And feel (companions of the dead),
I'm living in the tombs."
CHAPTER VI.
Lincoln and the Armstrong Case
Famous Law Cases—The Clary Grove Boys—The Wrestling Contest—Jack and Hannah Armstrong—Trial of Their Son for Murder—Lincoln's Tact and the Acquittal—Letters from the Surviving Attorney in the Case—More Tangled History Untangled—Unpublished Facts Connected with Parties in the Case.
Lincoln, as a lawyer, was employed in a number of noted cases involving great interests. One was the defense of a slave girl, Nancy, in 1841, in the Supreme Court of Illinois, who, through him, was made free. At this time Mr. Lincoln was only thirty-two years of age. The case excited great interest, and the decision forever settled the few traces of slavery which had then existed in southern Illinois.
Another case was the Central Illinois Railroad Company against McLean County, Illinois, tried at Bloomington. This case was decided in favor of the railroad. Mr. Lincoln received from the company a fee of $5,000, the largest fee he ever received.
Another suit in which he was employed was the McCormick Reaper Patent case, tried in 1857, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Here Mr. Lincoln first met the Honorable Edwin M. Stanton, who was employed on the same side of the case. Mr. Stanton treated Mr. Lincoln with great disrespect. Mr. Lincoln overheard him, in an adjoining room, ask, "Where did that long-armed creature come from, and what can he do in this case?" He also declared if "that giraffe" was permitted to appear in the case he would throw up his brief and leave it. He further referred to Lincoln as a "long, lank creature from Illinois, wearing a dirty linen duster for a coat, the back of which the perspiration had splotched with stains that resembled the map of a continent." As there were a number of attorneys on both sides, it was ordered that only two speeches be made on each side. This order would exclude either Lincoln or Stanton, as there were three attorneys on that side of the case. At Lincoln's suggestion, Stanton quickly decided to speak. Mr. Lincoln was greatly disappointed, for he had made much preparation. Four years later, Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated President of the United States, and he chose Mr. Stanton as a member of his cabinet, and they were close friends during the Civil War.