Lincoln (137 page)

143
amount of $3:33: Bacon
v.
Nuckles
File, Lincoln Legal Papers.

143
in municipal law:
Duff, A
Lincoln,
pp. 261–262.

144
issues and precedents:
Both these notebooks are in ISHL.

144
left for Congress:
See the careful list of Lincoln’s cases in the United States Circuit and District courts in the files of the Lincoln Legal Papers. For an informed discussion, see Benjamin P.
Thomas, “Lincoln’s Earlier Practice in the Federal Courts, 1839–1854,”
Bulletin of the Abraham Lincoln Association,
no. 39 (June 1935).

144
found abundant opportunity:
The records of Lincoln’s cases before the United States District and Circuit courts for the Southern District of Illinois after 1855 have been microfilmed by the National Archives.
Lincoln at the Bar: Selected Case Files from the United States District and Circuit Courts, Southern District of Illinois, 1855–1861
(Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1989), is a useful guide.

144
as in Springfield:
Duff, A
Lincoln,
chap. 13, gives an excellent overview of Lincoln’s federal practice.

144
“over the world”: CW,
3:338.

145
“his professional life”:
Grant Goodrich to WHH, Dec. 9, 1866, HWC.

145
the third day: Day by Day,
2:18–19.

145
of all cases:
Donald,
Lincoln’s Herndon,
p. 44.

145
completed the furnishings: Herndon’s Lincoln,
2:316–317.

145
“of the room”:
WHH to Jesse W. Weik, Oct. 21, 1885, HWC.

145
“read the better”:
WHH to Weik, Feb. 18, 1887, HWC.

146
“Old Abe”:
The first time E. B. Washburne heard Lincoln called “Old Abe” was at the 1847 River and Harbor Convention in Chicago. Washburne, “Abraham Lincoln in Illinois,”
North American Review,
141 (Oct. 1885): 313.

146
“the old men”: CW,
1:497. Lincoln was here referring to the discontent of young Whig politicians, like Herndon, but his remark applied equally to young lawyers.

146
David Davis:
The standard biography, on which I have drawn heavily in the following paragraphs, is Willard L. King,
Lincoln’s Manager-. David Davis
(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1960).

146
of his feet:
King,
Lincoln’s Manager,
p. 74.

146
immense safety pin:
Jane Martin Johns,
Personal Recollections of Early Decatur, Abraham
Lincoln, Richard f. Oglesby and the Civil War,
ed. Howard C. Schaub (Decatur, Ill: Decatur Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, 1912), p. 62.

146
“mankind or thing”:
WHH, interview with David Davis, Sept. 19, 1866, HWC.

147
“honesty and fairness”:
King,
Lincoln’s Manager,
p. 73.

147
actions for debt:
Harry E. Pratt, “‘Judge’ Abraham Lincoln
“JISHS
48 (Spring 1955): 28–30; Duff, A
Lincoln,
chap. 17.

147
Old Tom:
Francis Orlando Krupka, “Historic Structure Report: Abraham Lincoln Home” (Springfield, Ill: Lincoln Home National Historic Site, 1992), pp. 424–439, gives a detailed account of Lincoln’s horses.

147
“of a horse”:
King,
Lincoln’s Manager,
pp. 77, 83.

147
“into this Cabbage”:
WHH, interview with David Davis, Sept. 19, 1866, copy, Lamon MSS, HEH.

148
lawyer for guidance:
Duff,
A Lincoln,
pp. 212–214.

148
to only $3:
These cases before the Tazewell County Circuit Court are:
People
v.
Nathaniel
Wright et al.
(Apr. term, 1850);
John Shibley
v.
Adam Funk et al.
(Apr. term,
1851); Joseph F. Haines v. John Jones and William Gaither
(Sept. term, 1852);
Pearly Brown v. John P. Singleton
(Spring term, 1852);
Benjamin Seaman
v.
Peter Duffy
(Oct. term, 1855)—all in the files of the Lincoln Legal Papers.

148
“for the job”: CW,
2:332–333. See the excellent statement on Lincoln’s fees in Duff, A
Lincoln,
pp. 224–228.

149
“some other occupation”: CW,
10:20.

149
at one sitting:
A recent discovery, this elaborate document is in the files of the Lincoln Legal Papers.

149
“in a ditch”: Herndon’s Lincoln,
2:334.

150
“must be wrong”:
Ibid.

150
the stenographic transcript:
The recently discovered manuscript trial transcript of
People of
Illinois
v.
Peachy Quinn Harrison
(Sangamon County Circuit Court, 1859) is in the Illinois State Historical Library. I have used a typed transcription of this document through the courtesy of the Lincoln Legal Papers. For astute commentary on this trial, see an unpublished paper by Cullom Davis, “Crucible of Statesmanship: The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln” (Springfield, Ill: 1989).

150
“I forgive Quinn”:
People
v.
Peachy Quinn Harrison
(Sangamon County Circuit Court, 1859), p. 72.

150
“of such law”:
Ibid., p. 68.

150
held as contempt:
WHH to Jesse W. Weik, Nov. 20, 1885, HWC.

150
“and defies deceit”:
“Cog,” in Danville
Illinois Citizen,
May 29, 1850, photostat, David Davis MSS, Chicago Historical Society.

151
credibility was demolished:
The fullest account of this celebrated trial is Duff,
A. Lincoln,
pp. 350–359. So successful, and unexpected, was Lincoln’s demolition of Allen’s testimony that a story later gained circulation that Lincoln played a trick on the jury by reading from an 1856, rather than an 1857, almanac. The story was inherently improbable, because it was wholly out of character for Lincoln, who valued his reputation for integrity above all else, and it was vigorously denied by two members of the jury who examined the almanac during the trial—as did the judge and the prosecuting attorney. Astronomers have recently proved that there would have been no reason for Lincoln to substitute another almanac, since in 1857 at the time of the murder the moon was very low and near to setting. Donald W. Olson and Russell L. Doescher, “Lincoln and the Almanac Trial,”
Sky and Telescope
80 (Aug. 1990): 184–188.

151
“find his superior”:
“Cog,” in Danville
Illinois Citizen,
May 29, 1850, photostat, David Davis MSS, Chicago Historical Society.

151
Armstrong was acquitted:
J. Henry Shaw to WHH, Aug. 22, 1866, and Sept. 5, 1866, copies in Lamon MSS, HEH.

151
“upon the mind”:
“Cog,” in Danville
Illinois Citizen,
May 29, 1850, photostat, David Davis MSS, Chicago Historical Society.

151
remained with the court:
By one calculation Lincoln in 1850 spent 125 days on the circuit (not including Sangamon County), with 26 additional days, largely on legal business, in Chicago; he was in Springfield only 190 days. In 1852 he was away from home, attending to business or traveling from one court to another, 156 days and was in Springfield 210 days. Richard F. Lufkin, “Mr. Lincoln’s Light from Under a Bushel—1850,”
LH
52 (Dec. 1950): 5, and Lufkin, “Mr. Lincoln’s Light from Under a Bushel—1852,”
LH
54 (Winter 1952): 9.

152
estate of $12,000:
Wayne C. Temple, “Lincoln in the Census,”
LH
68 (Fall 1966): 139.

152
in failing health:
Charles H. Coleman,
Abraham Lincoln and Coles County, Illinois
(New Brunswick, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1955), offers the fullest account of Thomas Lincoln’s later years and documents Lincoln’s repeated financial assistance to his father.

152
in modest comfort:
Too much has been made of the failure to invite Thomas and Sarah Bush Lincoln to their son’s wedding. That ceremony was a hastily arranged, almost impromptu affair. Even the best man and the maid of honor were selected on the day of the wedding.

152
John D. Johnston:
See Marilyn G. Ames, “Lincoln’s Stepbrother: John D. Johnston,”
LH
82 (Spring 1980): 302–311.

152
for so long:
This correspondence is most readily accessible in Coleman,
Abraham Lincoln in
Coles County,
pp. 73–76. Thomas Lincoln’s letter—his only extant letter—was written for him by John D. Johnston, who added an appeal of his own for an additional $80. Lincoln refused, on the ground that his stepbrother had the “habit of uselessly wasting time.” “You are not
lazy,”
he wrote, “and still you
are
an
idler.
”

152
“to see you”:
John D. Johnston to AL, May 25, 1849, Lincoln MSS, LC.

152
“truly Heart-Rendering” cries:
Augustus H. Chapman to AL, May 24, 1849, Lincoln MSS, LC.

153
“in a Short time”:
Augustus H. Chapman to AL, May 28, 1849, Lincoln MSS, LC.

153
with “baby-sickness”: CW,
2:96–97.

153
an uncomfortable decision:
For Lincoln’s schedule during his father’s final days, see
Lincoln
Day by Day,
2:46–47. Charles B. Strozier,
Lincoln’s Quest for Union: Public and Private Meanings
(New York: Basic Books, 1982), pp. 53–55, shows that Lincoln’s excuses were not insurmountable.

153
“to join them”: CW,
2:96–97.