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Show Tike Lincoln A J H4TV i , - ' :i vr i C 1 'I By ELMO SCOTT WATSON O ' .T 11CRE Is many a paradox ( In American history, but none Is more curious ? than tills: In the years I f 1801 to 1805, when the ' North was arrayed against the South, a Southerner was the com-J com-J mamler In chief of the Northern forces. For Abraham Lincoln was a a native of a Southern slate, Kentucky. More than that, his wife was a Southerner, and that fact undoubtedly not only profoundly iiillnenced his career but It shaped American history as well. There Is an "if" in American history, his-tory, too, anil one of the most Interesting Inter-esting is this: If Abraham Lincoln had not married Mary Todd of Lexington, Lex-ington, Ky., it Is possible that be would never have been President of the United States, and thereby be called upon to lead the armed strength of the nation against his own people. peo-ple. When the Republican party In 1SG0 was considering possible candidates candi-dates for the Presidential nomination, their choice upon Lincoln depended partly upon the fact that he was a conservative In regard to the "dominant, "domi-nant, question" of slavery. This conservatism con-servatism brought to him the powerful support of the llorder states' delegates who believed that be possessed a sympathetic sym-pathetic understanding of their problem prob-lem and could (leal with It better than any other candidate before the convention. con-vention. He hod this sympathetic understanding under-standing because his marriage to Mary Todd gave him an opportunity to see both skies of the question. It was in Lexington, In the heart of the largest lave-holding section of Kentucky, that Lincoln saw at close range the more favorable patriarchal elements of the institution. His father-in-law owned slaves, cared for them well and made a resolution, which he always kept, never to sell a slave and thus risk bringing suffering to a human being who had a claim, through faithful service, to his affection. In the home of the Todds and of their friends he saw negro slaves, well-fed, well-housed and kindly treated the institution of slavery at Its best. But there In the chivalrous and ro-mantle ro-mantle Blue Grass region, Lincoln also saw slavery at its worst. Some of the masters there abused their slaves; only a short distance from where Mary Todd was born stood a notorious slave prison ; and in Cheapslde, the market square of Lexington, scarcely a day passed without seeing the public sale of black men and women. More than that, in the town of Lexington Lex-ington there was a miniature reproduction repro-duction of the tempest which was rocking the nation the slavery dispute. dis-pute. It was on the borderland and in it were pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions, both strong. The leader of the most radical pro-slavery men was Kobert YVIckliffe, father of two of Mary Todd's girlhood chums and the husband of her father's cousin. Lend-rs Lend-rs among the anti-slavery men were Robert J. Kreeken ridge and Cassius M. Clay, both personal and political friends of his father-in-law. So when Lincoln made his famous "house-divid-ed-against-ltsclf" speech, he could have pointed to the homes of dozens of families In or near Lexington, Ky., 63 concrete examples of his symbol. It Is such facts as these that William H. Townsend, a citizen of Lexington, has brought out In an Important study of Lincoln the book, "Lincoln and His Wife's Home Town," published recently recent-ly by the Bobbs-Merrill company. In the preface Mr. Townsend says: "The name of Abraham Lincoln is forever associated with slavery In the United States. Biographers have traced the gradual development of Lincoln's views on t lie subject from bis first public utterance in i lie Illinois legislature legis-lature down to the Emancipation Proclamation tcn:y live years later. fx" i 1. Mary Tocid Lincoln. From a photograph pho-tograph taken during the early part of Lincoln's administration. 2. Lincoln in 1848. From an old daguerreotype, the earliest known portrait por-trait of Lincoln. 3. Mary Ann Todd. A portrait made about the time of her marriage to Lincoln. The sources, however, from which his convictions on the great issue largely sprung, have not been hitherto revealed. re-vealed. It is the purpose of this book to show Lincoln's personal contacts with slavery which gave him a firsthand first-hand knowledge of the 'peculiar institution' in-stitution' that he could have acquired in no other way. . . . Lincoln and Mary Todd were married mar-ried in 1842 and soon afterwards Lincoln Lin-coln was elected to congress, his first appearance upon the national stage, a position which brought him into more direct contact with the all-important question was so soon to be shaking the nation to its depths. Of the importance to Lincoln's political future of his marriage, Mr. Townsend writes: "So it happened that the little lit-tle wife who went to live with Lincoln Lin-coln at the modest Globe Tavern (in Washington), through her girlhood experiences ex-periences in Lexington, was peculiarly fitted to share In the great task which would make the man she married immortal. im-mortal. She had been taught every phase of the great question, which finally came to be nearest his heart, by the very man whom her husband regarded with the most admiration (Ueury Clay). "It may have been that gentle Ann Rutledge, or portly, complacent Mary Owens, or youthful, light-hearted Sarah Rlckard would have endowed the tall Sycamore of the Sangamon with ji richer measure of marital bliss, but never did a young wife bring to a husband, interested In statecraft and anxious for perferment, such wealth of first-hand information on a grave, moral and political subject such fruits of lutimate association with great public men of her day as did Mary Todd to Abraham Lincoln." One of these great public men was John C. Breckenrldge, a childhood friend of Mary Todd Lincoln in Lexington, Lex-ington, later a United States senator, vice president w-Jien Buchanan was President and the candidate of the pro-slavery Democrats in the fateful campaign of 1S00. One of the most dramatic incidents in Mr. Townsend's book is the story of bow It fell to the lot of this friend of Mary Todd's girlhood girl-hood to declare the election of her husband to the Presidency. He tells the story as follows : On February 13, 1S0I, the two houses of congress met in joint session ses-sion to count the electoral votes for President of the United States. . . . For days rumors had flown thick and fast that Vice President Breckenridge would refuse to announce an-nounce the election of Lincoln and thus give the signal for the seizure of Washington by the overwhelming overwhelm-ing number of southern sympathizers sympathiz-ers within its gates. General Scott had directed that no person should be admited to the Capitol building except senators, representatives, government employees and those who had tickets signed by the speaker of the house or the presiding presid-ing officer of the senate. Armed guauls were stationed at every entrance en-trance to enforce tins order. Shortly after noon the senators filed into the house chamber, and took their seats in a semicircle arranged ar-ranged for them in front of the speaker's desk. The presiding officer offi-cer was conducted to his chair, and tellers took their places at the clerk's table. Vice President Breckenridge Breck-enridge then arose and in a calm, lirm voice, announced that the two houses were assembled to count the electoral votes for President and Vice President of the United States. "It is my duty," he said, open the certificates of election in the presence of the houses, and I now . proceed to the performance of thai duty." No one knew the gravity of the occasion better than the chairman. None realized more than ha that fully three-fourths of those who sat beneath the vaulted dome were armed to the teeth, and that t lie slightest spark might touch off a shocking conflagration. But those who expected John C. Breckenridge to stultify his high office by a conspiracy con-spiracy to overthrow the government govern-ment did not know the man. Firmly Firm-ly believing the triumph of the Republican Re-publican party to be a menace to the South, he would shortly return bis commission as senator to his constituents In Kentucky, forsaking fame and fortune under the Stars and Bars. But today he was presiding presid-ing officer of the federal senate, and Jupiter never ruled a council of Olympus with a firmer hand. A southern member arose, but the chairman anticipated him. "Except "Ex-cept questions of order, no motions can be entertained," he declared. The senator stated that he wished to raise a point of order. "Is the count of the electoral vote to proceed pro-ceed under menace?" he shouted. "Shall members be required to perform per-form a Constitutional duty before the Janizaries of General Scott are withdrawn from the hall?" "The point of order is not sustained," sus-tained," ruled Breckenridge emphatically, emphat-ically, as he directed the count to proceed. Slowly, one after another, the long sealed envelopes containing the votes of the various states were opened. "Maine for Lincoln" was followed by a slight ripple of applause. "South Carolina for Breckenridge" was lost In an outburst of hand-clapping, quickly and sternly suppressed by the presiding officer. Then, in a breathless silence and with profound attention on the part of all present, Johu C. Breckenridge arose from his seat, standing erect, the most dignified digni-fied and imposing person in tliat presence. "Abraham Lincoln," he announced with a distinctness that carried his mellow voice to the most distant corner of the gallery, "having received re-ceived a majority f the whole number of electoral votes, Is duly elected President of the United States for the four years beginning on the fourth of March, 1SG1." How the Civil war touched personally person-ally this southern family, the Lincolns. who occupied the northern White House during those four eventful years, is shown in another incident told by Mr. Townsend. Mary Todd had a half-sister named Etnilie, and she married Ben Hardin Helm, a Lexington Lex-ington boy who was graduated from West Toint shortly before the opening open-ing of t lie Civil war and cast his fortunes for-tunes with the Confederacy. The aftermath is told in these words of Judge David Davis: "I never saw Mr. Lincoln more moved tiian when he heard of the death of his young brother-in-law, Ben Hardin Helm, only thirty-two years old, at Chickamauga. I called to see him about four o'clock on the 22d of September. I found him in the greatest great-est grief. 'Davis,' said he, '1 feel as David of old did when he was told of the death of Absalom. I saw how grief-stricken he was, so I closed the door and left him alone." ( by Western Newspaper felon.) |