The Twentieth
Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans: Volume VI L. Lincoln,
Abraham
" LINCOLN,
Abraham, sixteenth president of the United States, was born in a log cabin on
the Big South Fork of Nolin Creek, three miles from Hodgensville, LaRue county,
Ky., Feb. 12, 1809;
eldest son and
second child of Thomas and Nancy (Hanks) Lincoln;
grandson of Abraham
and Mary (Shipley) Lincoln;
great grandson
of John Lincoln, who emigrated from New Jersey to Pennsylvania and thence to
the wilds of western Virginia about 1758;
great2 grandson
of Mordecai and Hannah Bewne (Slater) Lincoln, this Mordecai removing from Scituate,
Mass., in 1714 to Monmouth county, N.J., and thence to Pennsylvania;
great3 grandson
of Mordecai and Sarah (Jones) Lincoln, this Mordecai removing from Hingham to
Scituate, Mass., about 1704, where he set up a furnace for smelting iron ore;
and great4 grandson
of Samuel Lincoln, born in Norfolk county, England, in 1620, who emigrated to
Salem, Mass., in 1637 and in 1640 joined his brother Thomas, who had settled
in Hingham, Mass.
The Lincolns
were evidently men of considerable wealth and of good social position. Thomas
Lincoln, father of the President, inherited some property but was an improvident
man, by trade a carpenter and accustomed to seek work from place to place. In
the autumn of 1816 he removed to Indiana where his wife died Oct. 5,
1816, and he returned to Kentucky and was married secondly to Sarah (Bush) Johnston,
an intelligent and industrious widow.
Abraham's attendance
at school occupied hardly one year, but he improved every opportunity for acquiring
knowledge. His only books were the Bible, "Æsop's Fables," "Robinson Crusoe
", "The Pilgrim's Progress," Weems's "Life of Washington" and a history of the
United States.
During his boyhood
and youth he acquired a local reputation as a wit. He was also a successful
backwoods orator, speaking whenever opportunity offered on temperance, national
politics and other topics. The Lincoln family removed to Sangamon county, Illinois,
where Abraham assisted his father in building a cabin in the forest. He obtained
employment as a farm hand, and in the spring of 1832 on the outbreak of the
Black Hawk war he was elected captain of a company of volunteers.
On the expiration
of his term of service he re-enlisted as a private and served until mustered
out in June, 1832. In March, 1832, he had announced himself a candidate for
representative in the state legislature and on his return from the war he began
his electioneering. He was not elected, standing third on a list of eight contestants,
but out of the 208 votes cast in Sangamon county he received 205.
He
then engaged in the grocery business at New Salem as junior partner of the firm
of Berry & Lincoln,
but this venture ended disastrously within a year, and he was responsible for
the indebtedness of the firm which he discharged after many years. He was postmaster
at New Salem in 1833; was elected deputy surveyor of Sangamon county in January,
1834; was a Whig representative in the state legislature, 1834-42, and was instrumental
in removing the state capital from Vandalia to Springfield.
He studied law,
and in March, 1837, was admitted to the bar. He settled in Springfield and formed
a partnership with John S. Stuart. He was a candidate on the Whig electoral
ticket in 1840 and stumped the state for Harrison and Tyler. He was married
Nov. 4, 1842, to Mary Todd, a native of Lexington, Ky., who was residing in
Springfield with her sister, Mrs. Ninian W. Edwards.
His partnership
with Mr. Stuart was dissolved in 1841, and a new partnership was formed with
Stephen T. Logan, .which continued until 1843, when a connection with William
H. Herndon was formed. This firm, of which Mr. Lincoln was senior partner, was
dissolved by Mr. Lincoln's death.
He was a candidate
on the Whig presidential electoral ticket in 1844 and spoke throughout
Illinois and a part of Indiana for Clay and Frelinghuysen. He was a representative
in the 30th congress, 1847-49, having been elected in 1846 over Peter Cartwright,
the Democratic candidate. He canvassed the state for Taylor and Fillmore during
the spring of 1848, and after the adjournment of congress, Aug. 14, 1848, he
spoke in New England.
While in congress
he opposed the extension of slavery, voting for the Wilmot proviso. He also
drew up a bill prohibiting the bringing of slaves into the District of Columbia,
the bill containing other restrictions, the measure to be decided by popular
vote in the district; and his bill received some support.
After leaving
congress he tried unsuccessfully to obtain the appointment of commissioner of
the general land [p.426] office and declined the appointment of governor of
the newly organized Territory of Oregon. He was a representative in the state
legislature in the winter of 1854, but resigned in order to become a candidate
before the legislature for the U.S. senate. In the Whig caucus in February, 1855, he received 45 votes on the first ballot
against 41 for James Shields, the next candidate, but on the tenth ballot Lyman
Trumbull was nominated.
On the organization
of the Republican party in 1854 Lincoln became prominently identified with it
and during the Republican national convention at Philadelphia, June 17, 1856,
which nominated Frémont and Dayton, he received 110 votes as candidate for Vice-President.
During the campaign he made over fifty speeches and became prominent as a leader
of the new party. In 1858 he was the Republican nominee for U.S. senator to
succeed Stephen A. Douglas, and on July 24 he challenged Douglas to a series
of debates. The election resulted in a victory for Douglas, though Lincoln had
a majority of the popular vote.
Lincoln afterward
spoke at Columbus and at Cincinnati, Ohio, and on Feb. 27, 1860,
he spoke in New York city being introduced by William Cullen Bryant as "an eminent
citizen from the west, hitherto known to you only by reputation." He then delivered
speeches in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Connecticut. His
entire argument was based on the question, "Is slavery right or wrong?"
After the debates
with Douglas in 1858 Lincoln was urged to seek the nomination for President,
but he repeatedly discouraged the suggestion. He reconsidered the matter, however,
in 1859-60, and consented to be a candidate, and the Republican state convention
of Illinois instructed their delegates to vote for him. On May 16, 1860, the
Republican national convention met at Chicago, where the chief candidates were
William H. Seward, Abraham Lincoln, Salmon P. Chase, Simon Cameron, Edward Bates
and William L. Dayton. Seward led in the first two ballots, Lincoln standing
second. On the third ballot Lincoln had 231 1/2 votes to Seward's 180, 235 votes
being necessary for nominaton, and before the count was announced four votes
were transferred to Lincoln by a delegate from Ohio. Other delegates followed
his example and Lincoln received 354 votes out of a possible 465, the nomination
being made unanimous on the motion of William M. Evarts. Hannibal Hamlin of
Maine was nominated for Vice-President.
Stephen A. Douglas
was nominated by a wing of the Democratic party with Herschel V. Johoson for
Vice-President, at Baltimore, June 18, 1860. After a spirited campaign Lincoln
was elected. Nov. 6. 1860, the popular vote standing 1,866,352 for Lincoln and
Hamlin, 1,375,157 for Douglas and Johnson, 847,963 for Breckinridge and Lane,
589,581 for Bell and Everett, and the electoral vote was 180 for Lincoln, 12
for Douglas, 12 for Breckinridge and 39 for Bell.
A constitution
for the provisional government of the Confederate States of America was adopted
at Montgomery, Ala., Feb. 8, 1861, by deputies
from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Lousiana, Mississippi
and South Carolina. On Feb. 9, 1861, Jefferson
Davis was elected President, and. Alexander H. Stephens Vice-President,
and all U.S. property within the limits of the Confederacy
was declared confiscate.
Major Anderson,
with his small force in Fort Moultrie, on the west end of Sullivan's Island
at the entrance of Charleston barber, learning the determination of the South
Carolina government to possess themselves of the U.S. government property, evacuated
the fort on Dec. 26, 1860, and raised the flag over Fort Sumter, constructed
on a made island midway between Forts Moultrie and Johnson, and there awaited
reinforcements from the national government. The South Carolina insurgents took
possession of all the other forts in the harbor and manned them, at the same
time building a large floating ironclad battery.
After a journey
to Washington, attended with considerable personal danger, Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated
March 4, 1861, and in his inaugural address he declared the union of the states
to be perpetual, secession to be illegal, and his purpose "to hold, occupy and
possess the property and places belonging to the government and to collect the
duties and imposts." He also declared that the position of the Republican party
regarding slavery was to prevent its extension, but not to interfere with the
institution in states where it already lawfully existed.
On April 12,
1861, the Confederates opened fire on Fort Sumter and continued the bombardment
until the fort was rendered untenable, and as the reinforcements and provisions
sent by the Star of the West, which reached the harbor Jan. 9, 186l, failed
to reach the fort, Major Anderson had no choice but to surrender, which he did
April 13, 1861, and he evacuated the fort April 14. This action on the part
of the South aroused great consternation in the North and political differences
were largely forgotten in the desire to preserve the Union. On April 15, 1861,
the [p.427] President called for 75,000 three-months volunteers and summoned
congress to assemble in extra session on July 4, 1861.
On April 17,
1861, President Davis also called for 32,000 volunteers and offered "letters
of marque and reprisal to owners of private armed vessels" to depredate upon
U.S. commerce; on the same day Virginia seceded, and on April 19 President Lincoln
proclaimed a blockade of the Confederate ports, which then included South Carolina,
Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisana, and to which were added
North Carolina and Virginia April 19, and the same day the Massachusetts troops
were attacked by a mob in the streets of Baltimore and two soldiers were killed.
On May 3, 1861,
President Lincoln called for volunteers for three years; ordered the regular
army increased, and directed the enlistment of additional seamen. On March 5,
1861, the President had sent in his nominations for his cabinet, all of which
had been confirmed. Willlath H. Seward of New York was named as secretary of
state; Sahoon P. Chase of Ohio secretary of the treasury; Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania
secretary of war; Gideon Welles of Connecticut secretary of the navy; Caleb
B. Smith of Indiana secretary of the interior; Edward Bates of Missouri
attorney-general; Montgomery Blair of Maryland postmaster-general.
The following
changes were made in the cabinet: Secretary Cameron resigned his portfolio to
accept the position of U. S. minister to Russia, Jan. 11, 1862,
and the portfolio of war was accepted by Edwin M. Stanton of Pennsylvania, Jan.
15, 1862;
W. P. Fessenden
of Maine was appointed secretary of the treasury,
July 1, 1864, to succeed Salmon P. Chase, made chief justice of the U.S. supreme
court, and he resigned to take a seat in the U.S. senate, and
was succeeded March 7, 1865, by Hugh McCulloch of Indiana;
John
P. Usher of Indiana was appointed secretary of the interior, Jan. 8, 1863,
to succeed Caleb B. Smith, appointed U.S. circuit judge of Indiana;
James Speed of
Kentucky was appointed attorney-general Dec. 2, 1864,
to succeed Edward Bates, resigned; and William Dennison of Ohio was appointed
postmaster-general to succeed Montgomery Blair, who resigned at the request
of the President.
During Lincoln's
administrations he made the following diplomatic appointments: minister to Great
Britain, Charles Francis Adams of Massachusetts;
minister to France,
William L. Dayton of New Jersey, who was succeeded at his death in 1864 by John
Bigelow of New York;
minister to Austria,
Anson Burlingame of Massachusetts, who was not received by that government on
account of his political opinions, and was succeeded by John Lothtop Motley
of Massachusetts;
minister to Russia,
Cassius M. Clay of Kentucky, who was succeeded by Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania
in 1862;
minister to Italy,
George P. Marsh of Vermont;
and minister
to Spain, Carl Schurz of Wisconsin, 1861-62, who was succeeded by Gustavus Werner
of Illinois, 1862-64, and H. J. Perry of New Hampshire, who served as chargé
d'affaires until the appointment of John P. Hale of New Hampshire in 1865.
The President's
message delivered before both houses of congress July 4 1861, went far toward
reassuring the people, a large number of whom were not without uneasiness as
to the ability of the President to meet the crisis. He briefly stated the condition
of affairs, announced his intention of standing by the statements made in his
inaugural address, and asked that congress would place at the control of the
government at least 400,000 men and $400,000,000. To his request congress promptly
responded by voting 500,000 men and $500,000,000.
The early operations
of the Confederate and Federal armies were confined to Virginia and Missouri.
The first clash of arms between the two forces was at Philippi, Va., June 3,
1861, in which the Confederates were defeated by the Federal army under Gen.
G. B. McClellan.
This was followed
by the Confederate victory at Big Bethel, Va., June 10, 1861, and by the Federal
victories at Romney, Va., June 11, 1861, and at Boonville, Mo., June 17, 1861;
the Confederate victory at Carthage, Mo., July 5, 1861, and their defeat at
Rich Mountain, Va., July 11, 1861.
On July 20 the
President summoned Gen. George B, McClellan from western Virginia to Washington,
and on his arrival in August, 1861, assigned him to the command of the Army
of the Potomac. On July 3, 1861, the President created the department of the
west, placing it under command of Gen. John C. Frémont. On Aug. 31, 1861, Frémont
issued a proclamation announcing that he would emancipate all slaves of those
in arms against the United States. The President considered this premature and
asked Frémont to withdraw the proclamation, which he declined to do, and the
President annulled it in a public order, and on Nov. 21, 1861, Frémont was relieved
of his command just as he had overtaken the Confederate forces at Springfield,
Mo.
The battle of Bull Run, Va., July 21, 1861, resulted in a Federal defeat;
the battle of Dug Spring, Mo., [p.428] Aug. 2, 1861, in a Federal victory; Wilson's
Creek, Mo., Aug. 10, 1861, in a Federal defeat; Hattaras Inlet, N.C., Aug. 28-29,
in a Federal victory, and Ball's Bluff, Oct. 21, in a Federal defeat. On the
retirement of Gen. Winfield Scott, Oct. 31, 1861, General McClellan succeeded
him as general-in-chief of all the armies of the United States. The year closed
with the capture of Port Royal, S.C., Nov. 7, 1861, and on the same date the
indecisive battle of Belmont, Mo., between Generals Grant and Polk. On Nov.
8, 1861, Captain Wilkes, in command of the U.S. steamer San Jacinto took from
the English mail steamer Trent the Confederate commissioners James M. Mason
and John Slidell, and the President, by the advice of Secretary Seward and other
members of his cabinet apologized to the British Government, explaining that
Captain Wilkes should have brought the steamer into port as a prize, as we had
always contended, instead of adjudicating the case himself at sea, and therefore
gave up the commissioners.
The President issued his "General War Order No. 1,"
Jan. 27, 1862, in which he directed "that the 22d day of February, 1869, be
the day for a general movement of the land and naval forces of the United States
against the insurgent forces," and while it was not found practicable to carry
his order through, it quieted the tumult in the north, where there was an almost
universal demand that the Federal army should proceed at once to capture the
Confederate capital, making the battle cry "On to Richmond."
The campaign of
1862 opened with the victory at Mill Springs, Ky., by the Federal forces under
Gen. George H. Thomas, Jan. 19 and 20, and on Feb. 6, 1862, Fort Henry, Tenn.,
surrendered to Flag-Officer Foote. General Burnside, who had been placed in
command of the department of North Carolina Jan. 7, 1862, won a Federal victory
at Roanoke Island, N.C., Feb. 8, 1862, and Fort Donelson, Tenn., surrendered
to General Grant Feb. 16, 1862.
These Union victories were repeated in the battles
of Pea Ridge, Ark., by Gen. Samuel R. Curtis, March 6-8, 1862, and the battle
of New Madrid, Mo., by Gen. John Pope, March 14, 1862. On March 8, 1862, the
Confederate ram Virginia (late Merrimac) wrought havoc with the Federal fleet
at Hampton Roads, Va., and was herself defeated by the U.S. iron-clad Monitor,
March 9, 1862. The Confederate victory at Newbern, N.C., March 14, 1862, was
followed by the Federal victories near Winchester, Va., March 23, by Gen. James
Shields; at Shiloh, Tenn., by Grant, April 6-7, 1862; the capture of Island
No. 10 with 6000 men by Flag-Officer Foote and General Pope, April 7, 1862,
and the capture of Fort Pulaski, Ga., by Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore, April 10-12,
1862.
On April 24, 1862, the Federal fleet under Flag-Officer Farragut passed
Forts Jackson and St. Philip, and on April 25 New Orleans was captured.
On May
5, 1862, General McClellan forced the Confederates to evacuate Williamsburg,
Va.; Gen. John E. Wool captured Norfolk, Va., May 10; Hanover court-house, Va.,
was captured by Gen. Fitz-John Porter, May 27, and on the same day General Beaureguard
evacuated Corinth, Miss. In a series of battles, May 27, May 31 and June 23
to July 1, which included Seven Pines and Fair Oaks, McClellan was forced to
change his base to the James river, as Gen. T. J. Jackson had marched down the
valley and threatened Washington, which prevented the President from carrying
out his intention of sending McDowell with his 40,000 men to his support.
On
June 3, 1862, Gen. Robert E. Lee was appointed to the chief command of the Confederate
army, and on June 26 he engaged McClellan at Mechanicsville, Va. The ensuing
seven days' battles, ending July 1, resulted in McClellan being ordered to evacuate
the Peninsula and join Pope's Army of Virginia.
The Confederates were again
victorious at Cedar Mountain, Aug. 9, 1862, in the battles between Manassas
and Washington, D.C., under Pope, Aug. 26 to Sept. 1, 1862, and in the battle
of Richmond, Ky., under Kirby Smith, Aug. 30, 1862. In September, 1862, Lee
began his invasion of Maryland and crossed the Potomac near Point of Rocks.
The President asked McClellan to resume the command of the Army of the Potomac.
On Sept. 15, 1862. Harper's Ferry with 12,000 men was surrendered to Gen. Thomas
J. Jackson, and after the battle of Antietam, Md., Sept. 16-17, 1862, Lee retreated
toward Richmond
. The Federal army under Rosecrans were victorious at Iuka, Miss.,
Sept. 19 and at Corinth, Miss., Oct. 3-4, 1862, and the Confederates under Bragg
made an unsuccessful attack at Perryville, Ky., Oct. 8, 1862.
On Nov. 5, 1862,
Gen. G. B. McClellan was removed from command of the Army of the Potomac and
General Burnside was appointed in his place. The disasters which befell the
army did not end, however, with McClellan's removal, as unexpected defeats were
suffered by General Burnside at Fredericksburg, Va., with a loss of 12,000 men,
Dec. 11-15, 1862, and by Gen. Joseph Hooker at Chancellorville, Va., May 1-5,
1863, and no positive gains were made in the west.
Meantime the subject of the
emancipation of the slaves had engaged the President. On March 6, 1862, he sent
to congress a special message recommending the adoption of a joint resolution:
"That the United States ought to co-operate with and aid pecuniarily any state
adopting gradual abolishment of slavery." This proposition was not cordially
received by the border states and made evident the fact that emancipation was
not desired. The [p.429] bill was passed, however, and on March 10 the President
gathered together some of the border state members and tried to win them over
to his views. After two days' consideration the project was given up. On April
2, 1862, congress passed an act emancipating the slaves in the District of Columbia;
on May 9, 1862, General Hunter proclaimed martial law in Georgia, Florida and
South Carolina, declaring the slaves free, which order the President at once
revoked as unauthorized; on June 19, 1862, a bill passed congress prohibiting
slavery wherever congress had authority, and on July 17, 1862, a measure "for
the confiscation of the property of rebels, and giving freedom to the persons
they hold in slavery," after being amended, was passed.
In July, 1862, amendments
were made to a bill concerning the calling forth of the militia, permitting
the enlistment of negroes in the Union army, and making thereafter free each
person so enlisted. This bill aroused much criticism and was finally modified
so as to relate only to slaves of rebel owners.
On Sept. 22, 1862, the President
issued a preliminary proclamation that unless the in habitants of the revolted
states returned to their allegiance by Jan. 1, 1863, the slaves would be declared
free; but this proclamation had no effect.
On Jan. 1, 1863, the President issued
his emancipation proclamation in which he stated that all persons held as slaves
in certain states and parts of states being then in rebellion should be free
and that the government would "recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons."
General Lee invaded Maryland and Pennsylvania, in June, 1863, and on July 1-3
the battle of Gettysburg, Pa., was fought in which the Federal army under Gen.
George G. Meade defeated the Confederates under Lee; on July 4, 1863, Vicksburg
surrendered to General Grant, and on July 8, Port Hudson, La., surrendered to
the Federals under General Banks. Recruits now being needed in numbers far above
the enlistments, on May 3, 1863, congress passed a bill making every able-bodied
citizen of military age liable for service, a commutation of $300 for exemption
being permitted, and on the failure of the citizens to present themselves for
enrolment, the President ordered a draft. This led on July 13 to the draft riots
in New York city, and soon after the bounty system was substituted. On July
16 Jackson, Miss., was destroyed by General Sherman, and in September Chattanooga,
Tenn., was occupied by the Confederates under Gen. George B. Crittendon. The
battle of Chickamauga, Ga., Sept. 19-20, 1863, resulted in a victory for the
Confederate General Bragg, and a Federal loss of 16,000 men. Bragg was defeated,
however, at the battles of Chattanooga and Lookout Mountain, Nov. 23-25, and
the siege of Knoxville was raised by Longstreet, Dec. 4, 1863.
In December,
1863, the 13th amendment, providing that slavery should not exist within the
United States, was introduced into the house, and in January, 1864, in the senate.
On June 15, 1864, the vote was taken but the result being a deficiency of 27
votes the question was laid over till the next session. On Jan. 28, 1865, the
vote was retaken and resulted in 119 ayes and 56 nays, and the 13th amendment
was adopted. A motion to adjourn in honor of the event was made and carried,
and a great popular demonstration followed.
On Feb. 1, 1864, the President and
Secretary Seward met on the River Queen a commission sent by President Davis
to inquire into the possible adjustment of affairs between the North and South,
but the conference broke up without finding any basis for an agreement. The
campaign of 1864 opened with General Sherman's raid from Vicksburg, Feb. 14,
1864. On April 18, Fort Pillow was captured by the Confederates and the Negro
troops were massacred. On May 5-7, the battles of the Wilderness occurred between
Grant and Lee, and Lee was driven back. On May 4 Sherman began his march to
Atlanta and the sea with 98,000 men, and on May 10-12 Grant attacked Lee at
Spotsylvania court house and defeated him.
On June 8, 1864, Lincoln was unanimously
renominated for President, with Andrew Johnson as Vice-President, and he was
elected Nov. 8, 1864, receiving 2,216,067 popular votes against 1,808,725 for
McClellan, the Democratic nominee. The electoral vote was 212 for Lincoln and
21 for McClellan.
At the battle of Cold Harbor, June 1-3, 1864, and at Petersburg,
Va., June 16-18, 1864, General Grant was repulsed by Lee, but he began a siege
of Petersburg, June 18.
Sherman meanwhile won the battle of Resaca, Ga., May
13-15, 1864, and the battle of Dallas, Ga., May 25-28, but at Kenesaw Mountain
he was repulsed June 27, 1864. On July 22-28 the battles of Atlanta took place,
in which Sherman was victorious. On July 30 occurred the explosion of the Petersburg
crater and the subsequent repulse of the Federal charge. The principal naval
operations of 1864 were the sinking of the C.S. steamer Alabama by the U.S.
steamer Keatsarge, off Cherbourg, France, and the battle of Mobile Bay, in which
the Federal fleet under Farragut was victorious. Sherman captured Atlanta, Ga.,
Sept. 2, 1864, Savannah, Ga., Dec. 22, 1864, Columbia, S.C., Feb. 17, 1865,
and Bentonville, N.C., March 19, 1865.
General Sheridan won the battle of Winchester,
Va., Sept. 19, and the battle of Fisher's Hill, Va., Sept. 22, 1864.
President Lincoln
was inaugurated for a second term March 4, 1865, amid popular rejoicing. On
April 2 Grant carried the outer lines of the Confederate works at Petersburg,
and on April 3 [p.430] Petersburg and Richmond were evacuated by General Lee,
who surrendered his army to General Grant at Appomattox court house, Va., April
9, 1865.
The President
visited General Grant at his headquarters at City Point and entered Richmond
shortly after the evacuation. On April
11, 1865,: Washington was illuminated in honor of the surrender of Lee,
and on the evening of April 14, 1865, the President, Mrs. Lincoln, Miss Clara
Harris and Major Ruthbone occupied a box at Ford's Theatre, Washington to witness
the play "Our American Cousin." At 10:30 in
the evening an obscure actor, entered the President's box from the rear of the
stage and holding a pistol to the President's head, fired. The President fell
forward unconscious, and in the confusion which followed the assassin leaped
upon the stage but broke his leg in the leap, his spur being entangled in the
American flag that draped the box.
The President
was carried to a house opposite the theatre where, on the morning of April 15,
1865, he died. On April 19, 1865, the funeral took place at the White House.
The body was laid in state at the White House, and was there viewed by a great
number of people. It was guarded by a company of high officers of the army and
navy.
The assassin
of the President was found in a barn by a squadron of troops April 27, 1865,
and was shot by a soldier before the officer could demand his surrender. The
remains of the President lay in state in Baltimore, Harrisburg, Philadelphia,
New York, Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland and Chicago; and at each place immense
funeral processions marched through the streets and the whole country was in
mourning. The funeral car reached Springfield, Ill., having travelled a distance
of nearly 2000 miles, and the body was buried
in Oak Ridge cemetery, May 4, 1865.
A monument of
white marble marks the spot. Numerous statues of Lincoln adorn the public places
of most of the larger cities of the United States. Henry Kirke Brown executed
the one in Union Square, New York city, and that in Brooklyn; Thomas Ball's
Emancipation group appears in Lincoln Park, Washington, D.C., and in Park Square,
Boston; a statue by Mrs. Vinnie Ream Hoxie is in Statuary Hall in the national
capitol, one by Augustus St. Gaudens in Chicago, and one by Randolph Rogers
in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia.
The honorary
degree of LL.D. was conferred on Mr. Lincoln by Columbia in 1861, and by the
College of New Jersey in 1864.
Portraits in
oil were painted from life by Alban J. Conant, Frank B. Carpenter, Matthew Wilson,
Thomas Hicks, and William E. Marshall. Mr. Carpenter also painted "The Reading
of the Emancipation Proclamation" and wrote: "Six Months in the White House."
After his death, Healy, Page and many other painters produced excellent portraits
after his numerous photographs.
A large collection
of his photographs was reproduced in MeClure's Magazine with an illustrated
"Life" and "Early Life of Abraham Lincoln." by Ida M. Tarbell (1895-96); and
Yolk and Mills took life masks from which they executed busts.
Mr. Lincoln's
"Speech at Cooper Union, Feb. 27, 1860," was issued in pamphlet form and widely
circulated, and selections from his speeches and messages were published in
1865. Joseph H. Barrett, J. G. Holland, W. M. Thayer, B. F. Morris, Henry J.
Raymond, Ward H. Lamon, W. O. Stoddard, Isaac N. Arnold, Harriet Beecher Stowe,
D. W. Bartlett, Charles G. Leland, J. C. Power, Nicolay and Hay, John T. Morse,
Carl Schurz, William D. Howells, Ida M. Tarbell are the more prominent of his
numerous biographers.
In the selection
of names for a place in the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, New York university,
made in 1900, his was one of the thirty-seven names in "Class M, Rulers and
Statesmen," and received a place, having ninety-six votes, equalling the votes
given to Daniel Webster and exceeded only by the ninety-seven votes given to
George Washington.
President Lincoln
died in Washington. D.C., April 15, 1865. "
