Show Fate Wove Together the Threads of Destiny for Three Little Boys Born Within the Span of Three Years Years' Time In Three Different Countries Their Life Paths First Crossed In the Frontier State of Illinois During Young Manhood and for the Next Quarter Century Their Careers Were Closely Linked Together C O western Newspaper Union By ELMO SCOTT WATSON T FEBRUARY 12 1809 In Ina FEBRUARY M a log cabin In the backwoods backwoods back back- woods of Hardin county Kentucky Tom Lincoln an improvident farmer carpen ter stands awkward and ill illat illat illat at ease beside beide his wife's bed and looks down upon his second sec sec- ond born ond-born born a sonI sonI sonI son I reckon Tom we ought to call him Abraham for his cy Hanks Lincoln So that is the name they give him DECEMBER 12 1810 On this day an Irish gentleman named Shields returning to his home Altmore house near Castle Shane In County Tyrone is greeted with the news that his wife has given birth to their first child a ason son And because five men of the Shields clan had served at the Battle of the Boyhe Boyne under under un un- der the banner of King James II of England this newest member of the clan is called James FEBRUARY 24 1811 An Englishman whose sober attire attire attire at at- tire proclaims Um him a Quaker is leaving his modest home in London A neighbor seeing his smiling face asks What makes thee so happy this morning Friend Baker My wife and I have Just been blessed with a new son is the reply And because Thomas Dickinson Dickinson Dickinson Dick Dick- inson British naval officer s GEN EDWARD D D. D BAKER I who fought at the Battle of Trafalgar Is an uncle of this new born youngster he will go through life bearing the name of Edward Dickinson I Baker It it is doubtful If II any lAb anyo b Mi this trio 0 of 01 proud fathers lathen ever r learned of 01 the h. existence ex ex- sime ime of 01 the IA others olAr much I leas heard their lAir names nomel spoken But Dus toms tome where in ill illimitable space poc three little lit Ii tle d. stars Han 0 mutt must have hOlle twinkled winkled appreciatively natively at a the e secret eer which Fate Fo confided to so 0 them how them how the sh will trill weave together the h. threads of o des det- d I tiny ny lor for these e three bO boy babies babies babies- Abro Abraham um Lincoln the th American Joints James Shields Shield the Irishman and Edward Edward Ed Ed- ward Dick Dickinson oll Baker the h. Englishman English man man how how the she will wilt brin bring them hem together to 0 tether gether Ier American Americans all ell in young youn manhood man mon I hood hood and end how hOll the she will tea see to 10 i it that lAal their paths polA In ill life lilt shall haU cross croll and to 0 the h. end of their do days 1837 The Illinois legislature Is meeting in special session in Vandalia Vandalla Striding into the crude little state capitol building is a ayoung ayoung ayoung young man noticeable mainly for his extraordinary stature- stature six feet four inches and his homely face As he takes his seat he sees a I Whig colleague from Sangamon They greet each other familiarly as Abe and Ned for they were comrades in arms in the Black Hawk war in 1832 Ned is a Springfield lawyer strikingly handsome gifted gated with an eloquence surpassed only by the great orators and endowed with a rare and noble gallantry of spirit Across the room on the Democratic Democratic Democratic Demo Demo- cratic side these two Whigs notice notice notice no no- tice a new member from Randolph Randolph Ran Ran- I dolph county county county-a a slender young lawyer about five feet nine inches in height energetic industrious industrious indus indus- determined courageous and very popular among his col leagues There Then they ere your your three little lid bops bojt whispers Fete Fate to 0 the th stars 41 pointing n down to 10 that A. A room in ill J fan fan- dalia daliG Illinois not no to so important important im im- now note nOll but bu wait hi until they hey a step upon the alae ea stage of o national affairs e The legislature had not long Jong been in session before belore the young lawyer from Kaskaskia proved himself a resourceful and aggressive sive politician minded keen wit wit- I t I LINCOLN ty but somewhat ornate in speech Because of his pompous manner the homely rail raU splitter disliked the bustling young Irishman Irish Irish- Irishman Irishman man and political partisanship Increased increased in In- creased this hostility It persisted when Shields became became be be- came auditor of public accounts and Lincoln retired from the legIslature leg leg- to his law practice and to membership in the Springfield Springfield Spring field Junto Lincoln Baker Daker and Stephen Logan which dominated Whig party councils In 1842 Lincoln Lin Lin- coln coin had a hand in writing several several sev seve eral anonymous letters to the leading Whig newspaper which not only attacked Shields' Shields financial financial finan finan- cial policies but called him a liar and a crook Thereupon the fighting fighting fight fight- ing Irishman demanded a retract retrace retraction tion or satisfaction by the code duello and only the intercession of mutual friends prevented the encounter taking place on a field of honor in Missouri W Was OJ it i. by merest mere ch chance nc that hac these h friend friendt heard ol of the ala proposed duel dueland dueland dueland and hurried across the ala Mississippi in ill time lime to 10 stop Iop i it is Or did Fate Fo in an ironical mood permit the alae hostility I between the th two wo men mell to ro draw them 1171 near to 0 the ala brink brinle of 0 tragedy then ell ellIa Ia toy say Wait Woid The Th fatal how hour h hat has J not no come com lor either of o you OU ye ed Shields was re elected state auditor in 1843 but soon left that office for an appointment as Justice justice justice jus Jus- tice of the Illinois Supreme court a position to which he was regularly regu lady elected by the legislature in n 1844 1644 In the same year Baker Daker was sent to congress Thus the former English immigrant boy was the first of the trio to make his entrance upon the stage of national affairs But he was soon followed by bythe bythe bythe the Irish-born Irish lad and the thena native na live tive American In 1845 1843 Shields resigned from the Supreme court to become commissioner of the general land office in Washington Washing ton and the next year Lincoln after two previous disappointments disappointments disappointments disappoint disappoint- ments finally won a seat in congress congress congress con con- gress beside his friend Baker In 1846 1848 the United States was wason wason wason on the verge of war with Mexico Immediately the fighting lighting Irishman Irishman Irishman Irish man quit the land Jand office and as brigadier general took command of a brigade of Illinois troops Meanwhile Baker had raised a regiment in Illinois and marched for the Rio Grande He had hadnot hadnot hadnot not resigned his seat in congress and securing a brief leave of absence he hurried to Washing ton He lie appeared on the floor of congress in full tull uniform the first case of this kind on record and cast his vote for war Then he overtook his regiment on the march from Vera Cruz and fought In every action on the route to Mexico City At the Battle of Cerro Gordo Shields fell desperately wounded and the officer who immediately took command of his brigade and led it during the rest of the war was Col Edward D. D Baker I Mustered Mustered Mus Mus- out of the service in July 1848 Shields was appointed territorial territorial terri terri- governor of Oregon by President Polk but held that office of flee fice nominally for only a few months In 1849 he was elected United States senator from Illi Illinois nois and in the same election his subordinate Colonel Baker was returned to the lower house As the Irishman and the Englishman Eng Eng- lishman were arriving in Washington Washington Wash Wash- ington the American was de de- de- de parting Lincoln's service in congress congress congress con con- gress had not been satisfactory to his constituents so eo he was not a candidate for re He lie want wanted d to become commissioner commissioner commis commis- stoner of the general land office but his application for the position post post- tion was denied He lie wanted the appointment as governor of Oregon Oregon Oregon Ore Ore- gon but President Taylor gave that to another man However he did offer olter Lincoln the secre seers of that territory but the rail splitter sputter declined it Disappointed pointed Lincoln went back to hislaw his hislaw hislaw law practice in Springfield Baker did not remain in Washington Washington Wash ington long after his friend Lincoln Lin coln coin had left Becoming interested interest ed in the Panama railroad project project he declined a to congress In 1850 The next year he settled in San Francisco where his eloquence and his legal knowledge soon made him a leader lead er of the California bar Meanwhile Shields had bad finished six years of service as senator from Illinois and Lincoln oln was the unanimous choice of his party to succeed him Mm But the Whigs were outnumbered in the Illinois legislature legislature legis legis- lature and Lyman Trumbull a Democrat won Then Shields moved to Minnesota and soon became became became be be- came prominent in that territory The Th trails of 01 the ala three mm men that haa have hate been cronin crossing craning and these he last 15 IS years yean ea are ore beginning to 0 diverge diverse now hut But rh the they will come together again smiles mil Fa Fate liar Have patience little stars ala wait hi wait wail 1857 Minnesota is admitted to the Union and chooses as one of its two senators James Shields 1858 Stephen A. A Douglas of Illinois is a candidate for reelection reelection re elec tion to the senate The old Whig party is dead and a new party composed of Whigs and anti slav antislavery I Iery ery Democrats has taken the the name Republican Its candidate to oppose Douglas is Lincoln But Douglas wins I 1860 James Shields Is finishing his term as United States senator senator sena tor and leaves Washington to engage engage en en- gage in mining and similar enterprises enterprises en en- in Mexico and Califor Califor- nia But when he arrives in the latter state his former subordinate subordinate nate Colonel Baker is no longer there He lie has gone to Oregon become a leader in the new Republican party and is elected to the United States senate In Inthe Inthe Inthe the same election his friend Abraham Lincoln becomes President President Pres Pres- ident of the United States I 1861 South Carolina secedes from the Union A cannon ball baU hurtles across the waters of Charleston harbor and crashes against the walls of Fort Sum Sum- ter It is WAR WARI I Senator Edward Baker is busy raising a regiment He is offered a commission as brigadier gen brigadier gen general eral but declines He lie will serve as colonel of his regiment But President Abraham Lincoln Lincoln Lincoln Lin Lin- coln sees another familiar name nameon on a generals general's commission commission commission commis commis- sion which he is signing It is James Shields I October 1861 It Is Brig Gen Edward D. D Baker now He leads a brigade in a charge against the Confederates at Balls Ball's Bluff Bluffin in Virginia High up in the ala heavens a little star liar trembles Ai As a bullet buU strikes rik Edward Eduard Bar Daler down doun the rhe star HOT lames flames up brightly for lor a moment then plunges downward into ino darkness March 1862 There is fighting i inear near Kernstown Va Brig Gen I s l b bY bv v d Y a GEN JAMES SHIELDS James Shields is in the thick of it He reels in the saddle Another little Hide r star itar r trembles tremble In the ala sky iky Not No yeti yet Not No yet yell el uh whispers pe FIle Fate and the ala star itar continues to 10 burn brightly For Shields though desperately desperate ly Jy wounded does not die He becomes becomes becomes be be- comes a major general retires from the service the next year and returns to California April 1865 The war is over at last Abraham Lincoln enters Fords Ford's theater in Washington A madman's shot rings out and and and- now he belongs to the ages On that rho April nih night a second and second and the ala brightest brighten little star tor o of othe the alae three ree lames flame into inlo oblivion From California James Shields moves to Wisconsin then to Mis MIs- In 1879 he starts for Washington Wash ington once more to sit again Inthe in inthe inthe the senate the senate the only man in American history who has served as United States senator from three different states Returning home he is stricken with illness at Ottumwa Iowa June I 2 1879 A little star itar blinks blink bravely lor jor for a moment then slowly fades fade out GUL J James me Shields Shield the th la last ol of those alao three twee little toys boys it ie dead When Edward Dickinson on Da c c. c was five years old his father decided dc de Jo Join his Quakers fellow-Quakers in America and emigrated to Philadelphia He lie died there a short time later and the burden of helping support his mother and anda a little brother fell upon young Baker who became a weaver When he was fourteen the stricken ty-stricken Widow Baker moved with her sons to the new state of Illinois and settled in the village of Carroll Carrollton ton There young Edward attended a log Jog cabin school and began I reading law in an attorneys attorney's of of- fice flee When he and his brother moved to Springfield he continued continued contin contin- his studies so successfully that he was admitted to the bar barat barat barat at the age of nineteen In 1831 he married a beautiful widow three years his senior named Mary Ann Lee and began his career as a promising young attorney at torney in the raw little frontier town on the Sangamon The be Irish Immigrant Boy 80 Meanwhile over in Ire Ireland and young James Shields was obtaining obtaining obtain obtain- ing as much of an education as his widowed mother was able to give her family of three children Under the tutelage of one of Wellington's Wellington's Wel Wel- lington's Peninsula veterans he was learning to speak French fluently fluently fluently flu flu- and becoming so skilled in handling the rapier that he was rated an expert swordsman at atthe atthe atthe the age of fifteen Then an uncle who had emigrated to America brought back to County Tyrone such glowing reports of the opportunities opportunities op ope across the Atlantic that young James ran away from home to seek his fortune there But the ship on which he took passage was wrecked off the Scottish coast and the Irish lad was one of the three survivors of its crew Undaunted by this experience experience ex ex- he embarked upon another another an an- other vessel An Atlantic gale drove it upon a reef off the Carolina Carolina Caro Care lina coast and Shields who had been aloft was thrown to the deck with both legs broken The ship was wrecked but by an a almost al most miraculous culous chance he was rescued by a passing vessel After recovering from his inJuries Injuries injuries in in- juries he enlisted in the army in time to serve in the first Seminole Seminole Semi Semi- nole Indian war in Florida After After After Aft Aft- er that was over the adventurous adventure ous young Celt headed for the West and arrived in Randolph county Illinois While preparing himself for a legal career he turned his knowledge of French to good account by becoming a teacher of that language in the French settlement of Kaskaskia I He soon mastered enough law to pass the bar examinations and by 1832 he had hung out his shingle in Kaskaskia The be Lincoln Move 1 In the year that Edward Bakers Baker's father brought his family to Philadelphia Philadelphia Phil Phil- adelphia Tom Lincoln decided to try to |