Authors: Doris Kearns Goodwin
Thomas in relentless poverty: Thomas,
Abraham Lincoln,
p. 5; Kenneth J. Winkle,
The Young Eagle: The Rise of Abraham Lincoln
(Dallas: Taylor Trade Publishing, 2001), p. 13.
“Why Scripps, it is…‘annals of the poor’”: John L. Scripps to WHH, June 24, 1865, in
HI,
p. 57.
“was a woman…a brilliant woman”: Nathaniel Grigsby interview, September 12, 1865, in ibid., p. 113.
“read the good…benevolence as well”: Dennis F. Hanks to WHH (interview), June 13, 1865, in ibid., p. 40.
“beyond all doubt an intellectual woman”: John Hanks interview, [1865–1866], in ibid., p. 454.
“Remarkable” perception: Dennis F. Hanks to WHH, [December 1865?], in ibid., p. 149.
“very smart…naturally Strong minded”: William Wood interview, September 15, 1865, in ibid., p. 124.
“All that I am…God bless her”: AL, comment to WHH, quoted in Michael Burlingame,
The Inner World of Abraham Lincoln
(Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1994), p. 42.
“milk sickness”: Philip D. Jordan, “The Death of Nancy Hanks Lincoln,”
Indiana Magazine of History
XL (June 1944), pp. 103–10.
Thomas and Elizabeth Sparrow: Thomas,
Abraham Lincoln,
pp. 10–11.
“I am going away…return”: Nancy Lincoln, quoted in Robert Bruce, “The Riddle of Death,” in Gabor Boritt, ed.,
The Lincoln Enigma: The Changing Faces of an American Icon
(Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), p. 132.
average life expectancy: Appleby,
Inheriting the Revolution,
p. 63.
“He restlessly looked…before his gaze”: Schurz,
Reminiscences,
Vol. II, p. 187.
had a uniquely shattering impact: Bruce, “The Riddle of Death,” in
The Lincoln Enigma,
p. 132.
“a wild region”: AL, “Autobiography written for Jesse W. Fell,” December 20, 1859, in
CW,
III, p. 511.
“the panther’s…on the swine”: “The Bear Hunt,” [September 6, 1846?], in
CW,
I, p. 386.
Sarah, did the cooking…Dennis Hanks: Dennis F. Hanks to WHH (interview), June 13, 1865, in
HI,
p. 40.
a “quick minded woman…laugh”: Nathaniel Grigsby interview, September 12, 1865, in ibid., p. 113.
“wild—ragged and dirty”: Dennis F. Hanks to WHH, June 13, 1865, in ibid., p. 41.
soaped…“more human”: Sarah Bush Lincoln interview, September 8, 1865, in ibid., p. 106.
“sat down…to his grief”: Redmond Grigsby, quoted in Burlingame,
The Inner World of Abraham Lincoln,
p. 95.
“From then on…you might say”: John W. Lamar, quoted in ibid.
“It is with deep grief…ever expect it”: AL to Fanny McCullough, December 23, 1862, in
CW,
VI, pp. 16–17.
“He was different…great potential”: Douglas L. Wilson, “Young Man Lincoln,” in
The Lincoln Enigma,
p. 35.
“clearly exceptional…intellectual equal”: Donald,
Lincoln,
p. 32.
“soared above us…guide and leader”: Nathaniel Grigsby interview, September 12, 1865, in
HI,
p. 114.
“a Boy of uncommon natural Talents”: A. H. Chapman statement, ante September 8, 1865, in ibid., p. 99.
“His mind & mine…if he could”: Sarah Bush Lincoln interview, September 8, 1865, in ibid., pp. 108, 107.
“He was a strong…neighborhood”: Leonard Swett, “Lincoln’s Story of His Own Life,” in
Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln by Distinguished Men of His Time,
ed. Allen Thorndike Rice (1885; New York and London: Harper & Bros., 1909), p. 71.
his great gift for storytelling…fireplace at night: Sarah Bush Lincoln interview, September 8, 1865, in
HI,
p. 107; John Hanks interview, [1865–1866], in ibid., p. 454.
along the old Cumberland Trail: Thomas,
Abraham Lincoln,
p. 7.
Thomas Lincoln would swap tales: Dennis F. Hanks to WHH, June 13, 1865, in
HI,
p. 37.
Young Abe listened…in his memory: Sarah Bush Lincoln interview, September 8, 1865, in ibid., p. 107.
Nothing was more upsetting…that was told: Rev. J. P. Gulliver article in
New York Independent,
September 1, 1864, quoted in F. B. Carpenter,
Six Months at the White House with Abraham Lincoln
(New York: Hurd & Houghton, 1866), p. 312.
“no small part…to comprehend”: AL, quoted in ibid., pp. 312–13.
having translated the stories…young listeners: Dennis F. Hanks to WHH, June 13, 1865, and Dennis F. Hanks interview, September 8, 1865, in
HI,
pp. 42, 104; Sarah Bush Lincoln interview, September 8, 1865, in ibid., p. 107.
subscription schools: Donald,
Lincoln,
p. 29.
“No qualification…wizzard”: AL, “Autobiography written for Jesse W. Fell,” December 20, 1859, in
CW,
III, p. 511.
“by littles”…pick up on his own: AL, “Scripps autobiography,” in
CW,
IV, p. 62.
“he could lay his hands on”: Dennis F. Hanks to WHH, June 13, 1865, in
HI,
p. 41; Sarah Bush Lincoln interview, September 8, 1865, in ibid., p. 107; John S. Houghland interview, September 17, 1865, in ibid., p. 130.
“a luxury…the middle class”: Fidler, “Young Limbs of the Law,” p. 249.
obtained copies of: Thomas,
Abraham Lincoln,
p. 15; Nathaniel Grigsby interview, September 12, 1865, in
HI,
p. 112; Charles B. Strozier,
Lincoln’s Quest for Union: Public and Private Meanings
(New York: Basic Books, 1982), p. 231.
“his eyes sparkled…could not sleep”: David Herbert Donald,
Lincoln Reconsidered: Essays on the Civil War Era, 3rd edn. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1956; New York: Vintage Books, 2001), pp. 67–68.
“the great mass…to perform”: AL, “Second Lecture on Discoveries and Inventions,” [February 11, 1859], in
CW,
III, pp. 362–63.
“as unpoetical…of the earth”: AL to Andrew Johnston, April 18, 1846, in
CW,
I, p. 378.
“There is no Frigate…Lands away”: Emily Dickinson, “There is no Frigate like a Book,”
The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson,
ed. Thomas H. Johnson (Boston: Little, Brown, 1960), p. 553.
the
Revised Statutes
…and political thought: Helen Nicolay,
Personal Traits of Abraham Lincoln
(New York: Century Co., 1912), pp. 66–68.
Everywhere he went: Nathaniel Grigsby interview, September 12, 1865, in
HI,
p. 113.
“When he came across”…memorized: Sarah Bush Lincoln interview, September 8, 1865, in ibid., p. 107.
The story is often recounted…“on a stalk”: Oliver C. Terry to JWW, July 1888, in ibid., p. 662.
Lincoln wrote poems…Crawford’s large nose: Dennis F. Hanks to WHH, June 13, 1865, in ibid., p. 41; A. H. Chapman statement, ante September 8, 1865, in ibid., p. 101.
“Josiah blowing his bugle”: AL, “Chronicles of Reuben,” as paraphrased in Herndon and Weik,
Herndon’s Life of Lincoln,
p. 47.
Seward had only to pick: Seward,
An Autobiography,
pp. 19–22, 31–35.
regarded as odd and indolent: Herndon and Weik,
Herndon’s Life of Lincoln,
p. 38; Dennis Hanks interview, September 8, 1865, in
HI,
p. 104.
“particular Care…of his own accord”: Sarah Bush Lincoln interview, September 8, 1865, in ibid., p. 108.
When he found…could continue: Matilda Johnston Moore interview, September 8, 1865, in ibid., p. 110.
destroyed his books…abused him: Burlingame,
The Inner World of Abraham Lincoln,
pp. 38–39.
father’s decision to hire him out: Swett, “Lincoln’s Story of His Own Life,” in
Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln,
ed. Rice, p. 70.
the “self-made” men in Lincoln’s generation: Appleby,
Inheriting the Revolution,
p. 231; Wiebe,
The Opening of American Society,
p. 271.
The same “longing to rise”: de Tocqueville,
Democracy in America,
p. 627.
departed…bundled on his shoulder: Swett, “Lincoln’s Story of His Own Life,” in
Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln,
ed. Rice, pp. 71–72.
New Salem was a budding town: Benjamin P. Thomas,
Lincoln’s New Salem
(Springfield, Ill.: Abraham Lincoln Association, 1934; 1947), p. 15.
to “keep body and soul together”: AL, “Scripps autobiography,” in
CW,
IV, p. 65.
Lincoln in New Salem: Thomas,
Lincoln’s New Salem,
pp. 41–77; Mentor Graham to WHH, May 29, 1865, in
HI,
pp. 9–10; Wilson,
Honor’s Voice,
pp. 59–67.
“studied with nobody”: AL, “Scripps autobiography,” in
CW,
IV, p. 65.
He buried himself…
Equity Jurisprudence:
Donald,
Lincoln,
p. 55; Thomas,
Abraham Lincoln,
p. 43.
able to read and reread his books…“any other one thing”: AL to Isham Reavis, November 5, 1855, in
CW,
II, p. 327.
“I am Anne Rutledge
…: Edgar Lee Masters, “Anne Rutledge,” in
Spoon River Anthology
(New York: The Macmillan Company, 1914; 1916), p. 220.
Lincoln would take…“wooded knoll” to read: W. D. Howells, “Life of Abraham Lincoln,” in
Lives and Speeches of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin
(New York: W. A. Townsend & Co., and Columbus, Ohio: Follett, Foster & Co., 1860), p. 31.
“it is true…of her now”: Isaac Cogdal interview, 1865–1866, in
HI,
p. 440.
“Eyes blue large, & Expressive,” auburn hair: Mentor Graham interview, April 2, 1866, in ibid., p. 242.
“She was beloved by Every body”: Ibid., p. 243.
“quick…worthy of Lincoln’s love”: William G. Greene to WHH (interview), May 30, 1865, in ibid., p. 21.
that they would marry…at Jacksonville: Thomas,
Lincoln’s New Salem,
p. 82; Tarbell,
The Life of Abraham Lincoln,
Vol. I, p. 119.
details of Ann’s death: Rankin,
Personal Recollections of Abraham Lincoln,
pp. 73–74.
“indifferent…
woods by him self”: Henry McHenry to WHH, January 8, 1866, in
HI,
p. 155.
“never seen a man…he did”: Elizabeth Abell to WHH, February 15, 1867, in ibid., p. 557.
“be reconcile[d]…temporarily deranged”: William G. Greene interview, May 30, 1865, in ibid., p. 21.
“reason would desert her throne”: Robert B. Rutledge to WHH, ca. November 1, 1866, in ibid., p. 383.
he ran “off the track”: Isaac Cogdal interview, [1865–1866], in ibid., p. 440.
“I hear the loved survivors tell
…”: AL to Andrew Johnston, April 18, 1846, in
CW,
I, p. 379.
“was not crazy”: Elizabeth Abell to WHH, February 15, 1867, in
HI,
p. 557.
“Only people…and heal them”: Leo Tolstoy,
Childhood, Boyhood, Youth,
quoted in George E. Vaillant,
The Wisdom of the Ego
(Cambridge, Mass., and London: Harvard University Press, 1993), p. 358.
“I’m afraid…last of us”: AL to Mrs. Samuel Hill, quoted in Wilson,
Honor’s Voice,
p. 83.56 of any “faith in life after death”: Bruce, “The Riddle of Death,” in
The Lincoln Enigma,
pp. 137–39. Lincoln wrote to his stepbrother that were his father to die soon, Thomas Lincoln would have a “joyous [meeting] with many loved ones gone before; and where [the rest] of us, through the help of God, hope ere-long [to join] them.” AL to John D. Johnston, January 12, 1851, in
CW,
II, p. 97.
his “heart was broken”…eternal companionship: SPC to Charles D. Cleveland, October 1, 1845, reel 6, Chase Papers.
“to a higher world…with her mother”: Bates diary, November 15, 1846.
“I ought to be able…in these reflections”: WHS to Charlotte S. Cushman, January 7, 1867, Vol. 13, The Papers of Charlotte S. Cushman, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
his “experiment…never saw a sadder face”: Speed,
Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln,
p. 21.
Speed had heard Lincoln speak: Ibid., pp. 17–18; Joshua F. Speed statement, 1865–1866, in
HI,
p. 477.
“You seem to be…‘I am moved!’”: Speed,
Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln,
pp. 21–22.
description of Joshua Speed: See ibid., pp. 3–14; Robert L. Kincaid,
Joshua Fry Speed: Lincoln’s Most Intimate Friend,
reprinted from
The Filson Club History Quarterly
17 (Louisville, Ky.: Filson Club, 1943; Harrogate, Tenn.: Department of Lincolniana, Lincoln Memorial University, 1943), pp. 10–11.
Lincoln and Speed shared: For the relationship between Lincoln and Speed, see Speed,
Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln;
Kincaid,
Joshua Fry Speed,
pp. 13–14.
as his “most intimate friend”: Kincaid,
Joshua Fry Speed,
pp. 10, 33 n2.