Best Lincoln stories, tersely told

by J. E. Gallaher

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

Taken at Springfield in 1861. One of the very best.

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BEST
Lincoln Stories
TERSELY TOLD.

BY
J. E. GALLAHER.

CHICAGO:
James E. Gallaher & Co.
36, 184 Dearborn St.

Copyright, 1898,
By
James E. Gallaher.

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PREFACE.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

How American history would dwindle if that name were taken out of it! Washington was great. Grant was great. Lee was great. Many others have been and are great in all the walks of life. But Lincoln, who came out of the lowly heart of the people, will come back nearer to that heart than any other man probably that the nation has known. There have been men of war and there have been men of peace, but there has been no such man of peace in war as Lincoln.

Why is it we never tire of thinking of Mr. Lincoln personally, nor of speaking of him and his deeds? Is it not because “he was indeed one of the most unique figures in history, and one of the most remarkable surprises of the age?” What has he been called by those who knew him best? “The greatest of patriots, the wisest of rulers, the ablest of men.”

What led to his greatness and caused him to hold such an extraordinary sway over the people during the most tumultuous of times, when seven states had seceded and the rebellion was well under way at his inauguration, and when a bloody and fiercely contested war was fought during his administration? I will let one more competent than myself answer. Bishop Fowler, of the First M. E. Church of New York, said:

“What, then, were the elements of Lincoln’s greatness? To begin with, ‘he was not made out of any fool mud,’ and then he thoroughly understood himself and knew how to handle his resources. His moral sense was the first important trait of his character, his reason the second, and the third was his wonderful ‘common-sense,’ the most uncommon thing found even among the great.

“These are the three fixed points on which his character hung. Without the first he had been a villain. Without the second, a fool. Without the third, a dreamer. With them all he made up himself—Abraham Lincoln.”

It is wonderful how many stories President Lincoln told, and still more wonderful how many stories are told of him. The late Senator Voorhees, of Indiana, said that Lincoln had more stories than any other man he had ever met. He had a story for every occasion, and he illustrated everything by anecdote. Some of the best stories current to-day originated with Lincoln and hundreds of his best stories have never been published. Senator Voorhees had preserved a number which he expected to use in lectures which he was preparing at the time he died. He had hoped to live long enough after his retirement from public life to write a book on his personal recollections of the martyred President, among which would have been included many stories.

The late David Davis, of Illinois, before whose court Lincoln practiced so often, once said that there were but three men in the world who thoroughly understood Abraham Lincoln—himself, Leonard Swett, of Chicago, and Daniel W. Voorhees. All these three men are dead.

In gathering material for this work the editor has exercised due care in accepting only such stories as bore the impress of truth. It is his hope that this little volume will be eagerly welcomed in every home which venerates the name of Abraham Lincoln, and that it will be an inspiration to every boy of the land who, in looking to Lincoln for an ideal, should ever remember that

Honor and shame from no condition rise;

Act well your part; there all the honor lies.

J. E. GALLAHER.

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CONTENTS.

	PAGE.
Preface	[7]
Lincoln’s Great Strength as a Boy	[11]
Was Proud of His Strength	[11]
Lincoln a Powerful Wrestler	[12]
Lincoln Split 400 Rails for a Yard of Jeans	[12]
Lincoln as a Verse Writer	[14]
Lincoln’s Quick Wit in Helping a Girl to Spell a Word	[15]
Lincoln as a Notion Peddler	[15]
Lincoln Saved From Drowning	[16]
Lincoln’s Youthful Eloquence	[18]
One of Lincoln’s Songs	[19]
Lincoln’s First Political Speech	[20]
How Lincoln Became Known as “Honest Abe”	[21]
Lincoln Was an “Obliging” Man	[22]
How Lincoln Paid a Large Debt	[23]
His First Sight of Slavery	[23]
Lincoln and Jeff Davis in the Black Hawk War	[24]
Lincoln’s Glowing Tribute to His Mother	[25]
What Lincoln’s Step-Mother Said of Him	[26]
Lincoln’s First Love	[26]
The Duel Lincoln Didn’t Fight	[28]
Lincoln as a Dancer	[29]
Lincoln’s Courtship and Marriage	[29]
Lincoln’s Personal Appearance	[31]
Lincoln’s Mother	[32]
Lincoln’s Melancholia	[34]
Lincoln’s Height	[36]
How Lincoln Became a Lawyer	[36]
Lincoln as a Lawyer	[37]
Lincoln’s Conscientiousness in Taking Cases	[38]
The Jury Understood	[39]
Lincoln’s Honesty with a Lady Client	[39]
Lincoln Wins a Celebrated Case	[40]
Lincoln’s “Selfishness”	[41]
Lincoln Removes a License on Theatres	[42]
How Lincoln Got the Worst of a Horse Trade	[43]
Lincoln Helped Him to Win	[44]
Lincoln Settles a Quarrel Without Going to Law	[46]
A Lincoln Story About Little Dan Webster’s Soiled Hands	[47]
Lincoln’s Long Limbs Drive a Man Out of His Berth	[48]
Lincoln’s Joke on Douglas	[49]
Lincoln Shrewdly Traps Douglas	[50]
Lincoln’s Fairness in Debate	[52]
Lincoln Asked His Friend’s Help for the United States Senate	[54]
Making Lincoln Presentable	[55]
Evidence of Lincoln’s Religious Belief	[56]
Lincoln a Temperance Man	[57]
Lincoln’s Famous Gettysburg Address	[57]
The Gettysburg Address	[59]
Lincoln as a Ruler	[60]
Lincoln’s Real Object in Conducting the War	[61]
Lincoln Asked for Some of Grant’s Whisky	[62]
Lincoln Believed Himself Ugly	[62]
Lincoln’s Kindness to a Disabled Soldier	[63]
A Sample of Lincoln’s Statesmanship	[64]
Two Good Stories	[65]
Lincoln Raises a Warning Voice Against the Concentration of Great Wealth	[65]
Lincoln and the Dying Soldier Boy	[66]
The Dandy, the Bugs and the President	[67]
Lincoln Upheld the Hands of Gen. Grant	[68]
Why Lincoln Told Stories	[69]
Lincoln Rewards a Man For Kindness Thirty Years After the Occurrence	[70]
Lincoln a Merciful Man	[71]
Lincoln’s Humorous Advice to a Distinguished Bachelor	[72]
How Lincoln Answered a Delicate Question	[73]
Lincoln Illustrates a Case Humorously	[74]
Why Lincoln Mistook a Driver to be an Episcopalian	[74]
A Clergyman Who Talked But Little	[75]
How Lincoln Received a Jackknife as a Present	[75]
The Best Car For His Corpse	[76]
His Title Did Not Help Any	[77]
One of Lincoln’s Autographs	[77]
Lincoln’s Substitute	[77]
Lincoln’s Estimate of the Financial Standing of a Neighbor	[78]
Lincoln’s Query Puzzled the Man	[78]
Lincoln’s Inauguration	[79]
John Sherman’s First Meeting with Lincoln	[80]
Lincoln and the Sentinel	[81]
Origin of “With Malice Toward None,” Etc.	[82]
His Good Memory of Names	[82]
Lincoln’s Grief Over the Defeat of the Union Army	[83]
Three Stories of Lincoln by Senator Palmer	[84]
His Famous Second Inaugural Address	[87]
Lincoln Said Even a Rebel Could be Saved	[88]
Washington and Lincoln Compared	[89]
Lincoln Remembered Him	[91]
Why Lincoln Pardoned Them	[92]
The Lincoln Portraits	[96]
Lincoln’s Faith in Providence	[97]
Lincoln’s Last Words	[99]
A Chicagoan Who Saw Lincoln Shot	[101]
Martyred Lincoln’s Blood	[104]
A Strange Coincidence in the Lives of Lincoln and His Slayer	[105]
Where is the Original Emancipation Proclamation	[106]
Mr. Griffiths on Lincoln	[107]
A Famous Chicago Lawyer’s Views	[107]
Lincoln Was Plain but Great	[109]
Lincoln’s Specific Life Work	[110]
The Proposed Purchase of the Slaves	[111]
Senator Thurston’s Speech	[112]
Lincoln Analyzed	[116]
The Religion of the Presidents	[121]

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