Show I A AI I t I I I II 4 d dA A Y r w ww w N A K Kt t n nI I II II I I II I c I e y r j b I A e eia 4 II I 9 I ii L W Q-W I I IBy By ELMO SCOTT WATSON HI III IlL RL li is many ninny A J p u adox I In n but butI I none is la more curious I than this tills In the years of 1861 to 1 65 when hen the North wa was wat arrayed n r r a y e against t the South Ii a IiI Southerner was the com coin corn corn- I wander manlIer in chief of oC the Northern 1 forces For Abraham Lincoln was wis 8 a a native of ofa ofa Ii a Southern state Kentucky More ore than that his wife WAS a Southerner and that fact undoubtedly not only profoundly Influenced his cal career eer but It shaped American history as aJ a well ell There is an tf If if in hIs hIstory history history tory too and one of or tile the most inter interesting Interesting esting is this tills It J Ybrahim m I had not married marriell Mary Iary Todd of or I ex logton Ky ICy it I is po possible ible that he would ne never neer er have been President of oC the United States State and antl then thereby by be called upon to lead the strength or of the nation n against his Ills own peo pie le hen the Republican party In 1800 was wag coni considering possible dates for tor the Presidential Prec nomination their choice upon Lincoln depended epen ed partly upon the fact tact that he was n a conservative in re regard ar to the nant question of oC sh slavery cry ery This con brought to him the powerful support of the Border states delegates who believed that he be possessed a sym sympathetic sympathetic sympathetic pathetic unde understanding of their problem problem problem lem and could deal deil with It better than any other can candidate before the con convention lIe He had this sympathetic under understanding MaryI standing because his marriage to Mary Iary lod Todd gave him an opportunity to see both aides ldes of or the que question It was as In Lexington In the Ule heart beart of tile the largest larget slave holding mg section of ot Kentucky v that Lincoln saw at close range e the more ora fa favorable le patriarchal elements of the Institution Ills Ilia father In la law owned es slaves sla es cared for them well and ma made madea e ea a resolution which he be always ah kept never to sell asIa a stave sla e and thus risk bringing sufferIng to a 11 human being ho had a claim through faithful servIce to his affection In the home of the To Todds ds and of their friends he saw negro slaves laves well fe fed well housed housell nod and kindly tl the treated Heated the institution of ofEla ery fila slavery ery at Its be bet best t But nut there In the chivalrous and romantic ro- ro mantle mantic Blue mue Grass region I 1 also aho saw slavery cry cry at it its worst Sonic Some ome of ot the masters there abused abuse their slaves slave only a II short distance from where Mary Todd was born f tood stood a notorious I slave elave prison and in the market square of I 1 erington Ington sc a day passed pas c without seeing the public sale of or black men mel an and women More fore than that In the to town ton n of I 1 et- et Ington ex-Ington Ington there was a miniature reproduction of the tempest which as rocking the the nation nation the slavery Cry dis dispute dispute It was as on the borderland and andIn andIn andin In It were pro slavery ery and anti auti slavery very factions both strong 1 The he leader or of orthe the most mot ra radical pro elY men was Hobert Wickliffe father faUler of two t or of Mary Todd Toddi Todds girlhood chum chums an and the husband of or her fathers father cousin I end cad enders cadera ers among the anti Inti slavery silvery men were Robert Hobert J Breckenridge nn and Ca Cassius M II Clay both personal and poll political tI of his father In laSo law la So when I made his famous house house house h III ed against t It speech he hc coul could ha have ha e pointed to the homes bomes of dozens of families la Li or near I Ky Kyas as concrete examples of his hb symbol It Is s such facts as these thue that thit tt n H Townsend Townsell a citizen of or I 1 has broll brought bt out In an In Important study tudy or of the Lincoln Lincoln the book hool Lincoln an and Ils His ICes ICe's Home Borne Town To published recent recent- recently recently recently ly by th the Lobba Dobb Merrill company In Inthe Inthe the preface Mr Ir lown townsend ed says ays The fhe name of ot Abraham Lincoln I Is associated with sla ery in the UnIted States Biographers hale lia e trace traced the gradual l de development of oC Lincoln s a aviews views on ua the su subject from his Ills first publIc utterance In the Illinois le g lature lalure do down don n to tile the Proclamation twenty tv tent e tale years ears later b bA A t t 4 r ry rs rp rA y s p A pir 1 Mary Todd Lincoln From a pho photograph photograph photograph taken during the early part of Lincoln's administration 2 Lincoln in 1848 From an old daguerreotype the earliest known pot por portrait portrait trait of Lincoln 3 Mary Ann Todd A portrait made about the time of her marriage to Lincoln the sources howe however er from which his convictions on the great issue Isue largely sprung have not been hitherto re revealed vented It is the purpose poe of or tins this book to show I s personal contacts with situ slavery ery which gave hum him a first firsthand firsthand firsthand hand knowledge ge of or the peculiar In that he could 1111 have e acquired In no other way I and Mary Todd were mar marrie marred married rie red In 11 16 an and soon s oon afterwards Ln cola coin was elected to congress his first appearance upon upun the national stage a position which brought him Into more direct contact with the all aU iw question gas lS so 0 soon to be shaking the nation to It its depths Of the importance to Lincoln s political future of his hb marriage m Mr r Townsend writes So o It happened that the lit littie litlie tie the wife who went ent to live Ine with Lin In coin at the modest Globe Tavern in in inai ai through h her ber girlhood ex per In Le in ton was ns peculiarly hUed fitted to share in the great ta task tank k which would make the Ule mID m in she slie married immortal m mortal She hid had been taught every phase of the great gleat question which finally came to be nearest his hs heart by the very ery man whom horn her hu husband regarded with the most Henry Clay It may hn have e been that gentle Ann Rutledge or portly complacent Mary Iary Ow Owens n or youthful light hearted Sarah SUr-dh Rickard Pickard would ba have base e en endowed owell the till tall bv Ss of or the moo with witha I a richer measure of marital marit blIs bliss hut but I ne never neer er did a youn young wife wIre bring to n a husband Intel ested in statecraft and anxious for tor such wealth of fir first firt t hand liand Inform on a J grave moral and poll political such subject subject fruits of intimate association great public men of or her day as us dId Mary Tod Todd to I l One of ot these great public men was John C Breckenridge a childhood friend of or Mary Iary To Todd d I in Lex Lex- Lex Lexington ington later a u United States senator ice president when hen Buchanan was Pre President dent and the can candidate of the pro sa slavery Slav cry ery Democrats In the fateful campaign of or ISiO 1St 0 One of the most dramatic incidents In Mr lr Townsends Townsend's book Is the story of how It fell to the lot of ot this friend of Mary Iury To Todd d s girl girlhood girlhood girlhood hood to declare the election of or her husband husban to the Presidency lIe He tells the story stor as follows On I 1 uary 13 1801 1601 the two houses houes of congress met In lri joint sea ses S slon slum to count the thc electoral elector votes cote ote for President of the United States Slates For lor days das rumors had flown thick thill and f fast t that t Ice Pre President Breckenridge would refuse to olD an announce the election of or Lincoln and thus gh give ghe c the sign hl 11 for the s seizure of oC Washington ton bv by IJ the 0 el lug Ing number of southern sympathizers et ers within lib Its gates s General Scott cott had directed that no person should hould be a admired to the Capitol building senators gO employees employee an and those thoe who hind had tickets signed by Jy t the tb speaker of or the house or the lug officer of oC the senate Armed Arwed I guards were re stationed at every er c entrance entrance en trance to enforce this or order er Shortly after noon the senators filed Into the house hou chamber and tool took their seats seala in a semicircle ar arranged arranged arranged ranged for them in an front of ot the Ule speakers speaker s desk sk The rhe pre presiding om oil was conducted to his hIJ chair and I tellers took their places at the clerk s table Vice President Breck enridge then arose and in a calm that rm voice announced that tho the two o houses were assembled to count the electoral votes oles for President and Vice President of the United States tates It Is b my duty he said to to open I the certificates of or election in the presence of ot the houses and I now proceed to the performance of or that duty I No one knew the gravity of the occasion better than the chairman None realized more than he ha that tully fully three fourths of tho those e who ho sat beneath beneat the vaulted dome were armed to the teeth an and that the slightest spark might oft off II a shucking shocking conflagration But those thoe who expected John C Breckenridge ge geto to stultify his hig high office by a con conspiracy to o overthrow the govern government meat ment did not know the man Firm Firmly Firmly ly Iy believing tae triumph of the Re He Republican Republican publIcan party part to be a menace menice men Ice to the South he would shortly return his commission as IS senator to his constituents In Kentucky tOt fame and fortune under the Stars and Bu Pats Bais s But Batt today he was wis tog fig officer of ot the federal senate and Jupiter ne never neer er ruled a council or of Olympus with a firmer hantlA handA hand liand liandA A southern member arose aroe but the chairman anticipated hum him Cx Br Except questions of order no do motions can be entertained he decla real The senator ted stated that be he wished to raise a point pant of order Is the count of or the electoral vote ote to pro proceed seed un under er menace menace he houte shouted Shall members be required to per per- perform per perform form a Constitutional duty uty before the of or General Scott coU are withdrawn yn from the olio hall huH hall Th The point of order is not sus lUt tamed ruled as he directed the count to proceed Slowly Slow I one aHel another the long seale sealed em elope containing the vote votes or of the various states state were opened Maine for Lincoln was followed hy by a I sll slight ht ripple of or applause Carolina for Breckenridge l ge was sits us lost lostIn lostin In Inn in n outburst t of or hun hand clapping quickly and sternly suppressed by bythe bythe bythe the presiding 7 1 Ihen hen in a breathless silence and with profound attention on the part of all pre present ent John C Breckenridge arose aroe flom his seat standing erect the thc most fled an and imposing per person on in n that pre presence Abraham I he announced with distinctness a 1 that carried his mellow voice voica to mo most t distant corner of the g gillery Illery having basing Ing re rc reW celled ceh ed a majority of or the whole number of or electoral site votes ott is dul duly elected lre l President of the United States Slates for tho the four years vears elN h beginning on the fourth of March Maich Ial ch the Ch Civil II war var touched person personally personally ally this southern family the bo occupied the northern White Whitehouse WhiteHouse house durin during those four eventful years is shown shon sho n in another Incident ent told by y Mr Ir Townsend J Miry Mir Todd had a huH halt sister named 1 1 mUle milie and she married Ben BeD Harden Helm i a LexIngton Ington boy lioy who was as gra graduated ua from West Point shortly before the open openIng openIng openIng Ing of or the Ch Civil Chil 11 war and ind cast lets Ills for fortunes fortunes fortunes tunes with the Confederacy ibe aftermath is told In these thee words of Judge David ld Davis Da vis I l never saw Mr Ir Lincoln more mo moe mosed e than when he henl heard d of the death of hl its hta young brother in law Den Ben Helm only thirty two J years old at I called to see sel him about four o I dock clod on the JUd or of September Septem I found him in IU the great gret greatest est cst grief DR Davis Dads is said he I feel eel n ar ill of or old did dill when hen lie he was II told lit of the deuth death of or Absalom I 1 saw loss grief griet stricken he was so I clo closed ed the thedoor th door and left leCt him alone to W by toy VV w catera r Colon |