A. Lincoln_ A Biography Part 5

Q. What is the chief end of man?A. The chief end of man is to glorify G.o.d and enjoy Him forever.

In 1832, at age fourteen, Mary entered Madame Mentelle's Boarding School. As a rule, Mary would have ended her education after her five years at Dr. Ward's, as only a few thousand girls in America received more than four years of education. Augustus and Charlotte Mentelle, the aristocratic directors of the school, had fled France in 1792 during the French Revolution. Mary received a fine cla.s.sical education, including French, which set her apart from many of the women she would come to know as an adult.

That year Mary's family moved into a new and even more impressive home on Main Street, with fourteen rooms, both a single and a double parlor, six bedrooms, and formal gardens. The Todds valued both education and fine living.

When Henry Clay visited Lexington in the summer of 1832 while campaigning for the presidency, Mary had already developed a remarkable knowledge of politics. Four years before, at age ten, she had refused on principle to attend a Lexington event honoring presidential candidate Andrew Jackson and had argued with a pro-Jackson neighbor. Now a pa.s.sionate Whig, she spoke up at a dinner honoring Clay to promise him her support. She quickly added, in everyone's hearing, that she, too, expected to live in Was.h.i.+ngton some day.

While growing up in Lexington, Mary encountered slavery everywhere. The production of hemp on the bluegra.s.s plantations in the surrounding countryside depended on slave labor. White families used slaves for work inside and outside their homes. By the time Mary was twelve, her father had one slave for every member of his family. The female slaves cooked the meals, washed and sewed the clothes, and looked after the children. The male slaves did everything outside the house, including taking care of the horses.

Lexington was a major slave market. Traders drove groups of slaves-men, women, and children-right past Mary's home on their way to the Deep South. She saw the slaves, young and old, shackled together two by two. As Mary walked to and from school, she frequently observed the slave auctions held at Cheapside, Lexington's public meeting place adjacent to the Fayette County Courthouse on the town square. On another corner of the square stood the black locust whipping post, erected in 1826. As a slave master whipped a slave, a cry would pierce the air of this self-proclaimed civilized town.

BY THE TIME MARY was eighteen, she was considered by her friends, female and male, a pretty young woman. Five feet two inches tall, with soft brown hair, she had a broad forehead, a small upturned nose, blue eyes, and a rosy complexion. Mary exhibited a strong-minded determination to get her way, and the inner circle of her family knew "her temper and tongue." A prominent chin gave the impression of a resolute personality. Her hands darted impulsively in gestures as she spoke. was eighteen, she was considered by her friends, female and male, a pretty young woman. Five feet two inches tall, with soft brown hair, she had a broad forehead, a small upturned nose, blue eyes, and a rosy complexion. Mary exhibited a strong-minded determination to get her way, and the inner circle of her family knew "her temper and tongue." A prominent chin gave the impression of a resolute personality. Her hands darted impulsively in gestures as she spoke.

In the spring of 1837, Mary decided to follow a Todd family pattern and visit Springfield, Illinois. Mary's older sister Elizabeth had married Ninian Edwards, son of the governor of Illinois, and moved with him to Springfield. After the death of their mother, Elizabeth had been as much a mother as a sister to Mary. Their sister Frances also lived in Springfield, as did an uncle, Dr. John Todd, and three cousins, John Todd Stuart, Lincoln's law partner; Stephen T. Logan, his future law partner; and John J. Hardin. The Todds and the Stuarts-Kentuckians, Scottish, and Presbyterian-were forming a veritable clan in Springfield.

In early May, Mary boarded the train for Frankfort, Kentucky, to begin a journey by train, boat, and stagecoach to Springfield. If all connections were made, it would take her two weeks to arrive at Elizabeth and Ninian Edwards's impressive new home on Second Street in the southern part of the city. She may have learned from John Todd Stuart that he had invited a young lawyer named Abraham Lincoln to join him as a partner, but it is doubtful she met Lincoln on this visit. She returned to Lexington in the fall of 1837; they would not meet for another two years.

In the summer of 1839, Mary returned to Springfield, intent on staying this time for more than a visit. She quickly became part of a clique of young women and men calling themselves "the Coterie" who often gathered at the Edwardses' two-story brick home at the top of "Aristocracy Hill." James C. Conkling, a lawyer who had moved to Springfield in 1838 and a member of the Coterie, described Mary as "the very creature of excitement," and said she "never enjoys herself more than when in society and surrounded by a company of merry friends." When one day Mary mimicked the mannerisms of some of her suitors, Ninian Edwards exclaimed, "Mary could make a bishop forget his prayers."

Some of the most marriageable young men in Springfield attended Coterie gatherings, including Stephen A. Douglas; Edward D. Baker; Lyman Trumbull, a slender, good-looking lawyer from Belleville; and James s.h.i.+elds, a native of Ireland, who became auditor of the state of Illinois in 1839. A new invitee was Abraham Lincoln.

Next door to Mary's sister lived attorney Lawrason Levering. His sister, Mercy Levering, a visitor from Baltimore, quickly became Mary's dearest friend in Springfield. For many years Mary and Mercy exchanged long letters. Letter writing was an opportunity for women to share intimate feelings they could not express in public, even in conversation between friends. Mary's correspondence reveals a young woman of intellectual depth and emotional intensity capable of communicating her thoughts and feelings in lucid prose. She wrote in small, slanted script, filling up every sheet right to the borders of the page, her writing style a metaphor for the way she wanted to extend her life right up to and sometimes beyond the prescribed female sphere of her day.

Ninian and Elizabeth Edwards hosted the Coterie at their home on Aristocracy Hill Elizabeth never liked Lincoln, believing him to be beneath Mary's social station.

Mary attracted many suitors-old and young, short and tall. A lawyer and legislator named Edwin Webb became very interested, but Mary told Mercy he was "a widower of modest merit," besides "there being a slight difference of some eighteen or twenty summers in our years." Stephen Douglas had moved from Jacksonville to Springfield in 1837 after his appointment as register of the Land Office. He and Mary were seen frequently about town together, and rumors circulated about their relations.h.i.+p. Was it friends.h.i.+p or romance?

ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND Mary Todd probably first became aware of each other in the summer of 1839. They pushed the old axiom "opposites attract" to its limits. Mary described herself a "ruddy Mary Todd probably first became aware of each other in the summer of 1839. They pushed the old axiom "opposites attract" to its limits. Mary described herself a "ruddy pineknot, pineknot, " but in truth she was pretty and perky. Mary's sister Frances described Lincoln as "the plainest man" in Springfield. Mary was well educated, whereas Abraham had received the barest of formal schooling. " but in truth she was pretty and perky. Mary's sister Frances described Lincoln as "the plainest man" in Springfield. Mary was well educated, whereas Abraham had received the barest of formal schooling.

The differences between Abraham and Mary's social standing were exhibited for all to see on the dance floor. James Conkling, Mercy's beau, wrote her that when Lincoln danced he gave the impression of being "old Father Jupiter bending down from the clouds to see what's going on." Lincoln disliked dancing, but perhaps he could not resist asking this good-looking, witty young woman. "Miss Todd, I want to dance with you in the worst way," he said.

Later, Mary, with a mischievous smile, recounted the dance to her cousin Elizabeth, saying, "And he certainly did."

There were other, deeper differences, yet to be discovered in this oddly matched couple. But in many ways, they were alike. Both prized education and had worked hard to achieve it. In Mary, Lincoln recognized a soul mate in intellectual curiosity and learning.

Lincoln's courts.h.i.+p of Mary was a romance of the mind as well as the heart. Their mutual enjoyment of ideas and politics put Abraham at ease. They both loved poetry, especially that of Robert Burns, and enjoyed reading aloud to each other. Lincoln, who often led in conversations with men, found himself listening to Mary. Elizabeth Edwards happened upon them once when they were together and observed, "Mary led the conversation-Lincoln would listen and gaze on her as if drawn by some superior power."

Abraham and Mary also shared a pa.s.sion for politics. The daughter of a leading Whig in Kentucky, she attended speeches for Whig presidential candidate Harrison in 1840 and often discussed politics with her friends. She wrote to Mercy, "This fall I became quite a politician, a politician, rather an unladylike profession." rather an unladylike profession."

But in the midst of delight there arose doubt. Unlike his political self-confidence, Lincoln's confidence that he could succeed in marriage was always on shaky ground. He doubted himself as much or more than Mary. His experience with Mary Owens was still fresh in his mind. At age thirty-one, a part-time politician at the beginning of a career in law, he joined many young men of his time who wondered whether they could support a wife. Remembering the embarra.s.sing attachment of his horse and surveying instruments in New Salem, not to mention his "National Debt" from his failed store he was still paying off, Lincoln had many questions on his mind as his courts.h.i.+p of Mary advanced.

There was also the matter of the opposition of members of Mary's family. Older sister Elizabeth expressed her resistance to the relations.h.i.+p. She thought that Lincoln, who came to her elegant home in his Conestoga boots, was beneath Mary in every way. "I warned Mary that she and Mr. Lincoln were not suitable. Mr. Edwards and myself believed they were different in nature, and education and raising." She concluded, "They were so different that they could not live happily as man and wife."

Abraham and Mary courted in a s.e.xually segregated Victorian society. Various marriage manuals counseled lovers to "test" each other. Women were encouraged to throw "large and small obstacles in the path of the courting male to measure the depth and intensity of his romantic love." Mary, whether or not she was following the advice of a manual, was very adept at this kind of testing.

A nineteenth-century Dictionary of Love Dictionary of Love stated that doubt was "a great sharpener and intensifier of the tender pa.s.sions." Lincoln could have been a case study for the stated that doubt was "a great sharpener and intensifier of the tender pa.s.sions." Lincoln could have been a case study for the Dictionary of Love, Dictionary of Love, first with his doubts about his love for Mary Owens, and now his doubts about himself in his developing relations.h.i.+p with Mary Todd. first with his doubts about his love for Mary Owens, and now his doubts about himself in his developing relations.h.i.+p with Mary Todd.

At some point in 1840, Abraham and Mary's relations.h.i.+p advanced from friends.h.i.+p to courting to an agreement that they might marry. This was not an engagement in the modern sense. He gave her no ring. They told no one of their decision. Rather, they had entered into an "understanding." Mary described this change as having "lovers' eyes."

By the end of that year, however, their relations.h.i.+p suddenly fell apart. It is not clear when or why the break occurred. It may have come on New Year's Day, 1841, but it might also have occurred earlier, during the month of December 1840.

There may have been another woman. Matilda Edwards, daughter of Whig politician Cyrus Edwards and cousin of Mary's brother-in-law Ninian Edwards, arrived at the Edwards home that fall. No one, male or female, could fail to notice the beautiful sixteen-year-old. Mary described her to Mercy Levering as "a most interesting young lady," who has "drawn a concourse of beaux & company around us."

Some contemporaries suggested that Lincoln may have been drawn by the "fascinations" of young Matilda. He certainly may have looked, and Mary may have seen him look, but he also knew he was nearly twice Matilda's age.

Friends differed on who ended the relations.h.i.+p. Conkling thought that Mary broke their understanding; Joshua Speed believed that Lincoln did. Speed said his best friend "went to see 'Mary'-told her that he did not love her." He further believed that "Lincoln did Love Miss Edwards" and "Mary Saw it." Lincoln, acting honorably, told Mary of "the reason of his Change of mind" and she, in turn, "released him." The conversation over, according to Speed, Lincoln "drew her down on his Knee-Kissed her-& parted."

JAMES CONKLING WROTE TO MERCY LEVERING, "Poor L! how are the mighty fallen!" Lincoln had not simply fallen; he was overwhelmed. On January 2, 1841, the clerk of the state legislature called the roll four times, but Lincoln did not answer "Present." On Monday, January 4, Lincoln missed eight votes. On Tuesday, January 5, he did not answer to three afternoon roll calls. Lincoln was always regular in attendance, but his breakup with Mary had plunged him into such despair that he failed to show up to work.

Lincoln's melancholy became the talk of Springfield. Conkling told Mercy that when Lincoln finally returned to the legislature he was "emaciated in appearance and seems scarcely to possess strength enough to speak above a whisper." Joshua Speed removed Lincoln's razor for fear of what his friend might do.

Lincoln sent a letter to Mary's cousin, his former law partner John Todd Stuart, on January 23, 1842. "I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on the earth." Lincoln was pessimistic about his future. "Whether I shall ever be better I can not tell; I awfully forebode I shall not. To remain as I am is impossible; I must die or be better, it appears to me."

Nearly fifteen months later, Lincoln wrote to Speed and referred to "the fatal first of Jany.'41." What did he mean? It has long been a.s.sumed that Lincoln was referring to the breaking of his understanding with Mary. Read in the context of a series of letters with Speed, however, in which Speed was struggling with his own engagement and prospective marriage, the reference could also refer to the pain in Speed's life.

Mary also suffered, and her feelings for Lincoln had not diminished with absence and time. Nearly six months after the breakup, she wrote to Mercy, "[Lincoln] deems me unworthy of notice, as I have not met him in the gay world for months, with the usual comfort of misery, imagine that others were as seldom gladdened by his presence as my humble self, yet I would the case were different, that 'Richard' should be himself again, much happiness would it afford me."

When Mary placed quotation marks around "Richard" she was referring to Shakespeare's Richard II. Mary would have been an unusual young woman to be familiar with Shakespeare. At first it seems an odd allusion. Richard II had ascended the English throne as a young man in 1377, but quickly proved to be unwise in his choice of counselors and reckless in his spending of money. Mary may have been expressing her concern about Abraham's mental well-being, and yet her confidence that, despite his humble beginnings, there was royalty in Lincoln's future.

SOMETIME IN 1842, more than a year after the split, Eliza Francis, wife of newspaper editor Simeon Francis, took matters into her own hands. She invited Abraham and Mary to her home, each not knowing the other was coming. Sitting in her parlor, Mrs. Francis urged Abraham and Mary to be friends again. It took a third person to get them to deal with the hurt and pain, and move toward forgiveness and reconciliation. Abraham and Mary began meeting clandestinely at the Francises' home and at the home of Lincoln's physician and Whig friend, Dr. Anson Henry.

That fall, when Lincoln and Mary were partic.i.p.ating in the biennial campaigning for state offices, Lincoln gave her an unusual gift. He tied up with a pink ribbon a list of the returns from the last three legislative elections in which he had been one of the winning candidates. Whether Mary found this romantic, we do not know.

One of the most bizarre episodes in Lincoln's life, which brought him face-to-face with the possibility of death, took place just as he and Mary were resuming their relations.h.i.+p. Early in 1842, the State Bank of Illinois had been forced to close. In August, the governor, treasurer, and auditor ordered county tax collectors not to accept the state's own paper notes for payment of taxes and school debts. Only gold and silver would be accepted. Citizens, however, had almost no gold or silver.

The problem escalated when state auditor James s.h.i.+elds issued an order advising state officers how to restore a sound currency. By this time, opposition to the state plan had begun to escalate. s.h.i.+elds, a young Irish immigrant and a rising Democratic politician, became the focus for a vigorous response by Illinois Whigs.

Lincoln, a staunch defender of the state bank, saw an opportunity to harvest some political hay in the upcoming 1842 election for state legislature and governor. Where best to attack the Democrats but in Lincoln's favorite vehicle-the newspaper?

The Sangamo Journal Sangamo Journal had recently printed a satirical letter to the editor from "Rebecca," a country woman who lived in "Lost Towns.h.i.+ps." This letter, in its homely dialogue, enunciated important Whig ideas. Lincoln contacted editor Simeon Francis suggesting he write a follow-up letter. Lincoln a.s.sumed the persona of "Rebecca" and sharpened his writing sword to attack s.h.i.+elds and the Democratic Party's policies. Lincoln showed his letter to Mary, and she and her friend Julia Jayne helped revise its humor and satire. had recently printed a satirical letter to the editor from "Rebecca," a country woman who lived in "Lost Towns.h.i.+ps." This letter, in its homely dialogue, enunciated important Whig ideas. Lincoln contacted editor Simeon Francis suggesting he write a follow-up letter. Lincoln a.s.sumed the persona of "Rebecca" and sharpened his writing sword to attack s.h.i.+elds and the Democratic Party's policies. Lincoln showed his letter to Mary, and she and her friend Julia Jayne helped revise its humor and satire.

Published on September 2, 1842, "Rebecca's" letter singled out s.h.i.+elds for ridicule because of his role in the currency dilemma. She minced no words: "s.h.i.+elds is a fool as well as a liar."

Lincoln described s.h.i.+elds at a party in Springfield. "If I was deaf and blind I could tell him by the smell." Placing s.h.i.+elds in the middle of a group of women, the usually gallant Lincoln auth.o.r.ed a particularly coa.r.s.e description: "All the galls about town were there, and all the handsome widows, and married women, finickin about, trying to look like galls, tied as tight in the middle, and puffed out at both ends like bundles of fodder that hadn't been stacked yet, wanted stackin pretty bad."

Silver, the reason for Lincoln's political invective, was now used against s.h.i.+elds with irony. "He was paying his money to this one and that one, and tother one, and sufferin great loss because it wasn' silver instead of State paper." Finally, Lincoln put words in s.h.i.+elds' mouth: "Dear girls, it is distressing, it is distressing, but I cannot marry you all. Too well I know how much you suffer, but do, do but I cannot marry you all. Too well I know how much you suffer, but do, do remember, remember, it is not my fault that I am it is not my fault that I am so so handsome and handsome and so so interesting." interesting."

Mary and Julia, caught up in Lincoln's escapade, decided to expand the fun by writing a third Rebecca letter, published in the Sangamo Journal Sangamo Journal on September 16, 1842. on September 16, 1842.

s.h.i.+elds, known for his violent temper, became enraged. He demanded the name of the person who had heaped such scorn upon him. Francis told him it was Lincoln. Lincoln may have allowed Francis to reveal his name, perhaps to protect the names of the two young women. s.h.i.+elds's pride was hurt, but more important, Lincoln had threatened his aspiring political career.

s.h.i.+elds fought back. He confronted Lincoln in Tremont at the Tazewell County Courthouse. He intended to get a retraction from Lincoln. Or else. s.h.i.+elds challenged Lincoln to a duel. The state auditor, who had fought in the Black Hawk War, enjoyed a reputation as an outstanding marksman with pistols.

Dueling had become a recurring feature of American life in the early nineteenth century. The nation had been stunned when Alexander Hamilton died in a duel with Aaron Burr in 1804, but the shock arose from the death of one of America's most talented leaders, not because of a duel. The first American duel took place in 1621 in the Ma.s.sachusetts Bay Colony. People of all walks of life partic.i.p.ated in duels, even as many states pa.s.sed anti-dueling laws. Dueling, according to the Illinois criminal statute of 1839, was a penitentiary offense, punishable by five years in prison.

As the person challenged, Lincoln had the prerogative to select the weapons. Aware of s.h.i.+elds's skills with firearms, Lincoln chose long cavalry broadswords instead of guns. Six feet four inches tall, Lincoln knew what a tremendous advantage his height and reach gave him over s.h.i.+elds, who was five feet nine inches.

Dueling was not outlawed in Missouri. Just as Hamilton and Burr, nearly forty years earlier, had crossed the Hudson River from New York to New Jersey in 1804, early on Thursday morning, September 22, 1842, two boats embarked from Alton, Illinois, and crossed the Mississippi in the morning mist to a muddy sh.o.r.e on the Missouri side. The party walked a few steps to a clearing that would serve as the dueling ground.

Accounts conflict over what happened next. Some said Lincoln, stretching out his long arm and longer broadsword, cut off the limb of a willow tree high above the combatants and frightened s.h.i.+elds with the demonstration of his extensive reach. Another report said s.h.i.+elds laughed at this gesture. But in his laughter, or his fear, he realized the absurdity of the situation and agreed to make peace. The duel ended before it began.

What are we to make of the near duel between Lincoln and s.h.i.+elds? Did Lincoln, almost unable to stop his partic.i.p.ation in the duel, act more like the young wrestler than a mature man? Did he agree to partic.i.p.ate to defend the honor of Mary and Julia Jayne, who had written the third letter? It seems certain that Lincoln did not want to harm s.h.i.+elds. He understood he could disarm with a sword, but not with a pistol. Some have suggested that Lincoln and s.h.i.+elds thought they might get political publicity from the duel.

When it was all over, Lincoln felt deeply embarra.s.sed by the whole affair. Years later, when people would bring up the duel, Lincoln quickly let it be known that he did not want to discuss it.

WITH THE DUEL BEHIND HIM, and now reunited with Mary, Lincoln still struggled over whether he should marry Mary. He wrote to his friend Speed for advice. Lincoln had received letters from Speed as his friend struggled over his own engagement to f.a.n.n.y Henning. Now Lincoln wanted to know how it had turned out. "Are you now, in feeling in feeling as well as as well as judgment, judgment, glad you are married as you are?" Lincoln recognized that "from any body but me, this would be an impudent question not to be tolerated," but he was confident that Speed would accept the question from him, his closest friend. "Please answer it quickly as I feel impatient to know." glad you are married as you are?" Lincoln recognized that "from any body but me, this would be an impudent question not to be tolerated," but he was confident that Speed would accept the question from him, his closest friend. "Please answer it quickly as I feel impatient to know."

Speed must have responded, but no letter exists. Years later Speed wrote, "One thing is plainly discernable-If I had not been married & happy-far more happy than I ever expected to be-He would not have married."

On Friday morning, November 4, 1842, Abraham and Mary announced that they intended to marry-that very evening. The couple did not tell anyone in advance. There was much to do and little time to do it.

They decided on a private marriage service. Lincoln called at the brown frame house at Eighth and Jackson to ask the Reverend Charles Dresser, rector at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, if he would marry them in his home. When Mary broke the news of her wedding to her sister and brother-in-law, Elizabeth and Ninian Edwards erupted over the suddenness of the decision. Elizabeth had long objected to Lincoln, but now that the deed was going to be done, Ninian insisted, as Mary's legal guardian, that the wedding take place in their home.

Lincoln purchased a wedding ring at Chatterton's Jewelry Store on the west side of the town square. He had the ring inscribed "Love is Eternal." Around noon, Lincoln asked fellow Springfield lawyer James H. Matheny to be his best man. Mary hurried to ask her cousin "Lizzie" Todd and her good friend Julia Jayne to stand up with her. Elizabeth Edwards, fretting about what food to provide, sent out to d.i.c.key's, Springfield's only bakery, for gingerbread and beer, and later decided to bake a cake, which did not turn out well.

At seven o'clock on a rainy, tempestuous evening, the thirty-three-year-old Lincoln and the twenty-four-year-old Mary took their places in front of the fireplace of the Edwardses' parlor. On the mantel two lamps were lit. The great difference between their heights, he an angular six feet four inches, and she barely five feet two inches, was striking. Mary wore a white muslin dress skirt. The Reverend Dresser, dressed in the vestments of the Episcopal Church, led the wedding service from the Book of Common Prayer. Abraham and Mary exchanged their vows, pledging themselves to each other. Saying "With this ring I thee wed," Lincoln slid the band on Mary's finger.

ONE WEEK AFTER Lincoln's wedding, he wrote to his friend Sam Marshall, an attorney in Shawneetown, Illinois, concluding his letter, "Nothing new here, except my marrying, which to me, is a matter of profound wonder." Lincoln's wedding, he wrote to his friend Sam Marshall, an attorney in Shawneetown, Illinois, concluding his letter, "Nothing new here, except my marrying, which to me, is a matter of profound wonder."

From now on, Lincoln's life would be like the three-legged stool that he had made as a boy in Indiana. The three legs gave the stool stability; if one leg were ever shortened or lengthened, the balance could become precarious. In the first leg of his adult life, Lincoln found success in politics; in the second leg, he established himself as a lawyer; in the third leg, he entered into marriage. The challenge that lay ahead would be how Lincoln could balance on all three legs as he reached for higher political office.

This first known photograph of Abraham Lincoln was made by Nicholas H. Shepherd in his daguerreotype store on the Springfield town square. Lincoln's muscular hands reveal his past, but his dress points to his future as a congressman.

CHAPTER 8.

The Truth Is, I Would Like to Go Very Much 184346 LET THE PITH OF THE WHOLE ARGUMENT BE "TURN ABOUT IS FAIR PLAY."

ABRAHAM LINCOLNLetter to Benjamin F. James, editor, Tazewell Whig, Tazewell Whig, December 6, 1845 December 6, 1845 -DOOR TO LARGER POLITICAL SERVICE UNEXPECTEDLY OPENED for Abraham Lincoln at the beginning of 1843. John Todd Stuart, his former law partner who had represented the Third Congressional District as the first Whig congressman from Illinois, announced that he would not seek a third term in the House of Representatives. Lincoln, having declined in the previous year to run for a fifth term in the state legislature, eagerly stepped forward to present his credentials for Congress. for Abraham Lincoln at the beginning of 1843. John Todd Stuart, his former law partner who had represented the Third Congressional District as the first Whig congressman from Illinois, announced that he would not seek a third term in the House of Representatives. Lincoln, having declined in the previous year to run for a fifth term in the state legislature, eagerly stepped forward to present his credentials for Congress.

When Lincoln arrived in Illinois in 1830, the state was still ent.i.tled to only one representative, the same as when it achieved statehood in 1818. By 1833, with rising immigration, the number increased to two, and then three in 1835. For the elections of 1843, Illinois would have seven seats. The new Seventh Congressional District would be made up of eleven counties, the majority of the population coming from Sangamon County.

The Whigs believed they could win the new Seventh District. Three men-John J. Hardin, Edward D. Baker, and Abraham Lincoln-all young lawyers, veterans of the Black Hawk War, and friends in the Illinois legislature, now became rivals for the Whig nomination to Congress. Everyone knew that winning the Whig nomination would be tantamount to winning the general election. The political race was on.

JOHN J. HARDIN, one year younger than Lincoln, was born in 1810 into a prominent political family in Frankfort, Kentucky. He graduated from Transylvania University in Lexington, studied law with Chief Justice John Boyle of the Kentucky Supreme Court, and entered the legal profession in 1831. That same year, Hardin moved to Illinois, setting up a law practice in Jacksonville, the county seat of Morgan County. Tall, with dark hair and dark eyes, Hardin had a bold face that reflected his determined personality. He was an excellent speaker, even though he had a slight speech impediment. He served in the Black Hawk War in 1832. First elected to the state legislature in 1836, he gave up his seat in 1842, the same year that Lincoln stepped down. As a fellow Whig, Hardin had actively opposed Lincoln on the internal improvements legislation. As a personal friend, Hardin had attempted to stop the duel between Lincoln and James s.h.i.+elds.

Edward D. Baker, two years younger than Lincoln, was born in London, England, and immigrated to the United States with his family in 1816. Baker lived in Philadelphia until 1825, when his family moved to British socialist Robert Owens's utopian community in New Harmony, Indiana. Later that same year, they settled in Illinois, first in Belleville and then in Carrollton. In 1835, Baker opened a law office in Springfield. Stunningly handsome and tall, with blue eyes, Baker was an inspiring if impetuous person. He was a lay minister in the Disciples of Christ Church, a denomination formed in 1832 from two revival streams, "Christian" and "Disciples," which aimed to restore New Testament Christianity. Baker's preaching experience prepared him to be a persuasive orator at Whig political rallies. He was elected to the state legislature in 1837 and to the state senate in 1840. Whig politics brought Baker and Lincoln together as kindred spirits.

John J. Hardin, a talented lawyer and politician from Jacksonville, counted himself as one of Lincoln's friends but became his opponent for the Whig nomination to Congress in 1843.

Lincoln thought so much of Whig politician Edward D. Baker that he named his second son Edward after his good friend. Baker and Lincoln vied for the support of the Sangamon County Whigs in the run-up to the congressional election of 1843.

IN HIS CAMPAIGN for Congress, Lincoln employed an aggressive multi-p.r.o.nged strategy. Months before the election, he began writing Whig friends about his congressional aspirations. On February 14, 1843, he wrote Richard S. Thomas, fellow lawyer and active Whig from Virginia, Illinois. "Now if you should hear any one say that Lincoln don't want to go to Congress, I wish you as a personal friend of mine, would tell him you have reason to believe he is mistaken. The truth is, I would like to go very much." Lincoln's political ambition, muted in his first races for the state legislature, became more direct and visible when he decided to run for Congress. for Congress, Lincoln employed an aggressive multi-p.r.o.nged strategy. Months before the election, he began writing Whig friends about his congressional aspirations. On February 14, 1843, he wrote Richard S. Thomas, fellow lawyer and active Whig from Virginia, Illinois. "Now if you should hear any one say that Lincoln don't want to go to Congress, I wish you as a personal friend of mine, would tell him you have reason to believe he is mistaken. The truth is, I would like to go very much." Lincoln's political ambition, muted in his first races for the state legislature, became more direct and visible when he decided to run for Congress.

On March 4, 1843, the Whigs published an "Address to the People of Illinois," signed collectively by five politicians, including Lincoln, who likely penned it. Who else but Lincoln would have pled for political action by appealing to Aesop, "that great fabulist and philosopher," and to Jesus, "he whose wisdom surpa.s.ses that of all philosophers," who "declared that 'a house divided against itself cannot stand' "? The campaign circular concluded, "At every election, let every whig act as though he knew the result to depend upon his action."

In advocating a convention system for nominating candidates, Lincoln moved to the front rank of Whigs. He knew the Democrats had advanced their party's interests in recent years in part because of their adoption of a convention system, which ensured that the party would unite behind one candidate rather than divide its votes among several candidates. Many Whigs had resisted a convention system because they feared party bosses would easily manipulate it, putting forward candidates who were not the choice of the people. But Lincoln could see that a convention system could help Whigs at both the state and national level. The first nominating convention for the new Seventh District was scheduled to be held on May 1, 1843.

As the convention approached, two difficulties clouded Lincoln's candidacy. First, his opponents charged that as a result of his recent marriage to Mary Todd, he was now a candidate of the wealthy and influential. These detractors accused Lincoln of being a member of "the Junto," a group of prominent business and political leaders in Springfield. Lincoln's new brother-in-law Ninian Edwards was also a member of the Junto. Edwards's aristocratic airs did not go over well with the Whigs, and Lincoln became guilty by a.s.sociation. Lincoln commented on the irony of this in a letter to Martin S. Morris, a delegate from Menard County. "It would astonish if not amuse the older citizens to learn that I (a strange, friendless, uneducated, penniless boy, working at ten dollars per month) have been put down as the candidate of pride, wealth, and aristocratic family distinction."

A second problem was the issue of religion. It was well known that Lincoln was not a member of any church. Mary attended the Episcopal Church, viewed by many as the church of the wealthy. Baker, on the other hand, was an active member of the Disciples of Christ Church and had become known for his spellbinding lay sermons. The Whigs had always taken pride in their affirmation of Protestant Christian values. They criticized Democrats for either having no religious faith or having the wrong faith, by which they meant the Catholic faith.

In his letter to Morris, Lincoln wrote, "There was the strangest combination of church influence against me." He said that Mary had relatives in both the Presbyterian and Episcopal churches, and that often "I had been set down as either the one or the other." But lately, he complained, "it was everywhere contended that no ch[r]istian ought to go for me, because I belonged to no church, was suspected of being a deist, and had talked about fighting a duel." He went on to tell Morris that Baker was not the cause of his problems. "I only mean that those influences levied a tax of a considerable per cent, upon my strength throughout the religious community." Lincoln's letter points to the role of religion in American politics in Lincoln's day.

Whigs from across Sangamon County met for the first step in the nominating process on March 20, 1843. The Baker followers arrived early at the statehouse in Springfield and managed to outmaneuver the Lincoln supporters. After the first ballots, Baker led. In the afternoon, the Baker supporters asked Lincoln, in the name of party unity, to withdraw his name, for it had become obvious that he would not win.

But then an odd thing happened. The group wanted Lincoln to become the chairman of the Sangamon County delegation. He tried to decline, but they persisted, and Lincoln, an early advocate of the convention system, found it difficult to say no. And so it was that Lincoln arrived in the morning a candidate for Congress and left in the evening chairman of a delegation pledged to Baker. Lincoln, able to see the humor in any situation, wrote to Speed, "In getting Baker the nomination, I shall be fixed a good deal like a fellow who is made a groomsman to a man who has cut him out and is marrying his own dear gal."

LINCOLN JOINED WHIGS from across the district who a.s.sembled for the convention at the Tazewell County Courthouse in Pekin on May 1. Lincoln arrived at the head of the Baker delegation. He knew he had lost his bid to be elected in 1843, but he had not lost his ambition to serve in Congress. from across the district who a.s.sembled for the convention at the Tazewell County Courthouse in Pekin on May 1. Lincoln arrived at the head of the Baker delegation. He knew he had lost his bid to be elected in 1843, but he had not lost his ambition to serve in Congress.

John J. Hardin won the Whig nomination for Congress. At this point Lincoln stood and urged the convention to adopt a resolution endorsing Baker as "a suitable person to be voted for by the Whigs of the district" in the succeeding election. The district convention adopted his motion by a vote of 18 to 14. In effect, the delegates were agreeing that Hardin should serve only a single term. Lincoln argued for a principle of rotation, a practice already in place in many states. The agreement, in spirit if not in letter, would hopefully a.s.sure Lincoln the nomination after Baker.

The Whig convention to select their candidate for Congress in 1843 was held at the Tazewell County Courthouse in Pekin. Lincoln lost the nomination to Hardin, but suggested a rotation system whereby first Edward Baker and then he would be a.s.sured nomination as the candidates for future terms.

Lincoln left Pekin on good terms with Baker, but in disagreement with Hardin about the principle of rotation. Ten days later, Lincoln, having heard that Hardin had some doubts "whether the whigs of Sangamon will support [him] cordially," wrote to Hardin. "You must at once, dismiss all fears on that subject. We have already resolved to make a particular effort to give you the largest majority possible in our county." He sought to rea.s.sure Hardin. "We have many objects for doing it. We make it a matter of honor and pride to do it; we do it, because we love the whig cause; we do it, because we like you personally."

On Election Day, Lincoln voted for the offices of justice of the peace and constable, but for no other candidates. Since voting was still done by voice, Lincoln's vote became known. He did not vote for Hardin or any of the Whig candidates for county and state offices. An explanation was never offered. Hardin won the seat for Congress in the new Seventh District, receiving a majority of 504 votes in Sangamon County.

THE CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGN of 1843 began just as Abraham and Mary Lincoln started their married life together. They rented one room at the Globe Tavern, a two-story plain wooden hotel on the north side of Adams Street, for four dollars a month, including board. The Lincolns lived in a cramped eight-by-fourteen-foot room on the second floor and took their meals in a common room with both long-term boarders and hotel guests. A gathering place for Whig politicians, the Globe was noisy day and night, in part because the hotel doubled as the main office for the stage lines serving Springfield. A bell rang at odd hours announcing the arrival of a stage. of 1843 began just as Abraham and Mary Lincoln started their married life together. They rented one room at the Globe Tavern, a two-story plain wooden hotel on the north side of Adams Street, for four dollars a month, including board. The Lincolns lived in a cramped eight-by-fourteen-foot room on the second floor and took their meals in a common room with both long-term boarders and hotel guests. A gathering place for Whig politicians, the Globe was noisy day and night, in part because the hotel doubled as the main office for the stage lines serving Springfield. A bell rang at odd hours announcing the arrival of a stage.

The Lincolns' first child, Robert Todd Lincoln, named after Mary's father, was born on August 1, 1843, nine months after their wedding. They called him Bob. The joy of his birth took some of the sting out of losing the nomination. After the baby's birth, Lincoln began addressing his wife as "Mother." She called him, in Victorian fas.h.i.+on, "Mr. Lincoln."

Shortly after Robert's birth, Abraham and Mary rented a frame cottage at 214 South Fourth Street for $100 per year. This three-room residence was but a way station on the road to purchasing a house. Lincoln, now making about $1,500 a year as an up-and-coming lawyer and working hard to retire the last of his "National Debt" from his New Salem days, began looking for a permanent home.

Early in 1844, Abraham and Mary purchased their first home, the very same one-and-a-half-story frame house at Eighth and Jackson where Lincoln had called on the Reverend Henry Dresser on the day of their wedding sixteen months earlier. Lincoln agreed to pay Dresser $1,200 in cash plus the transfer of a lot immediately west of the public square that Lincoln and his law partner Stephen T. Logan had acquired together two years earlier.

Abraham, Mary, and nine-month-old Bob moved into their new home on Friday, May 3, 1844. What mixed emotions this event must have brought. Abraham's mind may have wandered back to the many places he had lived over the past thirteen years, none of which he could call home. Mary might have remembered the grand brick homes she had lived in while growing up in Lexington, Kentucky, or the magnificent Springfield home of her sister and brother-in-law, Elizabeth and Ninian Edwards, where she had lived for three years. This new home was far less than anything she had known before, while for Lincoln it was far more.

The house, situated on a slight elevation, appeared a bit higher than some of the neighboring homes. Built in a Greek Revival style, it was typical of many of the newer Springfield homes and located a mere seven blocks from Springfield's center and Lincoln's law office.

Since houses were not numbered in Springfield until 1873, they were usually identified with nameplates on the front door. The front door of the Lincoln home bore a simple black doorplate inscribed with silvered Roman characters: "A. Lincoln."

THE NEW HOUSE would remain the Lincoln family's center for the next seventeen years. A second child, Edward Baker Lincoln, named after Edward Baker, Lincoln's friend and political colleague, was born on March 10, 1846. would remain the Lincoln family's center for the next seventeen years. A second child, Edward Baker Lincoln, named after Edward Baker, Lincoln's friend and political colleague, was born on March 10, 1846.

Harriet Chapman, the daughter of Lincoln's stepsister Sarah Elizabeth Johntson Hanks, came to the Lincoln home shortly after they moved in, working as a hired girl for a year and a half. She reported how much Lincoln enjoyed reading, especially aloud. His typical posture was to "turn a Chair down on the floor and put a pillow on it and lie there for hours and read." She added her voice to the general observation that Lincoln was "remarkably fond of Children."

Mary was also an avid reader. She, too, typically read aloud, and Abraham sometimes asked her to read to him. After their wedding, the Lincolns subscribed to the semiweekly Lexington Observer and Reporter. Lexington Observer and Reporter. Mary took pleasure in reading aloud from her home paper to her husband. Mary took pleasure in reading aloud from her home paper to her husband.

She enjoyed reading the novels and poems of Sir Walter Scott to her eldest son, Bob. One day she heard noises outside the front window. She looked to see Bob and a little playmate engaged in "a battle royal." Bob was brandis.h.i.+ng a fence paling instead of a lance, and declaring in a shrill voice, " 'This rock shall fly from its firm base as soon as I.' " Mary, sparkling with laughter, exclaimed from Scott's Lady of the Lake, " Lady of the Lake, " 'Gramercy, brave knights. Pray be more merciful than you are brawny.' " 'Gramercy, brave knights. Pray be more merciful than you are brawny.' "

IN THE SPRING OF 1841, Lincoln began working with his new partner, Stephen T. Logan. Though the two men were quite different in temperament, Lincoln enjoyed a much closer working relations.h.i.+p with Logan, nine years older, than with Stuart. The senior partner was conscientious, industrious, and exact in his approach to the law. Logan was no orator, but he argued his cases with persuasive, rational power. In the aftermath of the financial panic of 1837, Congress pa.s.sed the Bankruptcy Act on February 1, 1842, the first such act in forty years. Logan and Lincoln pled more than seventy cases, representing both creditors and debtors but primarily arguing for relief for debtors, before the act was repealed thirteen months later. 1841, Lincoln began working with his new partner, Stephen T. Logan. Though the two men were quite different in temperament, Lincoln enjoyed a much closer working relations.h.i.+p with Logan, nine years older, than with Stuart. The senior partner was conscientious, industrious, and exact in his approach to the law. Logan was no orator, but he argued his cases with persuasive, rational power. In the aftermath of the financial panic of 1837, Congress pa.s.sed the Bankruptcy Act on February 1, 1842, the first such act in forty years. Logan and Lincoln pled more than seventy cases, representing both creditors and debtors but primarily arguing for relief for debtors, before the act was repealed thirteen months later.

Lincoln and Logan moved into offices on the third floor of the new Tinsley building on Springfield's downtown square in August 1843. A trapdoor connected the offices to the federal courtroom, from which the lawyers could listen in on the proceedings below. Lincoln was presenting more and more cases before the Supreme Court of Illinois, and his professional reputation was growing. Lawyers who lived far from Springfield began to refer their cases to him, confident that he would argue them with skill before the state's highest court.