Tag: Abraham Lincoln

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Chasing Abraham Lincoln – The Tour Continues

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Lincoln bust in Havana, CubaAbraham Lincoln is everywhere. I just saw his bust in a park in Havana, Cuba. I even saw an art exhibit in the Fine Arts Museum of Cuba that included a figure of Lincoln (and missed the other three busts/statues of him there). He’s been seen in Singapore, Edinburgh, Oslo, Mexico City, and other far reaching places. And, of course, impressions of Lincoln are in many places in the United States, especially, and not surprisingly, in Illinois, the Land of Lincoln. As my Chasing Abraham Lincoln tour(s) continue, Part 3 takes me back to Illinois and points coming and going.

For those who followed my Chasing Abraham Lincoln tours (Parts 1 and 2) last year, the first trip took me through Lincoln’s early life in Kentucky and Indiana, along with a stop to see the assassination chair at the Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. Part 2 took me into the heart of Illinois, following in Lincoln’s footsteps through all seven Lincoln-Douglas debate sites, the Illinois & Michigan Canal, and a multitude of other towns and cities with statues, gravestones, and log cabins.

There have been other tours not officially designated with a Part Number, including trips to Charleston, South Carolina where the Civil War started, to Hampton Roads where the “Battle of the Ironclads” took place, and to Gettysburg for the annual Lincoln Forum. On a separate trip a few years ago I explored Lincoln’s Springfield and the Eighth Judicial Circuit. I’ve also made frequent visits to DC-area landmarks.

This official “Part 3” takes me back to Illinois. Details are still being worked out but on the way there I plan to stop in key places in Ohio and Indiana, plus the place where the Lincoln’s crossed into Illinois. After participating in the LEAD: Lincoln’s Path to Leadership program in Jacksonville, I’ll continue north to visit places I missed on my previous Illinois trip, plus forays into Wisconsin and Michigan to see statues in Milwaukee, Kenosha, and Kalamazoo. On the way back I plan to visit a new national park in Indiana and the Flight 93 Memorial in Pennsylvania.

As with last year, the exact timing and locations will likely change on the fly. I’ll do my best to emulate the late Tony Horwitz (Confederates in the Attic; Spying on the South) and talk to as many local people as I can to get their views on Lincoln.

Until then, feel free to check out some of my previous Chasing Abraham Lincoln trips (click and scroll for stories, or simply type “Chasing Abraham Lincoln” into the Search box above).

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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LEAD Me to Abraham Lincoln – Lessons to be Learned

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Looking for LincolnIn June I’ll have the privilege of participating in the annual LEAD: Lincoln’s Path to Leadership program in Illinois. For the past two years LEAD has provided my book, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, to each of the students in the program; this year I’ll be there too.

LEAD is an initiative of the Looking for Lincoln program of the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area, which covers the 8th Judicial District represented by Abraham Lincoln in his single term in the U.S. House of Representatives (where I recently participated in the dedication of the new Lincoln Room). Led by the Heritage Area’s Executive Director Sarah Watson and long-time Lincoln presenter George Buss, and in partnership with many other Lincoln and youth groups in Illinois, the LEAD program:

“provides an opportunity for youth to learn about the character qualities of a leader by examining Abraham Lincoln’s life, his ideals, his character and his character capabilities.”

Each year the participants – about 40 seventh graders selected from around the state – spend a week visiting historic sites related to Abraham Lincoln and discussing how Lincoln became the great leader we know him as today. Students walk away with a greater appreciation of leadership qualities and how they can apply them to their own lives.

In my portion we’ll talk about my own leadership experiences (I have been president of organizations four times and am currently vice-president of the Lincoln Group of DC), which will segue into how Lincoln went from frontier farm boy to leader of the nation.

If you haven’t yet taken advantage of it, check out the other Looking for Lincoln and Heritage Area programs, as well as their tour itineraries. They provide tons of information to help you visit and appreciate the Land of Lincoln. [BTW, the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area just expanded to include the most southern (Jonesboro) and most northern (Freeport) debate sites.]

For those who followed my Chasing Abraham Lincoln tours (Parts 1 and 2) last year, I’ll be combining my LEAD participation with Part 3. Previous tours took me to Lincoln’s early life in Kentucky and Indiana (plus stops in Tennessee and Michigan) and the Lincoln-Douglas debate sites (and many others) in Illinois.  For Part 3 I’ll be visiting many stops in Illinois I missed previously, plus some Lincoln-related sites in Wisconsin and Michigan.

I’m looking forward to both the LEAD: Lincoln’s Path to Leadership program and my Chasing Abraham Lincoln tour. Before that I’ll be on another adventure, but that’s a topic for a later post.

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 (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) 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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Introducing the Abraham Lincoln Bibliography Project

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Lincoln book towerThey say there are over 15,000 books and pamphlets published about Abraham Lincoln. The truth is, no one actually knows. As a way to find out, I’ve started the Abraham Lincoln Bibliography Project. As I note in my introduction to the page:

The goal of the Abraham Lincoln Bibliography Project is to compile all of those books, then organize them into a usable resource for researchers, aficionados, and anyone interested in reading more about our 16th president.

The project is still in its infancy and limited by the amount of time I have to devote to it. It’s a big project, so as it develops I’ll be looking for additional help. Visitors are welcome to offer their thoughts, suggestions, books to be included, and whatever else seems appropriate in the comments.

So far the site has focused on book reviews, but since one of the goals of the Abraham Lincoln Bibliography Project is to offer broader guidance on books about Abraham Lincoln, ultimately the plan is to include three types of posts:

  1. Compilations of books within categories (e.g., assassination, presidency, etc.)
  2. Reviews of books written about Lincoln
  3. News

The first type, compilations, will eventually include two subtypes: summary discussions on a topic, and lists. The lists are what they sound like; simply lists of books within a subtopic, e.g., books about the assassination. The summary discussions will be longer syntheses of a group of books in that subcategory, essentially white papers discussing the topic and including references. Since these will take longer to prepare, they will be posted less frequently than lists.

The second type is also self-explanatory. I’ll post reviews of books about Lincoln. Initially, these will be reviews written by myself on books I have read. I anticipate also including relevant reviews written by others, either specifically for this site or in accordance with accepted copyright limitations if published elsewhere.

The third type is News. Any news items posted on the internet pertaining to particular books or Lincoln-related topics may be included on this site as encountered. Selection of items will be based on relevance and applicability to the overall goals of this project. So far I haven’t added any news to the site, but feel free to offer suggestions or thoughts.

As this site develops I’ll add organization to make it easier to find particular compilations, lists, books reviewed, and news items by topic.

As I said earlier in this post, the Abraham Lincoln Bibliography Project is still a work in progress, with much more work to be done. Please be patient as it develops, and feel free to offer any ideas for books to be reviewed or added to category lists. Constructive thoughts on how to develop the page are welcome (spamming or trolling are not).

To keep up with future items, please consider following the page.

[Text above adapted from two posts on the Abraham Lincoln Bibliography Project website. David J. Kent photo of Lincoln book tower in the Ford’s Theatre Center for Education and Leadership]

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 (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) 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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Lincoln Room Dedicated in U.S. Capitol

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Lincoln RoomIt’s official. The room once used by Abraham Lincoln has been designated the Lincoln Room by House Resolution 1063. It’s a fitting tribute both to the 16th President of the United States and to Past-President of the Lincoln Group of DC, John Elliff. I was privileged to attend the dedication ceremony on May 1, 2019 in Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.

The road to the dedication is a long one, from one former president to another. Currently Room H-226 in the U.S. Capitol, the space was the House post office during the time that Abraham Lincoln served his single term as a U.S. Congressman from Illinois. The House chambers then are now Statuary Hall, where visitors can see the statues from each of the 50 states (two for each state). A small metal plate in the floor designates where Lincoln’s desk was as a Congressman, way in the back of the hall. Behind it is a door that led to the post office. Today that room is in the rear of the suite designated for the House Majority Whip, currently Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina.

Lincoln would spend many hours between votes and debates in the post office. Representatives didn’t have offices or staffs then, so the post office was a good place to discuss issues of the day and trade stories and jokes.

Flash forward to the present. In 2014 I attended a special ceremony in Statuary Hall celebrating the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s second inaugural. Congressman Rodney Davis, who serves in part of what had been Lincoln’s district, took me into the room then occupied by Steve Scalise, who had set aside the old post office room as an unofficial tribute to Abraham Lincoln.

John Elliff also was at that ceremony. As President of the Lincoln Group of DC he recognized that Rep. Scalise’s unofficial designation might not hold after the results of the 2016 election changed party leadership of the House (much like Lincoln pushing for the 13th Amendment to codify the gains made in the Emancipation Proclamation). After finishing his presidential term in spring 2018, John began working in earnest to convince Congress to officially designate the room as the Lincoln Room.

In August 2018, John Elliff suddenly and tragically passed away. By then he had received commitments from several members of Congress to pass a resolution. The Lincoln Group of DC, the Illinois State Society, and the Abraham Lincoln Association of Springfield, Illinois (and its president, former Lincoln Group of DC officer Bob Willard) all engaged with Congress to support the permanent designation of the Lincoln Room.

Near the end of the 115th Congress, Representatives Darin LaHood and Raja Krishnamoorthi co-sponsored a bipartisan resolution to officially designate the Lincoln Room. It passed and the room was formally dedicated this week. Representatives LaHood and Krishnamoorthi, Lincoln Group of DC President John O’Brien, Illinois State Society President Jerry Weller, and John Elliff’s wife Linda all spoke at the dedication. About 50 proud members of the three organizations attended the event in Statuary Hall and toured the Lincoln Room.

As Representative LaHood noted during the dedication, this resolution and designation would not have been possible without the tireless work of John Elliff and the support of these Lincoln and Illinois organizations.

For me personally this was a fitting tribute to the man who became my Lincoln mentor, John Elliff, as well as to Abraham Lincoln himself. As I wrote in my tribute post last August, John was, as fellow friend and Lincoln scholar Bob Willard noted, “Lincolnian in character – honest, smart, hard-working, empathetic, curious.” Everyone in the Lincoln Group of DC appreciated these characteristics. He was a true leader.

And now he will be forever linked with his own political mentor, Abraham Lincoln. Thank you John, Linda, Bob, Jerry, Representatives LaHood and Krishnamoorthi, and all the members of each of the organizations that made the Lincoln Room happen. See the slideshow below for some photos of the event.

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 (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) 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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Sumter, Hunley, and a Die-Hard Confederate

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What do Fort Sumter, the H.L. Hunley, and a die-hard Confederate all have in common? I saw them all during my whirlwind weekend trip to Charleston, South Carolina – where the Civil War began. It was a quick trip but a hugely impactful one. Charleston has a lot to offer, both today and in history.

Fort Sumter – as I hope everyone already knows – was the site of the shots that began the American Civil War. Union Major Robert Anderson had been garrisoned with this 85-man forces at Fort Moultrie (where I also visited) as the construction of Fort Sumter in the middle of Charleston Harbor had yet to be completed. Fearing the easy access of Moultrie to the belligerence of newly formed Confederate armies, Anderson moved his men over to Sumter under the cover of night. In the early morning hours of April 12, 1861, Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard began a 34-hour bombardment of the fort. And the war came.

http://www.oldslavemartmuseum.com/

I was honored to be part of a group of volunteers who helped raise the flag over Fort Sumter on Easter Sunday.

Charleston also hosts the H.L. Hunley, the Confederate submarine that sunk the USS Housatonic outside Charleston Harbor in 1864. The Hunley has the distinction of being both the first successful submarine attack in warfare and the only submarine that killed more of its own men than that of its enemy. On its first training cruise, five of the eight crew were drowned due to malfunctioning equipment. On its second, all eight crew members drowned, including its inventor, H.L. Hunley. According to Dave, the volunteer tour guide at the Hunley Center, the aforementioned General Beauregard thought that the underwater ship was a danger more to its crew than to the enemy. He did, however, approve the third mission, crewed by volunteers (a tradition that remains in today’s Naval Submarine corps) and led by Lieutenant George Dixon.

Charleston SC

But here’s where it gets stranger still. Dixon and his crew successfully snuck up close to the Housatonic, struck it with a torpedo (mine) attacked to a forward spar, and sunk the ship to the bottom of Charleston Harbor. The Hunley then mysteriously disappeared, finally located more than a century later by famed writer and explorer Clive Cussler. All eight of the final crewmen on the Hunley died (scientists still today argue about why), but because the Harbor was so shallow, only five of the Housatonic‘s crew died. After viewing the submarine I stopped at Magnolia Cemetery to see the graves of the 21 men who died on the Hunley.

Charleston SCThe Civil War theme didn’t stop there. I also visited an old Slave Mart, where the buying and selling of enslaved people was moved indoors after locals started complaining how the outdoor sales were giving the city a bad name. [It should be noted that Charleston became the fourth largest city in the new United States precisely because of its major role in both the international and domestic slave trades.] I also stumbled upon a man named Braxton (not named after the Confederate General and sugar plantation owner Braxton Bragg, he assured me). Braxton was standing next to the large monument in Battery Park, “Confederate Defenders of Charleston, Fort Sumter, 1861-1865.” He and his two buddies (he was alone this day) have been coming out to guard the statue every weekend for the last four years, that is, when he isn’t playing a Confederate private (or Robert E. Lee) in local reenactments. He had a fascinating story, which I’ll tell in a future post.

To round out the weekend in Charleston I visited Magnolia plantation and gardens, the remnants of a large antebellum rice plantation owned by the Drayton family.

In the middle of all this Civil War theme, I also found time to visit the South Carolina Aquarium on the Charleston waterfront. Along with the Ft. Fisher Aquarium in North Carolina I stopped at on the way back north, this makes something like 57 public aquariums I’ve visited in my life, so far.

I’ll have more on all of these once I sort through photos and notes. 

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 (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) 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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Lincoln and Tesla at the Library of Congress

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Nikola Tesla’s pioneering work with alternating current electricity relies on power generated by a dynamo. Abraham Lincoln had a broad interest in science and technology. And now Lincoln and Tesla are joined in electrical science at the Library of Congress.

While Tesla likely never visited the library, Abraham Lincoln was certainly no stranger to the Library of Congress’s vast holdings. During Lincoln’s two-year term as a U.S. Congressman from 1847 to 1849 he lived at Mrs. Sprigg’s boarding house in a row of such houses from East Capitol Street to A Street SE. Directly behind the Capitol, it was a perfect location for Lincoln and his fellow boarders – mostly other Whigs and abolitionists – to discuss the issues of the day while being close enough to rush over for votes in Congress.

The row of houses was pulled down long after Lincoln’s time to make way for, you guessed it, the Library of Congress. The Jefferson Building of the Library was opened in 1897 and sits right on top of Lincoln’s once home-site. Lincoln as President was a regular borrower of books from the library’s shelves (at that time, the Library of Congress was still housed within the Capitol building). Topics of books loaned to Lincoln ranged from the strategy of war to the plays of Shakespeare, and of course, keeping up on science and technology.

Here’s where it gets interesting.

The Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress has an amazing main reading room, above which looms a beautiful dome hundreds of feet overhead. Around the central oculus is a mural by Edwin Howland Blashfield. Like Nikola Tesla, Blashfield spent much of his early life traveling around Europe. Later, once establishing himself as a widely regarded muralist, Blashfield would paint a mural in the dome of the Manufacturers’ and Liberal Arts building at the World’s Columbian Exposition (the Chicago World’s Fair), the very Fair where Nikola Tesla would become a household name.

Back in the Library of Congress, Blashfield decided on a circular mural designed to represent “Evolution of Civilization.” Various civilizations represent that evolution and the contributions each had made to society. Gazing upward you see this:

Library of Congress Lincoln Main Reading Room
Zooming in to the “one o’clock” position of the above you can see someone very familiar:

Library of Congress Lincoln Main Reading RoomAccording to the Library of Congress’s Abraham Lincoln and Civil War expert Michelle Krowl, and quoting from the book On These Walls: Inscriptions & Quotations in the Library of Congress:

“America is represented by the field of science. The figure, an engineer whose face was modeled on that of Abraham Lincoln, sits pondering a problem. In front of him is an electric dynamo, representing the American contribution to advances in harnessing electricity.”

Well how about that? The visage of Abraham Lincoln is used to epitomize America, and our contribution to society is science, depicted by an electric dynamo harnessing electricity, something that Nikola Tesla was in the forefront of bringing to the American public.

So Tesla and Lincoln are connected in several ways through science. And that’s not the end of the connections between these two men.

For more, check out my e-book on Amazon: Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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 (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) 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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Join Us – DC Emancipation and the Emancipation Proclamation – Special Event

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I’m happy to be a part of sponsoring a once in a lifetime special event. On the evening of April 16, 2019 there will be a triple header at the National Archives. You’ll be able to see the original Emancipation Proclamation, see an All-Star Panel discuss the Proclamation and DC Emancipation Day, plus be entertained by the Artists Group Chorale of Washington. And it’s all FREE.

DC Emancipation Day Event

Attendees will be invited to a private viewing of the original Emancipation Proclamation AND DC Compensated Emancipation Act documents beginning at 6 pm. Both documents are signed by Abraham Lincoln. This is a special event. Because of the fragility of these original documents, they are only on display for a short period of time and we’ll have a privileged viewing.

While viewing we’ll be serenaded by the Artists Group Chorale.

At 6:45 pm we will move down to the main auditorium in the McGowan Theater for another song from the Chorale, followed by a discussion of both documents by learned scholars. Moderated by Howard University Professor and leading Abraham Lincoln scholar Edna Greene Medford, the panel includes C.R. Gibbs, Roger Davidson, and Elizabeth Clark-Lewis.

After their on-stage discussion, the microphones will be opened up for audience questions and comments.

This is a rare event and the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia is pleased to be co-sponsoring with the National Archives and the Government of the District of Columbia.

Free registration is suggested to ensure space in the auditorium, but not required. The National Archives is located across the street from the Archives Metro Station between Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues in downtown Washington, D.C.

Please join us for this wonderful event.

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 (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) 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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Lincoln Takes Tad to Richmond on His Birthday

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Lincoln and TadOn April 4, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln took his son Tad into the city of Richmond, Virginia. The city had fallen the day before into Union hands two days before. It was Tad’s 12th birthday.

Tad was born Thomas Lincoln III, in 1853. He was named after Lincoln’s somewhat estranged father, but everyone called him Tad because as an infant he had a large head and was as wiggly as a tadpole. Tad was born with a partial cleft palate that was not externally noticeable but gave him a lisp and made his speech difficult to understand. He and Willie ran ramshackle over the White House until Willie’s premature demise, after which Lincoln doted on Tad to the extreme.

In late March 1865, General Grant had invited Lincoln to City Point (near Petersburg), to which Lincoln immediately accepted. He was not alone; Mary insisted on joining him, so a party including Tad Lincoln, a maid, a bodyguard, and a military aide boarded the River Queen on March 23 for the trip. Son Robert, now an adjunct to Grant’s army, met them on their arrival the next evening. Lincoln took time to visit the troops and confer with Generals Grant and Sherman and Admiral David Porter. Overall it was a restful but productive visit. That changed when Mary Lincoln flew into a jealous rage at seeing General Ord’s wife riding “too close” to her husband, after which Lincoln sent Mary back to Washington. Soon after her departure, however, the Union captured Richmond, which the Confederate leadership had abandoned. She insisted on returning, this time bringing a large entourage that included her ex-slave dressmaker, Elizabeth Keckley, who had been born in nearby Petersburg.

During Mary’s absence, Lincoln took Tad into Richmond. After landing at the docks, Lincoln and Tad walked the mile or so to the Confederate White House that had served until a few days earlier as Jefferson Davis’s office. Surrounding him along the way were hundreds of ex-slaves who wanted to see the “Great Emancipator,” while anxious white southerners stared suspiciously from their windows.

Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his cabinet had fled the city on April 2nd, boarding the last open railroad line further south. Retreating soldiers set fire to bridges, the Richmond armory, and various supply warehouses. Untended, the fires grew out of control and large parts of Richmond were destroyed. The city was surrendered to Union officers the next day. Since Lincoln was relatively nearby, he chose to visit the former Confederate capital, bringing along Tad. For Tad, this was a best birthday celebration ever, as he enjoyed wearing military uniforms and “playing soldier,” much to the chagrin of the White House staff and cabinet.

A statue of Lincoln and Tad was erected in modern times at the site of Tredegar Iron Works.

Lincoln and Tad in Richmond

Before heading back to Washington, Lincoln visited the Depot Field Hospital at City Point. Over the course of a full day he shook the hands of more than 6,000 patients, including a few sick and wounded Confederate soldiers. Feeling the pressure of business, Lincoln left City Point to return to Washington on the evening of April 8. The next day, Lee surrendered his army to General Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the war.

A week later Lincoln would die from an assassin’s bullet.

Tad survived the trauma of his father’s assassination and his mother’s near-insanity only to die at 18 years old when a common cold developed into severe damage to his lungs. Of Abraham and Mary’s four children, only the oldest, Robert, would live to adulthood.

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

[Photo Credit of Lincoln and Tad statue: Riverfront.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 (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) 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 Meets Joshua Speed…and Mary Todd

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Abe and MaryAfter an unfortunate breakup with a woman named Mary Owens, and with negotiations over moving the capital from Vandalia to Springfield under way, Abraham Lincoln decided to leave New Salem for the big city. The move was advantageous.

But he was broke. Even with his full pay for the last session of the state legislature in hand, Lincoln rode his old horse to Springfield deep in debt. Upon arrival, one of his companions on the trip, William Butler, sold Lincoln’s horse without telling him, paid off his debts, and moved his saddlebags into the Butler household about fourteen miles out of town. Lincoln continued taking his meals at the Butlers without charge for the next five years. After a while Lincoln decided he needed to find a place in town, and he rode in on a borrowed horse with his saddlebags, a few law books, and the clothes on his back seeking residence. His first stop was Joshua Speed’s store. According to Speed, Lincoln asked “what the furniture for a single bedstead would cost.” Putting pencil to paper, Speed told him the sum would be seventeen dollars. Taken aback, Lincoln agreed it was probably a fair price but replied, “If you will credit me to Christmas, and my experiment here as a lawyer is a success, I will pay you then. If I fail in that I will probably never be able to pay you at all.” Seeing his forlorn look, Speed offered:

I think I can suggest a plan by which you will be able to attain your end, without incurring any debt. I have a very large room, and a very large double-bed in it; which you are perfectly welcome to share with me if you choose.

“Where is your room?” asked Lincoln. Speed pointed to the stairs leading from the store to his room. Saying nothing, Lincoln took his saddlebags, went up the stairs, tossed them on the floor, and returned “beaming with pleasure” to say:

“Well, Speed, I’m moved.”

Lincoln shared the room with Speed for the next three-and-a-half years, often with other store clerks and assistants. One such clerk was a very young William Herndon, who later went into partnership with Lincoln. The atmosphere was jovial, and Lincoln was his usual story-telling self. Speed became Lincoln’s closest friend and confidant for the rest of his life, even though Speed eventually returned to his slave-holding family in Kentucky. As was common between men of those days, the two shared their most intimate vulnerabilities, a relationship that rivaled any of Lincoln’s romantic loves. When Speed questioned his affection for the woman he was about to marry, Lincoln helped him through the doubts. Later, when Lincoln was going through the same process, he turned to the happily married Speed for advice. He was seeking counsel regarding his relationship with Mary Todd.

On March 27, 1842, after an on-again, off-again courting of Mary Todd, Lincoln wrote to his friend, Joshua F. Speed, who had by that time moved back to his plantation in Louisville, Kentucky. Lincoln had abruptly broken off the engagement over a year before and it was eating at him.

“Since then, it seems to me, I should have been entirely happy, but for the never-absent idea, that there is one still unhappy whom I have contributed to make so. That still kills my soul. I can not but reproach myself, for even wishing to be happy while she is otherwise.”

Speed managed to counsel his old friend and sometime in 1842 Mary and Lincoln began secretly courting again. Despite her sister Elizabeth’s opposition, the two often met at the Edwards house and sat on the low couch for hours, talking about life and love. Likely they also discussed politics, as by this time Lincoln was actively involved in Whig party activities and Mary was as ambitious as he, perhaps even more so. Their romance bloomed again, enough that Mary flirtatiously and anonymously wrote a letter backing up Lincoln’s own anonymous letter to the local paper mocking James Shields, a political rival. Shields, feeling his honor had been attacked, challenged Lincoln to a duel. Lincoln tried to back out of it, but when Shields insisted, the tall and muscular Lincoln offered up heavy broadswords as weapon of choice. Faced with a severe disadvantage, the short-armed Shields allowed himself to be talked out of the fight.

To the astonishment of the Springfield social set, Lincoln and Mary suddenly decided they would get married—that night. Elizabeth Edwards claimed the wedding occurred with only two hours’ notice, and indeed the marriage license was issued that very day. Lincoln had a “deer in the highlights” look as he approached the hurried ceremony in the Edwards parlor. According to friends, when Lincoln was dressing for ceremony he was asked where he was going, to which he replied, “I guess I’m going to hell.” At least one Lincoln scholar believes Mary may have seduced Lincoln the night before into doing something that obligated him to marriage. Whatever the reason, they were married on November 4, 1842. A week later he seemed resigned to the fact, closing a business letter with:

“Nothing new here except my marrying, which to me, is matter of profound wonder.”

[Adapted from Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America]

[Photo Credit: Photo of print by Lloyd Ostendorf]

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 (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) 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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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.

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