[v-49] The sequel to this little adventure, as Mr. Nelson tells it, should not be omitted. “I had many opportunities after the stage ride,” he relates, “to cultivate Mr. Lincoln’s acquaintance, and was a zealous advocate of his nomination and election to the Presidency. Before leaving his home for Washington, Mr. Lincoln caused John P. Usher and myself to be invited to accompany him. We agreed to join him in Indianapolis. On reaching that city the Presidential party had already arrived, and upon inquiry we were informed that the President-elect was in the dining-room of the hotel, at supper. Passing through, we saw that every seat at the numerous tables was occupied, but failed to find Mr. Lincoln. As we were nearing the door to the office of the hotel, a long arm reached to my shoulder and a shrill voice exclaimed, ‘Hello, Nelson! Do you think, after all, the world is going to follow the darned thing off?’ It was Mr. Lincoln.” (Herndon, i, 303-06. See, also: Coffin, 132; Selby, 89-90; Williams, 136-37; McClure’s Yarns, 410.)
[v-50] Herndon, i, 253.
[v-51] The affair with James Shields. See Master, 65-77.
[v-52] Lincoln to Martin M. Morris, March 26, 1843, Works, i, 262.
[v-53] A. Y. Ellis, in Lamon, 143; and in Herndon, i, 255.
[v-54] For an amusing account of how Lincoln exposed one of these demagogues to public ridicule, on the stump, see Master, 54-56.
[v-55] Works, v, 238-39.
[v-56] “He took his friend James Matheney out into the woods with him one day and, calling up the bitter features of the canvass, protested ‘vehemently and with great emphasis’ that he was anything but aristocratic and proud. ‘Why, Jim,’ he said, ‘I am now and always shall be the same Abe Lincoln I was when you first saw me.’ ” (Herndon, i, 256; Lamon, 273.)
[v-57] Lincoln’s second son, born a few years later, on March 10, 1846, was named for Baker.