from the latter place to Springfield. Lincoln had been attending court in Charleston, and after the adjournment he drove to the home of Dennis Hanks from which point he and the girl set out for Springfield. The conveyance was a wheeled vehicle, a buggy, perhaps, drawn by a bay mare which Lincoln assured his fellow passenger he had named Belle. Sometimes, he said, he called her Queen. The ride through to their destination consumed parts of two days. Mrs. Chapman's account of the journey and her recollections of her home with the Lincolns was an entertaining and in some respects an amusing chapter. Her purpose was to attend school while in Springfield, and she lived with the Lincolns as a member of the household for about a year and a half; but in time her relations with Mrs. Lincoln became so strained, if not intolerable, she found it a relief at last to withdraw and return to her home at Charleston. The letters she wrote to Mr. Herndon between 1865 and 1868, and which are still in my possession, afford such characteristic and relevant glimpses into Lincoln's home life after his marriage to Mary Todd that I venture to quote a few lines.

In a letter written at Charleston, Illinois, November 21, 1866, she says: "You ask me how Mr. Lincoln acted at home. I can say, and that truly, he was all that a husband, father, and neighbor should be. Always kind and affectionate to his wife and child (Bob being the only one when I was with them) and very pleasant to all about him. Never did I hear him utter an unkind word to any one. For instance, one day he undertook to correct his child and his wife was determined that he should not, and attempted to take it from him; but in this she failed.

RECOLLECTIONS OF HARRIET CHAPMAN 55 She tried tongue-lashing, but met with the same fate, for Mr. Lincoln corrected his child, as a father ought to, in the face of his wife's anger, and that too without changing his countenance once or making any reply to her. His favorite way of reading when at home was lying on the floor. I fancy I see him now lying full length in the hall of his old home. He would turn a chair down on the floor with a pillow on it. He was very fond of reading poetry and would often, when he appeared to be in a brown study, commence reading aloud 'The Burial of Sir John Moore,' and so on. He often told laughable jokes and stories when he thought we were looking sad and gloomy." The letter contains this additional paragraph: "Anything I can tell you regarding Mr. Lincoln will be cheerfully given, but I would rather omit further mention of his wife, as I could say but little in her favor."

In a letter dated December 10, 1866, she writes: ""Mr. Lincoln was remarkably fond of children. One of his greatest pleasures when at home was that of nursing and playing with his little boy. He was what I would call a hearty eater and enjoyed a good meal of victuals as much as any one I ever knew. I have often heard him say that he could eat corn cakes as fast as two women could make them, although his table at home was set very sparingly. Mrs. Lincoln was very economical; so much so that by some she might have been pronounced stingy. Mr. Lincoln seldom ever wore his coat when in the house at home and often went to the table in his shirt-sleeves, which practice greatly annoyed his wife who, by the way, loved to put on style."

CHAPTER V

Lincoln's several proposals of marriage - Story of his failure to join Mary Todd at the Edwards home, January, 1841 His letter to John T. Stuart - Invitation to John Hanks - Preparations for the marriage to Mary Todd - The story of the wedding-Judge Browne's amusing interruption-Conflicting views of Springfield people - Writer's visit to and interview with Ninian W. Edwards and wife - Refusal of Mrs. Simeon Francis to tell her story.

BEFORE I undertake to consider Lincoln as a lawyer, I venture to digress slightly in order that I may acquaint the reader with some of the things I have learned about him in another rôle. Adverting to the story of his activity and experience in the field of matrimony leads me to state that the honor which would have been Ann Rutledge's had she lived, and that Mary Owens and Sarah Rickard successively declined, was finally accepted by Mary Todd. Of all the women, contended Herndon, to whom Mr. Lincoln paid marked or serious attention, Mary Todd was, by far, the strongest, from an intellectual standpoint, and the most accomplished generally; and it only remains to add that she was also the only one whose keen vision penetrated the future and beheld in the homely face and awkward figure of her tall suitor the man of destiny.

No episode in Lincoln's life has occasioned greater diversity of opinion among the people of Springfield than the story of his marriage to Mary Todd as told by Herndon, who, in his account of the wedding, which was first scheduled to take place January 1, 1841, relates: "Nothing was lacking but the groom. For some strange reason he had been delayed. An hour passed and the guests as well as the bride were becoming restless. But they were all doomed to disappointment. Another hour passed;

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THE BRIDEGROOM DEFAULTS

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no one

messengers were sent out over town and, each returning with the same report, it became apparent that Lincoln, the principal in this little drama, had purposely failed to appear! The bride, in grief, disappeared to her room; the wedding supper was left untouched; the guests quietly and wonderingly withdrew; the lights in the Edwards mansion. were blown out, and darkness settled over all for the night. What the feelings of a lady as sensitive, passionate, and proud as Miss Todd were we can only imagine can describe them. By daybreak, after persistent search, Lincoln's friends found him. Restless, gloomy, miserable, desperate, he seemed an object of pity. His friends, Speed among the number, fearing a tragic termination, watched him closely in their rooms day and night. Knives and razors and every instrument that could be used for selfdestruction were removed from his reach.... His condition began to improve after a few weeks, and a letter written to his partner, John T. Stuart, January 23, 1841, three weeks after the scene at the Edwards house, reveals more perfectly how he felt. He says: 'I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on earth. Whether I shall ever be better, I cannot tell; I awfully forebode I shall not. To remain as I am is impossible. I must die or be better, as it appears to me. I fear I shall be unable to attend to any business here and a change of scene might help me. If I could be myself I would rather remain at home with Judge Logan. I can write no more." "

Concerning this unusual if not dramatic episode in Lincoln's life, as described by Herndon, there remains

but little for me to say. In view of the divided sentiment among the Springfield people regarding it I can only assure the reader that I have no theory of my own to establish, and shall content myself by presenting as briefly as I can such facts as I have been able to gather in an honest and impartial endeavor to ascertain the truth.

As shown by the records of Sangamon County, Illinois, Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd were married in Springfield, Friday, November 4, 1842. Nowadays the average couple would shirk from plighting their vows on such an unlucky day as Friday, but to this pair the day had no such terrors. The ceremony took place at the residence of Ninian W. Edwards whose wife was an elder sister of Miss Todd. It was here that the latter had made her home since her arrival from Kentucky in 1839. The groom had passed his thirty-third birthday and his bride was approaching her twenty-fourth. None of Mr. Lincoln's immediate family, including his father, stepmother, stepbrother and stepsisters, all of whom lived in Coles County, distant about seventy-five miles, were present. Whether invited or not no one seems to know. The only invitation emanating from Lincoln of which I ever heard was the following characteristic note sent by him to his favorite cousin, John Hanks, who lived near the town of Decatur and who was his companion on the famous flatboat expedition to New Orleans in 1831:

DEAR JOHN

I am to be married on the 4th of next month to Miss Todd. I hope you will come over. Be sure to be on deck by early candle light. Yours

A. LINCOLN