Abraham Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life, Volume 1 (of 2)Herndon, William Henry
History
Abraham Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life, Volume 1 (of 2)
Herndon, William Henry
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865
* "Lincoln used to come to our office--Stuart's and mine--in
Springfield from New Salem and borrow law-books. Sometimes
he walked but generally rode. He was the most uncouth
looking young man I ever saw. He seemed to have but little
to say; seemed to feel timid, with a tinge of sadness
visible in the countenance, but when he did talk all this
disappeared for the time and he demonstrated that he was
both strong and acute. He surprised us more and more at
every visit."--Henry E. Dummer, Statement, Sept 16th, 1865.
He had little, if any, money, but hoped to find in Springfield, as he
had in New Salem, good and influential friends, who, recognizing alike
his honesty and his nobility of character, would aid him whenever a
crisis came and their help was needed. In this hope he was by no means
in error, for his subsequent history shows that he indeed united his
friends to himself with hooks of steel. I had up to this time frequently
seen Mr. Lincoln--had often, while visiting my cousins, James and
Rowan Herndon, at New Salem, met him at their house--but became warmly
attached to him soon after his removal to Springfield. There was
something in his tall and angular frame, his ill-fitting garments,
honest face, and lively humor that imprinted his individuality on my
affection and regard. What impression I made on him I had no means of
knowing till many years afterward. He was my senior by nine years, and
I looked up to him, naturally enough, as my superior in everything--a
thing I continued to do till the end of his days.
[Illustration: Springfield Court House 222]
Stuart and Lincoln's Office (in 1839), Second Floor, over
Furniture-Store. Photographed in 1888.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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