Monitor. The Monitor was undergoing repairs after its battle with the Confederate ironclad Virginia (formerly the Merrimack). Lincoln confers with General Wool and visits the yacht Vanderbilt, donated by its namesake millionaire to the Union cause.

1863: Lincoln and General Halleck spend the day with General Joseph Hooker and the Army of the Potomac. After returning to Washington he frantically telegraphs Secretary of War Stanton: “Have you any news?” He then writes Hooker to ask him what he plans to do next. Hooker has spent the last several days failing miserably during the Battle of Chancellorsville, one of Robert E. Lee’s best military wins. Stonewall Jackson is wounded by his own men in a “friendly fire” incident and dies soon after.

1864: Lincoln receives first-hand report on the Wilderness campaign from H.E. Wing, who arrives about 2 a.m. on a special locomotive. Lincoln also transmits to the Senate the opinion of his attorney general on the “rights of colored persons in the army or volunteer service.” Lincoln is working to get more equal treatment of black troops.

All of this on May 7th.

I discuss many of these points in my forthcoming book. More on that shortly.

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, a Flatboat, New Orleans, and Discovering America

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Lincoln flatboatSoon after moving to Illinois, Lincoln made his second flatboat trip to New Orleans. A local entrepreneur and schemer named Denton Offutt approached Lincoln’s relative John Hanks about manning such a journey. Hanks then recruited Lincoln and brother-in-law John Johnston, all of whom now lived in a wooded area west of Decatur near the banks of the Sangamon River. Because of the previous “winter of deep snow,” melting snowpack made the roads impassable by the first of March 1831, forcing the three men to purchase a canoe and paddle down the Sangamon River as far as Springfield, where they expected to find a fully loaded flatboat. Offutt, however, had somehow forgotten to arrange for it.

Frustrated by the delay but eager to continue, Lincoln, Hanks, and Johnston were joined by a local carpenter, Charles Cabanis, and John Roll. While they largely followed the standard design, there were some differences. Because this trip was to include livestock—live hogs in addition to wet and dry goods—the men constructed small corrals and troughs in the boat. They also added a wooden mast and sail to help them maneuver when the wind was gentle enough to push the boat, but not wreck it. After about six weeks of construction, they shoved the 18 feet wide by 80 feet long boat into the Sangamon River just below Sangamotown. They floated the Sangamon River as it wound northwest until meeting the Illinois River near Beardstown, which then turned south until its confluence with the mighty Mississippi River north of Alton for their final thousand miles on the waters to New Orleans. Along the way they would pass St. Louis (where John Hanks turned back because his wife was due to give birth), Memphis, Vicksburg, Natchez, and Baton Rouge, giving Lincoln a glimpse at cities that would become important strategic points in the later Civil War.

As he moved down the river, Lincoln discovered how the Mississippi had become the central artery of commerce in the Midwest, allowing farmers from western New York, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois to move their produce to New Orleans. It was here Lincoln discovered the existence of a cosmopolitan, multiethnic, society doing trade with the Caribbean and South America, as well as across the central American isthmus and up to west coast, plus Europe and Africa. Lincoln’s world enlarged immeasurably. No longer subsistence farming and small towns as far as you could walk or ride on horseback, life on the river showed Lincoln a glimpse of upper society. There were wealthy sugar plantation owners who purchased or traded for pork and potatoes. There were poverty-stricken families, both black and white, desperate to barter whatever little they had for whatever little they could get. The river was an economic engine as well as transportation, but he recognized the benefits were unequal in distribution. It made Lincoln think about his own situation, his limited formal schooling and opportunities, and how he might better his condition.

Upon arrival in the Crescent City, he and his companions had to compete for space at the piers with hundreds of other flatboats, two to three deep along the docks for over a mile at the landing site above the city. After crawling over other boats, the men bartered and sold whatever remained of their wares, plus anything acquired along the way. Eventually they would sell the boat itself, sometimes whole to a wealthy buyer, but often piecemeal, taking it apart board by board to sell as lumber or fuel. Overall, they could net a return of about a quarter of the construction cost. On each occasion the crews lingered in New Orleans for as long as they could afford before setting out for home.

[Adapted from my forthcoming book]

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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The President is Dead

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Lincoln mourning ribbonThe mood in Washington was euphoric. After four long years the war was nearly over. Lincoln had anticipated this ending in his second inaugural address, reminding northerners that they should welcome southerners back into the Union:

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

Not everyone agreed with Lincoln’s “without malice” sentiment. Radical Republicans wanted the South to pay dearly for its treasonous actions. But those decisions would come later; now was the time for celebration. Buildings were decorated with patriotic red, white, and blue bunting; flags were everywhere and everyone seemed happy in the nation’s capital.

Then tragedy. President and Mary Lincoln were joined at Ford’s Theatre on Good Friday, April 14, by Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancée, Clara Harris. A night out to see the long-running comedy Our American Cousin would give Lincoln a chance to put thoughts of war behind him.

During the performance, at about 10:14 p.m., actor and southern sympathizer John Wilkes Booth stealthily entered the rear of the box. He pressed a small derringer pistol to the back of Lincoln’s head, and fired. Slashing at Rathbone’s arm as he climbed over the rail of the second-story theater box, Booth caught his spur on the American flag decorating the outside, breaking his leg as he landed on the stage. He shouted the Virginia state motto, Sic semper tyrannis (“thus ever to tyrants”), as he escaped out the back door and onto a waiting horse. It took an army of pursuers twelve days to catch up with Booth, who was finally shot and killed while hiding in a tobacco barn.

The unresponsive Lincoln was carried across the street to Petersen’s boarding house, where he clung to life until the next morning, dying without regaining consciousness at 7:22. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton captured the moment with, “Now he belongs to the ages.” The sixteenth President of the United States was dead just days after the long war that dominated his entire presidency had ended.

Lincoln’s body lay in state in the White House before being loaded on a train for the long, arduous trip back to Springfield. The route retraced that which Lincoln had taken when he first came to Washington four years before, making many stops so that people could see him one last time. Millions more saw his train as it made its way home for burial in the Lincoln tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery.

For a “contemporary” newspaper coverage of the event, see Extra!! President Abraham Lincoln is Dead.

[Adapted from Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America]

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 and Native Americans – A Panel

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Abraham Lincoln ChicagoOn March 30, 1861, Abraham Lincoln writes to Illinois State Auditor Jesse K. Dubois, who is “sorely disappointed” that Lincoln did not name J. P. Luse to head Minnesota’s Indian Affairs office. The letter gives a glimpse into the difficulties Lincoln faced dealing with our historical treatment of Native Americans. In the letter, Lincoln writes:

I was nearly as sorry as you can be at not being able to give Mr. Luce the appointment you desired for him. Of course I could have done it; but it would have been against the united, earnest, and, I add, angry protest of the republican delegation of Minnesota, in which state the office is located. So far as I understand, it is unprecedented, [to] send an officer into a state against the wishes of the members of congress of the State, and of the same party. Your friend as ever A. LINCOLN

Dubois had served for many years as a fellow Illinois state legislator alongside Lincoln, and was eager for Lincoln to use his patronage to get a position as Indian agent in Minnesota for his son-in-law, James P. Luse. Lincoln explains that control over the appointments is up to U.S. congressmen representing the local Minnesota populace, and that his hands were largely tied. This had always been the case, and would continue for many years to come.

The treatment of Native Americans during the Civil War has recently been offered as part of the rationale for questioning why we honor Lincoln with statuary and school namings. Most notably, San Francisco considered removing the names of Lincoln and many others from school buildings (they have since put the idea on hold). Chicago has initiated a review of 41 statues they deem potentially offensive, including five of the city’s most iconic Lincoln statues.

Which gets me to a program I’ll be participating in next month. On April 13th at 2:00 pm ET, the Illinois State Society (ILSS) is sponsoring a panel discussion entitled “The Case for Honoring Lincoln.” Organized by Rod Ross, a member of the ILSS and the Lincoln Group of DC, the panel consists of myself, current Lincoln Group President John O’Brien, and current Lincoln Group Vice President of Special Events Debbie Jackson. After our short presentations, I’ll moderate a Q&A for the panel. A link for the event will be sent around shortly.

My portion of the program will focus on Lincoln and Native Americans. Specifically, I’ll address Lincoln’s role in the “Dakota 38,” where 38 Dakota were hanged for their part in an uprising that resulted in the deaths of 800 or more settlers. While Lincoln commuted the death sentences of 265 of those convicted, the 38 remain the largest mass execution in U.S. history. I’ll put the incident, and two others, in context with the history of the “Indian System” that had been in place for decades.

Following me will be John O’Brien’s discussion of Lincoln and Emancipation in response to questions about whether Lincoln thought “black lives mattered.” Debbie Jackson will bring the topics together with an overview of why we honor Lincoln despite the fact that he wasn’t infallible.

ADVANCED REGISTRATION FOR THE ZOOM MEETING IS REQUIRED. SEE LINK BELOW. The panel discussion and Q&A will be recorded and is intended as a resource for the Chicago and San Francisco review commissions, plus will be made available to organizations, schools, groups, and anyone else who would benefit from a rational discussion of Lincoln’s roles in these issues.

Please RSVP with link below

Advance Registration Required

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_esVKJb0eSty1gsF3F1BREA

[Photo by David J. Kent, Lincoln in Chicago]

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 Fires General-in-Chief George B. McClellan, But Keeps Him Anyway

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George B. McClellanOn March 11, 1862, everyone was thinking about George B. McClellan. Lincoln’s cabinet met and groused about their chronic dissatisfaction with the General. Frustrated with McClellan’s “slows,” Lincoln issued War Order No. 3, which fired McClellan as General-in-Chief but retained him as commander of the Army of the Potomac. He spent the rest of the day explaining his decision. War Order No. 3 stated:

Major-General McClellan, having personally taken the field, at the head of the Army of the Potomac, until otherwise ordered, he is relieved from the command of the other military departments, he is retaining command of the Department of the Potomac.

 

Ordered further: That the two departments now under the respective commands of Generals Halleck and Hunter, together with so much of that under General Buell as lies west of a north and south line indefinitely drawn through Knoxville, Tennessee, be consolidated and designated the Department of the Mississippi; and that, until otherwise ordered, Major-General Halleck have command of said department.

McClellan had been an irritant from the beginning. The embarrassing loss at the first Battle of Bull Run sent Winfield Scott to retirement and left Lincoln desperately searching for a military leader. With few options, he turned to a young George B. McClellan for his next General-in-Chief. The Ohio-born McClellan had exhibited strong leadership in two small skirmishes in western Virginia, and he came highly recommended by Ohio Governor William Dennison and Ohio native Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase.

McClellan masterfully outfitted and drilled his raw recruits into a skilled Army of the Potomac, yet he consistently refused to put them into action. He repeatedly claimed the Confederates vastly outnumbered him, even though he had up to twice as many troops at his disposal. His soldiers loved him, but McClellan’s overabundance of caution led to Lincoln’s significant frustration. Adding insult, McClellan arrogantly considered himself vastly superior to the President, referring to Lincoln in letters home to his wife as “nothing more than a well-meaning baboon” and “a gorilla.”

Peninsula Campaign

Despite his position as General-in-Chief, McClellan rarely communicated his strategy or progress. His insubordination included ignoring the President and retiring to bed after Lincoln had sat patiently in McClellan’s parlor for an hour waiting for him to return from an evening out. Continuing to press his generals to fight, Lincoln suggested that the well-trained army make a frontal assault on Confederate forces between Washington and Richmond. McClellan disagreed, eventually counter-proposing a complicated plan to take the Confederate capital of Richmond from the South, which was in direct opposition to Lincoln’s strategy to defeat armies, not take territory.

After several months of obsessive planning, in March 1862 McClellan began shipping troops down the Potomac River to the Virginia peninsula between the James and York Rivers. The size of the troop movement was unprecedented, with more than 120,000 men, a dozen artillery batteries, and tons of equipment all ferried into place at the base of the peninsula. To Lincoln’s chagrin, further overland movement toward Richmond was painfully slow because of bad weather, mud, and McClellan’s exaggerated opinion of enemy troop strength. The Union forces negated the advantage of surprise, and by the time they advanced toward Richmond the more mobile Confederate army had positioned itself to defend the southern capital. Meanwhile, McClellan, against Lincoln’s wishes, had left the Union capital woefully unprotected.

By any measurement, the Peninsula Campaign was a disaster. The Union survived its critical blunder only because of Lincoln’s strategic decision-making. McClellan, of course, blamed Lincoln for supposedly meddling. A frustrated Lincoln demoted McClellan. This left the president once again in desperate need of a military leader. Generals Henry Halleck, Ambrose Burnside (whose trademark facial hair was the inspiration for the term “sideburns”), Joseph Hooker, John C. Fremont, John McClernand, John Pope, George Meade, and others were all considered by Lincoln but ultimately found wanting. Sitting in the wings were Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman, western generals who had not yet captured the president’s eye.

McClellan’s demotion was short-lived. In utter desperation and after several disastrous Union losses in the summer of 1862, Lincoln once again turned to McClellan as his General-in-Chief.

At the time, Lincoln was experiencing personal heartbreak in addition to the pressure of mounting Union soldier casualties. In February, Mary Lincoln had planned a grand open house to show off the dramatic and expensive improvements she had made to the aging and neglected White House. By the night of the party, however, Lincoln’s two youngest sons had become severely ill. While guests gathered downstairs, Lincoln and Mary repeatedly slipped upstairs to check on their ailing children. Diagnosed with what was likely typhoid fever, Willie progressively worsened. On February 20, 1862, he died. Tad recovered, but never really understood the sudden loss of his older brother and constant playmate.

Mary was devastated, and for the rest of her time as First Lady (a term she coined to refer to her position) she wore nothing but black. Relying even more on her trusted confidante, former slave Elizabeth Keckley, Mary became an even greater burden on household staff and the growing list of Washington insiders who despised her. Lincoln mourned as well, coping by throwing himself more deeply into the continued struggle to save the Union. One part of that struggle was the hugely important battle of Antietam.

Antietam

In September 1862, Confederate General Robert E. Lee led his Army of Northern Virginia into western Maryland. Following their victory at a second battle of Bull Run, Lee moved his army north to a point near Sharpsburg, alongside Antietam Creek, where they took up defensive positions. With surprising aggressiveness, McClellan’s Army of the Potomac attacked Lee’s forces on September 17. The first assault came from Union General Joseph Hooker on Lee’s left flank, while General Ambrose Burnside later attacked the right. A surprise counterattack from Confederate General A.P. Hill helped push back Union forces. Eventually, Lee’s troops withdrew from the battlefield first. He moved his remaining army back across the Potomac into the safety of Virginia.

Always overly cautious, McClellan made no effort to follow. Lee had committed all of his 55,000 men, while McClellan only ordered a portion of his larger 87,000-man force into the fray. This numerical imbalance allowed Lee to create and exploit tactical advantages he should not have had. When questioned by Lincoln about his failure to pursue Lee, McClellan complained that his army and horses were sore-tongued and fatigued, and thus required rest. Lincoln responded tersely by telegram:

Will you pardon me for asking what the horses of your army have done since the battle of Antietam that fatigue anything?

Antietam was destined to be the single bloodiest day of battle in American history. The casualties for both armies totaled a staggering 22,717 dead, wounded, or missing.

Despite Lincoln’s frustration, Antietam stood out as an important battle in the fight for freedom. Although essentially a draw, the fact that Lee withdrew from the battlefield first allowed the North to record Antietam as a victory, something that Lincoln had been needing for some time.

He issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation a few days later.

[Adapted from my book, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America]

[Image Credit: U.S. Signal Corps/National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

David J. Kent is 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.

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

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Abraham Lincoln, Blacksmith?

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New Salem blacksmith shopAbraham Lincoln briefly considered apprenticing as a blacksmith. Most subsistence farmers also doubled as tradesmen, working as coopers (barrel makers), tanners (leather makers), distillers (whiskey), brickmakers, shoemakers, or blacksmiths. While still in Indiana he and Dennis Hanks had spent many evenings in the Gentryville general store and at Baldwin’s blacksmith shop trading stories and “yarns,” so Lincoln had seen many an hour of blacksmithing in action.

Blacksmiths were accorded an honored place in the village. They forged the plows, the tools, and the cookware needed to sustain life on the frontier. The village blacksmith was a “gunsmith, farrier, coppersmith, millwright, machinist, and surgeon general to all broken tools and implements,” one scholar put it. He could be called on to forge such a variety of implements as nails, horseshoes, chains, bullet molds, yoke rings, bear traps, bells, saws, and all the metal parts of looms, spinning wheels, and sausage grinders. Lincoln had been familiar with the cast iron plows he used when he was young. With its relatively high carbon content (over 2%), cast iron tends to be brittle, which caused problems for Lincoln back on the farm. On the other hand, iron could be cast into a variety of shapes using molds. As a blacksmith, Lincoln would have learned how to work with wrought iron, which has a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) and much tougher, easy to hammer into useful shapes, could be drawn out into thin wires, corrosion resistant, and more easily welded.

Later, during the Civil War, Lincoln would recall his short-lived experience with blacksmithing to describe his relationship with George B. McClellan, the man he would assign as General-in-Chief of the Union Army but later described as “having the slows” because of his lack of aggressiveness in battle. Lincoln described a blacksmith in his boyhood days that tried to put to a purposeful use a big piece of wrought-iron he had in the shop. Firing up the forge, the blacksmith put the iron on the anvil determined to make a sledgehammer out of it. Giving up on that after a while, he decided to draw it out and make a clevis (a U-shaped fastener). After a few whacks and pumping the bellows to heighten the fire he again stopped. “Okay, maybe a bolt.” Working it hard for a while longer it now was too thin even for a bolt. Frustrated with his lack of success trying to make something useful happen, he proclaimed, “darn you, I’m going to make a fizzle of you.” And with that he dunked it into the water and let if fizz. McClellan, Lincoln told his friend, is someone who should have been productive but no amount of working him hard could make him useful. McClellan’s career soon fizzled out.

Being a blacksmith was respectable work, but it was also hard work, Lincoln decided. The idea of toiling over a hot forge, slinging a heavy hammer for hours on end while sweat poured from his skin was unappealing. Given his distaste for the hard labor of subsistence farming, Lincoln chose not to pursue blacksmithing. He would find some other trade.

[Adapted from Lincoln: The Fire of Genius]

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius, now available for pre-order on Amazon and Barnes and Noble (click on the respective links to pre-order). His previous books include Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity, 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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The Misguided Idea of Targeting Abraham Lincoln and Other Statues

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Abraham Lincoln ChicagoSan Francisco targets Abraham Lincoln schools for renaming. Chicago targets Abraham Lincoln and other statues for possible removal. DC Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton introduces a bill to remove the Emancipation Memorial statue in Washington, D.C. These efforts are severely misguided, based on political expediency rather than an informed discussion of Lincoln and other past American leaders.

I’ve been addressing the issues surrounding removal, and consideration of removal, of Confederate statues across the nation. There is a rational case for removing Confederate statues. There is no rational case for removing Abraham Lincoln statues.

The motives are understandable and I strongly encourage an open and honest discussion of problematic statues. In my “rational case” post I explained that there are three time periods reflected by, and must be considered, for every statue: the subject, the motive and timing of erection, and the present. Norton’s bill to remove the Emancipation Memorial statue is based almost entirely on the present perspective. While many believe that present perspective overrides the two earlier perspectives, proponents of removing the statue are obligated to make that case in a public forum, not by arbitrarily passing a bill by politicians without any interest in the discussion or the outcome, i.e., 99%+ of the House Representatives and Senators who would vote on the bill. Norton would better serve her constituents by using her power to garner news coverage, input from the city, from the National Park Service (who owns the statue, hence the need for a law before it can be removed or augmented), and a much needed discussion of the larger issues beyond the presence of the statue. This last point is critical and I’ll return to it shortly.

While the Emancipation Memorial is controversial because of its inherent design elements (Boston removed its copy of the statue for this reason), the actions by San Francisco and Chicago have no such controversies stimulating their actions. Instead, they are acting based on misrepresentation of Lincoln’s attitudes and actions.

San Francisco has every right to name, or rename, schools within their jurisdiction. Their far-ranging list of names they want to move away from includes several U.S. Presidents, the current California Senator (who was once Mayor of San Francisco), environmentalist John Muir, and many others. While some of the reasons are potentially persuasive, others border on the ridiculous.

Regarding Abraham Lincoln, the chair of the renaming committee argued that “Lincoln, like the presidents before him and most after, did not show through policy or rhetoric that black lives ever mattered to them outside of human capital and as casualties of wealth building.” This comment is simply absurd. Lincoln was literally murdered because his assassin listened to Lincoln argue for black voting rights. Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed enslaved people and brought African Americans into the armed forces, which played a large role in why the Union won the Civil War. As the Spielberg movie Lincoln dramatically documented, Lincoln acted aggressively to ensure passage of the 13th Amendment ending slavery. African American leaders like Frederick Douglass recounted their personal experiences with Lincoln, all saying that he treated them like any other American. As historian Jonathan White explains in Smithsonian, Lincoln most certainly believed black lives mattered.

The spreadsheet outlining the reasons for renaming noted that Lincoln was “not seen as a hero” among Native Americans “as the majority of his policies proved to be detrimental to them.” By this standard, every American president before Lincoln – and since Lincoln – would not be acceptable for naming schools, including Ronald Reagan. The country has a long history of maltreatment of Native populations; Lincoln neither enlarged it nor shrunk it during his time in office. Given he was faced with the most critical existential crisis of our nation’s history, the Civil War, which did not end until the time he was assassinated, it is unrealistic to expect that he would have to time to reverse long-standing attitudes and policies that virtually no one in the country was acting to change. And yet in his last two annual messages to Congress he did call for a reevaluation of the government’s treatment of Native Americans, something he had planned to deal with in his second term after the war was over if he had lived to do so.

Chicago, yes, even Chicago, has also recently called for the reevaluation of 41 statues and monuments within the city as part of their “racial healing and historical reckoning project.” Again, the focus of the Lincoln statues is because the committee “determined Native Americans were mistreated during his administration.” The points made above apply to Chicago’s actions as well. Part of this idea is a misunderstanding of Lincoln’s role in the “Dakota 38,” which resulted the hanging of 38 Dakota Native Americans in Minnesota in 1862. I’ve discussed this misunderstanding in depth here.

Which gets me back to the idea for a much needed discussion of the larger issues beyond the presence of the statue. Removing these statues and renaming schools does not make these larger issues – white supremacy, systemic racism, continuing disadvantaging of BiPOC individuals suddenly disappear. In some ways it may exacerbate them, especially when the reasons presented for removal are based on misrepresentation and misunderstanding of history, along with unrealistic expectations of perfection in our past leaders. These are not Confederates who literally chose to divide America, they are leaders who fought hard to create, protect, and bring America closer to the ideal of a more perfect Union. They were human, like all of us, and should be treated as human, not as some idealistic “god” of humanity who aren’t allowed not be perfect.

So rather than simply remove statues by edict for political expediency, current day leaders should take advantage of the opportunity our more recent awareness affords us and lead public discussions across America. Rather than pass a resolution to rename schools on misinformation, use the school names as a focal point for deep public education. Neither San Francisco, nor Chicago, nor Washington, D.C. involved historians in their debates. How is that even possible? Historians expert on each of the historical figures are happy to participate in discussions with school boards or monument commissions. They, we, are happy to sit down with the public and policy-makers to help everyone better understand the relevant history. That’s what we do.

Ultimately, it is up to those responsible communities to decide how they will proceed. Undoubtedly there are some historical figures that we will, and should, choose no longer to honor. But that discussion should be done in the open. Beyond that, the discussion must include the larger issues that remain even after statues and school names are removed. Leaders have an opportunity to lead; they must embrace this opportunity, not hide from it by making arbitrary decisions.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler 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.

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

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Lincoln the Surveyor

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Lincoln the Surveyor by Lloyd OstendorfThe Sangamon County Deed Record on February 17, 1836 has this notation from Abraham Lincoln, the Surveyor.

“I hereby certify that the town of Petersburgh has been surveyed according to law, and that this is a correct plat of the same. A. Lincoln.”

“The Surveyor of Sangamon,” Lincoln later wrote in a third-person autobiography, “offered to depute to A[braham] that portion of his work which was within his part of the country. He accepted, procured a compass and chain, studied Flint, and Gibson a little, and went at it. This procured bread, and kept soul and body together.” Calhoun was a devout Democrat and the Whiggish Lincoln only took the job after he was assured his politics would not be held against him.

Over the three years he was deputy surveyor, he surveyed the towns of New Boston, Bath, Albany, Huron, and resurveyed the city of Petersburg. The city had been surveyed years before but Lincoln was asked to redo it when it began to grow more substantially, in part as New Salem began to fade away and its residents moved to nearby Petersburg. He also laid out the area that town fathers decided to name after its surveyor – Lincoln, Illinois. Lincoln christened the town with the juice from a watermelon. Beyond towns he also surveyed and laid out numerous roads and private properties, including a bridge over the Salt River at Musick Crossing. In one case, he found in resurveying some land that the seller had by error granted more land than he received payment for. Lincoln convinced his client, the descendant of the original buyer, to pay the cost of the additional land to the seller’s heirs. He was paid $2.50 for each quarter section of land, although as little as 25 cents for smaller lots.

Overall, Lincoln found surveying to be profitable both financially and in building relationships for his later political activities. “Mr. Lincoln was a good surveyor,” one investor noted, “he did it all himself, without help from anybody except chainmen.” The chainmen were men and boys would carry chains, drive stakes, and blaze trees for Lincoln, always with an ear out to hear Lincoln’s stories and jokes. Others were equally impressed with Lincoln’s honesty and industriousness. Whenever there was a dispute, both parties relied on Lincoln to settle the matter with his compass and chain.

[Adapted from my forthcoming book]

[Photo credit: Lincoln the Surveyor by Lloyd Ostendorf]

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler 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.

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

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Abraham Lincoln and the White House Stable Fire

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Abraham Lincoln was working in his second floor office on February 10, 1864 when he realized the White House stables were on fire.

It had been a long day already. Lincoln had spent the morning reviewing court martial cases, desperately searching for a reason to suspend the mandatory death sentence for deserters and working to keep soldiers in the army. Shortly after a light lunch of strawberries and milk, he had open office hours where the public could come in to vent their individual views. Lincoln called these his “public opinion baths,” which while distracting from more important work, helped him understand public sentiment. “Public sentiment is everything,” Lincoln had said. “With it we can accomplish anything; without it, nothing.” Later in the afternoon Lincoln received a delegation of 18 men from a convention at Allegheny City, Pennsylvania. They wanted to amend the Constitution “in favor of freedom.”

But then around 8:30 pm there was smoke. Lincoln’s private stables were on fire. He could see the small brick building between the White House and the the Treasury Building next door. Rushing out, his intent was to put out the fire but it was already consuming the small stables. Robert McBride recalled the event, which was also reported in the Evening Star newspaper:

“[Mr.] Cooper, the President’s private coachman, left the stable to get his supper about 8 o’clock, and he was first notified of the fire by the President himself, who discovered the smoke . . . The building . . . contained . . . six horses, all of which were burned to death . . . One of these ponies was all the more highly prized, in consequence of having once been the property of Willie, the deceased son of Mr. and Mrs. President Lincoln.”

Hours later, Lincoln stood in the East Room looking out at the still-smoldering stables. According to McBride, “Lincoln was weeping. Tad explained it was because Willie’s pony was there.”

Willie, Lincoln’s second oldest son, had died of typhoid almost exactly two years before, right here in the White House. The pony was the last remnant of the boy’s life remaining. Also lost were Lincoln’s own two horses, as well John Nicolay’s two horses and Tad’s other two ponies.

Lincoln conferred the next day with Commissioner of Public Buildings Benjamin Brown French about rebuilding the stables. Meanwhile, Patterson McGee, dismissed on the day the White House stables burned, was arrested the day after on the charge of having started the fire. He was released shortly thereafter.*

And the war continued.

*Edited to add McGee was cleared of wrongdoing. As Scott McCullagh in the comments alludes, McGee was released. Scott didn’t provide a source, but I’ve also heard via LinkedIn from historian and Lincoln scholar David Gerleman, who confirms McGee was released immediately after it was discovered he was in Grover’s Theater when the fire started. Gerleman says he has an in-depth article on the fire due out in 2022. Thanks to both for the additional information.

[Photo of Kazuhiro Tsuji sculpture of Lincoln, from The amazing story of Hollywood Make-up artist Kazuhiro Tsuji – Spoon & Tamago (spoon-tamago.com)]

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler 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.

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

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Lincoln Heads to Hampton Roads for a Peace Conference

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Lincoln RoomOn February 2, 1865, Abraham Lincoln headed to Hampton Roads in Virginia for a peace conference. It almost killed the 13th Amendment.

The House of Representatives was deep into debate about the 13th Amendment to end slavery in the United States. Extraordinary efforts were made on behalf of the administration to get the two-thirds majority needed for passage. It seemed like they had enough. And then someone heard that there were “peace commissioners” in Washington. Looking for a way to end the war without having to pass a constitutional amendment, many Representatives wavered. They sent a message to the President asking if any such commissioners were in town. Lincoln employed a bit of deception, replying that there were no commissioners in the city of Washington and he did not expect any. The vote squeaked through.

Of course, there were peace commissioners, but Lincoln had arranged for them to wait in Hampton Roads, Virginia, for a conference on board the steamboat River Queen. Lincoln had given a factually accurate, if incomplete, response to Congress.

Early on the morning of the 2nd, Lincoln telegraphed General Ulysses S. Grant: “Say to the gentlemen I will meet them personally at Fortress-Monroe, as soon a I can get there. Those gentlemen were Alexander Stephens, former U.S. Congressman from Georgia and current Vice President of the Confederacy, Assistant Secretary of War Joseph Campbell (who had been a Supreme Court Justice prior to resigning), and Robert Hunter (former U.S. Speaker of the House and Senator, then Confederate Secretary of State and Senator). The three men had come on a mission to end the war under terms that were friendly to the South.

Lincoln left Washington around 11:00 AM by special train to Annapolis, where he boarded the steamer Thomas Collyer. He arrived at Fortress Monroe in Hampton Roads late in the evening and immediately meets with Secretary of State William Seward on board the steamship River Queen.

When the five men met the next day, Lincoln was adamant that any peace agreement include reunification of all the states and the permanent end to slavery. Not surprisingly, the Confederate peace commissioners refused those conditions and returned to Richmond. Jefferson Davis, who was not present at the conference, later claimed that Lincoln had demanded “unconditional surrender.” This was false, and was Davis’s attempt to rally the Southern people to continue to fight what was already recognized as a losing battle. Lincoln, while unwavering that slavery must end, was open to compensation to the South. After returning to Washington, Lincoln did press Congress for amnesty and up to $400,000,000 in compensation. Given that the war was clearly nearing its end with a Union victory, neither Lincoln’s cabinet nor Congress was much interested in such an arrangement. No compensation or amnesty act was passed.

By late March, Lincoln would be “relaxing” at City Point near Petersburg, Virginia, where Grant had his camp. Not far down the James River from Richmond, Lincoln would stroll through the former capital of the Confederacy, abandoned the day before by Confederate leadership as the war came to a close. Lincoln would return to Washington on April 8th; Robert E. Lee would surrender Grant the next day. The war was effectively over.

Lincoln would be assassinated a week later.

[Adapted from my book Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America]

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler 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.

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