ill THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF WASHINGTON AND LMCO ELTON RAYMOND SHAW LINCOLN ROOM UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY MEMORIAL the Class of 1901 founded by HARLAN HOYT HORNER and HENRIETTA CALHOUN HORNER Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign http://www.archive.org/details/loveaffairsofwasOOshaw THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN THE BOYHOOD AND LOVE AFFAIRS OF WASHINGTON BY ELTON RAYMOND SHAW, M. A, SHAW PUBLISHING COMPANY BERWYN, ILLINOIS (CHICAGO SUBURB) Copyright, 1923 By Elton Raymond Shaw Printed in the United States of America Other Books by the Same Author The Curse of Drink or Stories of Hell's Commerce At the Parting of the Ways (Pro- hibition) Patriotic Temperance Songs Prohibition: Going or Coming? The Man of Galilee Brains, Dollars and Progress The Conquest of the Southwest. INTRODUCTION Each year the coming of the shortest month carries our thots back to Washington and Lincoln and their times. Most people are in- terested in American history. All of us should be. As a nation we are becoming students of history more and more each year. Our great problem is how to study it. School text books are not always the most interesting or most instructive. We should study history thru biog- raphy. What is more fascinating than to read the lives of great men? All the important events of history surround the lives of such men, but biography is not always what it [5] INTRODUCTION should be. We cannot get away from our prejudices. We are too prone to idealize. Human interest stories of our great characters are often more fiction than real biog- raphy. Many of the traits which are dealt with as important would be more easily understood if we gave more thot to some of the phases which are usually omitted. The tendency to idealize our great characters has led us to leave out many of the human frailties, erring decisions, and the peculiari- ties and eccentricities that go to show that our leaders have been men of like passions as we are, and that they were altogether human. There are many books on Wash- es] INTRODUCTION ington and Lincoln. Some writers have said nothing about their love affairs, others have said little, and yet nothing is more interesting than love. It is the greatest thing in the world. The Sunday editor of The Chicago Tribune says people are al- ways interested in two things — Love and Money. Of course we cannot define Love. We do not try. Some- one had this in mind in writing the verse : "Here's to Love, a thing divine, Description doth but make it less. 'Tis what we feel but cant define, 'Tis what we know but cant express?' And yet nothing is simpler. It is elemental. The most learned [7] INTRODUCTION scholars cannot analyze it, yet all of us can apprehend it. After all, the profoundest mysteries are the things most familiar to us. What does Psychology know about Love? In analyzing the mind we find that in reality there are two minds, the objective and the subjective. The objective mind is the reasoning mind — the mind which makes use of the five senses. The subjective is the seat of the emotions and the finer sensibilities — the abiding place of the soul. The subjective mind can only reason deductively while the objective mind reasons both induc- tively and deductively. The sub- jective mind is the seat of joy, am- bition, intuition patriotism, religion [8] INTRODUCTION and love. There is only deductive reasoning in love! It is an emotion. But we feel emotions and think about emotions and talk and write stories about emotions. What would the world be without emotions? "May those now love who've never loved before And those who've loved now love the more" # * * "Folks need a lot of loving in the morning; The day is all before with cares beset, The cares we know and that they give no warning , For love is God' s own antidote for fret. [9] INTRODUCTION "Folks need a heap of loving at the noon-tide, In the battle lull, the moment snatched from strife, Half between the waking and the croon-time, While bickering and worrying are rife. "Folks hunger so for loving at the night-time, When wearily they take them home to rest; A t slumber-song-and-turning-out-the- light-time, Of all the times for loving that's the best. [10] INTRODUCTION "Folks want a lot of loving every minute, The sympathy of others, and their smile, Till life end; from the minute they begin it, Folks need a lot of loving all the while." —Strickland Gilliland, In "Including You and Me" [11] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN Abraham Lincoln was a man of sorrow. He was born in a degrada- tion, very far below respectable poverty, in Hardin (now LaRue) County, Kentucky, three miles from Hodgensville. He lived in that poverty thru the whole of his child- hood. When he was in his eighth year, the family removed to the state of Indiana. Before he was ten years of age, his mother died — the first great crushing grief and sorrow of his life. When he was nineteen, his only sister died, under very distress- ing circumstances. No joy or pleas- [13] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF ure of childhood entered into his young life. It is not necessary to enter into the old controversies about Thomas Lincoln in order to apprecia- ate the fact, that, when Lincoln was grown into manhood, he wanted to get away from the thot of his child- hood. Whether the father was ig- norant, worthless, shiftless or illiter- ate and not in sympathy with Abra- ham's eagerness for learning to write and read or whether he was indus- trious, saving, and feeling keenly his own deficiency, was disposed to give his son every possible advan- tage in the way of gaining an edu- cation, the fact remains that the boy, Abraham, passed thru hard ex- periences for one his age. He did [14] WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN not want to live his childhood over again. Undoubtedly his childhood experiences had a great deal to do with his melancholy disposition. The first of the sweethearts was Polly Richardson, a Kentucky girl who, with her parents went to Gen- tryville, Spencer County, Indiana, in the boyhood of Lincoln, and he was not only the first youth of the neigh- borhood with whom she became ac- quainted, but he became the beau who escorted her to many of the parties and other social fetes. When the Lincolns abandoned their Indiana farm and went on to Illinois, Polly Richardson disappeared from the pages of Lincoln history. When Lincoln was twenty-one [15] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF years of age, he moved with the family to Illinois and, leaving the parental home, went to the village of New Salem, twenty miles north- west of Springfield, a place of fifteen log houses. It was while there that he made the acquaintance of Ann Rutledge; Ann was the daughter of the first citizen of New Salem, who was also one of its founders — James Rutledge. Says Herndon, who knew her: "She was a beautiful girl — the most popular young lady in the vil- lage. One of her strong points was her dexterity in the use of the needle. At every quilting Ann was a neces- sary adjunct, and her nimble fingers drove the needle swifter than any- one's else. Lincoln used to escort [16] WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN her to and from these quilting bees, and on one occasion even went into the house." But Ann was already engaged to a successful young merchant of New Salem, who went under the name of McNeall, but whose real name was McNamar. He had left New T Salem in 1834, with the intention of re- turning soon; but he delayed and soon stopped writing to his betrothed. Nobody knew what had become of him or what his purposes really were. Ann especially was in doubt; had he deserted her? Anyhow at this junc- ture, Lincoln gradually became her suitor. And the Rutledges and all New Salem encouraged his suit as he pleaded and pressed his cause. [17] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF McNamar's unexplained absence en- couraged Lincoln and convinced Ann. The attachment was growing and becoming an intense and mutual passion, but Ann remained firm and almost inflexible. She was passing thru another fire. She could not dis- miss the haunting memory of her old lover. Ann had a strongly religious element in her nature. This intensi- fied her conflict. Perhaps she had wronged McNamar; perhaps he loved her still and she was loving another. Yet in another way her religious na- ture gave her great consolation. Lin- coln had become engaged to her shortly after he returned from his first session of the legislature at Van- dalia. Yet within Ann's bosom raged [18] WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN the conflict which finally undermined her health. The ghost of McNamar would often rise unbidden before her. A fever was burning in her head. She called for Lincoln con- tinuously. Her physician had pre- scribed absolute quiet and had for- bidden visitors, but Lincoln was finally received. On his arrival at her bedside, the door was closed. They were alone and what was said was known only to Lincoln and the dying girl. She died Aug. 25, 1835, of typhoid fever. The death of Ann Rutledge drove Lincoln into a condition verging to- ward insanity. His friendship for Ann had meant everything to his life. It was his first contact with [19] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF real Christian civilization. She had helped him in grammar and to study the Bible and Shakespeare. His first earthly joy seemed to be within his grasp and then it was gone. "He had fits of great mental depression/' says Herndon, "and wandered up and down the river and into the the woods woefully abstracted — at times in the deepest distress. His condition finally became so alarming that his friends consulted together and sent him to the house of a kind friend who lived in a secluded spot hidden by the hills a mile south of town, and who after some weeks brought him back to reason, or at least a realization of his true con- dition." [20] WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN It was at this time that Lincoln made the greatest spiritual transition of his life, under the most severe mental and emotional strain. He endured the strain and he came forth a purified soul from the discipline of love, but he carried the mark all his life. It was Herndon who said, "The memory of Ann Rutledge was the saddest chapter in Mr. Lincoln's life." And Herndon told of how Dr. Jason Duncan had placed in Lin- coln's hands the poem called "Im- mortality." The poem starts with the line, "Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud?" He committed these lines to memory and any refer- ence to or suggestion of Miss Rut- ledge would suggest them. As late [21] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF as March, 1864, not many days be- fore his death, he repeated the lines with a strange premonitory pathos. The poem was for him "an ever-sing- ing dirge of the soul over the van- ished loved one with the melancholy note of which his deepest emotions became concordant to the end of his days." Thus Lincoln reveals an immortal love which will attune all the throbbing of his heart, however profound and intense. Ann Rutledge was gone but the love remained and would not depart. It could not be eradicated for his heart could not be torn from him. It was transformed or transfigured and thus preserved. It was elevated into universality, a love for all humanity [22] WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN and that endured. Lincoln was called of God to administer a na- tional discipline as severe as his own personal sorrow and he did it with a heart free from revenge. And, after all those years, he confessed to a friend, speaking of Ann Rutledge, "I think often, often of her now." While a member of the legisla- ture, Lincoln removed to Springfield, April 13, 1837, which was in his district, and began the practice of law, having been admitted to the bar in 1836. He soon made the ac- quaintance of Mary Todd. She was a Kentuckian of aristocratic blood, and when she and Lincoln became acquainted, in November, 1842, he was thirty-three years of age and she [23] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF was twenty-one. She came from a long and distinguished ancestral line, was herself well educated and a social leader. She was a bright, pretty, vivacious girl, could speak French, was aristocratic, ambitious, haughty, alert and gay. She had re- cently come from her Kentucky home to live with her sister, Mrs. Ninian W. Edwards. She soon became a belle of the Illinois capital and for a time led the young men of the town "a merry dance/' The hospitalities of the house were naturally extended by Mr. Edwards, one of the "Long Nine," the delega- tion which had worked so vigorously to have the capital moved from Van- dalia to Springfield, to Lincoln, the [24] WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN leader of that delegation. So Lin- coln was a frequent visitor. He soon became the accepted suitor to the fascinating little girl from Ken- tucky. Stephen A. Douglass, the little Vermonter, dashing and comely, already a rival along other lines, stepped in to contest with Lincoln for the possession of the trophy. Un- fortunately for the romance of the story, we cannot tell with exactness just how the contest was conducted. Says one old resident of Springfield: "As a society man, Douglass was infinitely more accomplished, more attractive and influential than Lin- coln; and that he should supplant the latter in the affections of the proud and aristocratic Miss Todd is [25] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF not to be marveled at. He was un- remitting in his attentions to the lady, promenaded the streets arm in arm with her, frequently passing Lin- coln, and, in every way, made plain his intention to become the latter' s rival." Some said this was merely a flirta- tion on the part of Miss Todd to tease her lover. Others said Doug- lass made a proposal of marriage and was refused on account of his bad morals. Others said she grew to pre- fer him, and would have accepted his offer if she had not given her prom- ise to Lincoln. "The unfortunate attitude she felt bound to maintain between these two young men," re- lates the writer of this version, [26] WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN "ended in a spell of sickness. Doug- lass, still hopeful, was warm in the race; but Miss Todd's physician, her brother-in-law, Dr. William Wallace, to whom she confided the real cause of her sickness, saw Douglass and induced him to end his pursuit, which he did with great reluctance/' But the withdrawal of Douglass did not end Lincoln's trouble. On the day fixed for the marriage, Jan. 1, 1841, Lincoln did not appear, and of course there was no wedding. Lincoln's conscience would not quite allow him to marry her, and he could not face it, and he did not, and ran away from it. On January 23, 1841, he wrote John T. Stewart, then in Washington, as follows: [27] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF "For not giving you a general summary of news, you must pardon me; it is not in my power to do so. I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family there would not be one cheer- ful face on the earth. Whether I shall ever be better I cannot tell; I awfully forbode I shall not. To re- main as I am is impossible; I must die or be better it appears to me. The matter you speak of on my ac- count you may attend to as you say, unless you shall hear of my condition forbidding it. I say this because I fear I shall be unable to attend to any business here, and a change of scene might help me. If I could be [28] WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN myself I would rather remain at home with Judge Logan. I can write no more." About a year and ten months aft- erwards, friends of Lincoln and Miss Todd entered into negotiations and got them to speaking together and one Thursday, they agreed to be married the next day, Friday, Nov. 4, 1842. Mrs. Lincoln loved show and power and claimed early to have had a premonition that she was to marry a President. And in Lincoln she found one who was no less ambitious than herself. "I mean to make him President of the United States/' she said to her Springfield friends. "You will see that as I have always told [29] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF you, I will be the President's wife." Some writers have given the im- pression that Lincoln's marriage was always unhappy. One says the days he courted Miss Todd were among the most unhappy of his life — except after he got her. To illustrate how they enjoyed married life, one writer tells this story: Lincoln came home one day very tired. He laid himself on the couch and Mrs. Lincoln started, as they say out West, "blaz- ing away" at him. One of the neigh- bors came in and said to him, "Why don't you jaw back, Abe?" He said, "That did Mary a great deal of good and did me no harm." He was a real philosopher. He decided to be true to the vow he had taken and [30] WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN take her for better or for worse. Some years ago it was my pleasure to have correspondence with Major J. B. Merwin, an intimate friend of President Lincoln, with whom he was intimately known from 1852 on until the day of his assassination in Washington. In one of these letters, Major Merwin told a story which gives a vivid picture of one of the most exciting moments in the White House. I quote from Mr. Merwin's letter to give the complete setting for the story. "My last interview with the great and good Lincoln is a long story. I knew him from 1852 on to the day he was assassinated. Dined with him that day. [31] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF 'The cabinet meeting ended early, a little before 12 o'clock. I left him after dinner, about 2:30, for New York, on a special mission, to see Horace Greely and submit to him a paper Mr. Lincoln had written. Lee had surrendered. Jefferson Davis was a fugitive. The great heart of Presi- dent Lincoln was burdened with the problem as to how best to dispose of the 180,000 colored troops with arms in their hands. Major General Ben Butler said, "Mr. President, I can help you solve that problem. The terms of enlistment of these troops will not expire for a year and a half. As a military measure take them to Panama and build the canal with them. Make me a Major General, [32] WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN put me in command and we will take them over and build and own the canal. As fast as possible we will take their families, the climate is about the same as they are used to, give them some land and we will dig and own the canal. 'What does Seward say? What does or what will Congress say? All favorable, what will Greely say?' He was more afraid of Greely than of Jeffer- son Davis. I had known Greely well, had been on several missions to Mr. Greely for him. I could and did go many times where and when his secretaries could not go, for they were known. "I was not especially known. I was on General Dix's Staff in New [33] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF York. Had charge of the sick and wounded soldiers passing to hos- pitals through the city. He tele- graphed General Dix to send me to Washington by first train. I left New York Tuesday night, reached Washington, Wednesday a. m. Ten thousand people were around the White House. I held the telegram up. He saw it, and said, 'Come at 10 tonight/ It was 12 at night be- fore he could get away and lock up. We worked until 3 a. m. and then retired. Thursday night we worked on the proposition until 3 a. m. and still it did not quite suit him. Fri- day was 'Cabinet Meeting. 5 He locked all the doors at its close and ordered our dinner brought up. He [34] WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN finished the paper. We ate dinner and he read it over. One door was not locked. Mrs. Lincoln came and said, 'Abe, the Ford's Theater peo- ple have tendered us a box for this eve and I have accepted it. The Grants are going with us and make no other engagement.' Mr. Lincoln said, 'Mary, I don't think we ought to go to the Theater. Do you remem- ber it is "Good Friday," a religious day with a great many people, and I don't think we ought to go to the Theater tonight.' Mrs. Lincoln said, 'We are going/ and with that she slammed the door enough to take it off the hinges. 'You see how it is,' he said, 'We must not have a scene today/ " [35] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF To relate such dramatic instances and say nothing of the other side of Mr. Lincoln's home life would be to give a wrong impression, yet little is said of the quiet family life of the President. Mr. and Mrs. Lin- coln did enjoy their home and their four boys. One died in infancy and one died in the White House when the great Civil War was on the heart of the President, and he was brought down almost to the point of being crushed by the death of "Little Willie.' 5 And it was Major Mer- win who spoke of President Lin- coln's love of home and family, and above all, love of God: "For he came to be a profoundly religious man so that one who knew him and looked [36] WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN into his face and soul, as I did, saw the lovliest, the loftiest, the noblest, the most sublime character that has ever been known in the world since the Nazarene left it." 1 37 THE BOYHOOD AND LOVE AFFAIRS OF GEORGE WASHINGTON THE BOYHOOD AND LOVE AFFAIRS OF GEORGE WASHINGTON George Washington was born February 22, 1732, at Bridges Creek, Virginia. The home was one of the primitive farmhouses of Virginia and commanded a view over many miles of the Potomac. Not long after the birth of George, the family removed to an estate in Stafford County op- posite Fredericksburg. The house stood on a rising ground overlook- ing a meadow which bordered the Rappahannock. This was the home of George's boyhood; the meadow was his playground and the scene of his early athletic sports. [41] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF In those days the means of in- struction in Virginia were limited, and it was the custom among the wealthy planters to send their sons to England to complete their educa- tion. Augustine Washington sent his oldest son, Lawrence, then about fifteen years of age. George was yet in early childhood, being four- teen years younger. He attended the old field school house, humble in its pretensions and kept by one of his father's tenants named Hobby, who was also sexton of the parish. His instruction was simple, consisting of reading, writing and ciphering. But George had an excellent father and mother and thus had the benefit of mental and moral culture at home. [42] WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN He was taught high maxims of re- ligion and virtue and imbued with a spirit of justice and generosity and love of truth. When George was about seven or eight years of age, his brother Law- rence returned from England, a well- educated and accomplished young man. Lawrence was fond of George, whose dawning intelligence and per- fect rectitude won his regard and George looked up to the older brother as a model. This interchange of af- fection had a great influence on George's later life. It helps us under- stand the martial spirit of George in his boyish days. Spanish depreda- tions on British commerce had re- cently provoked reprisals; Admiral [43] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF Vernon had, as commander-in-chief of the West Indies, captured Porto Bello on the Isthmus of Darien. The Spaniards were preparing a re- venge and the French were fitting out ships to aid them. Lawrence se- cured a captain's commission in one of the regiments of four battalions which was raised in the colonies and sent to join the British troops at Jamaica. Lawrence served in the joint expeditions of Admiral Vernon and General Wentworth and won the friendship of both officers and, after returning home, it was his in- tention to rejoin his regiment in Eng- land and seek promotion in the army. Circumstances changed his plan. He fell in love with Anne, the eldest [44] WASHINGTON AND LINCOLI daughter of the Honorable William Fairfax. They became engaged but their marriage was delayed by the death of Augustine Washington, who died at forty-nine years of age. George had been away on a visit and just returned in time to receive a parting look of affection. Augustine Washington left large possessions, distributed by will among the children. Lawrence received the estate on the Potomac with other real property and shares in iron works. Augustine, Jr., the second son by the father's first marriage, received the old homestead and estate in West- moreland. The children by the sec- ond marriage were severally well provided for, and George, when he [45] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF became of age, was to have the house and lands on the Rappahannock. Three months after the father's death, Lawrence and Miss Fairfax were married. Augustine, Jr., mar- ried Anne Aylett of Westmoreland County. Lawrence gave up all thot of foreign service and settled on his estate on the Potomac, which he named Mount Vernon, in honor of the Admiral. Augustine moved to his homestead on Bridges Creek. George was now eleven years old and was under the guardianship of his mother, who governed the family strictly, but kindly. She taught him to control his temper and to conduct himself equitably and justly. In order that George could have the ad- [46] WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN vantage of a superior school, he was sent to live with Augustine at Bridges Creek. His education there was plain and practical. He did not study the learned languages nor show any in- clination for such things as rhetoric or literature. The object of his train- ing seemed to be for business and his manuscript school books still exist, and are models of neatness and ac- curacy. Of course, he was a real boy. One of his ciphering-books, pre- served in the library at Mount Ver- non, included pictures of birds and profiles of faces, probably intended for those of some of his schoolmates. Before he was thirteen years of age, he had copied into a volume, forms for all kinds of mercantile and legal [47] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF papers, bills of exchange, notes, deeds, bonds and the like. This training gave him a lawyer's skill in drafting documents and a merchant's exactness in handling accounts — all valuable later in handling his estates, in making accounts with the govern- ment and in all of his other trans- actions. George gave attention to physical as well as mental matters. He prac- ticed all kinds of athletic exercises, such as running, leaping, wrestling, pitching quoits and tossing bars. His frame had, from infancy, been large and powerful and he excelled most of his playmates in contests of strength. He was a leader and was usually the umpire in disputes. [48] WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN Lawrence continued to take a pa- ternal interest in George's affairs and had him frequently as a guest at Mount Vernon. These visits brought George into familiar intercourse with the family of William Fairfax, Law- rence's father-in-law, who lived just a few miles below Mount Vernon. Mr. Fairfax was a man of liberal edu- cation and intrinsic worth. He had seen the world and had enjoyed varied and adventurous experiences. The intimacy with such a family meant much to George. Here were united the simplicity of rural and colonial life and European refine- ment, and this had a beneficial effect in building the character and man- ners of the home-bred school boy. [49] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF No doubt it was his intercourse with the Fairfax family and his desire to be well behaved in their society that set him to compiling a code of morals and manners which still exists in a manuscript in his own handwriting, entitled, "Rules for Behavior in Company and Conversation/ 5 Some of the rules for personal deportment extend to such trivial matters and are so quaint and formal as to make one smile. In the main, however, a better manual of conduct could not be given to young people. The book evinces that rigid propriety and self control to which he subjected himself. But there were also other influ- ences that worked on George during his visit at Mount Vernon. His [50] WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN brother Lawrence was Adjutant- General of the district, with the rank of Major, and a regular salary, and he retained some of his military in- clinations. It was natural, therefore, that some of Lawrence's comrades who had served with him in the West Indies were visitors at Mount Ver- non. An occasional ship of war would anchor in the Potomac. The officers would be entertained by Lawrence and Mr. Fairfax. Thus George heard the conversa- tion about scenes on sea and shore, and stories of cruisings in the East and West Indies, and campaigns against the pirates. It is probable that in this way there was produced the desire to enter the navy at four- [51] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF teen years of age. Lawrence and Mr. Fairfax encouraged the inclina- tion, for they considered the naval service a popular path to fame and fortune. George was old enough to enter the navy, but the great diffi- culty was to procure the assent of his mother. Finally, however, she agreed. A midshipman warrant was obtained and it is even said that the luggage of George was actually on board of a warship, anchored in the river be- low Mount Vernon. At the last hour the mother wavered. George was her eldest born. He was a son who promised, by his strong and stead- fast character, to be a support to her and the younger children. She could not endure the thot of his being [52] WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN severed from her and exposed to all the hardships and perils of such a dangerous profession. Finally, at her remonstrances, the scheme was given up and George returned to school and continued his studies for two more years. He gave especial attention to mathematics and other branches calculated to fit him for civil or military service. One of these subjects was surveying, and he trained himself in the work by mak- ing surveys about the neighborhood and keeping regular field books in which the boundaries and measure- ments of the fields surveyed were carefully entered. Diagrams were made with neatness and exactness, and one would judge that the whole [53] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF related to important land transac- tions, instead of being mere school exercises. One is greatly impressed with the perseverance and complete- ness in all his undertakings. Noth- ing was left half done or done hur- riedly. He later went to his com- plicated and difficult tasks and found time to do his work and do it well. In one of these manuscript mem- orials of his practical studies and ex- ercises were found some documents quite different than his regular studies. These are evidences, in his own handwriting, that, before he was fifteen years of age, he had conceived a passion for some unknown beauty. This so disturbed his mind that he expressed himself as being really un- [54] WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN happy. We do not know why this juvenile attachment was a source of unhappiness. Perhaps the girl looked upon George as a mere schoolboy and treated him as such; or his own shyness may have been the cause of his trouble. Perhaps his "rules for behavior and conversation 55 made him feel formal and ungainly when he most desired to please. Contempora- ries said that in later years he was apt to be silent and embarrassed in female society. "He was a very bashful young man/ 5 said an old lady, whom he used to visit when they were both in their non-age. "I used often to wish that he would talk more. 55 Whatever may have been the [55] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF cause, this early affair seems to have been a source of great discomfort to him. He could not forget even after he left to go to school in 1747 and went to reside with his brother Law- rence at Mount Vernon. There he studied and practiced surveying, but he was disturbed by the memories of the unknown beauty. The waste pages of his journal show several at- tempts to force out his sorrows in verse. He was not of a poetical temperament and he wrote common- place rhymes, such as boy lovers of that age are apt to write. He be- wailed his "poor, restless heart, wounded by Cupid's dart," and he said, "I am bleeding for one who re- mains pitiless of my grief and woes." [561 WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN Some of the verses indicate that he never told of his love, being pre- vented by bashfulness. "Ah, woe is me, that I should love and conceal, Long have I wished and never dare reveal." Indeed, it is very difficult for us to think of the cool and dignified Washington, the champion of Ameri- can liberty, a woe-worn lover in the days of his youth — "Sighing like a furnace/ 5 and indicting plaintive verses about the groves of Mount Vernon. Yet how this does show his deeper feelings and show his reserve even while his heart throbbed with [57] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF the impulses of human nature known so well to all of us. When George was sixteen years of age, he no longer seemed a boy. His merits were known and appreciated by the Fairfax family. He was tall, athletic and manly for his age. He was grave, frank and modest. About this time, George William Fairfax, twenty-two years of age and edu- cated in England, married a daughter of Colonel Carey, of Hampton, on James River. He had brought home his bride and her sister to his father's house. The charms of Miss Carey, sister of the bride, caused a fluttering in George's bosom. This was, how- ever, constantly rebuked by the mem- ory of his former passion. This, at [58] WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN least, is the inference that one gath- ers from letters to his youthful con- fidants, rough drafts of which ap- peared in his journal. To one whom he addressed as his dear friend Robin, he wrote: "My residence is at present at his lordship's, where I might, was my heart disengaged, pass my time very pleasantly, as there's a very agree- able young lady lives in the same house (Col. Geo. Fairfax's wife's sister) ; but as that's only adding fuel to the fire, it makes me the more uneasy, for by often and unavoidably being in company with her, revives my former passion for your Lowland Beauty; whereas was I to live more retired from young women, I might [59] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF in some measure alleviate my sor- rows, by burying that chaste and troublesome passion in the grave of obilvion," etc. Similar avowals he made to an- other of his young correspondents, whom he styled "Dear friend John," as also to a female confidant styled "Dear Sally/' to whom he acknowl- edged that the company of the "very agreeable young lady, sister-in-law of Colonel George Fairfax/' in a great measure cheered his sorrow and dejectedness. The object of this early passion is not positively known. Tradition states that the "Lowland Beauty" was a Miss Grimes of Westmoreland, afterwards Mrs. Lee, and mother of [601 WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN General Henry Lee, who was known as Light Horse Harry, and who was always a favorite with Washington, perhaps from the recollections of his early tenderness for the mother. It was February 4, 1756, that Colonel Washington, now Comman- der-in-Chief of Virginia's troops, left Colonel Adam Stephen in command of the troops and set out in company with Captain Mercer and Captain Stewart on a mission to see Major General Shirley, who had succeeded Braddock in the general command of the colonies. The journey of five hundred miles was made on horse- back in the depth of winter. Phila- delphia, New York and Boston were visited. After remaining in Boston [61] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF for ten days, Colonel Washington re- turned to New York. Tradition gives very different motives from those of business for his two sojourns in New York. He found there an old friend and schoolmate, Beverly Robinson, who was happily and pros- perously living with a young and wealthy bride, a niece and heiress of Adolphus Philipse, a wealthy land owner living on the Hudson. Colonel Washington, an honored guest in Mr. Robinson's home, met Miss Mary Philipse, Mrs. Robinson's sis- ter, a young lady of great personal attraction as well as reputed wealth. That Washington was an open admirer of Miss Philipse is an his- torical fact. Tradition is that he [62] WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN sought her hand and was refused, but that is hardly probable. It is true that Washington had been living a life of activity and care. His time had been spent, for the most part, in the wilderness and on the frontier, far from feminine society, but he was cultured and refined and his military rank, his early laurels and dis- tinguished presence were all calcu- lated to win favor in feminine eyes. Perhaps he hesitated to urge suit with a lady in high society and surrounded by admirers. At any rate, he was probably called away by public duties before he had sufficient opportunity to really press his case. While at- tending the opening of the legisla- ture at Williamsburg, where he was [63] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF urging protection of the frontier and capture of Fort Duquesne, he re- ceived a letter from a friend and con- fidant in New York, warning him to hurry to New York before it was too late, as Captain Morris, who had been his fellow aide-de-camp under Braddock, was winning favor with Miss Philipse. Duty called Wash- ington elsewhere and, in the moment of urgency, the claim of the heart was forgotten or at least ignored. Washington hastened to Winchester and Captain Morris won the prize. Operations in preparation for the expedition against Fort Duquesne went slowly on. Brigadier-General Forbes, who was commander-in-chief, was detained in Philadelphia. Wash- [64] WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN ington in the meantime gathered to- gether his scattered regiments at Winchester, some from a distance of two hundred miles, and he there dis- ciplined his recruits. He had a total of nineteen hundred men besides about seven hundred Indians who had joined his camp in prospect of a successful campaign. Washington was in great need of arms, tents, field equipage and other requisites. Re- peated letters stating the desperate needs of the Virginia troops had availed nothing. He was, therefore, ordered by the quarter-master general of the forces under General Forbes to hurry to Williamsburg to lay the case before the council. He set off promptly on horseback, attended by [65] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF Bishop, his military servant. It cer- tainly proved an eventful journey, though not in a military point of view. He met a Mr. Chamberlayne while he was crossing a ferry and, in the spirit of Virginia hospitality, Mr. Chamberlayne claimed Colonel Washington as his guest. Washing- ton was impatient to reach Williams- burg and accomplish his mission and Mr. Chamberlayne had great diffi- culty in holding him even long enough for dinner. At Mr. Chamberlayne's one of the guests was a young widow, Mrs. Martha Custis. Her husband, John Parke Custis, had been dead about three years and he had left her two young children and a large fortune. [66] WASHIN GTON AND LINCOLN Mrs. Custis was a small woman of agreeable and captivating manners, and again Washington proved to be quickly susceptible to feminine charms. Whether he had ever met her before, we do not know; prob- ably not during her widowhood, as he had been on the frontier almost continually. His heart seems to have been taken unawares and the dinner was all too short. The afternoon melted away like a dream. Bishop followed orders Washington had given when they stopped and the horses waited at the door. The Colonel, for once in his life, was loitering in the path of duty! It was not until the next morning that Washington was again in the [67] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF saddle on the way to Williamsburg. Fortunately Mrs. Custis' home was not far from that city, so Washing- ton was able to visit her on frequent intervals of affairs. However, he did not have much time for courtship. He was soon called back to Win- chester and he hesitated to leave things in suspense. Some more enter- prising or less busy rival might sup- plant him as in his previous experi- ence. He made the most of this opportunity. When he left they were engaged. The marriage was to take place as soon as the Fort Duquesne campaign was ended. For three months after the mar- riage, Washington lived at the home of Mrs. Washington. During the [68] WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN period, he took a seat in the House of Burgesses. Mr. Custis, the first husband of Mrs. Washington, had left large landed property and forty- five thousand pounds sterling in money. One-third fell to the widow in her own right. The other two- thirds went equally to the two chil- dren — a boy of six and a girl of four years of age. The Court made Washington guardian, and he fulfilled the sacred trust in a faithful manner. He be- came a parent as well as guardian to them. The marriage caused Wash- ington to give up all traveling in- clinations. He had long had a de- sire to visit England. His military services would have insured him a [69] THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF hearty reception. Some have sug- gested that the favor of the English government on such an occasion might have changed his career, but he was a true patriot and had at heart the true interests of his coun- try. The happy home was a new joy in his life- In a letter from Mount Vernon he wrote: "I am now, I be- lieve, fixed in this seat, with an agreeable partner for life, and I hope to build more happiness in retirement than ever experienced in the wide and bustling world/' [70 llpflT 111 111 : i;iii!' ! : ;!;; !i ; i; ; ; ■'': ' ?;;;: ;| [lV: '•'.;•. li'dl ;;:'. .•'" 1 ■■ : ; ■ iinjiiiHUiiiijijii