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« Previous EntriesLast Visit to Coles County
Monday, August 11th, 2008The Journal Gazette-Times Courier in Charleston, Illinois ran an interesting piece on Friday. The article details Abraham Lincoln’s last visit to Coles County to visit his stepmother in late January 1861. It’s worth taking a look at.
Why Lincoln?–Part 1
Tuesday, July 8th, 2008The father of the Whig Party was dead. Henry Clay breathed his last on June 29, 1852. Seven days later, citizens in Springfield, Illinois held two memorial meetings for the perennial presidential candidate. The first was conducted at the Episcopal Church by the Reverend Charles Dresser, while the second was a decidedly secular affair. Business was suspended [...]
Lincoln on Ebay: Photographs
Friday, July 4th, 2008A couple of photographs caught my attention this week on Ebay. The sellers do not provide much information about either of these photographs. I thought we might fill in some of the gaps. The Lincoln photograph was taken on Tuesday, February 9, 1864 by Anthony Berger, the manager of Brady’s Gallery. It should look pretty familiar. This was [...]
Abraham Lincoln Enloe?
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008Abraham Lincoln is in the newspaper every day. He is, really. Not in every newspaper, of course, but if you scan enough papers you will find him. Today, a story in The Star in Cleveland County, North Carolina caught my eye. Tom Melton (pictured above) passed away on Sunday at the age of 88. The [...]
“More Painful than Pleasant”
Thursday, January 17th, 2008Abraham Lincoln and his father had a complicated relationship. Search Lincoln’s letters and try to find a “word of praise” for his father. You won’t succeed. Consider the final letter he sent to his father. Harriett Hanks Chapman, Dennis Hanks’ daughter, sent Lincoln a letter in early January 1851. She had just visited his father [...]
Did Lincoln Have a Secretary Named Kennedy?
Wednesday, January 16th, 2008This semester I am assisting Professor John Y. Simon with the second half of his American history course. Today we talked about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. I admit that the assassination has not always been one of my favorite topics. However, I have recently become quite interested in it. If you aren’t familiar with [...]
More Speculation on Lincoln’s Genetic Defect
Wednesday, November 28th, 2007Yesterday’s story about Abraham Lincoln and the rare genetic defect, Men 2B, is alive and well. The story has been picked up in newspapers across the country and around the world. The Seattle Times simply reprinted the original Washington Post story, as did the Contra Coast TImes in Walut Creek, California, but the story was [...]
A Doctor Speculates on Lincoln’s Genetic Defect
Tuesday, November 27th, 2007Move over Marfan’s Syndrome and make way for MEN 2B, short for “multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2B.” That’s right. Dr. John G. Sotos, a California doctor and an armchair historian to boot, has just announced that Lincoln suffered from one of the rarest genetic abnormalities known to man. Let me be clear with this one. [...]
An Astonishing Legal Document
Thursday, November 15th, 2007I’ve never heard this story before and I’m hoping someone out there can give me some help. On February 6, 2006, Heritage Auction Galleries sold an astonishing legal document. No, Abraham Lincoln’s name does not appear on the document, nor did he write a word of it. In fact, he had nothing to do with [...]
Lines on the Death of Col. Edward D. Baker
Tuesday, October 30th, 2007While the Lincoln family continued to mourn the loss of family friend Edward D. Baker, ten-year-old Willie Lincoln put the finishing touches on a poem he had been working on. That’s right. Lincoln’s precocious son memorialized the fallen hero of Ball’s Bluff in a poem, which he shared with a local newspaper editor. On this [...]
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