Veterans Day at the Soldiers’ Home

Lincoln’s Own Reading List, Summer-Autumn, 1862, ‘63, and ‘64

By Erin Carlson Mast

Welcome to the fifth and final installment of our President Lincoln’s Cottage Book Lists for 2009.  Previous Book Lists detailed our top rated recent books on Lincoln, staff favorite books on Lincoln, visitor favorites on Lincoln, and children’s books on Lincoln.  Reading about Lincoln is all well and good, but for a change, let’s look at what Lincoln himself read.

There are various lists of books Lincoln owned or reportedly read, of which many can be corroborated and many cannot for one reason or another.  More significant to the history of the Cottage are first hand sources that corroborate which books Lincoln read, referred to, or recited aloud while living at the Soldiers’ Home. 

Without further ado, here are eight works Lincoln read or referenced during his approximately 13 months living at the Soldiers’ Home.

The Collected Works of Shakespeare, William Shakespeare
Lincoln read Shakespeare aloud on more than one occasion at the Cottage.  Secretary John Hay recalled that one evening at the Soldiers’ Home, Lincoln read Shakespeare to him, “the end of Henry VI and the beginning of Richard III till my heavy eye-lids caught his considerate notice & he sent me to bed.” 

Poetical Works, Fitz-Greene Halleck
Lincoln recited poetry on occasion, and on one occasion at the Cottage, he met with Senator Orville Browning, recited a few stanzas of the poem “Fanny.”

Artemus Ward, his book. With many comic illustrations, Artemus Ward (Charles F. Browne)
Lincoln reportedly read a selection from Ward’s book to his cabinet in July 1862, prior to reading aloud his draft Emancipation Proclamation.  According to one version of the story, when his fellow cabinet members did not laugh at the recitation, Lincoln “threw his book down, heaved a sigh, and said: ‘Gentlemen, why don’t you laugh? With the fearful strain that is upon me night and day, if I did not laugh I should die, and you need this medicine as much as I do.”

Orpheus C. Kerr Papers, Orpheus C. Kerr (Robert H. Newell) 
His pen name was a play on “Office Seeker”, the folks who lined the halls to meet with Lincoln day in and day out. Newell’s political satire amused Lincoln during embattled summers at the Cottage.

Poetical Works or Essay on Man, Alexander Pope
Lincoln recited the closing lines of Pope’s “Essay on Man” while discussing poetry with an English visitor at the Cottage.

Poetical Works of William Collins, William Collins
While overlooking new burials near the Cottage at the Soldiers’ Home National Cemetery (predecessor of Arlington National Cemetery), Lincoln recalled the first two lines of a poem by Collins, “How sleep the brave, who sink to rest / By all their country’s wishes blest!”

The Bible
Members of Lincoln’s Presidential Guard commented on seeing Lincoln read the bible and various works of literature.  Joshua Speed, a longtime friend of Lincoln’s, observed Lincoln reading the bible one evening at the Cottage.  Upon being questions by Speed, Lincoln replied, “take all of this book upon reason that you can, and the balance on faith, and you will live and die a happier and better man.”

Notes and Comments upon Certain Plays and Actors of Shakespeare, by James H. Hackett
Lincoln read Shakespearean actor James H. Hackett’s book, and wrote to the author on more than one occasion. In 1863, one of Lincoln’s letters to Hackett was published.  Lincoln wrote, “My note to you I certainly did not expect to see in print; yet I have not been much shocked by the newspaper comments upon it. Those comments constitute a fair specimen of what has occurred to me through life. I have endured a great deal of ridicule without much malice; and have received a great deal of kindness, not quite free from ridicule. I am used to it.”

View these past President Lincoln’s Cottage Book Lists:

• Lincoln Summer Reading List (recent publications)
• Ten Staff Picks: Favorite Books on Abraham Lincoln
• Visitor’s Top 10 Book Selections at President Lincoln’s Cottage
• Children’s Lincoln Reading List

Mary Lincoln’s Seance at the Soldiers’ Home

By Erin Carlson Mast

Starting with Willie Lincoln’s death in February 1862, Mary Lincoln began to engage in spirit circles.  Spirit circles, or seances, were led by a medium who helped those gathered communicate with loved ones who had “crossed over.”  Spirits communicated with the living by various means including sounds like rapping, scratching, and playing instruments and touches like tugging on hair or clothing, and pinching those gathered.  In her grief, Mary Lincoln was all too eager to entertain the idea that she could communicate with her sons who had died, Willie and Eddie, and other deceased family members.  

Mary Lincoln was not alone. Although it had plenty of critics and skeptics, spiritualism was a popular movement that crossed economic, social, cultural, and political divides and was particularly appealing to the many who had lost loved ones during the Civil War.  And yet, the movement was already strong well before the war began.  As historian Jean Baker noted, prior to the Civil War there “were more spiritualists than abolitionists.” One contemporary stated, “in 1856, it seems more likely that spiritualism would become the religion of America than in 156 that Christianity would be the religion of the Roman Empire, or in 756 that [Islam] would be to Arabian populations.” 

Despite the widespread interest and practice of spiritualism in its many forms, Mary Lincoln’s involvement in spirit circles drew gossip and criticism, not just of her, but of Abraham Lincoln who occasionally accompanied her.  Scholars maintain Lincoln attended seances out of curiosity or concern for his wife, not out of belief in the legitimacy of “spirit rappings.”  It is clear he had reservations about mediums, and his concern over one in particular, Lord Colchester, a man who claimed to be the illegitimate son of an English duke, caused him to ask Dr. Joseph Henry, first Secretary of the Smithsonian, to investigate the supposed medium.   When Henry was unable to determine the source of the spirit rappings Colchester summoned, Henry asked Noah Brooks to investigate at a seance.  According to Brooks, that seance took place right here at the Soldiers’ Home.

Here is Noah Brooks’s recollection of what happened that night.

“After the company had been seated around the table in the usual approved manner, and the lights were turned out, the silence was broken by the thumping of a drum, the twanging of a banjo, and the ringing of bells, all of which instruments had been laid on the table, ready for use. By some hocus-pocus, it was evident, [Colchester] had freed his hands from the hands of those who sat on each side of him, and was himself making ‘music in the air.’ Loosening my hands from my neighbors’, who were unbelievers, I rose, and, grasping in the direction of the drumbeat, grabbed a very solid and fleshy hand in which was held a bell that was being thumped on a drum-head. I shouted, ‘Strike a light!’ My friend, after what appeared to be an unconscionable length of time, lighted a match; but meanwhile somebody had dealt me a severe blow with the drum, the edge of which cut a slight wound on my forehead. When the gas was finally lighted, the singular spectacle was presented of ‘the son of the duke’ firmly grasped by a man whose forehead was covered with blood, while the arrested scion of nobility was glowering at the drum and bells which he still held in his hands.”

Colchester later tried to blackmail Mary Lincoln, but Noah Brooks again intervened.  Despite the embarrassing and potentially dangerous seance at the Soldiers’ Home that night, Mary Lincoln continued to attend spirit circles and seek out the talents of spiritualists throughout her life.

Ms. Mast is the Curator at President Lincoln’s Cottage.

2010 Tour Tickets Now Available!

President Lincoln's Cottage

President Lincoln’s Cottage tour tickets for January-June 2010 are now available for purchase. Tickets may be purchased online through Etix by visiting www.lincolncottage.org or by calling 1-800-3849 (Etix).

All admission rates and discounts remain the same.

Tour tickets for July-December 2010, will be made available in late spring.

Children’s Lincoln Book List

By Erin Carlson Mast, Callie Hawkins, and Jamie Cooper

Welcome to the fourth installment of the President Lincoln’s Cottage Book List.  Drawing from staff favorites and best selling titles in our Museum Store, we have created a list of Lincoln and Civil War books specifically for youth aged 4-12.   We hope this list is useful for parents and grandparents, educators, and young scholars! 

The Boy Who Looked Like Lincoln, by Mike Reiss, (Penguin Group)
Ages: 4-8
From a writer for the Simpsons comes this imaginative book about a boy who, at a very young age, looks exactly like Lincoln did during his presidency.  After coping with endless teasing from “normal” kids, young Benjy has the opportunity to meet other children who ”Look Like Things” (a kid who looks like a toaster, anyone?) and comes to appreciate that what makes us different can make us great. This is our staff favorite!  

Abe Lincoln and the Muddy Pig, by Stephen Krensky and Greshom Griffith (Simon and Schuster)
Ages: 3-8 (Level 2 Reading)
This fun book tells the story of young Abraham Lincoln and his compassion towards animals, especially a small pig that was trapped in a muddy situation.

Lincoln and His Boys, by Rosemary Wells and P.J. Lynch (Candlewick Press)
Ages: Ages 9-12
Through beautiful illustrations and words from the perspective of Willie and Tad Lincoln, readers will see the 16th President in whole new light.

Abe Lincoln’s Hat, by Martha Brenner (Random House)
Ages: 4-8 (Level 3 Reading)
As a lawyer, Abraham Lincoln was trusted and admired by many and became known for his signature stovepipe hat. In this charming story for young children, learn how Lincoln quickly realized his hat could come in handy for more than covering his head!

Abe, The Boy Who Loved Books, by Kay Winters (Penguin Group)
Ages: 4-8
As a young boy, Abraham Lincoln loved to read and found comfort in the words he read. In this beautifully illustrated book, young readers are introduced to Lincoln and the importance words played in shaping his life.

Pink and Say, by Patricia Polacco (Philomel)
Ages: 8+
This moving book by Polacco gives an account of the emotional experience two very young Union soldiers went through as they tried to outlast the conflict by taking care of one another.  (Due to content about prisoner of war situations and the execution of one of the characters, we have modified the age recommendation given by the publisher. For younger children, parental guidance is recommended.)

Abraham Lincoln (Bicentennial Edition), by Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire (Beautiful Feet Books, Inc.)
Ages: 4-8
Starting with his childhood, this classic children’s biography describes Abraham Lincoln and his interactions with others while illustrating the life and times of the author of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Abe Lincoln Goes to Washington (1837-1865), by Cheryl Harness (Random House)
Ages: 9-12
A biography of Lincoln with full color illustrations leads the reader through the second half of Lincoln’s life focusing on his early political life, rise to the presidency, the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation.

Abraham Lincoln, by Tanya Lee Stone (Penguin Group)
Ages: 9-12
This Lincoln biography contains an overview of Lincoln’s life illustrated with period photographs, perfect for the young scholar.

Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker: The Unlikely Friendship of Elizabeth Keckley and Mary Todd Lincoln, by Lynda Jones (Random House)
Ages: 9-12
Jones brings the compelling story of Mary Lincoln and Elizabeth Keckley to a youth audience.

View these past President Lincoln’s Cottage Book Lists:

• Lincoln Summer Reading List (recent publications)
• Ten Staff Picks: Favorite Books on Abraham Lincoln
• Visitor’s Top 10 Book Selections at President Lincoln’s Cottage

Check back for the final President Lincoln’s Cottage Book List:

• Lincoln’s Own ”Summer” Reading List

Mr. Cooper is the Senior Visitor Services Associate, Ms. Hawkins, the Education Coordinator, and Ms. Mast, the Curator for President Lincoln’s Cottage.

Lincoln and Slavery: Wish vs. Duty in the Greeley Letter

By Erin Carlson Mast

How many of us have heard this quote from Abraham Lincoln, “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that.”  And yet, how seldom do we hear or read that quote in the context of the entire letter published in the New York Tribune in 1862?  And how often is that quote from Lincoln misinterpreted as the words of a politician who does not care either way about slavery?  Before passing judgment, one might at least read the entire letter to try to understand the man. 

The quote comes from President Lincoln’s famous letter to Horace Greeley, dated August 22, 1862, reprinted below for reference.  At President Lincoln’s Cottage, we use different parts of this letter throughout the site to illuminate Lincoln’s ideas and evolving policies and distinguish between Lincoln’s personal convictions and executive powers.

Hon. Horace Greeley.
August 22, 1862
Dear Sir,

I have just read yours of the 19th. addressed to myself through the New-York Tribune. If there be in it any statements, or assumptions of fact, which I may know to be erroneous, I do not, now and here, controvert them. If there be in it any inferences which I may believe to be falsely drawn, I do not now and here, argue against them. If there be perceptable [sic] in it an impatient and dictatorial tone, I waive it in deference to an old friend, whose heart I have always supposed to be right.

As to the policy I “seem to be pursuing” as you say, I have not meant to leave any one in doubt.

I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored; the nearer the Union will be “the Union as it was.” If there be those who would not save the Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever

I shall believe doing more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views.

I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men every where could be free. Yours,

A. Lincoln

From the Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln

Unlike our 19th century counterparts, we are able to see Lincoln’s words with the benefit of historical perspective.   Those reading Lincoln’s letter in the New York Tribune in 1862, did not know that by that point, Lincoln had already written the preliminary emancipation proclamation and was preparing to release it.  Read in its entirety, the letter provides a summary of Lincoln’s policies to that point in time, reflects his leadership style, and reminds us that Lincoln saw a clear distinction between personal wishes and “official duty,” which one should keep in mind whenever reading Lincoln’s speeches.  All elected officials are expected to make the distinction between duty and hope, though it cannot be denied that sometimes they overlap in memorable fashion, as they did for Lincoln in his Emancipation Proclamation.

Ms. Mast is the Curator for President Lincoln’s Cottage.

Cottage Featured on Teaching with Historic Places

We are pleased to announce President Lincoln’s Cottage: A Retreat, is now online as the featured Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan. 

Lesson plans go through a rigorous, in depth, multi-layer review process before being accepted to TwHP and being made available for educators to use in the classroom.

In this lesson, students explore President Abraham Lincoln’s life at the Cottage, his country retreat during the hot season, and examine his work on the Emancipation Proclamation.  The lesson plan was created cooperatively by the National Park Service’s Teaching with Historic Places program; the staff of the President Lincoln’s Cottage, an historic site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation; and the American University graduate program in Public History.

For more Lincoln lesson plans and other online materials for the classroom, visit the Teacher Resources page on our website.

An Argument for Moving the Cottage, 1903

By Erin Carlson Mast

The  National Trust for Historic Preservation assumed stewardship of the Cottage in 2000, carefully restored it, and open it to the public in 2008.  That act of saving the Cottage is now well documented and was carried out with the blessings of the Armed Forces Retirement Home, the campus in northwest Washington, D.C. where the Cottage stands.  What fewer people realize is that the Cottage’s very existence was seriously threatened a full century before the National Trust got involved, 46 years before the National Trust even existed.  What follows is an argument by one administrator against building what became the Grant Building.  As part of his argument against the proposed location for the mess hall (disrupting an 1878 library) he suggested moving the 1842 Cottage (which he refers to as “Anderson Building”) to another location on the grounds, which would have seriously disrupted the landscape and historic fabric of this house where Presidents Lincoln, Hayes, and Arthur lived. 

The following is reprinted with permission from the Armed Forces Retirement Home Communicator in which was republished the May 19, 1903 U.S. Soldiers’ Home Board Meeting Minutes.

The minutes of the special meeting held at the Soldiers’ Home May 14, 1903, were read and approved, and the Lieutenant General of the Army then submitted the following statement:

I desire to record the reasons for my vote in objecting to placing the proposed new mess hall on the extreme north point of the reservation of the Soldiers’ Home.

1. As is well known, there are some 500 acres of ground reserved for the Home, affording ample room for the inmates, besides furnishing a park for the city of Washington. The first thing that led to the consideration of this matter was the proposition to enlarge the present mess-room, which is now in what is known as the Sherman Building, in the rear of the principal, or Scott Building. The discussion of this matter has grown until it is now proposed to erect a new building, with the kitchen and mess hall on the lower floor, and dormitories capable of accommodating about 400 men — a number equal to about half the present number of inmates of the Home — in the upper stories. As the fund out of which it is proposed to make an expenditure of over half a million dollars for such a building has been taken from the soldiers of the Army out of their monthly pay, or stopped from their pay by process of military courts, we are practically expending funds not appropriated by Congress, but drawn from the pockets of the soldiers of the Army. As some of these men become disabled, either in battle or through the exigencies of the service, they are taken to the Home to be supported by a fund contributed entirely by themselves and their comrades, and they are entitled to the most careful consideration. There are the most serious objections, in my judgment, to locating such a building on such ground. The most available and most suitable ground for any large building for the Soldiers’ Home is that on the west side of the present Scott Building. It is only occupied now by a small old building, known as the Anderson Building, and the objection to tearing this building down or removing it is that it was once occupied for a short time by President Lincoln. It has not, however, been preserved with sacred regard from the fact that the furniture has been taken out and distributed, and it is now occupied by a few bandsmen belonging to the Home. By the expenditure of a few thousand dollars it could be removed a very short distance to suitable ground and put in perfect order and properly preserved as a memorial hall. The ground would then be available for any building that may be required.
2. There is no necessity for any building of the character planned. There are already accommodations at the Soldiers’ Home for 125 more inmates than are at the Home at present, and at the same rate of increase as has taken place in the past years the vacant accommodations will not be filled during the next five years.
3. The proposed plan contemplates the removal of the Library Building, which cost $39,298 to build in 1878, and thus there would be a dead loss of so much money.
4. The construction of the so-called mess hall would cost at this time $580,000. It is well known that the cost of material and the price of labor at the present time is 40% more than it was two years ago, or what it probably will be when an additional dormitory building is actually required; hence, to construct such a building now would involve dead loss to the Home of $165,714, making a total unnecessary loss to the Home of approximately $205,000.
5. The location of such a large building in rear of the other buildings now there would be most unsightly, and, besides, in the building as proposed there is no porch or veranda where the inmates could go out and exercise in the open air, which is highly important for their health. In fact, the proposed building would look more like a prison than a comfortable home.
6. An important objection is to the proposed location of the proposed building, the site selected being the extreme corner of the reservation, where the inmates of the building would be shut off entirely from a view of the city of Washington, where from the front of the building they would only practically look into the rear of the other buildings, and on the other sides would overlook two graveyards in the immediate vicinity. A more doleful and cheerless prospect could not be found in the entire reservation. I consider the selection of such a place would impose an unnecessary hardship upon the brave and heroic men who will be obliged to occupy the building.

Ms. Mast is the Curator at President Lincoln’s Cottage.

Lincoln’s Last October at the Cottage

By Erin Carlson Mast

Today is another crisp October morning at the Cottage.

October 1864 marks Lincoln’s last season in residence at the Cottage, a tumultous summer of military victories and defeats, and shifting public support for his administration and his reelection campaign. 

In August, Lincoln and many of his supporters indicated a belief that Lincoln’s chances of reelection looked bleak.   One colleague of Lincoln’s wrote: 

“I am in active correspondence with your staunchest friends in every State and from them all I hear but one report. The tide is strongly against us. Hon. E. B. Washburne writes that “were an election to be held now in Illinois we should be beaten.”  -H. Raymond to A. Lincoln, August 1864

In an effort to bolster their chances to win the 1864 reelection, the Republicans had nominated Andrew Johnson, a Southerner and a Democrat whom had remained loyal to the Union even when his home state of Tennessee seceded, as Lincoln’s running mate.  Together they formed the National Union Party ticket. The main opponent was General George McClellan, a War Democrat running on the Peace Democrat platform.  General Fremont, a Radical Republican, was the other major opponent until he withdrew from the race in September.   

By October, around the time Lincoln moved back to the White House, Lincoln’s reelection campaign had gained considerable momentum and support, ultimately resulting in his reelection. 

Ms. Mast is the Curator at President Lincoln’s Cottage.

1864 Lincoln Campaign Songster

By Katie Needham

Lincoln Campaign Songster, 1864

People supporting President Lincoln for reelection in 1864, used many of the same tactics people use today to promote their favorite candidates. They carried photos and wore emblems, medals, and badges containing slogans and pictures.  Songs were written, or words written to the tune of popular songs.  This songster was published in 1864 by Mason & Co. for purchase and use by Lincoln’s supporters. It contains lyrics for campaign songs set to popular songs of the time. Some examples include: “Rally Round the Cause Boys” to the tune of the “Battle Cry of Freedom,” “Lincoln Campaign Song” to “Yankee Doodle,” and “Hurrah! For Lincoln and Johnson” to the tune of “John Brown’s Body.”  Like the melodies contained inside, Lincoln’s image, shown here as he appeared for the 1860 presidential campaign, was recycled for the songster.

The songster is part of the President Lincoln’s Cottage special bicentennial exhibit “My Abraham Lincoln.”  It is on display courtesy of The Leo Pascal Collection.  The Songster may be viewed in the Robert H. Smith Visitor Education Center during regular visiting hours through August 1, 2010.

Ms. Needham is the Administrative Assistant for President Lincoln’s Cottage.