Lincoln 
 
 in 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 Charles William Heathcote 
 
LINCOLN ROOM 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 LIBRARY 
 

 
/ 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/lincolninpennsylOOheat 
 
Lincoln in Pennsylvania 
 
 BY 
 
 CHARLES WILLIAM HEATHCOTE, A.M., Ph.D., S.T.D. 
 
 {Fellow Royal Historical Society of England) 
 
 HEAD DEPARTMENT SOCIAL STUDIES 
 
 STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE 
 
 WEST CHESTER, PA. 
 
Copyright, 1935 
 
 by 
 
 Horace F. Temple, Inc. 
 
Ufi 
 
 Foreword 
 
 Since 1902 the author has gathered material for this book. 
 Then in February, 1933, when he was in the midst of 
 completing the manuscript, a disastrous and unfortunate 
 fire destroyed his study, manuscript and a large portion of his 
 home. However, during these years the author had gathered 
 from many sources interesting personal items about Lincoln in 
 Pennsylvania. The fire also destroyed these facts, and the 
 author has been unable to replace them. The book is about half 
 the size as it was originally planned. The author set to work 
 shortly after the fire to explore anew the main primary sources 
 of his material. In this book the author has brought out the 
 primary writings which show the background of Lincoln's an- 
 cestry in Pennsylvania, and later his close associations with 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 Charles William Heathcote. 
 
 Labor Day, 1935 
 
 Lincoln Room, Glen Rock, 
 
 Chester County, Pennsylvania. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Part I — Lincoln's Pennsylvania Ancestry 
 
 Part II — President-elect Lincoln In Pennsylvania. 
 
 Part III — President Lincoln at Gettysburg. 
 
 Part IV — President Lincoln's Visit to Philadelphia in 1864. 
 
Part I 
 
 Lincoln's Pennsylvania Ancestry 
 
 "T" was born on February 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Ken- 
 tucky; my parents were both born in Virginia of undis- 
 tinguished families — second families, perhaps I should say. 
 My mother, who died in my tenth year, was of a family of the 
 name of Hanks, some of whom now reside in Adams and others 
 in Macon Counties, Illinois. My paternal grandfather, Abraham 
 Lincoln, emigrated from Rockingham County, Virginia, to 
 Kentucky, about 1781 or 1782. A year or two later he was 
 killed by Indians, not in battle, but by stealth when he was 
 laboring to open a farm in the forest. His ancestors, who were 
 Quakers, went to Virginia from Berks County, Pennsylvania; 
 an effort to identify them with the New England family of the 
 same name ended in nothing more definite than a similarity of 
 Christian names in both families such as Enoch, Levi, Mordecai, 
 Solomon, Abraham, and the like. 
 
 "My father, at the death of his father, was but six years of 
 age; and he grew up literally without education. He removed 
 from Kentucky to what is now Spencer County, Indiana, and 
 in my eighth year, we reached our new home about the time 
 the state came into the Union. It was a wild region with many 
 bears and other wild animals still in the woods. There I grew 
 up. There were some schools, so called, but no qualification 
 was ever required of a teacher beyond, 'readin', writin' and 
 cipherin' ' to the Rule of Thumb. If a straggler supposed to 
 understand Latin happened to sojourn in the neighborhood, he 
 was looked upon as a wizard. There was absolutely nothing to 
 excite ambition for education. Of course, when I came of age, 
 I did not know much. Still somehow, I could read, write and 
 cipher to the Rule of Three, but that was all. I have not been 
 to school since. The little advance I now have upon this store 
 of education, I have picked up from time to time under the 
 pressure of necessity. 
 
 "I was raised to farm work which I continued until I was 
 twenty-two. At twenty-one I came to Illinois and passed the 
 first year in Macon County. Then I got to New Salem, at that 
 time in Sangamon, now in Menard County, when I remained 
 a year as a sort of clerk in a store. Then came the Black Hawk 
 War, and I was elected Captain of Volunteers, a success which 
 
LINCOLN IN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 gave more pleasure than any I have had since. I went in the 
 campaign, was elected, ran for the Legislature the same year 
 (1832) and was beaten — the only time I ever have been beaten 
 by the people. The next and three succeeding biennial elections, 
 I was elected to the Legislature. I was not a candidate after- 
 ward. During this Legislature period, I had studied law, and 
 removed to Springfield to practice it. In 1844, I was once 
 elected to the lower House of Congress but was not a candidate 
 for re-election. From 1849 to 1854, both inclusive, I practiced 
 law more assiduously than ever before. Always I was a Whig 
 in politics and I was generally on the Whig electoral ticket, 
 making certain canvasses. I was losing interest in politics when 
 the repeal of the Missouri Compromise aroused me again. 
 What I have done since then is pretty well known. 
 
 "If any personal description of me is thought desirable, it 
 may be said that I am in height six feet, four inches, nearly; 
 lean in flesh, weighing, on an average, one hundred and eighty 
 pounds, dark complexion, with coarse black hair and grey eyes, 
 no other marks recollected. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 A. Lincoln." 
 
 This autobiography of Abraham Lincoln was the first 
 complete account of his life which appeared before his nomination 
 to the presidency by the Republican party in 1860. 
 
 Jesse W. Fell who was active in Republican party politics 
 in Illinois believed that Lincoln should be the Republican 
 candidate for president in 1860. He had followed the debates 
 between Douglas and Lincoln in 1858 with more than passing 
 interest. He was deeply impressed by Lincoln's ability, clear 
 reasoning, and convincing statements. In the midst of the 
 Lincoln-Douglas debates, Fell went East on business. In that 
 time, he went through New England and several of the Middle 
 Atlantic States where he found many people who asked him: 
 "Who is Abraham Lincoln?" Sometime after Fell returned to 
 Illinois, he met Lincoln and asked him to write his autobiography 
 in order that people generally would know more about him. 
 He tried to convince Lincoln that he was the logical candidate 
 for the presidency on the Republican ticket, but Lincoln refused 
 to consider his request. Fell refused to give up his request for 
 the biographical sketch. At last, Lincoln began to realize that 
 many people wanted him to be a candidate for the presidency. 
 In December of 1859, Lincoln presented his unique and plainly 
 stated autobiographical sketch to Fell, then Fell forwarded 
 the paper to Joseph J. Lewis of West Chester, Pennsylvania. 
 
CHARLES WILLIAM HEATHCOTE 
 
 Jesse W. Fell was born on the old family farm in New 
 Garden Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, November 
 10, 1808. For a time he taught school in Chester County, but 
 moved to Illinois in 1832, began to practice law in Bloomington, 
 Illinois, where he built up a successful practice. 
 
 Joseph J. Lewis was born on October 5, 1801 at Westtown, 
 Pennsylvania. He became a successful lawyer, active in politics; 
 and served as commissioner of internal revenue from 1863 to 
 1865. The first published life of Abraham Lincoln by Joseph 
 J. Lewis appeared in Chester County Times, West Chester, 
 Pennsylvania under date of February 11, 1860. One phase 
 Lewis emphasized in his story related to Lincoln's ability as a 
 public speaker. This statement is interesting and, in a sense, 
 prophetic as it helps us to understand something of his immortal 
 address at Gettysburg in the autumn of 1863. Lewis wrote: 
 "Though a ready and fluent speaker, he avoids declamation and 
 is never betrayed into mere word-painting, which his good taste 
 habitually rejects. He abhors emptiness as heartily as did the 
 great Webster in his prime, and employs as the vehicle of his 
 thoughts a style of singular clearness and simplicity. His 
 manner is earnest, his arguments close and logical, and he reaches 
 his conclusions by a process that seems to render those con- 
 clusions inevitable. Whether you agree with him or not, you 
 cannot listen to him without being satisfied of his sincerity, and 
 that his object is not victory but truth." This biography was 
 used by Horace Greeley for his article in the New York Tribune 
 for May 19, and a similar article by John Locke Scripps in the 
 Chicago Press and Tribune on the same date. 
 
 Lewis and Fell were delegates from Pennsylvania and 
 Illinois respectively for the Republican Committee held in 
 Chicago, where Lewis observed to Fell, "The Chicago papers 
 have paid me the compliment of taking over my editorial 
 practically entire." This Pennsylvania newspaper helped to 
 spread the knowledge of Lincoln; the Pennsylvania delegation 
 to the Republican Convention was largely responsible for 
 Lincoln's nomination, but it is not too much to say that Jesse 
 W. Fell was the main factor in the movement. 
 
 The autobiography of Lincoln is almost a tragedy in the 
 life experience of this honored American statesman and leader. 
 His statements apologize for the background of his life of which 
 he knew so little and at the same time his knowledge was faulty 
 of the family life he was supposed to know. As we know definitely 
 phases of his early family we realize that much in his remarkable 
 leadership which we thought was inexplicable is now clearly 
 
10 LINCOLN IN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 understood in the light of heredity. He came from fine stock 
 and naturally we expect fine results from this stock and, conse- 
 quently, we find these results. 
 
 The ancestor of Abraham Lincoln in the new world was 
 Samuel Lincoln who came from Hingham, England, to Salem, 
 Massachusetts, in 1637. He remained here but a short time 
 when he went to Hingham, a short distance south of Salem. 
 
 Here Samuel Lincoln, the great, great, great, great-grand- 
 father of Abraham Lincoln was to make his future home. 
 
 Samuel was about eighteen years of age when he came to 
 live in Hingham where his two older brothers, Thomas and 
 Daniel, had previously established themselves. Samuel was a 
 weaver by trade, but when his trade was slack there was plenty 
 of work to be found in the growing community. Eventually 
 he secured considerable land, built a substantial house into 
 which he brought his wife, Martha, whose last name is unknown. 
 Lincoln was an industrious and active citizen in his community; 
 also an earnest member of the church. Samuel Lincoln died 
 on May 26, 1690 and his wife died in 1693. They had eleven 
 children, eight of whom lived to good old age, their third son's 
 name was Mordecai, the one in whom we are interested, who 
 was born in 1657. When Mordecai grew to young manhood 
 he moved to Hull where he learned blacksmithing; near Cohasset 
 he built a saw mill, grist mill, and also a forge and furnace. 
 He married Sarah Jones of Hull who became the mother of 
 four children, the eldest of whom was named Mordecai, also 
 another son whose name was Abraham. These two sons are 
 the ones who interest us in this study. Mordecai was successful 
 in his iron work. He was a man of prominence in the com- 
 munity. Sometime after his wife Sarah's death he married 
 Mrs. Chapin, a widow, who became the mother of two sons. 
 Mordecai Lincoln died in 1727, his estate amounted to more 
 than £3000 which was quite a large sum for that period. 
 
 When Mordecai and Abraham Lincoln became about 
 twenty-one and nineteen respectively, they left New England 
 to establish their future homes in Freehold Township, Monmouth 
 County, New Jersey. Many New Englanders had settled in 
 New Jersey before the Lincolns came; in this way they knew 
 something of the new country. Soon after Mordecai settled in 
 Freehold, he established a forge. He married Hannah Sal tar, 
 the daughter of Richard Saltar, an extensive land owner and 
 prominent leader in the province of New Jersey. Mordecai 
 and his brother prospered in the iron and land business in the 
 rapidly growing province. Mordecai proved to be a capable 
 
CHARLES WILLIAM HEATHCOTE 11 
 
 business man who was trusted and honored by his friends and 
 associates. Six children were born to Mordecai and Hannah 
 Lincoln. Mordecai extended his land holdings to southeastern 
 Pennsylvania along French Creek, Chester County, south of 
 the Schuylkill River. It is interesting to note that as early as 
 1720, Mordecai Lincoln possessed 150 acres of land in the 
 French Creek section and appears on the taxable list as Mordicay 
 Lincoln. In 1721, this section was assessed with the Schuylkill 
 district and his name is incorrectly spelled Mordecay Linerwood. 
 In 1722 the spelling is corrected to Lincoln. In 1724, this section 
 adopts the name of Coventry and Mordecay Lincoln's name 
 again appears. About 1723 he entered into a partnership in 
 the iron industry with Nutt and Branson in the French Creek 
 region which continued until 1725 when he drew up the following 
 agreement: "Know all men by these presents that I, Mordecai 
 Lincoln of Coventry in the County of Chester for and in con- 
 sideration of the sum of £500 etc., do forever quit claim to 
 William Branson, Merchant of Philadelphia, his heirs and 
 assigns, one full and undivided third part of the one hundred 
 and six acres of land, according to articles of agreement made 
 between Samuel Nutt of the one part and the said Mordecai 
 Lincoln of the other part, together will all and singular the 
 mynes, and minerals, forges, buildings, houses, lands and im- 
 provements what-so-ever thereunto belonging. Dated fourteenth 
 December, 1725. Signed, sealed and delivered. 
 
 Signed Mordecai Lincoln." 
 
 It seems that his New Jersey interests required too much time 
 and he was not ready to surrender them for his newly formed 
 business. He increased his land holdings in New Jersey and 
 particularly near Reading, Pennsylvania. In 1733 he built the 
 house which is still standing and which is a few miles east of 
 Reading. It is a well-constructed, roomy bank house; nearby 
 is a small building which was occupied by at least two slaves 
 who were owned by Mordecai. He died in 1735 in his fifty-ninth 
 year. His estate was quite considerable, part of which consisted 
 of 1000 acres of land in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Mordecai 
 Lincoln occupied a high position in the social and economic 
 life of the province of Pennsylvania. 
 
 John Lincoln, the eldest son of Mordecai and Hannah 
 Sal tar Lincoln, had land holdings in New Jersey as the result 
 of his father's will. However John did not move to New Jersey 
 but remained in Berks County, Pennsylvania. About 1743 
 John Lincoln married a widow, Mrs. Rebecca (Flowers) Morris. 
 
12 LINCOLN IN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 John Lincoln seemed to have inherited some of his father's 
 keen business sense; he acquired possession of much land, some 
 of which he sold at great profit; his desire to possess land led 
 him to the South, particularly in the Shenandoah Valley of 
 Virginia. Perhaps the purchase of land in this Valley in 1735 
 by George Boone, his neighbor, may have stimulated his desire. 
 However for the next four decades, settlers in large numbers 
 passed into the Shenandoah Valley and further south. In 1768, 
 he bought several hundred acres of land a few miles north of 
 the present site of Harrisonburg. John Lincoln's land in this 
 section became very valuable. By his industry and fair dealing, 
 he soon became a man of influence and prestige in the commu- 
 nity. When Lincoln died in 1788 his will reveals careful provision 
 for his wife Rebecca and nine children. 
 
 The son of John Lincoln, in whom we are interested in 
 following this history, is Abraham Lincoln, the oldest one who 
 was born in May, 1744, in Pennsylvania. He was taught from 
 early boyhood to know the necessity of honorable work. He 
 was also given a good education. After he located in the valley 
 with his father, he secured land in his own name. His depend- 
 ability was recognized as he was made captain of the militia in 
 1776, and during the next two years, he filled the position of 
 Judge Advocate. However he became interested in the develop- 
 ment of Kentucky which led him to sell his holdings in Virginia. 
 From 1780 to 1786 Abraham Lincoln had secured possession of 
 several thousand acres of valuable land in Kentucky. In 1782 
 he came back to Virginia to take his wife Bersheba and their 
 four children, Mordecai, Josiah, Mary, and Thomas to their 
 new home in Kentucky. He set to work with industry and 
 earnestness to build up a home for his wife and children in the 
 new land. He was meeting with success when in May, 1786, 
 as he was working in a field near Hughes' Station in Jefferson 
 County, he was shot by an Indian. Three of his sons were 
 helping him, when his son Mordecai shot the Indian. His un- 
 fortunate and untimely death prevented the development of 
 these valuable lands for himself and his family. 
 
 The son of Abraham and Bersheba Lincoln, in whom we are 
 interested in tracing the ancestry of Abraham Lincoln, the 
 President, is Thomas Lincoln, the father of the martyred Presi- 
 dent. Thomas Lincoln was born more than likely in 1776. 
 He was about ten years of age when his father was slain. He 
 was approaching the age when he needed the guidance of a 
 careful father, as the industry and earnestness of Abraham 
 Lincoln proved to be. However his mother was a woman of 
 
CHARLES WILLIAM HEATHCOTE 13 
 
 good understanding, but Thomas was compelled to shift for 
 himself at an early age. That is, he found work at various 
 places, but in 1795 records show he was a resident of Washington 
 County. In 1796 there are records to show he worked in Hardin 
 County. On September 2, 1803 he bought a farm of 230 acres 
 on Mill Creek, Hardin County, for which he paid one hundred 
 and eighteen pounds in cash. There have appeared statements 
 by historians that Thomas Lincoln was illiterate; however, 
 documents have been found in Kentucky which show that he 
 signed his name in a steady hand and he always signed his 
 name Thomas Lincoln and never Linkhorn. In 1807, Thomas 
 Lincoln purchased a lot in Elizabethtown and in 1808, he ac- 
 quired more land in the same town. In December of the same 
 year, he purchased a farm of three hundred acres located on 
 the South Fork of Nolin Creek. In all of these transactions, 
 cash was paid for the purchase. During these years, records 
 show Thomas Lincoln served in the militia, guarded prisoners, 
 rendered jury service, labored, did contract work and many 
 other tasks. There is no record against him for trespass of 
 law, but he reveals a life of industry, thrift, and responsibility. 
 His records which can be traced through legal documents record 
 him to be quite different from the ne'er-do-well individual as 
 he is sometimes represented before he married Nancy Hanks. 
 So much for the record of Thomas Lincoln to the time of his 
 marriage to Nancy Hanks. 
 
 Now let us turn to the history of Nancy Hanks, as she is 
 generally known, who became the wife of Thomas Lincoln and 
 the mother of Abraham Lincoln. Before we begin the discussion 
 concerning Nancy Hanks' ancestry, there is a strange coincidence 
 that one of Mordecai Lincoln's neighbors, in early New England 
 days, was one Benjamin Hanks. Was he one of the progenitors 
 of the Hanks family who became associated with the Lincoln 
 family in later times? When a later Mordecai Lincoln lived in 
 Berks County, Pennsylvania, he also had a neighbor named 
 John Hanks. This same John Hanks likewise emigrated South 
 into the Shenandoah Valley. There are traces of several Hanks 
 in various Virginia counties, and later traces are found in 
 Kentucky. Whether they are related to one another only future 
 investigations can reveal. 
 
 Now to continue the ancestory of Nancy Hanks. There 
 are several theories, but we are interested only in so far as these 
 theories may be founded on primary historical documents. 
 The first theory is set forth by Mrs. Caroline Hanks Hitchcock 
 of Massachusetts who did much research work in the genealogy 
 
14 LINCOLN IN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 of the family. She discovered that Joseph Hanks of Virginia 
 had left that state in 1784; he migrated to Kentucky where 
 he located in Nelson County. He died in 1793. His will was 
 discovered by Mrs. Hitchcock. In the bequests which he 
 made there is one which states: "I give and bequeath unto my 
 daughter Nancy one Heifer Yearling called Peidy." Mrs. 
 Hitchcock argued that this young woman called Nancy Hanks 
 was the one who became the wife of Thomas Lincoln in 1806 
 and subsequently the mother of Abraham Lincoln. Nancy 
 had a brother named Joseph Hanks who settled in Elizabeth town; 
 he was a carpenter and cabinet maker. Thomas Lincoln also 
 worked with him; the impression is drawn that through this 
 relationship Thomas Lincoln came to be acquainted with Nancy 
 whom he eventually married. In 1826 Joseph Hanks and his 
 family moved to Illinois where they located in Adams County. 
 Abraham Lincoln knew of these Hanks because he states in 
 his autobiography which he wrote for Fell, "My mother, who 
 died in my tenth year was of a family of the name of Hanks, 
 some of who now reside in Adams some others in Macon Counties, 
 Illinois." Nancy's brother, William Hanks also settled in 
 Macon County; this is the family Lincoln referred to in Macon 
 County. So much for the theory of Mrs. Hitchcock. 
 
 The second theory is set forth by William E. Barton in his 
 life of Lincoln. He states that the mother of Nancy Hanks, 
 the wife of Thomas Lincoln, was Lucy Hanks, the daughter of 
 Joseph Hanks to whose will we have referred. He believes that 
 Nancy Hanks was born in 1784 to Lucy Hanks out of lawful 
 wedlock. Nancy was therefore nine years old when her grand- 
 father died. Lucy's name is likewise omitted from the will. 
 The conclusion is drawn that Lucy's offense caused it. However 
 Barton brings to light the fact that Nancy Hanks, the daughter 
 of Joseph Hanks, to whose will we have referred, was not the 
 wife of Thomas Lincoln. He shows that this Nancy became 
 the mother of a son in 1799 to whom she gave the name, Dennis 
 Hanks, whose father was Charles Friend. However Lucy 
 Hanks married Henry Sparrow on April 3, 1791. On April 26, 
 1790, Lucy Hanks wrote the following document: "I do certify 
 that I am of age, and give my approbation freely for Henry 
 Sparrow to git out Lisons this or enny other day. Given under 
 my hand April 26th, 1790. Lucy Hanks." In the process of 
 time several children blessed this union. 
 
 The third theory is set forth by Louis A. Warren in his 
 book — Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood — all of the statements 
 are based on documentary evidence. 
 
CHARLES WILLIAM HEATHCOTE 15 
 
 The document signed by Lucy Hanks in which she gave 
 her approval for Henry Sparrow to secure marriage license was 
 not Lucy Hanks, a daughter of Joseph Hanks, whose will was 
 discussed under theory number one. Then who is Lucy Hanks? 
 It seems that her maiden name was Lucy Shipley; she is a 
 sister of the Shipley girls who married Robert Mitchell and 
 Richard Barry respectively. Without a doubt Lucy Shipley 
 married a son of Joseph Hanks, but which one we do not know. 
 Personally, the writer believes that such record will be uncovered 
 in time as other documents relating to Lincoln have been found. 
 Of this union, Nancy Hanks was born. Here it is interesting 
 to insert a note of Dennis Hanks to whom we referred in theory 
 number two. This was a letter Dennis sent to Herndon in 
 1866, who wrote a biography of Lincoln, concerning Lincoln's 
 mother: "Hir name was Nancy Sparrow: hir father's name was 
 Henry Sparrow, hir mother was Lucy Sparrow, hir maiden 
 name was Hanks, sister to my mother. You say why was she 
 called Hanks? All I can say is this, She was Deep in Stalk of 
 the Hanks family. Calling hir Hanks probibly is my fault. 
 I always told her She looked more Like the Hankses than 
 Sparrow. I think this is the way, if you call hir Hanks, you 
 make her a Base born child which is not trew." 
 
 Dennis becomes somewhat confused in relationship. He 
 evidently means Lucy Sparrow was the sister-in-law of his 
 mother Nancy. He states that she is not a base born child. 
 However this point is well taken and correct that she was 
 honorably born. If Lucy was a daughter of Joseph Hanks why 
 was she not mentioned in his will? Would he have cut her off 
 for her misdemeanor if such was correct? Perhaps that is true. 
 However Lucy Shipley Hanks is not mentioned though we 
 contend she married one of his sons. Then why should she not 
 receive the son's share? Without a doubt, the answer is because 
 she was married to Henry Sparrow and it was unnecessary to 
 mention her in his will. We believe this last reason is more cor- 
 rect. 
 
 Dr. Warren calls particular attention to the Lucy Hanks 
 document in which she gives permission to Sparrow to secure 
 a marriage license. He calls attention to three letters above 
 her maiden name which spell "doy" and also two letters "w" 
 and "i" which precede "doy"; these letters, which appear on 
 the plate showing the license permit on page 62 of Volume I 
 of Barton's, Life of Lincoln can be seen by using a powerful 
 reading glass. Dr. Warren also states that as he examined 
 the original document in the court house at Harrodsburg, 
 
16 LINCOLN IN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 Kentucky, that he could see the letters "w" and "i" more 
 clearly. He states in conclusion "I realize that widoy does 
 not spell widow, and I shall have to allow the reader to draw 
 his own conclusion as to what word Lucy Hanks intended to 
 write before her name." 
 
 However after carefully studying and examining the pen- 
 manship of Lucy Hanks, the writer wants to add as his own 
 contribution to this interesting study that Lucy Hanks intended 
 to write the word "widow." The writer's reasons may be 
 summarized as follows: the formation of the letter Y seems to 
 be that she intended to write the letter W as the final letter in 
 the word widow, and to make the downward stroke for the L 
 as the first letter in her name Lucy. The downward stroke is 
 different from the downward stroke in several similar letters 
 she formed in writing this permit. It seems that the downward 
 stroke of W was to form the L in Lucy, as an examination of it 
 shows that it is precisely the same shape and length of the 
 separate L. However she did not use that stroke, but she 
 made a separate letter L; she writes the word Lucy on the 
 same line where she ended the downward stroke for the Y. 
 In doing this she spoiled the W and was evidently dissatisfied 
 with the downward stroke for the letter L. She has misspelled 
 several words in the document which, of course, is readily under- 
 stood as she lacked the opportunities for education. It is 
 gratifying that she had sufficient education to write the docu- 
 ment. This is the internal evidence that I deduce from the 
 document in which the writer believes there is sufficient proof 
 to testify to the fact that Lucy Hanks was a widow. 
 
 In conclusion, it is the writer's sincere belief that Nancy 
 Hanks was the daughter of Lucy Shipley Hanks who had mar- 
 ried a son of Joseph Hanks; and that Nancy was probably born 
 about 1784. 
 
 Much of her early life was spent in the homes of the Berrys 
 and Sparrows. When the time came for her to marry Thomas 
 Lincoln, it was only natural for her to be married at the home 
 of Richard Berry at Beech Fork where he had bought a large 
 farm. Richard Berry had married Rachel Shipley, the sister 
 of Nancy's mother. The wedding ceremony was performed by 
 the Reverend Jesse Head on June 12, 1806. Several of the 
 earlier biographies of Abraham Lincoln had raised the doubt 
 whether Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks had been married. 
 In 1882, the returns of the weddings performed by Mr. Head 
 were discovered. The Lincoln-Hanks marriage record appears 
 ninth on the list. 
 
CHARLES WILLIAM HEATHCOTE 17 
 
 After the wedding celebration, Thomas Lincoln brought 
 his bride to Elizabethtown, a new and growing community 
 about twenty-five miles west of the place where the wedding 
 took place. They began housekeeping in a log cabin which was 
 characteristic of the frontier. It was here that Thomas Lincoln 
 worked at his carpenter trade and, without a doubt, he was 
 very busy in this growing community. It was here that their 
 first child, Sarah, was born in February, 1807. More than 
 likely, Thomas had saved considerable money during this 
 period because about eighteen months later he moved to his 
 farm, about twelve miles from Elizabethtown, and about two 
 and one-half miles south of Hodgenville. It was here in the 
 cabin erected by Thomas Lincoln that Abraham Lincoln was 
 born on February 12, 1809. 
 
 In 1813, Thomas Lincoln and his family moved to his farm 
 at Knob Creek, about six miles from Hodgenville. Here he had 
 some trouble about the title of his farm. Somewhat discouraged 
 about his land troubles he determined to seek a new home in 
 southwestern Indiana. In 1816, Thomas Lincoln secured land 
 near the present site of Gentry ville, Indiana. Here, Thomas 
 Lincoln's wife died in October, 1818. In December of the 
 following year, he married Mrs. Sarah Bush Johnston of Eliza- 
 bethtown, Kentucky. 
 
 At this point we are more concerned about the future life 
 of Abraham Lincoln. We therefore propose to give a summary 
 of his life as a brief background for our study, Lincoln in Penn- 
 sylvania. Lincoln's mother, Nancy, seemed to be a woman of 
 high intelligence and unusual appreciation of education. She 
 taught him to read; his step-mother encouraged him in his 
 studies. In his boyhood, he read and re-read the Bible, Robinson 
 Crusoe, Pilgrim's Progress, and Weems' Life of Washington. 
 When he became older he borrowed all the books he could secure 
 from his neighbors and read the works of Burns and Shakespeare. 
 
 In 1830, his father migrated to Illinois, first settling in 
 Macon County, and later in Coles County. Lincoln became a 
 clerk in 1831 in a country store in New Salem, a small frontier 
 village in Menard County. Here he became quite popular 
 among the people. He had considerable leisure time to read and 
 study. Here he devoted some time to the study of law. He 
 became interested in politics and became a candidate for the 
 legislature in 1832, but he was defeated in the campaign. D jring 
 the next two years he studied law, operated unsuccessfully a 
 county store, served as postmaster of New Salem and worked 
 as assistant county surveyor of Sangamon County. From 1834 
 
18 LINCOLN IN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 to 1842, he served as a member of the House of Representatives 
 where he was held in high esteem by his colleagues. In 1836, 
 Lincoln was admitted to the bar. He opened up his law office 
 in Springfield where his office remained until he left to become 
 President of the United States in 1861. Lincoln failed to secure 
 the nomination to Congress in 1842. However, he was success- 
 fully elected to the National House of Representatives in 1846. 
 He was very much opposed to the Mexican War and he intro- 
 duced a series of resolutions in Congress in which he demanded 
 full statements concerning the war. The eighth one stated: 
 ' Whether the military force of this United States was or was 
 not so sent into that settlement after General Taylor had more 
 than once intimated to the War Department that, in his opinion, 
 no such movement was necessary to the defense or protection 
 of Texas." Lincoln felt that the ''Mexican War was unnecessary 
 and unconstitutionally commenced by the President." He 
 was opposed to it and his opposition made him unpopular, even 
 in many sections of Illinois. However his resolutions revealed 
 his convictions. He served but one term in Congress, but 
 during this period which was fraught by great vital questions, 
 he came to understand the larger problems of the nation. At 
 the close of his congressional term, he was offered the governor- 
 ship of Oregon Territory, which he declined. There seemed to 
 be something almost prophetic in his declination of the appoint- 
 ment. 
 
 After his return to Illinois from his Congressional term, 
 Lincoln devoted himself to his law work. His legal practice 
 increased. He became recognized as one of the leading lawyers 
 of the state. In the meantime, the slavery question became 
 the center of debate throughout the nation. Lincoln was not 
 a supporter of abolitionism, the doctrines of which he considered 
 but he was earnestly opposed to slavery. The nation as a 
 whole had expected peace after the passage of the Compromise 
 Measure in 1850. However the new Fugitive Slave Law which 
 gave the United States' Marshall power to deputize a private 
 citizen to aid in the capture of a fugitive slave had aroused a 
 terrific storm of opposition in the north and resentment in the 
 South, because many of the northern states had passed Personal 
 Liberty laws, which nullified the Fugitive Slave law. 
 
 In 1854, Congress repealed the Missouri Compromise law 
 (1820) which had admitted Missouri to the Union as a slave 
 state, but that all territory north of 36° 30' should be free. 
 The 1854 law became known as the Kansas-Nebraska Act, 
 which was sponsored and passed under the leadership of Senator 
 
CHARLES WILLIAM HEATHCOTE 19 
 
 Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois. He proposed that in this terri- 
 tory of Kansas-Nebraska the principle of popular-sovereignty 
 should be applied to settle the status of slavery, that is, the 
 people of the territory should settle for themselves the question 
 of slavery. 
 
 Lincoln was decidedly opposed to the Kansas-Nebraska 
 Act. It was this act primarily that brought him back again into 
 the political field. Lincoln was opposed to the further extension 
 of slavery. He held that Congress had the power under the 
 Constitution to regulate slavery in the territories, but not in the 
 states, as the Congress under the Constitution had jurisdiction 
 over the territories. His clear reasoning and convincing thinking 
 in opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act made him a leader 
 in the State of Illinois. When the Republican Party was or- 
 ganized in Illinois in 1856, Lincoln became one of the out- 
 standing leaders. In June of 1858, he was unanimously nomi- 
 nated by the Republican Party as candidate for the United 
 States Senate. His opponent was Stephen A. Douglas, who 
 was the nominee of the Democratic Party to succeed himself 
 to the Senate. In accepting the nomination, Lincoln stated in 
 part the words which are now famous, "a house divided against 
 itself cannot stand." "I believe this Government cannot 
 endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect 
 the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — 
 but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all 
 one thing, or all the other." 
 
 In the campaign which followed, the slave question arose 
 which centered around two issues (1) the recent David Scott 
 decision of the United States Supreme Court which stated 
 Congress had no authority to keep slavery out of any of the 
 territories of the United States; (2) the doctrine of popular 
 sovereignty, which according to Douglass declared the people 
 of the territory should determine for themselves whether they 
 wanted slavery or not. 
 
 Lincoln and Douglas engaged in a series of debates through- 
 out the State. At Freeport, Lincoln asked Douglas the following 
 question: "Can the people of a United States territory, in any 
 lawful way, against the wish of any citizen of the United States, 
 exclude slavery from its limits, prior to the formation of a 
 state constitution?" Douglas answered in favor of popular 
 sovereignty which satisfied the people of Illinois, but ran counter 
 to the general view of the South, which upheld the David Scott 
 issue, or decision, as the basis that Congress had the authority 
 to safeguard slaves as property in the territories. 
 
20 LINCOLN IN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 Douglas secured re-election to the Senate. However, 
 Lincoln realized that the answer of Douglas in the Freeport 
 debate would cost him the support of the southern Democrats 
 for the Presidency in 1860. 
 
 These debates with Douglas made Lincoln in the anti- 
 slavery struggle a leader beyond the borders of his own state. 
 His philosophy to let slavery alone where it existed, but to 
 prevent its further extension was supported by the thinking 
 people of the nation. Many people believed that Lincoln should 
 be elected President of the United States. 
 
 At Cooper Institute in New York City on February 27, 
 1860, he delivered a most remarkable address in which he set 
 forth very clearly and forcibly his philosophy of government 
 and attitude toward slavery. The people of the Atlantic seaboard 
 realized that a new leader had arisen, who was fearless, courage- 
 ous in his thinking, and earnest in his opposition to the extension 
 of slavery. He stated: "Wrong as we think slavery is, we can 
 yet afford to let it alone where it is, because that much is due to 
 the necessity arising from its actual presence in the nation; 
 but can we, while our votes will prevent it, allow it to spread 
 into national Territories, and to overrun us here in these free 
 states? If our sense of duty forbids this, then let us stand by 
 our duty fearlessly and effectively." In conclusion he stated: 
 "Let us have faith that Right makes Might and in that faith 
 let us to the end dare to do our duty as we understand it." 
 
 As the time for the holding of the political conventions 
 approached, it was evident that it would be exceptionally 
 difficult to preserve harmony in the Democratic ranks. The 
 Democrats were the first in the field to hold a convention which 
 met in Charleston, South Carolina, on April 23, 1860. At the 
 outset, it was shown that an effort would be made to read into 
 the platform the Douglas Doctrine of Popular Sovereignty or 
 the Davis resolutions named such as Jefferson Davis, the author, 
 had introduced them into the Senate in February, 1860. The 
 resolutions were, as follows: 
 
 "The South no longer accepted the doctrine of popular 
 sovereignty, Congress must safeguard and protect slavery in 
 the territories of the United States. The personal liberty laws 
 of the northern states must be repealed. The Dred Scott 
 decision must be sustained." 
 
 These resolutions produced a bitter debate which resulted 
 in the southern delegates bolting the convention. In an endeavor 
 to save the Democratic party from the final break, the convention 
 again assembled in Baltimore in June. Stephen A. Douglas 
 
CHARLES WILLIAM HEATHCOTE 21 
 
 was nominated on the popular sovereignty platform. The 
 opponents of the platform called a convention of their own and 
 nominated John C. Breckenridge of Kentucky on a platform 
 which virtually embodied the principles of the Davis resolutions. 
 The break of the Democratic party into the Northern and 
 Southern divisions was now complete. 
 
 The Republicans met in Chicago in May and on the third 
 ballot Lincoln was nominated, much to the joy of the con- 
 vention. The result of the election was the victory for Lincoln. 
 When South Carolina received the news that Lincoln was 
 elected, plans were at once set in operation to secede from the 
 Union which was done on December 20, 1860. On February 4, 
 1861, at Montgomery, Alabama, the Southern Confederacy was 
 organized. 
 
Part II 
 
 President-Elect Lincoln 
 in Pennsylvania 
 
 President-elect Lincoln and his family left Springfield on 
 February 11, 1860. From the rear platform of the special 
 train he spoke very feelingly as follows: 
 
 "My friends: no one not in my situation can appreciate my 
 feeling of sadness at this parting, to this place and the kindness 
 of these people I owe everything. Here I have lived a quarter 
 of a century and have passed from a young to an old man, 
 here my children have been born and one is buried. I now leave, 
 not knowing when or whether ever I may return, with a task 
 before me greater than that which rested upon Washington. 
 Without the assistance of that Divine Being who ever attended 
 him, I cannot succeed, with that assistance, I cannot fail. 
 Trusting in Him, who can go with me, and remain with you, 
 and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all 
 will yet be well. To His care commending you as I hope in 
 your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate 
 farewell." 
 
 At the conclusion of his address to his home folks there was 
 loud applause, and many cried people "We will pray for you." 
 This was the last time Lincoln looked upon his beloved home 
 community, from that time until his death his work was devoted 
 in the service of his country. A writer in the Philadelphia Press 
 of February 11, 1861, summarized the conditions of the time 
 when he wrote: "However fashionable secession has become 
 in the Gulf States, an unchanged faith in, and attachment to, 
 the Union still pervades all ranks and all parties in the North; 
 and as it is the universal expectation and desire that in obedience 
 to the popular verdict of November last, Mr. Lincoln should 
 discharge the important duties with which he has been consti- 
 tutionally entrusted, the idea that he is to be the President, 
 not of a mere party, but of the country and of men of all creeds, 
 should be as deeply impressed upon the public mind particularly 
 in this critical juncture of political affairs." 
 
 The presidential party took almost two weeks to complete 
 the journey to Washington. Lincoln delivered special addresses 
 at Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and at Columbus. 
 
24 LINCOLN IN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 As the Lincoln train enters Pennsylvania we are primarily 
 interested in this part of his journey. The train was delayed 
 for a time because of a wreck of a freight train. The Lincoln 
 train arrived at Allegheny City on February 14, at 8:00 P.M. 
 The people had planned a large demonstration in honor of the 
 event, but it was considerably reduced, owing to a heavy rain- 
 storm. The Presidential party were conveyed by carriages to 
 the Monongahela House in Pittsburgh. Here the immense 
 throng demanded a speech, Lincoln's remarks may be summar- 
 ized in the following words: 
 
 "He expressed his gratification and surprise at seeing so 
 great a crowd and such boundless enthusiasm manifested in 
 the night time, and under such untoward circumstances, to 
 greet so unworthy an individual as himself. This was undoubt- 
 edly attributable to the position which, more by accident than 
 by merit, he had attained. He remarked further, that if all 
 these energetic and whole souled people whom he saw this 
 evening before him were for the Union, he did not see how it 
 could be in much danager. (Cheers and cries of Union and no 
 Compromise.) He had intended to say a few words to the 
 people of Pittsburgh, the greatest manufacturing city in the 
 United States upon such matters as he believed they desired 
 to hear; but as he had adopted the plan of holding his tongue 
 for the most part during the last canvass and since his election, 
 he had perhaps better now hold his tongue. (Cries of "go on.") 
 Well I am reminded that there is an Allegheny city as well as 
 an Allegheny county — the former the banner town and the 
 latter the banner county — perhaps of the world. I am glad to 
 see both of them and the good people of both. I will say a few 
 words to you tomorrow as to the peculiar interests of Allegheny 
 county." 
 
 The following morning, February 15, was marked by a 
 heavy rainfall which continued until eight o'clock. The Pitts- 
 burgh councils and many visitors paid visits to Lincoln in the 
 morning. As a result of Lincoln's promise to speak to the 
 people on this morning, a large crowd had assembled about the 
 Monongahela House. After the President-elect was introduced, 
 he spoke from the balcony. Before he began his address he 
 was greeted with hearty cheering. Mr. Lincoln then spoke in 
 part as follows: "Mayor Wilson and Citizens of Pennsylvania; 
 I most cordially thank His Honor Mayor Wilson and the citizens 
 of Pittsburgh generally, for this flattering reception. It is the 
 more grateful because I know that while it is not given to me 
 alone, but to the cause I represent, yet it is given under circum- 
 
HCARLES WILLIAM HEATHCOTE 25 
 
 stances that clearly prove to me that here is good-will and 
 sincere feeling at the bottom of it. (Enthusiastic applause.) 
 I repeat then that there is no crisis, excepting such a one as 
 may be gotten up at any time by turbulent men, aided by de- 
 signing politicians. My advice then, under the circumstances 
 is to keep cool. If the great American people only keep their 
 temper on both sides of the line, these troubles will come to 
 an end, and the question that now distracts the country will be 
 settled just as surely as all other difficulties of a like character, 
 which have originated in the government, have been adjusted. 
 Let the people on both sides keep their self-possession, and 
 just as the clouds have cleared away in due time, so will this, 
 and this great nation continue to prosper as heretofore. (Loud 
 applause.) But fellow citizens I have spoken longer on this 
 subject, than I intended in the outset. (Cries of "go on, go on.") 
 I shall say no more at present. 
 
 "Fellow-citizens, as this is the first opportunity I have 
 had to address a Pennsylvania assemblage, it seems a fitting 
 time to indulge in a few remarks on the important question of 
 the tariff — a subject of great magnitude and one attended with 
 many difficulties, owing to the great variety of interests in- 
 volved. So long as direct taxation for the support of the govern- 
 ment is not resorted to, a tariff is necessary. A tariff is to the 
 government what meat is to a family." He went on to discuss 
 the need of understanding the tariff and having a tariff which 
 will prove helpful to all parts of the country. His speech was 
 given enthusiastic applause. 
 
 After the Pittsburgh address the Presidential party pro- 
 ceeded to Cleveland. On February 16, the journey continued 
 to Buffalo, New York. Along the entire route Lincoln was 
 given enthusiastic receptions. At Erie, Pennsylvania, he 
 extended greetings to a large group of people. The journey 
 continued from Buffalo to Albany where Lincoln addressed 
 the New York Legislature. The journey was continued to 
 New York City, thence to Trenton. 
 
 We are interested primarily in the continuity of the journey 
 from Trenton to Philadelphia. The Presidential train paused 
 at Bristol, Pennsylvania. Lincoln appeared on the platform 
 where he was warmly greeted by an immense throng. At all 
 the stations to Philadelphia, crowds gathered in order to catch 
 a glimpse of the President-elect. The writer in the Philadelphia 
 Press of February 22, 1861, stated, "At one place we noticed 
 an enthusiastic individual who had mounted a flagstaff upon a 
 lumber pile and who moved his hat frantically in the direction 
 
26 LINCOLN IN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 of the train. At another place a bevy of females ran from a 
 farm house in haste, and snatching a number of sheets from a 
 clothes-line, moved them to the breeze in lieu of handkerchiefs." 
 The train arrived at the Kensington, Philadelphia depot Febru- 
 ary 21, at 3:45 P.M. 
 
 The crowd in and about the station was so large that 
 some confusion was caused. After order was restored, Mr. 
 Lincoln was placed in an open barouche and the procession 
 started to the hotel assigned to the Presidential party. The 
 route the procession took was as follows: down Frankford road 
 to Girard ave., up Girard ave., to Sixth street, down Sixth to 
 Arch street, up Arch to Sixteenth street, down sixteenth to 
 Walnut street, down Walnut to Ninth street, up Ninth to the 
 Hotel Continental. 
 
 The writer in the Philadelphia Press February 22, gives the 
 following interesting description of the procession. "It was 
 gratifying to find that every man, woman and child found 
 themselves involuntarily admiring the gentlemanly person 
 whom they had been used to entitle 'Uncle Abe' and even 'Old 
 Abe.' Flags were suspended across the streets — one of them 
 labelled, 'Stand by the flag and we will stand by you.' Another 
 was endorsed, 'A hearty welcome to our Western Friend', and 
 a third, 'Enforce the laws and the people will sustain you.' 
 After the Presidential party arrived at the hotel, the President 
 spoke from the balcony of the Hotel Continental, as follows: 
 
 "Mr. Mayor, and fellow citizens of Philadelphia, I appear 
 before you to make no lengthy speech. I appear before you 
 to thank you for this reception. The reception you have given 
 me tonight is not to me, the man, the individual, but to the 
 man who temporarily represents or should represent the ma- 
 jority of the nation. (Applause.) It is true as your worthy 
 Mayor has said, that there is great anxiety amongst the citizens 
 of the United States at this time. I say I deem it a happy 
 circumstance that this dissatisfied portion of our fellow citizens 
 do not point us anything in which they are being injured, or 
 are about to be injured; from which I have felt all the while 
 justified in concluding that the crisis, the panic, the anxiety 
 of the country at this time, is artificial. If there be those who 
 differ with me upon this subject, they have not pointed out the 
 substantial difficulty that exists. (Cheers.) I do not mean 
 to say that this artificial panic has not done harm — that it has 
 done much harm I do not deny. 
 
 "The hope that has been expressed by your Mayor, that I 
 may be able to restore peace, harmony, and prosperity to the 
 
CHARLES WILLIAM HEATHCOTE 27 
 
 country is most worthy in him, and most happy indeed will I 
 be if I shall be able to verify and fulfill that hope. (Tremendous 
 cheers.) I promise you, in all sincerity, that I bring to the 
 work a sincere heart. Whether I will bring a head equal to 
 the heart will be for future time to determine. 
 
 "It were useless for me to speak in detail of plans now. I 
 shall speak officially on next Monday week, if ever. If I should 
 not speak then, it were useless for me to do so now; If I do speak 
 then, it is useless for me to do so now. When I do speak, as your 
 worthy Mayor has expressed the hope, I will take such grounds 
 as I shall deem best calculated to restore peace, harmony and 
 prosperity to the country, and tend to the prosperity of the 
 nation, and the liberty of these States and all these people. 
 
 "Your worthy Mayor has expressed the wish, in which I 
 join him, that it were convenient for me to remain in your city- 
 long enough to consult, or, as it were, to listen to those breath- 
 ings arising within the consecrated walls where the Constitution 
 of the United States, and, I will add, the Declaration of American 
 Independence were originally framed and adopted I assure you 
 and your Mayor, that I had hoped on this occasion, and upon 
 all occasions during my life, that I shall do nothing inconsistent 
 with the teachings of these holy and most sacred walls. I have 
 never asked anything that does not breathe from these walls. 
 All my political warfare has been in favor of these teachings. 
 'May my right hand forget its cunning and my tongue cleave 
 to the roof of my mouth', if ever I prove false to these teachings. 
 Fellow-citizens, I have addressed you longer than I expected to 
 and now allow me to bid you good-night." 
 
 After his brief address, Mr. Lincoln entered the parlor of 
 the hotel where he was introduced to several committees repre- 
 senting the city council and citizens. At eight to ten o'clock 
 P.M., Mr. Lincoln held a public reception in the parlor of the 
 Continental Hotel. Large numbers of Philadelphians greeted 
 the city's distinguished guest. After the reception, there was 
 a marvelous display of fireworks. 
 
 An editorial which appeared in the Philadelphia Press of 
 February 22, after stating how large were the crowds which 
 welcomed the President-elect to the city, brought out in addition 
 one interesting statement to this effect: "His personal appear- 
 ance is much more prepossessing than his protraits indicated it 
 to be and the impression he made upon those who were intro- 
 duced to him was of a decidedly favorable character." 
 
 The highlight of Lincoln's visit to Philadelphia occurred on 
 the morning of February 22. The morning dawned clear and 
 
28 LINCOLN IN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 beautiful. Lincoln had been invited to the State House to 
 raise a new United States flag. In front of the main entrance 
 of the State House a six foot platform of considerable propor- 
 tions had been constructed for the ceremony. Within Independ- 
 ence Hall, Mr. Lincoln was welcomed by Theodore Cuyler, 
 President of the Select Council. The President-elect made the 
 following response: 
 
 "Mr. Cuyler — I am filled with deep emotion at finding 
 myself standing here in the place where were collected together 
 the wisdom, the patriotism, the devotion to principle, from 
 which sprung the institutions under which we live. You have 
 kindly suggested to me that in my hands is the task of restoring 
 peace to our distracted country. I can say in return, sir, that 
 all the political sentiments I entertain have been drawn so far 
 as I have been able to draw them from the sentiments which 
 originated, and were given to the world from this hall in which 
 we stand. I have never had a feeling politically that did not 
 spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of 
 Independence. (Great cheering.) I have often pondered over 
 the dangers which were incurred by the men who assembled 
 here and adopted the Declaration of Independence. I have 
 pondered over the trials that were endured by the officers and 
 soliders of the army, who achieved that independence. (Ap- 
 plause.) I have often inquired of myself what great principle 
 or idea it was that kept this confederacy so long together. It 
 was not the mere matter of the separation of the colonies from 
 the motherland, but something in that Declaration giving liberty, 
 not alone to the people of this country, but hope for the world 
 for all future time. (Great applause.) It was that which 
 gave promise that in due time the weights should be lifted from 
 the shoulders of all men and that all should have an equal 
 chance. (Cheers.) This is the sentiment embodied in the 
 Declaration of Independence. Now my friends can this country 
 be saved upon that basis? If it can, I will consider myself one 
 of the happiest men in the world if I can help to save it. If it 
 can't be saved upon that principle, it will be truly awful. But, 
 if this country cannot be saved without giving up that principle 
 — I was about to say I would rather be assassinated on the spot 
 than to surrender it. (Applause.) Now, in my view of the 
 present aspect of affairs, there is no need of bloodshed and war. 
 There is no necessity for it. I am not in favor of such a course 
 and I may say in advance there will be no bloodshed unless it 
 be forced upon the Government. The Government will not use 
 force unless force is used against it. (Prolonged applause, and 
 
CHARLES WILLIAM HEATHCOTE 29 
 
 cries of 'That's the proper sentiment.') My friends, this is 
 wholly an unprepared speech. I did not expect to be called 
 upon to say a word when I came here. I supposed I was merely 
 to do something towards raising a flag. I may, therefore, have 
 said something indiscrete (cries of 'no, no.') but I have said 
 nothing but that which I am willing to live by and in the pre- 
 sence of Almighty God, to die by." 
 
 His sentiments were heartily applauded by his hearers. 
 After these remarks the time for the ceremony of raising the 
 flag had arrived. Mr. Lincoln was conducted by the committee 
 to the platform in front of the State House. At once the tre- 
 mendous crowd, estimated at fifty thousand, greeted the Presi- 
 dent-elect with prolonged cheering. 
 
 Then Stephen Benton, Esq., spoke briefly: "It affords me 
 pleasure, as Chairman of the Committee on City Property, 
 having in charge the ceremonies of this morning, to invite you, 
 personally, to raise this new American flag, with thirty-four 
 stars on its azure field, the first elevated by the city government. 
 But, sir, amidst all this we place upon our flag a new star and 
 trust to the wisdom, firmness, and the moderation of the incoming 
 administration to make it a fixed star in the conclave of 
 freedom." 
 
 President-elect Lincoln responded as follows: "Fellow- 
 citizens: I am invited and called before you to participate in 
 raising above Independence Hall the flag of our country, with 
 an additional star upon it. (Cheers.) I propose now, in advance 
 of performing this very pleasant and complimentary duty, to 
 say a few words. I propose to say that when that flag was 
 originally raised here, it had but 13 Stars. I wish to call your 
 attention to the fact, that, under the blessing of God, each 
 additional star added to that flag has given additional prosperity 
 and happiness to this country until it has advanced to its present 
 condition: and its welfare in the future, as well as in the past, 
 is in your hands. (Cheers.) Cultivating the spirit that ani- 
 mated our fathers, who gave renown and celebrity to this HaH, 
 cherishing that fraternal feeling which has so long characterized 
 us as a nation, excluding passion, ill temper, and precipitate 
 actions on all occasions, I think we may promise ourselves, that 
 not only the new star placed upon that flag shall be permitted 
 to remain there to our permanent prosperity for years to come, 
 but additional ones shall from time to time be placed there, 
 until we shall number, as was anticipated by the great his- 
 torians, five hundred millions of happy and prosperous people. 
 (Great applause.) With these remarks few, I proceed to the 
 
30 LINCOLN IN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 very agreeable duty assigned me." Prayer was then offered by 
 the Rev. Henry Steele Clarke. 
 
 At a given signal, the President-elect grasped the halyards 
 to raise the flag to the top of the staff. When the flag was 
 unfurled at the top of the mast the cheering of the tremendous 
 throng was like the roaring of mighty waters. In all of its 
 colorful beauty, it floated in the morning sunlight. Then the 
 band played the Star Spangled Banner. The cannon ranged in 
 Independence Square fired salutes. It was an inspiring patriotic 
 occasion, in which President-elect Lincoln fitted exceptionally 
 well. After these exercises he returned to his hotel. 
 
 As the time drew near for the President-elect to continue 
 his journey to Harrisburg, an immense throng of people gather- 
 ed about the hotel. Promptly at eight-thirty o'clock, Lincoln 
 and his party left the hotel and proceeded to West Philadelphia 
 by way of Walnut and Twenty-third Streets, where their train 
 was made up for the trip. The train left at nine-thirty and in 
 response to a large cheering crowd Mr. Lincoln appeared upon 
 the rear platform and bowed in appreciation to the farewell 
 greetings extended to him. 
 
 Before Lincoln left Philadelphia, a committee of representa- 
 tive citizens waited upon Lincoln's manager who was urged by 
 the committee to have the train stop at Lancaster in order that 
 Lincoln might make a short speech. At first, the answer was 
 negative. However the committee was persistent in presenting 
 their invitation so that on the night of February 21, permission 
 was granted by the manager to which Lincoln agreed. The 
 committee was jubilant. The conditions were that the train 
 would stop for eighteen minutes; passage must be clear from 
 the station to the Cadwell House which was located near the 
 station where Lincoln would speak; the way must be clear back 
 to the train. To these conditions the committee readily agreed. 
 
 Now let us follow the journey to Lancaster. A large crowd 
 of people gathered at Haverford Station to whom Lincoln 
 bowed; at Paoli he passed through a similar experience. A 
 stop of a few minutes was made at Downingtown where Lincoln 
 shook hands with many people; at Coatesville, another group 
 greeted him; a similar stop was made at Leaman Place where 
 the greetings of the large assembly were so heartfelt and earnest, 
 that the President-elect expressed his appreciation. The 
 Presidential train arrived in Lancaster on time. The beautiful 
 day brought out large numbers of people to see and hear Lincoln. 
 As the train came into the town, a salute of thirty-four guns was 
 fired. The committee had met the conditions relative to Lin- 
 
CHARLES WILLIAM HEATHCOTE 31 
 
 coin's visit to the very letter of the law. Lincoln was escorted 
 to the balcony of the Cadwell House, and introduced by Mr. 
 Dickey, the Chairman of the Lancaster Committee. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln said: "Ladies and Gentlemen of all Lancaster; 
 I appear before you, but not to make a speech. I have no time 
 to make them on every occasion. Worse than all, I have none 
 to make. I came before you to see and be seen; and, as regards 
 the ladies, I have the best of the bargain, but, as to the gentlemen, 
 I cannot say as much. There is plenty of matter to speak about 
 these times, but it is well known that the more a man speaks 
 the less he is understood ; the more he says one thing his adver- 
 saries contend he meant something else. I shall soon have 
 occasion to speak officially and then I will endeavor to put my 
 thoughts in plain language, just as I can express myself, true 
 to the constitution of the Union; to all the states; to perpetual 
 liberty to all the people. Until I so speak there is no need of 
 entering into details. In conclusion, I greet you most heartily, 
 and bid you an affectionate farewell." 
 
 His reception at Lancaster was wholeheartedly expressed 
 by the people. Cheering followed the train on its journey to 
 Harrisburg. At Elizabethtown and Middletown, the train 
 moved very slowly, which gave Lincoln an opportunity to bow 
 to the crowds assembled. 
 
 The train arrived at Harrisburg at two o'clock. A salute 
 greeted the arrival of President-elect Lincoln and his party. 
 Another large crowd greeted Lincoln in Harrisburg. A military 
 escort conducted the President-elect to Jones' Hotel. Very 
 soon after his arrival, Lincoln was taken to the balcony of the 
 hotel where he was publicly welcomed to the capital of the 
 State by Governor Curtin. In his remarks, the Governor 
 stressed the idea that the people of the United States looked to 
 Lincoln as their leader to restore peace, amity and good feeling 
 throughout the Union. He also stated that "if reconciliation 
 should fail, notwithstanding all patriotic efforts, they would be 
 ready and willing to aid by men and money to maintain their 
 glorious Constitution." 
 
 In response to this pleasing welcome, President-elect Lin- 
 coln expressed his appreciation for his statements of good will. 
 He spoke briefly about the distracted condition of the country. 
 He hoped all difficulties could be settled peaceably. He stated 
 he must be sustained by the people. "He certainly brought an 
 earnest heart to the work, and it should be no fault of his if he 
 failed." 
 
32 LINCOLN IN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 After Lincoln's remarks, a procession was formed which 
 proceeded to the capitol. President-elect Lincoln occupied a 
 seat beside Governor Curtin. 
 
 The reception was prepared to take place in the House of 
 Representatives at three p.m. This chamber was densely 
 crowded upon the occasion. The State Legislative record gives 
 the following chronicle: 
 
 "The hour of 3 o'clock having arrived, the Speaker and 
 members of the Senate were introduced into the House of 
 Representatives, by the Committee of Reception appointed for 
 that purpose; and after some time the Committee of Reception 
 introduced Abraham Lincoln, President-elect of the United 
 States, and the Governor and Heads of Departments of this 
 State. Whereupon the Speaker of the Senate, Robert M. Palmer, 
 addressed the President-elect, as follows: 
 
 "Honored Sir: 'In behalf of the Senate of Pennsylvania, I 
 welcome you to the Capitol of our State. We deem it a peculiar 
 privilege and a happy omen, that while on your way to assume 
 the duties of the high office to which you have been called, at 
 this momentous period in our National history, we are honored 
 by your presence at our seat of government, on the anniversary 
 of the birthday of the Father of His Country. The people of 
 Pennsylvania, upon whom rests so large a share of the re- 
 sponsibility of your nomination and election to the Presidency, 
 appreciate the magnitude of the task before you, and are fully 
 prepared to sustain your Administration of the Government, 
 according to the Constitution and the laws. 
 
 "Whatever the differences of opinion existed previous to 
 the election, as to the political questions involved in the canvas, 
 they are a law-abiding, Constitution and Union-loving people, 
 and there is no difference among them as to your right to claim, 
 and their duty to render, such support. Accordingly, here today 
 are assembled men of all parties and of every shade of political 
 opinion, to welcome and to honor you as the Constitutionally 
 chosen President of the United States. 
 
 "Nor have we observed with indifference the recent public 
 expression of your views on a subject closely affecting the material 
 interests of Pennsylvania. That it is not only the right but 
 the duty of the General Government, while providing revenue 
 for its support by means of a tariff, so to regulate the duties on 
 imports as to afford adequate protection to all the industrial 
 interests of the country, is universally admitted by our people. 
 It has, therefore, afforded them profound satisfaction that you 
 
CHARLES WILLIAM HEATHCOTE 33 
 
 have been known recently to declare that this is also your view 
 of the true policy of the Government. 
 
 "Deeply impressed with the honor of your visit at this 
 interesting time — proud of the presence among us of him whom 
 the people have so recently elevated to the Chair of Washington, 
 and to whom they have so largely confided their highest inter- 
 ests — hopeful of the beneficial results of the wise and just 
 measures which we trust and believe will signalize your Adminis- 
 tration, and soon restore harmony and prosperity to our country, 
 I again, in the name and in behalf of the Senate, bid you a 
 cordial welcome to our Capitol.' 
 
 "The Speaker of the House then addressed the President- 
 elect, as follows: 
 
 " 'Respected Sir: It becomes my duty — and certainly it is 
 a pleasant one — to welcome you in behalf of the members of 
 the House of Representatives of Pennsylvania, and to express 
 to you their pleasure in meeting you in this Hall. We are proud 
 and gratified to meet you, and bid you welcome in the name of 
 Pennsylvania as the President-elect of the United States. 
 
 " 'This is not the time nor the occasion for making a formal 
 address to you. The people are here to see, and, if possible, 
 hear you speak, in whose ability and integrity they have placed 
 their hopes, and who is soon to preside over the destinies of 
 this great nation. Pennsylvania contributed as much to your 
 election, to your present exalted though arduous position, as 
 any other State in the Union, and although her voice has always 
 been for peace, 'and her flood waters fields unbought with 
 blood', yet I believe I speak the sentiments of her entire people, 
 when I say she is willing to pledge her resources — men and 
 money to maintain the Constitution, sustain the Government, 
 and enforce the laws. 
 
 " 'Permit me again to bid you welcome in the name of the 
 Representatives of the people of Pennsylvania. Amidst the 
 gloom that now hangs over our beloved country — when designing 
 men are endeavoring to disturb the only sure safeguard of our 
 liberties, the Union, we meet you, sir, with an abiding faith in 
 the wisdom and Justice of Providence and a firm reliance on 
 your patriotism, prudence and ability to save the nation from 
 the present impending danger. We deeply feel the responsibilities 
 of the present hour, and the importance of moderation and 
 firmness. There is no disguising the fact that the ship of state 
 is drifting in a dangerous and unknown sea. But we have 
 every confidence in the steady hand and true heart of the pilot 
 of our choice. 
 
34 LINCOLN IN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 " 'We have full confidence in the rectitude of your inten- 
 tions, and the purity of your purposes; and our ardent prayer 
 is now and will be for the success of your Administration, and 
 the maintenance of the Constitution and the Union.' 
 
 "The President-elect then replied, as follows: 
 
 " 'Mr. Speaker of the Senate and also Mr. Speaker of the 
 House of Representatives, and Gentlemen of the General 
 Assembly of the State of Pennsylvania, I appear before you 
 only for a very few brief remarks in response to what has been 
 said to me. I thank you most sincerely for this reception and 
 the generous words in which support has been promised me 
 upon this occasion. I thank your great Commonwealth for 
 the overwhelming support it recently gave — not me personally 
 — but the cause which I think a just one, in the late election. 
 (Loud applause.) Allusion has been made to the fact — the 
 interesting fact perhaps we should say — that I for the first time 
 appear at the Capitol of the great Commonwealth of Penn- 
 sylvania, upon the birthday of the Father of his country. In 
 connection with that beloved anniversary with the history 
 of this country, I have already gone through one exceedingly 
 interesting scene this morning in the ceremonies at Philadelphia. 
 Under the kind conduct of gentelmen there, I was for the first 
 time allowed the privilege of standing in old Independence Hall, 
 (Enthusiastic cheering) to have a few words addressed to me 
 there and opening up to me an opportunity of expressing with 
 much regret that I had not more time to express something of 
 my own feelings excited by the occasion — somewhat to har- 
 monize and give shape to the feelings that had been really the 
 feelings of my whole life. 
 
 " 'Besides this, our friends there had provided a magnificent 
 flag of the country. They had arranged it so that I was given 
 the honor of raising it to the head of its staff (applause); and 
 when it went up, I was pleased that it went to its place by the 
 strength of my own feeble arm. When, according to the ar- 
 rangement, the cord was pulled and it flaunted gloriously to the 
 wind without an accident, in the light of glowing sunshine of 
 the morning, I could not help hoping that there was in the 
 entire success of that beautiful ceremony, at least something of 
 an omen of what is to come. (Loud applause.) Nor could I 
 help feeling then as I often have felt, that in the whole of that 
 proceedings I was a very humble instrument. I had not pro- 
 vided the flag; I had not made the arrangement for elevating 
 it to its place; I had applied but a very small portion of even 
 my feeble strength in raising it. In the whole transaction, I 
 
CHARLES WILLIAM HEATHCOTE 35 
 
 was in the hands of the people who had arranged it, and if I 
 can have the same generous cooperation of the people of this 
 nation, I think the flag of our country may yet be kept flaunting 
 gloriously. (Enthusiastic, long continued cheering.) 
 
 " 'I recur for a moment but to repeat some words uttered 
 at the hotel in regard to what has been said about the military 
 support which the general government may expect from the 
 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in a proper emergency. To 
 guard against any possible mistake do I recur to this. It is 
 not with any pleasure that I contemplate the possibility that 
 a necessity may arise in this country for the use of the military 
 arm. (Applause.) While I am exceedingly gratified to see the 
 manifestation upon your streets of your military force here, and 
 exceedingly gratified at your promise here to use that force 
 upon a proper emergency, while I make these acknowledgments, 
 I desire to repeat, in order to preclude any possible misconstruc- 
 tion, that I do most sincerely hope that we shall have no use 
 for them — (loud applause) — that it will never become their 
 duty to shed blood, and most especially never to shed fraternal 
 blood. I promise that, (in so far as I may have wisdom to 
 direct), if so painful a result shall in any ways be brought about, 
 it shall be through no fault of mine. (Cheers.) 
 
 " 'Allusion has also been made, by one of your honored 
 Speakers, to some remarks recently made by myself at Pittsburgh 
 in regard to what is supposed to be the especial interest of this 
 great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I now wish only to say, 
 in regard to that matter, that the few remarks which I uttered 
 on that occasion were rather carefully worded I took pains 
 that they should be so. I have seen no occasion since to add 
 to them or subtract from them. I leave them precisely as 
 they stand; (applause) adding only now that I am pleased to 
 have an expression from you, gentlemen of Pennsylvania, signi- 
 ficant that they are satisfactory to you. 
 
 " 'And, now, gentlemen, of the General Assembly of the 
 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, allow me again to return to 
 you my most sincere thanks.' " 
 
 When Lincoln arrived in Philadelphia on February 21, he 
 was informed that a plot had been planned to assassinate him 
 on his way to Washington. Lincoln seemed to doubt it. How- 
 ever he was told it was definitely established that the plan was 
 known. Lincoln refused to change his plans. After he had 
 reached Harrisburg and he had finished his address before the 
 Pennsylvania General Assembly, several of his friends urged 
 him to change his plans and not to go to Washington by special 
 
36 LINCOLN IN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 train the following morning, but to leave for Washington secretly 
 on this evening of February 22. After much opposition to the 
 plans of his friends, Lincoln yielded to their program to proceed 
 to Washington by another route. Mrs. Lincoln earnestly urged 
 this course for her husband. Lincoln left Harrisburg secretly 
 at six o'clock by special train which arrived in Philadelphia a 
 little after eleven o'clock; here he took the express over the 
 Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore road. In Baltimore 
 he took an early train to Washington, which brought him to 
 the Nation's Capitol at six a.m. The trip was made in safety 
 and without incident. He was met at the station by Mr. Seward 
 and Mr. Washburne, who took him to Willard's Hotel, where 
 he remained until the inauguration on March 4th, 1861. 
 
 In commenting upon this experience, the New York Times 
 in an extra edition of February 23 stated: "Abraham Lincoln 
 the President-elect of the United States is safe in the capital 
 of the nation. By the admirable arrangement of General 
 Scott, the country has been spared the lasting disgrace which 
 would have been fastened indelibly upon it had Mr. Lincoln 
 been murdered upon his journey thither." 
 
 However the special train carrying the members of the 
 Presidential family, including Mrs. Lincoln and her family, 
 left Harrisburg at the specified time at nine o'clock. Many 
 people along the route were very much disappointed that the 
 President-elect was not on the train. In due course, Mrs. 
 Lincoln and her family were united with the President-elect in 
 Washington. 
 
 Concerning this part of the trip, the Baltimore Evening 
 Patriot of February 23 observed: — 'The entire trip down was 
 very pleasant and would no doubt have been highly enjoyed by 
 the President-elect had he been permitted to act his own free 
 will." 
 
 When Lincoln was on his trip to Washington, he was very 
 careful not to reveal his policy. He showed a careful, cheerful 
 spirit, but his statements revealed a clear knowledge of his 
 difficulties. His policy was strongly stated in his inaugural 
 address on March 4. Throughout his address, there is not a 
 statement of partisanship, sectionalism or radicalism, but a 
 clear statement of careful, logical, convincing reasoning for the 
 highest appeal of good government, cooperation, law-abiding 
 and enforcement. Lincoln showed there must be an effort 
 made to bring about a harmony of interests between majorities 
 and minorities. 
 
CHARLES WILLIAM HEATHCOTE 37 
 
 The Civil War coming on showed a failure to produce a 
 harmony of interests. Lincoln's leadership was shown under a 
 new angle. Throughout the war period, he endeavored to 
 bring order out of chaos, to maintain the Union and to try con- 
 sistently to follow a constructive plan of leadership. The 
 psychology of the man made any other plan impossible. 
 
Part III 
 
 President Lincoln at Gettysburg 
 
 The terrific loss of life which resulted from the battle of 
 Gettysburg and its outstanding importance in marking 
 the turning point of the Civil War, led many leaders to 
 stress the necessity of setting apart a portion of the field as a 
 National Cemetery. In order to bring these plans to fruition, 
 Governor Curtin of Pennsylvania appointed Judge David Wills 
 of Gettysburg to purchase a site and to cooperate with the 
 governors of the seventeen other loyal states which had men 
 who had fought in the battle in the consummation of the plans 
 for dedication. The Board of Commissioners, of which Judge 
 Wills was President, purchased seventeen acres in Cemetery 
 Hill, "at the apex of the triangular lines of the battle of the 
 Union Army." 
 
 In order to dedicate the cemetery by appropriate exercises, 
 Judge Wills was authorized to invite Hon. Edward Everett, 
 the well-known orator and statesman of Boston, to deliver the 
 address. Thursday, October 23, was the day set aside for the 
 exercises. However Mr. Everett replied that this date would 
 be unsuitable to him and suggested Thursday, November 19 
 as the appropriate time. This date was definitely selected. 
 Later, an invitation was also extended to the President of the 
 United States, Abraham Lincoln, to be present for the occasion 
 and to make a few appropriate remarks. The President accepted 
 the invitation. 
 
 When the President proposed to leave Washington to visit 
 Gettysburg, the affairs of the nation were not in a satisfactory 
 state. The Civil War dragged on and the Confederates were 
 not defeated. It seems that Lincoln desired to go to Gettysburg 
 to consecrate himself anew to the great task of bringing the 
 struggle to a successful conclusion. 
 
 The Presidential train left Washington on November 18, 
 1863. Among those who were in the Presidential party were 
 Seward, Secretary of State; Blair, Postmaster-general; General 
 James B. Fry, his special escort; his two secretaries, John G. 
 Nicolay, John Hay, and several others. 
 
 Many of Lincoln's friends feared there would be a hostile 
 demonstration against him in Baltimore, but his passage through 
 
40 LINCOLN IN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 the city was unmolested. The journey continued to Hanover 
 Junction, and thence to Gettysburg. The committee had 
 arranged to have the President as the guest of Judge Wills, 
 whose home was located in the public square. Secretary Seward 
 and several others were entertained by Mr. Harper, whose 
 home was next door to the Wills' home. 
 
 In the course of the evening, the President was serenaded 
 by a band. At this time he made a few remarks. He was 
 very eager to put his address in final shape for the exercises of 
 the following day. Before he had left Washington, he had 
 written a portion of his address; on the train on his way to 
 Gettysburg, he made a few notes; how much he used of them in 
 the final writing of his speech we do not know. In his room 
 at the Wills' home that evening he put his speech in final form. 
 Quite late in the evening, President Lincoln went next door to 
 consult with Seward about his address. He may have read it 
 to the Secretary. It seems that Lincoln retained it in the form 
 in which he had prepared it. The following morning he re-wrote 
 it for the exercises of the day. 
 
 The day of dedication dawned beautiful and clear. A 
 writer for the Gettysburg Compiler stated: "The streets swarmed 
 with people from all sections of the Union — the number variously 
 estimated at from twenty to forty thousand. Every available 
 spot on the principal streets was occupied. The throng of 
 ladies and gentlemen, the large turn-out of military in their 
 best trim, the flags floating in the breeze at innumerable points 
 all contributed to the making up of a picture as rare and exciting 
 interest." The reporter for the Hanover Spectator who was 
 Miss Mary Leader, editor and manager of same, and likely 
 the only woman correspondent at Gettysburg during the exer- 
 cises wrote, "Early in the day the streets swarmed with people. 
 About ten o'clock, the line of the procession was formed and 
 moved forward to the grounds of the cemetery." The order 
 was as follows: 
 
 Full Brass Band. 
 
 Second United States Artillery. 
 
 United States Regular Cavalry, from Carlisle Barracks. 
 
 Major General Couch and Staff. 
 
 General Stahl and Staff. 
 
 Twentieth Pennsylvania Cavalry, 120 in number, under 
 command of Colonel B. Strickler. 
 
 Col. Prevost of Philadelphia and Staff. 
 
 Battery A — Fifth United States Regulars. 
 
 Major General Schenck and Staff. 
 
CHARLES WILLIAM HEATHCOTE 41 
 
 Band of Fifth New York Artillery. 
 
 Fifth New York Regiment, under command of Col. Graham. 
 The President of the United States, attended by Vice- 
 President Hamlin, Secretary Seward, of the State De- 
 partment; Secretary Usher of the Department of the 
 Interior, Secretary Welles of the Navy Department and 
 Postmaster General Blair escorted by Chief Marshal 
 Ward H. Lamon and Aids, Marshals and Marshals' Aids, 
 Brigadier General Wright, General Doubleday, and 
 Brigadier General Mason, attended by their Staffs, 
 Commissioners of the different States, United States 
 Sanitary Commission, numbering 20 men, under com- 
 mand of Dr. W. F. Sewall. 
 Free Mason's Lodge No. 124 of Gettysburg. 
 Hanover Lodge I. O. O. F. No. 334. 
 Baltimore delegation, consisting of members of Councils of 
 
 Baltimore and Civil Officials. 
 Birgfield's Band of Philadelphia. 
 Faculty and Students of the Gettysburg College. 
 Several hundred citizens, comprising delegations from the 
 
 several states. 
 "By the time the President," wrote Miss Leader, "accom- 
 panied by the different members of the Cabinet, entered the 
 cemetery grounds, the stand erected in the center of the grounds 
 was surrounded by at least 10,000 citizens, several thousand of 
 whom were congregated immediately in front of the stand." 
 The program which was rendered was as follows: 
 
 Music by Birgfield's Band 
 
 Prayer by Rev. L. H. Stockton, D.D. 
 
 Music by the Marine Band 
 
 Oration by Hon. Edward Everett 
 
 Music Hymn composed by B. B. French, Esq. 
 
 Dedicatory Remarks by the President of the United 
 States 
 
 Dirge Sung by Choir selected for the occasion 
 
 Benediction by Rev. H. L. Baugher, D.D., 
 
 President of Pennsylvania College 
 Chief Marshall Lamon introduced the Hon. Edward Everett 
 who was the orator of the occasion. Miss Leader wrote concern- 
 ing his address that "it was an exceedingly elaborate and ornate 
 production, embellished by classical allusions, brilliant rhetorical 
 passages, and historical parallels illustrative of the existing 
 conflict in the United States." When Chief Marshall Lamon 
 introduced President Lincoln, he was greeted very enthusiastic- 
 
42 LINCOLN IN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 ally. According to the Gettysburg Compiler, Lincoln spoke as 
 follows : 
 
 "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth 
 upon this continent a new nation conceived in liberty and 
 dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. 
 Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing the question 
 whether this nation or any nation so conceived, so dedicated, 
 can long endure. We are met on the great battlefield of that 
 war. We are met to dedicate it on a portion of the field set 
 apart as the final resting place of those who gave their lives 
 for the nation's life; but the nation must live and it is alto- 
 gether fitting and proper that we should do so. In a larger 
 sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot 
 hallow this ground in reality. The numbers of men, living and 
 dead, who struggled here have consecrated it far above our 
 poor attempts to add to its consecration. The world will little 
 know and nothing remember of what we say here, but we cannot 
 forget what these men did here. We owe this offering to our 
 dead. We invite increased attention and devotion to that 
 cause for which they gave their last full measure of devotion; 
 we here might resolve that they shall not have died in vain; 
 that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom, 
 and that the Government of the people, for the people, for all 
 people, shall not pass from earth." 
 
 The report from the Adams Sentinel & General Advertiser. 
 The President then delivered the following dedicatory remarks: 
 "Four score and seven years ago our fathers, brought forth 
 upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and 
 dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. 
 (Applause.) Now, we are engaged in a great civil war, testing 
 whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedi- 
 cated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of 
 that war; we are met to dedicate a portion of it as a final resting- 
 place of those who here gave their lives that that nation might 
 live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. 
 But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, 
 we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, 
 who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor 
 power to add or detract (applause). The world will little note, 
 or long remember what we may say here; but it can never 
 forget what they did here. (Applause.) It is for us, the living, 
 rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work that they 
 have thus far so worthily carried on. (Applause.) It is rather 
 for us here to be dedicated to the great task remaining before 
 
CHARLES WILLIAM HEATHCOTE 43 
 
 us; that from these honored dead we take increased devotion 
 to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of 
 devotion that we here highly resolve that those dead shall not 
 have died in vain (applause). That the nation shall, under 
 God, have a new birth of freedom, and that the Government 
 of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish 
 from the earth." (Long applause continued.) 
 
 A contrasted study of these two reports is interesting. 
 
 Perhaps the form of the speech by which Lincoln desired 
 to have it remembered was the copy which he prepared for 
 the Soldiers' and Sailors' Fair at Baltimore in 1864. This copy 
 he produced in his own handwriting and dated it November 19, 
 1863. The address is as follows: 
 
 "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth 
 on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedi- 
 cated to the proposition that all men are created equal. 
 
 "Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether 
 that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can 
 long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. 
 We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final 
 resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation 
 might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should 
 do this. 
 
 "But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate — we can not 
 consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, 
 living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far 
 above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little 
 note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never 
 forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be 
 dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought 
 here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be 
 here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from 
 these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause 
 for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we 
 here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain 
 — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom 
 — and that government of the people, by the people, for the 
 people, shall not perish from the earth." 
 
 Miss Leader wrote for her paper, "After his speech, Mr. 
 Lincoln sat down amid a scene of much enthusiasm." The 
 dedicatory exercises were brought to a close by the benediction, 
 pronounced by Dr. H. L. Baugher, President of Pennsylvania 
 College, Gettysburg. 
 
44 LINCOLN IN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 At the conclusion of the ceremonies, the artillery fired a 
 salute. The military portion of the procession escorted President 
 Lincoln back to Judge Wills' home. Here a large number of 
 people paid their respects to him. 
 
 The question which now confronts us is — what was the 
 attitude of the people generally and particularly to Lincoln's 
 speech? The late P. M. Bikle, for many years Dean of Gettys- 
 burg College, was a sophomore in the college at the time that 
 Lincoln delivered his address and who was fortunate enough to 
 be within thirty feet of President Lincoln when he delivered 
 his address. In a statement Dean Bikle prepared for the college 
 library, he states: "President Baugher of Pennsylvania College, 
 Gettysburg, was on the platform, being on the program to pro- 
 nounce the benediction, and he told some of us students after- 
 wards that he heard Mr. Everett say to Mr. Lincoln: 'I spent 
 many weeks in preparing my address and used more than an 
 hour delivering it, but your speech of a few minutes will live 
 long after mine will have been forgotten.' " Dr. Bikle continued : 
 "When Mr. Lincoln rose to speak, the stillness was very notice- 
 able. It was the tall gaunt figure of a man that might be called 
 somewhat imposing, but certainly not attractive. But he was 
 the President of the nation. With a hand on each side of his 
 manuscript, he spoke in a most deliberate manner and with 
 such a forceful and articulate expression that he could be heard 
 by all of that immense throng. It is seldom we have heard any 
 one whose voice carried so well. There was no gesture except 
 with both hands up and down, grasping the manuscript, which 
 he did not seem to need, as he looked at it so seldom. In this 
 way he delivered the whole speech. I do not remember whether 
 there was any applause, but I do remember that there was 
 surprise that his speech was so short. What the crowd thought 
 of its merits I do not know, but I do know what I thought. On 
 coming away, I said to a classmate, 'Well, Mr. Lincoln's speech 
 was simple, appropriate and right to the point, but I don't 
 think there was anything remarkable about it.' That was the 
 opinion of a wise sophomore. Edward Everett's opinion was 
 different, I think, he would have said its simplicity, appropriate- 
 ness and pointedness are among the features that make it 
 remarkable. The sophomore now sees it in its true light, and 
 will always rejoice that it was his privilege to hear it." 
 
 Since then that address has become an immortal classic in 
 the English language. Sixty years after the address was deliver- 
 ed the Philadelphia Ledger in an editorial stated: "This day 
 sixty years ago Abraham Lincoln made his immortal speech at 
 
CHARLES WILLIAM HEATHCOTE 45 
 
 Gettysburg. There were only twenty-nine lines in the crumpled 
 first manuscript of that address, nine sentences and 250 words. 
 Wherever English is read or spoken, they echo on and on over 
 the world. School children memorize them and statesmen 
 having a faith in humanity ponder them when dangers threaten." 
 
 To close an unusually busy day the President attended a 
 patriotic service in the Presbyterian Church, which was arranged 
 for by Judge Wills. Prior to this service, President Lincoln 
 heard of the old veteran of prior wars, John Burns, about 
 seventy years of age, who as a civilian joined up with the Union 
 army and fought against the Confederates until he was wounded 
 three times. He recovered from his wounds, and he was held 
 in high esteem in Gettysburg for the service he rendered. Presi- 
 dent Lincoln received him very cordially and greeted him, 
 "God bless you, old man." Concerning this meeting the Adams 
 Sentinel and General Advertiser observed: "the President, arm- 
 in-arm with John Burns and Secretary-of-State went to church 
 in the evening. Cheering to the President, in his great office, 
 must be the simple event — most cheering to the declining 
 years of 'brave John Burns.' In this touching incident, perhaps, 
 more than any other, Gettysburg, was truly dedicated." 
 
 The church was filled to its capacity by an interested 
 audience. Colonel Anderson, Lieutenant-Governor-elect of 
 Ohio, delivered the address. He was introduced by former 
 Governor Denison of the same state. Inasmuch as the special 
 train of the President was scheduled to leave Gettysburg at 
 half-past six, it was necessary for the President to depart from 
 the service before it was over. The return trip to Washington 
 was made without incident. The train arrived at the capital — 
 Lincoln was tired and exhausted. Though Lincoln had delivered 
 an immortal address that day, yet a new experience came into 
 his life that day which brought out a new and vital phase in 
 his leadership in the Presidency which was manifested in the 
 days to come and which had not been shown so confidently and 
 vitally before this. 
 
Part IV 
 
 President Lincoln's Visit to 
 Philadelphia— 1864 
 
 IN order to mitigate some of the horrors and ravages of the 
 war, the Christian Commission was organized quite early 
 in the struggle. From the beginning, it was given the 
 unlimited confidence of the government and the hearty support 
 of the people. The heartiest cooperation came from the churches 
 which became the sources from which funds were collected; 
 religious periodicals, tracts and Bibles were contributed ; and aid 
 was furnished for the hospitals to help the wounded and dying 
 on the battlefields. President Lincoln said: "The Christian 
 and benevolent undertaking is too obviously proper and praise- 
 worthy to admit of any difference of opinion." 
 
 In order to raise money and secure contributions to aid 
 the work of the Commission great fairs were held in many of 
 the large cities and towns of the northern states. In the summer 
 of 1864, a great central fair was held in Philadelphia. The officials 
 of the organization invited President and Mrs. Lincoln to visit 
 the fair. The President and Mrs. Lincoln left Washington at 
 seven a.m., June 16, 1864, and arrived in Philadelphia about 
 noon; on the way to Philadelphia, high tributes were paid to 
 the President. When he came to Philadelphia, he was greeted 
 by tremendous outbursts of enthusiasm. He was escorted to 
 the Hotel Continental where a large crowd had assembled to 
 greet him. There were numerous cheers and cries: "Speech 
 from our next President." However, the President did not 
 respond even to make a short speech. Late in the afternoon, 
 the Mayor with a committee representing the Councils welcomed 
 the President to the hospitalities of the city. To which the 
 President replied briefly expressing his appreciation for their 
 kind sentiments. The President was then escorted to the Fair 
 Buildings. After a tour of the fair, President Lincoln spoke in 
 part, as follows: 
 
 "The Sanitary Commission, with all its benevolent labors, 
 the Christian Commission with all its Christian and benevolent 
 labor, and the various places, arrangements, so to speak, and 
 institutions, have contributed to the comfort and relief of the 
 
48 LINCOLN IN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 soldiers. You have two of these places in the city — the Cooper- 
 Shop and the Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon (great ap- 
 plause and cheers), and lastly these fairs, which I believe began 
 only last August, if I mistake not, in Chicago, then at Boston, 
 at Cincinnati, Brooklyn, New York, at Baltimore, and those at 
 present held at St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. The 
 motive and object that lie at the bottom of all of these are most 
 worthy; for, say what you will, after all the most is due to the 
 soldier, who takes his life in his hands and goes to fight the 
 battles of his country. (Cheers.) 
 
 "Speaking of the present campaign, General Grant is re- 
 ported to have said, 'I am going through on this line if it takes 
 all summer.' (Cheers.) This war has taken three years; it was 
 begun and accepted on the line of restoring national authority 
 over the whole national domain, upon the American people, 
 as far as my knowledge enables me to speak. I say we are 
 going through on this line if it takes three years more. (Cheers.) 
 If I shall discover that General Grant and the other noble 
 officers and men under him can be greatly facilitated in their 
 work by a sudden pouring forward of men and assistance will 
 you give them to me? (Cries of 'y es -') Then I say stand 
 ready, for I am watching for the chance. (Cheers.) I thank 
 you, gentlemen." 
 
 The President was given a splendid ovation after his ad- 
 dress. At the conclusion of his visit to the fair, the President 
 and his party were escorted to the Hotel Continental. Later 
 in the evening, the President was given a pleasant reception at 
 the Union League House on Chestnut Street above Eleventh. 
 To the address of welcome, President Lincoln responded: "I 
 thank you, sir, for your kind words of welcome. I am happy 
 at the opportunity of visiting the Union League of Philadelphia, 
 the first, I believe of the Union Leagues — an organization free 
 from political prejudices and prompted in its formation by 
 virtues of the brightest patriotism. I have many a time heard 
 of its doing great good, and no one has charged it with doing 
 any wrong. But it is not my intention to make a speech. It 
 will now afford me pleasure to take each of you by the hand." 
 
 The members and guests of the League were very hospitable 
 to their distinguished guest. When he departed from the 
 League building, the crowd outside cheered him enthusiastically. 
 The President finally yielded to say a few words from the steps : 
 "Fellow Citizens, I am very grateful tonight for the reception 
 you have tendered me. I will not make a speech. At the 
 solicitation of the Union League, I speak to you, and, in con- 
 
CHARLES WILLIAM HEATHCOTE 49 
 
 elusion, I thank you for this great demonstration which you 
 have paid me and beg you will excuse me." 
 
 The President was generously applauded. During his 
 delightful visit to Philadelphia, he was frequently serenaded by 
 various musical organizations. The reception by the people 
 generally was so genuine and sincere that the President appre- 
 ciated it and it touched him deeply. The Presidential party 
 returned to Washington on Friday, June 17, where the President 
 resumed the task to restore the Union to order and solidarity. 
 
 In all of Lincoln's state papers and writings a deep religious 
 note is shown. He manifests deep reverence for God's word and 
 holds the name of the Deity in the highest honor and respect. 
 However, after his unusual experience at Gettysburg in No- 
 vember of 1863, we find him a changed Lincoln. On that 
 memorable day when he delivered his immortal dedicatory 
 address, he truly consecrated himself to God. 
 
 In the July number, 1865, of the Quarterly Review, Professor 
 Stoever wrote concerning Lincoln's rich religious experience as 
 follows: "To a friend who asked him on a certain occasion if 
 he loved the Saviour his reply was : 'When I was first inaugurated 
 I did not love him; but when I stood upon the battlefield of 
 Gettysburg, and looked upon the graves of our dead heroes, 
 who had fallen in defense of their country, I gave my heart to 
 Christ, and I can now say that I do love my Saviour." This 
 statement is truly reflected in his leadership after his return to 
 Washington following the dedicatory exercises at Gettysburg. 
 He revealed new poise, firmer confidence in himself, his faith 
 is more virile, his moral courage is stronger than ever. He 
 deals with the difficult problems before him with a new insight 
 and ability not displayed before. This new revelation in his 
 leadership is first sensed by the cabinet; then Congress and. 
 the country as a whole came to realize the unusual power possess- 
 ed by Lincoln. 
 
 These marvelous spiritual heights were set forth in his 
 second inaugural address on March 4, 1865, when he said: 
 "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness 
 in the right as God gives us the right, let us strive on to finish 
 the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for 
 him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his 
 orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and 
 lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."