Show I LINCOLN REMINISCENCES i I I I I 1 I The Humor Keenness and Stern I Integrity I SOME INTERESTING STORIES EARLY LIFE CAMPAIGNS ELECTIONS ELEC-TIONS AND DEATH The Beginning of Hie Great Lincoln Doujms Campaign ot ISS Lin coins Nomination in 1SGO Receiving Re-ceiving the Ncvrs oC Lincolns ElectionA Lust Look at the Martyred Mar-tyred President BY PHILIP ATKINSON Copyright 1895 by Philip Atkinson It was the evening of July 3d The Springfield boys had invested their pocket money in a liberal supply of fireworks and retired early to be ready for the fun at the dawn on the 4th Clocks were a luxury in these clays which but few of the Illinois poneers could afford 40 being the usual prce I asked by the conscienceless clock I peddlers for a common brats clock bought at the Connexsut factory for ci But chickens were plenty and chanticleers lusty crow announcing the coming day was tae usual signal for the early riser an I the excted boys lying half awake with ears alert waited anxiously for this summons sum-mons like soldiers on the night before the battle for the morning rum beat which should call them to acton Lincoln was sitting outside his law office at a late hour wih some friends chatting and tolling l stories and enjoying the cool evening when LINCOLN AND SEWARD the crowing of cocks having become the topic of conversation Lincoln said I can set every cok in tcwn crowing in five minutes And put ting his hands to his mouth he Uttered tered a shrill Cockadoodledoo The cock over the way returned the call and then came another ant yet another crow from neighboring roosts till in less than five minuses Iame the answering response from evay rcost In the village The boys listened rub q < I their sleepy eyes and routed one another Hark the cocks are crowing Its morning Fourth of Tuly Hurrah Hur-rah I Hurrah In another five minutes min-utes every boy was up dressed and out and bang bang firecrackers torpedoes toy pistols and toy cannon were snapping and banging all over town while Lincoln and his friends indulged in a hearty laugh at the boys I expense The LincolnDouglas campaign In the early part of August 1858 Senator Douglas was given a rand reception on his return to Chicago after the adjournment of Congress It was the hour of his greatest political trIumph His doctrine of popular overeignity had been endorsed by Congress he was the acknowledged leader of a great political party his return to the Senate for another term seemed assured and his prospects asa as-a candidate for the presidency were never brighter Military and chic organizations were out In full force to do him honor Cannon were booming bands playing banners waving I stood near the Tremont House among the dense crowd that lined both sides of Lake street and saw the Little Giant as he was popularly called as he rode up to the hotel standing up in his car riage his short stout figure little more than four feet high bowing obsequiously ob-sequIously to the right and left his ppearan being greeted with the wildest demonstrations of applause But Lincoln was hot on his track and the following evening came to Chicago and made the opening speech in that remarkable campaign begin nIng substantially as follows Fellow CItizensYou gave Senator Douglas a magnificent reception last evening such a reception as the greatest European potentate might justly be proud of What means this grand display these booming cannon waving banners and wild plaudits I i It I FI J jj jp1 i lean t C c dP vihfwlmK yzsjini OLD WIGWAM TAKEN AT TIME OF THE NOMINATION JUNE 1SGO BV A HESSE rending the air It means postoffices marshalships consulates I came into your city tonight unattended unat-tended and gripsack in hand took my solitary ride from the depot to the hotel ho-tel No booming cannon or shouting multitude greeted my arrival Not so much as a fire company turned out to do me honor Why Simply because I control no public patronage have no official gifts with which to reward my political friends No one sees in this homely face a political cabbage garden with ripening heads for future plucking But my friends I come to you with something grander nobler better than the mere spoils of office I come as I the advocate of the rights of free soil for free men as the defender of the sacred compact which this champion of socalled popular sovereignity has dared to trample under foot aiding and abetting those who have broken down the barriers which guarded soil forever consecrated to freedom and under this false guise opening wide the gates to the inroad of the blighting blight-ing curse of human slavery into all our western territory giving the slaveholder the right to pollute this soil sacred to freedom by bringing into it his human goods and chattels Nomination in 1SGO It was my good fortune to be present pres-ent as a spectator at Lincolns nomination nom-ination for the presidency in Chicago in May 1860 and I can supplement the ofttold tale with a few facts which came under my personal observation I obser-vation It will be remembered that the convention con-vention met In a temporary frame building known as the Wigwam erected especially for the purpose at the southeast corner of Lake and Market Mar-ket streets which was subsequently used for mass meetings during the campaign and for war meetings and soldiers barracks during the war This building was afterwards sold and occupied oc-cupied for commission stores till swept away in the great fire of 1871 when a substantial brick building was erected in its place and not even a tablet now marks this historic spot William H Seward was the leading candidate and the special favorite of the radical antislavery Republicans Chase Lincoln Cameron and Bates were the other candidates Horace Greeley was present and as Oregon had no > native delegate Greeley was chosen as its representative and was subsequently humorously referred toby to-by one of the speakers as the gentleman gentle-man from Oregon much to the amusement of the audience Sewards friends had regarded his nomination as almost a certainty and on the morning of the third day of the convention the New York delegation delega-tion in confident anticipation of his success paraded the streets with a brass band and in consequence arrived ar-rived late at the Wigwam and found every seat occupied On the previous evening I learned to my surprise and disappointment that Lincoln who was regarded as one of the most conservative conserva-tive of the candidates was likely to be chosen my informant who like myself my-self was a Seward man giving as a reason that Lincoln could crack the longest sucker whip I also learned from another informant who was a Lincoln man that the Democrats were secretly working earnestly and spending spend-ing money freely to secure the nomination nom-ination of Seward whose wellknown radical views would make him a much easier candidate to defeat at the election elec-tion than a conservative candidate like Lincoln The next morning I entered the Wigwam Wig-wam just as the nominations were being be-ing made and found standing room in the outskirts of the densely packed crowd The New York delegation had found seats near the presiding officer and when their chairman Mr Evarts rose and nominated William II Seward Sew-ard the tremendous cheering which followed seemed to leave no doubt that he would be the choice of the convention con-vention When Lincoln was nominated there came another mighty outburst of applause second only to that which followed the nomination of Seward The first ballot showed a large plurality plural-ity for Seward with Lincoln as the next highest at which the Lincoln cheering perceptibly increased During the progress of the second ballot as the scattering votes began to be concentrated on the two leading candidates the supporters of each vied with each other in applause till it was hard to tell which had the loudest yell The result showed large gains for Lincoln Lin-coln with Seward still in the lead During the third ballot the Lincoln vote steadily increased and when it began to outnumber the Seward vote the enthusiasm of the Lincoln men l broke forth in the wildest cheers while that of the Seward men was evidently on the wane Then came a lull in the storm pencils were busy all over the I house correcting tally sheets whispered whis-pered conferences were going on among the different delegations and it I was evident that the crisis was at hand Two hundred and thirtythree votes were necessary to a choice and the tally sheets showed 180 votes for Seward and 2354 for Lincoln thus giving him 2 votes more than the required I re-quired majority I Then came a thunder burst of applause ap-plause and the boom of a cannon from the roof the preconcerted signal announcing i an-nouncing Lincolns triumph to his friends throughout the city But during dur-ing it all the New York delegation which had steadily supported Seward with unwavering confidence sat silent as statues When order was restored their chairman arose and in dignified tones said We had hoped that our 1 distinguished fellowcitizen William H Seward would have been tie choice of this convention but as you have decreed otherwise I now move that the nomination of Abraham Lincoln Lin-coln be made unanimous The motion mo-tion was carried by a thundering lAye followed by a mighty cheer which shook the building in which the New York delegation now heartily I joined And thus the first act in the great emancipation drama was finished I fin-ished I News of Lincolns Election It is not possible for the present generation to realize the intense anxiety anxi-ety with which the result of the presidential pres-idential election of 1860 was awaited throughout the entire country especially especi-ally by the radical antislavery people of the north The issue of that election elec-tion was of far more momentous importance im-portance than the success of any candidate can-didate of any party The question to be decided was whether slavery or freedom should rule this country whether this great and terrible wrong should be extended and perpetuated or circumscribed and finally extirpated extirpat-ed For in Lincolns own memorable words it was not possible that the country should continue to exist one half slavery and onehalf free The state of New York held the balance of I I power as it has often done its vote i I would turn the scale for slavery or freedom and its decision was awaited with intense anxiety I was then living in the suburbs of Chicago on a street which terminated in a prominent country road a lonely spot where there were no street lamps and few passengers after dark It was a day or two after the election I and reliable news was momentarily expected About 8 oclock in the evening I even-ing we were startled by the booming I of cannon in the city I ran down to the gate and called to the driver of a I passing farm wagon What are those guns for And back through the darkness came the clear ringing triumphant I tri-umphant reply The state of New York gives 20000 majority for Abraham Lincoln Lin-coln I turned to my wife who stood by my side and said Lincoln is I I elected slavery is doomed And then as we realized that the great event for which we had waited prayed and for years hoped for against hope was consummated our feelings found vent in tears of joy And now said she what next War said I one of the bloodiest the world ever saw Remember Re-member the classic adage When Greek meets Greek then comes the American tug of war and when meets American the result will be the same I A Last Look at Lincoln It will be remembered that the funeral fu-neral train bearing Lincolns body went by a circuitous route from Washington to Springfield stopping in the principal cities to give the people peo-ple an opportunity to take a last look I I at their beloved president In Chicago Chi-cago an immense concourse assembled for this purpose The procession several sev-eral miles in length met the train at the southern limit of the city and passed down Michigan avenue and thence to the court house the pupils of the public schools carrying little flags draped with crepe occupied a prominent place We still have the flags our children carried on this occasion oc-casion The casket was placed on a catafalque cata-falque in the corridor of the courthouse court-house and the procession filed past it but found it closed much to the disappointment dis-appointment of everyone especially the school children the body after its II long journey and frequent exposure not being in condition to be seen But 1 notice was given that it would be I i shown on the following day Meanwhile Mean-while the embalm restored it and J the next day a procession many blocks J in length was formed at the roar of which my wife and I took our places II and moved along slowly for two hours before reaching the courthouse The lofty corridore was heavily j draped in black entirely covering tha walls and ceiling and the casket surrounded I sur-rounded by a military guard of honor composed of prominent officers resell on a catafalque in the centre and funeral fu-neral dirges from singers behind thi drapery added to the deep solemnity of the mournful scene The face of the dead was calm peaceful and natural the wellknown I features reposing as in a restful sieoj Mothers lifted their children to seo it and some of the ladies could hardly r restrained from kissing the dead Lps As we passed my wife leaned over get a better view and an officei m I taking her intention interposed l sword as a barrier The evening shadows were falling as the last of the long sad procession filed past and the casket was c15e1 and borne away to its last 7 cmg place at Springfield I |