General Fry left this pen portrait: "Lincoln was tall and thin; his long
bones were united by large joints, and he had a long neck and an angular
face and head. Many likenesses represent his face well enough, but none
that I have ever seen do justice to the awkwardness and ungainliness
of his figure. His feet, hanging loosely to his ankles, were prominent
objects; but his hands were more conspicuous even than his feet,--due,
perhaps, to the fact that ceremony at times compelled him to clothe them
in white kid gloves, which always fitted loosely. Both in the height
of conversation and in the depth of reflection his hand now and then
ran over or supported his head, giving his hair habitually a disordered
aspect."
Mr. Lincoln's indifference about dress did not improve his appearance.
His old-fashioned "stovepipe hat" was as familiar an object around
Washington as it was in Springfield, and his family and associates
were unable to induce him to purchase a new one. He usually wore a suit
of broadcloth with a long frock coat, the customary garments of the
legal profession in the West and South in those days, and, instead of
an overcoat, a gray shawl which was more than half the time hanging
carelessly over one shoulder.
He enjoyed jokes at the expense of his personal appearance, and used to
appropriate to himself this ancient incident which has been told of so
many other ugly men. "In the days when I used to be on the circuit," he
often said, "I was once accosted in the cars by a stranger, who said,
'Excuse me, sir, but I have an article in my possession which belongs to
you.' 'How is that?' I asked, considerably astonished. The stranger took
a jack-knife from his pocket. 'This knife,' said he, 'was placed in my
hands some years ago with the injunction that I was to keep it until I
found a man uglier than myself. I have carried it from that time until
this. Allow me now to say, sir, that I think you are fairly entitled to
the property.'"
Another of his stories about himself concerned a certain honest old
farmer who, visiting the capital for the first time, was taken by the
member from his "deestrick" to some large gathering at which he was told
he could see the President. Unfortunately, Mr. Lincoln did not appear;
and the Congressman, being a bit of a wag and not liking to have his
constituent disappointed, pointed out a gentleman of a particularly
round and rubicund countenance. The worthy farmer, greatly astonished,
exclaimed, "Is that Old Abe? Well, I do declare! He's a better-looking
man than I expected to see; but it does seem as if his troubles had
driven him to drink."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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