| Show 11 happy birthday birthada y had but little I 1 11 mea meaning ni m asfor for man I 1 who rn Ani americans erica I 1 I 1 ns honor on fe february druary 12 11 E each ail ch year j by ELMO SCOTT WATSON I 1 0 western News newspaper piper union NN FEBRUARY 12 amerl U I 1 leans everywhere will join in celebrating an event which took place years ago the birth of abraham lincoln on that day they will recall many afa a familiar millar story about the man whose career began in a little log cabin in hardin county kentucky on february 12 1809 but the chances are that the majority of them will remember him best as the man of I 1 sorrows who was chief executive of their nation during one of the most critical periods in its history the civil war years of 1861 65 such being the case it seems appropriate to inquire how was this date which is puw now a red letter day on americas calendar celebrated during that period 11 was there any general observance of the presidents birthday and was february 12 avei ever a happy birthday for abraham lincoln during those years it is doubtful if february 12 1861 was a happy birthday for him for on that date he was on en route to washington to take up his duties as president of th the e 1 united states State of america perhaps the disunited states would be a more accurate designation confederacy organized for six weeks after his election south carolina had passed its ordinance of secession during the next month georgia alabama mississippi 1 louisiana an and d florida had followed the palmetto states lead on february 4 representatives atiles from these states had met at montgomery al ala a a and d organized the confederate states of america five more texas north carolina virginia tennessee and arkansas were almost certain to join the six that tha thad had already departed from the union the future course of three border states maryland kentucky and missouri as well as the northern slave state of Dela delaware wire was I 1 doubtful and always in the background loomed the threat of a fratricidal war between the north and the south ever since his election his mail had been filled with threatening letters and by the time he reached PI philadelphia alien ahen I 1 pinkertons Pink ertons secret service men had uncovered such indisputable evidence of a plot to assassinate I 1 V I 1 I 1 1 I I 1 1 1 1 1 ij ill aa 1 4 I 1 ki 1 1 I 1 0 1 1 0 iz 1 1 I 1 I 1 1 i va J I 1 I 1 1 I 1 I 1 17 8 J I 1 I 1 p 1 I 1 I 1 1 1 1 I 1 6 1 I 1 11 I 1 W on february ai 23 1863 bra brady y again trained his camera on n the features of abraham lincoln and gave us this picture fire oath of th the president r esl in repose but i reflecting 9 a 2 soul weary of two ye years 2 rs 0 of war 1 the president elect thi that unusual precautions were taken to safeguard his entrance into the national capital As a result the story was spread byais by his enemies that the prince of rails sneaked into washington like a thief in the night never before nor since has a president elect entered the capital under such circumstances cum curn stances a 6 a but if February 12 1861 was a day of anxiety y for Abra abraham fiam lincoln february 12 1862 was even farther from being a happy birthday for him he had failed to avert aw anarand a war arand and inthe first test of arms with the confederacy the union forces suffered a disastrous defeat atthe at the battle of bull run at thi the battle of balls BI bluff ul iff he lost one of his oldest and dearest friends col E D baker a after it e r wh whom lincoln coln had named the ddn son who was buried in springfield the trent tient affair almost involved the nation in a war with irith 1 england englad A and ft in thi the administration of the war w department made it necessary I 1 for him to permit simon cameron secretary secie of war to retire tram from his ci cabinet binet his appointment of gen george B mcclellan as oom commander of the army of the potomac had proved a disappoint I 1 I 1 7 va M I 1 T v 11 az 11 1 M I 1 0 k 1 0 v J V I 1 r S al ill 1 I 4 ah A sa X I 1 1 I I 1 1 11 1 11 I 1 1 I A F t 1 I 1 1 lg A 04 1 X 1 1 11 I 1 nal V 11 W 1 y n I 1 4 e I 1 I 1 I 1 11 I 1 A I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 1 I 1 I 1 11 I 1 11 1 I 1 1 I 1 f this photograph of lincoln was made symathew by mathew B brady the great civil war photographer aa da february 27 1860 and lincoln often said that this picture and M his speech at cooper union in ill new york fork city had made him president in it the people of the north saw a sad wise determined man who would do nothing rash and yet would defend their union ment because little mac refused to fo move against the enemy while harassed by bi this inaction and obstinacy of mcclellan mr lincoln was plunged into a bitter private sorrow writes ida M Tar bellin Uin her life of lincoln early earli in february chis two youn younger ier bok boys willie and tad as they wore were familiarly known tell feld sick when he saw sar them suffering and when it be became carb evident as it finally did that willie the elder odthe of the two would die the presidents anguish was intense he would slip away from visitors vetois and cabinet auevery at every opportunity port unity to go to the sick room and during the last four or five days of willies life when the child was suffering i terribly and lay an in an i unbroken delirium mr lincoln lincolia lIi shared with th the nurse the nightly vigils at the bedside when willie finally died on february 20 the president was so prostrated that it was feared by many of his friends that he would succumb entirely in to his grief many public duties he undoubtedly did neglect indeed a month after Will willies lei deai death we find him apologizing for delay to answer a letter because of a domestic affliction 11 0 it is probable that february 12 1863 came nearer being a 8 happy birthday for abraham lincoln than the two previous ones had been the victories of grant in the west capture of new orleans were partial compensation for the disasters in the east the failure of mcclel lans ians peninsula campaign 1 popes defeats at the second B battle attle of bull buh run and the horror of fredericksburg the failure of lees invasion of maryland Marylan dand and the result of the battle of antietam had made ma madeia deit it possible fo for r lincoln to I 1 issue his ema emancipation cl proclamation lam la bAlon although for a time this proclamation seemed to have abad a bad I 1 effect on an P public opinion in the north it gave the war a new meaning bind and fo forecast aSt the eventual defeat of the confederacy the tide Tilde turns r early in 18 1863 63 it became alpar ent that the tide of success had turned strongly in favor odthe of the union and this fa fact ct probably made Lincol ns birthday in this year a happier event than ishad it had previously been incidentally uy this year marked the first celebration of Lincol ns birthday of which there is any record it is contained in the reminiscences of william H tisdale written a few years before his death in 1930 he says 1 the citie first birt birthday fiday ann anniversary IV ebsary ersary of Abra abraham harn lincoln I 1 remember occurred february 12 1863 at that time I 1 was on duty at the white house and had been for s some ome six months previous as the ilia presidents orderly as confidential messenger or dis dispatch pitch bearer there was no countrywide country wide I 1 observance 1 I in n the early evening a small company assembled for his birthday party a few especially close to him and a few women friends of mrs lincoln his son robert a young army officer arrived and all sat downto down to a quiet but hap happy py dinner just before the birthday feast began one of the neg negro ro boys came to me withe with eyes yei wide with astonishment urging me to see what was being taken ta to 0 the president and foU following owing him I 1 saw a turkey a monstrous big bird some admirer in peni pennsylvania isyl varila had sent it H february 12 1864 found another year of sandness sa aness added to the life of abraham lincoln true jhb he high tide of the confederacy had ad ebbed from the shell torn slopes of gettysburg and with the surrender of Vic vicksburg burg the father fat bf waters rolled to td thi the sea 11 but in the east there was still a stalemate successive calls fox for volunteers had J I 1 1 aalf failed d to provide enough men to CO continue the struggle in and dithe the federal government was wasi i forc forced corfe V to resort toabe to ithe draft which I 1 re sul the bloody draft riots ln annew new york city nor were y ere these military problems the only ones that added to the burdens of abraham lincoln No tonly was there dissatisfaction ti on in the north with his conduct of the war barbut war but there was dissension in the party which had elected ed him and it was no secret that men high in the councils of odthe the party were remaking we making plans i to tode de feat him tor for first they approached hannibal annibal H P hamlin the vice president to be their candidate but I 1 he refused but salmon P chase his secretary of fhe the treasury was not an unwilling listener for he had been Lincol ns rival in 1860 all through the winter of 1863 1803 64 chase carried on a voluminous correspondence in the interests of his candidacy and no doubt the possibility that lincoln might be repudiated by hla his party before beffre his work of saving the union was finished and the task entrusted to a lesser man overshadowed his birthday in this year chase resigns however his birthday was scarcely past when atoo a too zealous supporter of chase Is sueda circular calling upon the country to organize in the secre behalf chase was i placed in billich an embarrassing position felt called upon to i resign from the cabinet and when the legisla ture tufe of his state demanded in the name odthe people and the ahe iol soldiers of ohio that lincoln be acre ie nom nominated afie the chase boom collapsed another such boom which resulted in a convention at cleveland that nominated gen john C fremont i had little 1 better success so when the lican convention met it was a foregone conclusion that Ahat lincoln would be that did not mean mea however that he would necessarily bere be reelected for the he democrats nom I 1 I 1 fan M I 1 I 1 fl I 1 C I 1 14 e 1 u 1 14 IF I 1 04 I 1 I 1 u 1 4 I 5 7 Z t 1 I 1 1411 g v 4 Z 1 P I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 i I 1 11 I 1 1 A ic 1 I 1 i 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 1 5 I 1 4 11 I 1 e V I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 1 11 I 1 I 1 I 1 11 J I 1 I 1 this photograph was taken in the last months of Lincoln iffe here hereisa is face scalded by time the face of the man of sorrows I 1 I 1 1 gen george 1 B mcclellan i h in declared the war a failure and denounced various acts of the president is as usurpation of e extraordinary at ra ordinary and danger dangerous oiLs powers not granted by the con andi demanded that immediate efforts be made madeford ma defor for a cessation of hostilities with aview a to an ultimate convention of all the states or other peaceable means to the end that at the earliest practicable moment peace may be restored on the basis of the federal union of the states 11 P mccuan mcclellan turned out to be an unexpectedly unexpected li strong candidate partly because he repudiated the democratic platform by announcing himself in ili favor 6 of f peace but only on terms that W would 0 d pr preserve the union for a time the issue hung in i the balance then shermans Sher mans capture of atlanta proved that the war was not a fall failure and had much to do with turning tide in favor of lincoln who won bori by a large electoral majority a s by february 12 1865 if it was clearly end I 1 of the war was in sight so etwas probably the happiest birthday that lincoln had known during his four years in the white house we do not know whether there was any celebration odthe day in the executive mansion althere as there was in 1863 but we do know that there ther eWas was a birthday gift ilien given on that day iven even though lincoln was wa s the giver r ather than the receiver I 1 I 1 of it in the ales ff lesof odthe the war I 1 depart i ment are preserved among many such telegrams orders and notes from i lincoln one which was signed on february 12 1865 it is general Hoo hooker kevat at cincinnati an dreads Is ULie ut samuel B davis whose death sentence is commuted ihnot done let ibbe done Is there not an associate of his also in trouble P please leae answer 11 Z 1 alele I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 II 11 1 i t I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 V 1 1 a 4 1 0 I 1 04 I 1 I 1 I 1 1 1 the charge barge that lincoln stole into washington I 1 ais is refuted dby by the words of the noted historian benson behson J lossing who incidentally den taUy was born on 11 ll Lincol ns birthday in 1813 lossing interviewed v lincoln in 1864 and I 1 in n his diary under the date of december 4 says willid 1 I called on president Preside ii lincoln with congressman UN I 1 N arnold ol of ill at 91 30 met him in the cabinet council room boom alone he endorsed on anthe ahe permit of th the eWar war department his recommendation of me to the courtesies ourt esles of all I 1 public offices in the service at my request he gavere gave me an account of his journey through baltimore to washington 0 is as follows follow 8 arrived in Philadel philadelphia 1 I arrived at philadelphia agreed to ta stopover stop over night and on the following day hoist the flag over independence hall in I 1 the evening there was a ar great eat crowd L and I 1 received mi my friends I 1 received a message from mr judd of Chic chicago chicado ajo a warm personal friend askin asking gme me to come to his room I 1 went and found there only mr mi judd and mr pinkerton the latter a detective detec detect tiye lye whom I 1 had seen in chicago he had been employed for some days in watching or searching for suspicious or expected suspicious movements in baltimore in connection with iny my passage through the time of which was known from public announcement Pink pinkerton erion ird informed ormed me that tha a plan was was prepa my assassination si he knew of the plan but buteas was not sure sur ithe the conspirators would have pluck enough to execute it he wanted meto me to go with wr him right through to washington ington that night 1 I jike that ahad I 1 had made engagements aenas to visit Harris burgh and go from there to baltimore andi wished to cosoi do sor I 1 made arrangements however with wither mr judd for me arie to return to philadelphia the next hixt night 9 I 1 shall be e convinced there was danger in going next day ibold bhim that if ial I 1 should meet at harris burgh asI as I 1 had other places a delegation to go with me to the next place thru baltimore I 1 should feel safe and go on when I 1 was making aking my way mackto back to my room through crowds I 1 met fred seward we went to together jether to my room and he told mathat he had been sent atthe at the instance of his father and general scott to inform me that their detec detectives detective es in baltimore had had discovered a plot there to assassinate me they knew nothing of Pinkei pinkertons Pink ertons tons movements 1 I 1 biow now believed sach a plot to be in existence n 1 the th e next morning I 1 rais raised edthe the fi flog ngat at independence hall went on 06 to Harris burgh with mr sumner now general hunter ward H lemon lamon and others met the legislature and people dined and waited until the appointed time tor for me to leave in the meantime mr judd had so seitu secured red the telegraph wires that no communication could pass pasi to baltimore andi and give the ithe conspirators knowledge of the change in my plans Lincol ns now new hat bat in new york some friend had presented me anew a new beaver hat ina in a boband box and in it ishad had placed a soft wool hat anever I 1 never wore one in my life I 1 had this box in my room having informed W a very few friends of the secret of my movements and the cause I 1 put |
