"Abe" Lincoln's Anecdotes and Stories: A Collection of the Best Stories Told by Lincoln Which Made Him Famous as America's Best Story Teller — John Shaqi
"Abe" Lincoln's Anecdotes and Stories: A Collection of the Best Stories Told by Lincoln Which Made Him Famous as America's Best Story Teller
History
"Abe" Lincoln's Anecdotes and Stories: A Collection of the Best Stories Told by Lincoln Which Made Him Famous as America's Best Story Teller
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -- Anecdotes
"Tad" went to the Kentuckians again, and asked a very dignified
looking gentleman of the party his name. He was told his name. He then
said, "Come, gentlemen," and they followed him.
Leading them up to the President, "Tad," with much dignity, said,
"Papa, let me introduce to you Judge ----, of Kentucky;" and quickly
added, "Now, Judge, you introduce the other gentlemen."
The introductions were gone through with, and they turned out to be
the gentlemen Mr. Lincoln had been avoiding for a week. Mr. Lincoln
reached for the boy, took him in his lap, kissed him, and told him it
was all right, and that he had introduced his friend like a little
gentleman as he was. Tad was eleven years old at this time.
The President was pleased with Tad's diplomacy, and often laughed at
the incident as he told others of it. One day while caressing the boy,
he asked him why he called those gentlemen "his friends." "Well," said
Tad, "I had seen them so often, and they looked so good and sorry,
and said they were from Kentucky, that I thought they must be our
friends." "That is right, my son," said Mr. Lincoln; "I would have the
whole human race your friends and mine, if it were possible."
=STOOD UP THE LONGEST=
There was a rough gallantry among the young people; and Lincoln's old
comrades and friends in Indiana have left many tales of how he "went
to see the girls;" of how he brought in the biggest back-log and
made the brightest fire; of how the young people, sitting around it,
watching the way the sparks flew, told their fortunes.
He helped pare apples, shell corn and crack nuts. He took the girls
to meeting and to spelling school, though he was not often allowed to
take part in the spelling-match, for the one who "chose first" always
chose "Abe" Lincoln, and that was equivalent to winning, as the others
knew that "he would stand up the longest."
=ADMIRED THE STRONG MAN=
Governor Hoyt of Wisconsin tells a story of Mr. Lincoln's great
admiration for physical strength. Mr. Lincoln, in 1859, made a speech
at the Wisconsin State Agricultural Fair. After the speech, in company
with the Governor, he strolled about the grounds, looking at the
exhibits. They came to a place where a professional "strong man" was
tossing cannon balls in the air and catching them on his arms and
juggling with them as though they were as light as baseballs. Mr.
Lincoln had never before seen such an exhibition, and he was greatly
surprised and interested.
When the performance was over, Governor Hoyt, seeing Mr. Lincoln's
interest, asked him to go up and be introduced to the athlete. He did
so, and, as he stood looking down musingly on the man, who was very
short, and evidently wondering that one so much smaller than he could
be so much stronger, he suddenly broke out with one of his quaint
speeches. "Why," he said, "why, I could lick salt off the top of your
hat."
=SAVED LINCOLN'S LIFE=
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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