William H. Herndon was a cousin of James and Rowan Herndon, who kept store in New Salem. William F. Berry purchased the interest of James Herndon in 1832, and a little later, Lincoln purchased the interest of Rowan. Lincoln had boarded with Rowan Herndon previous to that time, and it was there that he first met William H. Herndon, who was later to be his law partner for twenty years. William H. Herndon was seventeen years old when Ann Rutledge died. He knew all the Rutledges, including Ann. He was much impressed by her death and the grief it caused Abraham Lincoln, who was engaged to be married to her. He knew that Lincoln was a member of the Legislature, Captain of a company in the Black Hawk War, and a leading citizen of New Salem and respected him accordingly. After the death of Ann Rutledge, Herndon knew that Lincoln's friends had induced him to go to the home of Bowling Green, about three-quarters of a mile north of the village, and that these good friends cared for him for two weeks or so. He remembered later that it was an undisputed story that Lincoln had wandered in the woods for many days after the death of Ann; that on many dark and stormy nights he had gone to her grave to weep; that he had called Nancy Green, Ann; that for a while he seemed to be a mental and physical wreck.
Before making his lecture in 1866, Herndon wrote out all the facts as he remembered them. He then interviewed all the persons who had knowledge of these facts, including Lincoln's love for Ann and the effect of her death upon Lincoln. It was thirty-one years after the death of Ann Rutledge that Herndon made his lecture. Twenty years of that thirty-one, Herndon had been the law partner of Abraham Lincoln and probably his most intimate friend. It is quite understandable that a person like Herndon, knowing of this romance and the sad experience of his friend, would desire to know more about it. We have no evidence of conversations between Herndon and Lincoln regarding this love affair. Still, it would be hard to believe that there were no such conversations during the twenty years of that intimate association. Yet, we must remember that Lincoln was more reserved than most of us comprehend.
We know that after the death of Lincoln, Herndon concluded to lecture on the life of this man whom he knew so well; and that he went to Petersburg and other places to interview every person whose testimony would be of any value in arriving at the truth of the statements that he was to make. He made particular inquiry regarding the story of the love of Lincoln for Ann Rutledge and the effect that her death had upon him. After he had written his lecture, he furnished his statements of this romance and tragedy to all the Rutledges living and old neighbors of the Rutledges for confirmation and correction. His statements were confirmed to the extent of the memory of these relatives and friends of Ann.
In 1889 with the assistance of Jesse W. Weik, Herndon published his recollections of Abraham Lincoln, repeating his story of the love of Abraham Lincoln for Ann Rutledge and the grief of Lincoln when death took her away. His lecture had been criticized for its frankness, and in repeating the story, he gave his critics another opportunity to find fault with him and to refute the statements he had made twenty-three years before that time. In 1893 another edition of Herndon and Weik's life of Abraham Lincoln, "The True Story of a Great Life," was published in 1866, and the story of 1889 of Abraham Lincoln and Ann Rutledge was retold. After each edition and his lecture, we find many critics, but no one to refute his statements or disprove the romance or the details of the tragedy. The critics had ample opportunity to point out any error in the story of 1866 and the story in the biography of 1889, but the main facts of this story remained undeniable. There were many material witnesses alive in 1866. There were many material witnesses alive in 1889. There were many material witnesses alive in 1893.
In 1866, and for a considerable time thereafter, Herndon had the opportunity to interview practically all the persons who knew about Lincoln's infatuation for Ann Rutledge and his terrible grief when she died. Robert B. Rutledge wrote Herndon a letter in 1866, a copy of which has been furnished me by Thomas P. Reep of Petersburg, Illinois. Robert was seventeen years old when Ann died and, therefore, forty-eight years old in 1866. In his manuscript, he gave his own memory of Lincoln's love and terrible grief and submitted the statements he had made regarding those much-discussed happenings to his mother. Herndon also had an interview with Ann's sister, Sarah Rutledge Saunders, and John Sonee, a favorite neighbor of the Rutledges at whose house Lincoln stopped after leaving the bedside of Ann. He had heard through another the statement of Bowling Green and Nancy Green, who nursed Lincoln back to health and sanity, and the statements of Dr. John Allen, who "ministered to his sick soul as well as his body." He talked to Henry Onstott, who moved into the Rutledge Inn when the Rutledges moved out to Sandridge in 1833. In the cooper shop of Henry Onstott, Lincoln read by the light of the burning knots and shavings.
Herndon tells in his lecture of Lincoln's transcendent joy in his love for Ann Rutledge and his terrible grief over her death. He tells us that Lincoln gained control of himself; that within two weeks, he was nursed back to sanity by Bowling Green and his wife, Nancy. However, he must have been mourning and sobbing in November and December of that year as he said more than once that he could not bear to think of the rain and snow falling on her grave. As a rule, snow does not fall in August or September, or even October in this latitude. We find no comment of any unusual weather in these months of 1835. It is generally agreed that Lincoln stayed with Bowling Green "for two or three weeks."
When Herndon makes a statement in his discussion of this romance and tragedy, we should remember that he knew Ann and her relatives and neighbors and that even his critics have endorsed him as being the greatest authority on the life and character of Abraham Lincoln. It must be remembered that from the time he was admitted to the Bar to the time of the death of Abraham Lincoln, he was Lincoln's law partner and closest friend.
Isaac Cogdale learned directly from Lincoln that he "truly loved the girl" and that he "went a little wild" upon the occasion of Ann's death. Herndon learned this from Cogdale, Lamon learned this from Herndon and also from Cogdale. Herndon says, "the most astonishing and sad sequel to this courtship was the disastrous effect of Miss Rutledge's death on Mr. Lincoln's mind." He considers the effect strange "on one of his calm and stoical makeup." Herndon heard from many sources and had direct testimony that Lincoln, while wracked with sobs, said to William Green that he "shuddered at the thought of the rain and snow" falling on Ann's grave.
Though sad, this love story was of no national importance until one of the characters became the great President, Emancipator, and Martyr. Added to Lincoln, the war president, was Lincoln the Emancipator, Lincoln the great individual. All of these characters were magnified and glorified when, at the height of his victory, the hand of the assassin took away his life. This was a great tragedy. Not only the people of the United States but the people of all the world were hungry to learn every detail of the life of this great man who had met such a tragic death.
There might be others who could speak of Lincoln, the President; Lincoln, the Emancipator; Lincoln, the Whig; and Lincoln, the Republican; but the story of Lincoln, the lawyer; and Lincoln, the surveyor; and Lincoln, the lover of Ann Rutledge, must be written by people of Illinois; or at least, the facts upon which to base the story must be furnished by the people of Illinois. The story of Lincoln's development from the crude boy to the lawyer and legislator, and Lincoln the lover of Ann Rutledge, must come from New Salem, which we now reverently call Old Salem.
When Lincoln was nominated for President, the people knew nothing about his ancestry and very little about his early life. The world knew little of his development and education until after he had passed away from earth. However, William H. Herndon knew the story of Lincoln's early years—the toiling in the forest, the hunger for knowledge, his reading by the burning shavings in Onstott's cooper shop in New Salem, his surveying, his election to the Legislature, his love for Ann Rutledge and the effect of her death upon him. Herndon concluded to lecture upon the life of Lincoln, and it would have been difficult to have found anyone better fitted to tell the story of Lincoln's life from the time he was twenty-two years of age until he left Springfield for Washington. He knew the story, but before writing his lecture, or at least before delivering it, he investigated all the statements that he had written out.
All Lincoln biographers and most Lincoln students know the story of Henry C. Whitney and Abraham Lincoln. Judge Davis, Leonard Swett, and others were his companions at many evening chats and story-telling parties on the old Eighth Circuit. Still, Lincoln and Whitney roomed together and slept together. They were close friends. From among his old friends in Illinois, Lincoln took Ward Lamon and Henry C. Whitney with him to Washington, not alone to fill the offices to which they were appointed but to have them near him so he could confer with them. I am asking the readers who have been kind enough to pursue these lines this far to read again Whitney's chapter on Ann Rutledge in his publication of 1892, "Life on the Circuit with Lincoln," and also the chapter on Ann Rutledge in his publication of 1907, "Life and Works of Abraham Lincoln." Whitney was one of the high-minded, dignified attorneys of the Old Eighth Circuit.
Many years ago, on Lincoln's birthday in Springfield, fifteen or more men who knew Lincoln gathered together. Bunn, Thayer, Dr. Jayne, and other well-known intimate friends of the Martyred President were there. These men were unanimous in the opinion that Whitney was able, honest, and truthful; that he was a man of high character. I highly cherish the words of these men who brought to the present generation the information that could come only through these particular men. For two or three hours, either in a large group or in small groups, these men who had the authority and the information that would justify them in passing upon the books of the various writers discussed not only Whitney but Herndon, Lamon, and others. With such a recommendation, it might be well to let Whitney speak for himself. We remember that Whitney was intimately acquainted with Abraham Lincoln long before Lincoln became a national character. We also remember that the friendship of Whitney and Lincoln continued until the hand of the assassin placed the name of Lincoln among the names of the Martyrs of the world.
Whitney's statements must have great weight. Jesse W. Weik, in his individual work on Abraham Lincoln, gives us the following letter, which Henry C. Whitney wrote to Herndon: "You saw Lincoln as he was and know him far better than all other living men combined. Armed with such knowledge, it follows that you know better than others how to delineate him. You have the acuteness of vision that we attribute to Lincoln; you acquired much of his analytical power by attrition, and you thought deeply as he did. He had unbounded confidence in your intuitions and your adhesion to him. I shall never forget the day—January 6, 1859—" when Lincoln said, " 'Well, whatever happens, I expect everyone to desert me now, but Billy Herndon'."
Weik began a correspondence with Herndon early in the Seventies, which ended only with Herndon's death. Weik had five hundred pages of Herndon's manuscript in his possession.
When Ward H. Lamon speaks in "The Life of Abraham Lincoln," published in 1872, he speaks from the manuscripts of Herndon, after confirming the facts in these manuscripts and from additional information gathered by himself. He had talked with Isaac Cogdale and had learned from him that Lincoln had told Cogdale in 1861 that he loved Ann Rutledge and that he 'Vent a little wild when she died/* Lamon was a close friend of Lincoln and undoubtedly knew the truth of the statements that Herndon had made. It would be a surplus of words to repeat what he has said.
Whitney, Weik, and Lamon should be good character witnesses for Herndon. If it can be established that Herndon was truthful, then his story must stand without criticism. It may be that both Herndon and Lamon were fond of whiskey, but that is not the subject under discussion. Writers and students of today, as a matter of fact, can know nothing about the life of Abraham Lincoln in New Salem except that which we can learn from the documents before us. Herndon's training would give him sufficient experience to make the investigations he claims to have made. In the letter quoted above, Whitney wrote to Herndon that there was no one so well equipped to tell the story of Abraham Lincoln. Lamon expressed his confidence in Herndon in various ways.
Robert B. Rutledge, in his letter to Herndon in 1866, above referred to, states that the effect of Ann Rutledge's death on Lincoln's mind, "as described by many eyewitnesses, was terrible. He became plunged in despair, and many of his friends feared that reason would desert him."
John Sonee, in his letter of October 22, 1866, to William H. Herndon, states, among other things, in referring to Lincoln's visit to Ann Rutledge: "During her last illness he visited the sick chamber and on his return stopped at my house. It was very evident that he was plunged in deep distress. Subsequently, it was feared that reason threatened to desert her throne."
T. G. Onstott, the son of Henry Onstott, who moved into the Rutledge Inn when the Rutledges moved to Sandridge in the fall of 1833, says that after the death of Ann Rutledge, "Lincoln was heartbroken and prostrated. The histories have not exaggerated his pitiful grief, for he could not attend to business for quite a while. I think his whole soul was wrapped up in that lovely girl. It was his first love, the holiest thing in life, the love that cannot die. The deepest gloom settled over his mind."
R. D. Miller, in his "History of Menard County," published in 1905, endorses the story of Herndon about the love of Lincoln for Ann Rutledge and the effect that her death had upon him. "The heart of Lincoln was buried in the grave of Ann Rutledge," is quoted from Herndon, and he then follows with this statement: "Be this literally true or not, one thing is sure, from that time a dark shadow seemed to hang over him from which he never seemed to emerge. It is said by those having the means of knowing that ever after this, whenever opportunity afforded, Lincoln would wander alone to the little hillock raised above her ashes and sit for hours pondering in sadness ... "
Mary Berry, daughter of the Rev. John M. Berry, the Rock Creek preacher, states in "Rock Creek—A Retrospect of One Hundred Years": "On an occasion shortly after Ann's death, while Lincoln was visiting at the James Rutledge home on Sandridge, in passing through the room where Ann died, he was so overcome with emotion that he stood by the window and sobbed bitterly. Ann's mother —Aunt Mary, as she was called—went to him and, putting her arm upon his shoulder, told him not to let his grief over Ann's death destroy him or spoil his life, but to go on and fulfill the high promise the future had in store for him."
Thomas P. Reep spent many years gathering facts concerning Lincoln's life in New Salem from 1831 to 1837. With great energy and natural ability and with the assistance of everyone in and about Petersburg who knew the history of New Salem, he gathered all the information obtainable which would show the daily life, the development, and the character of this man that had carried the name of New Salem to every part of the civilized world.
Lincoln was an intimate friend of Thomas F. Dowell, the grandfather of Thomas P. Reep. Mr. Dowell came to New Salem in 1826. The mother of Thomas Reep was born five miles northwest of New Salem. Lincoln often visited the house of Mr. Reep's grandfather and had much affection for Mr. Reep's mother when she was a small child. The mother of the wife of Thomas Reep was the daughter of Nancy Armstrong McHenry, who was a sister of Jack Armstrong. In many ways, Mr. Reep and Mrs. Reep are connected with the characters and the history of New Salem. It would be a great advantage in making an investigation of the story of Lincoln's life in New Salem if the writer might obtain the facts he seeks from persons who are closely related to him. The writer of "Lincoln at New Salem" began his investigations long before 1918, the date of the publication of the first edition of his book. He also had before him the original letter of Robert B. Rutledge to William H. Herndon, which was written in 1866, and the letter of John Sonee written in the same year. He also had a letter from James McGrady Rutledge, a cousin of Ann; a letter from Mrs. Sarah Rutledge Saunders, a younger sister of Ann Rutledge, addressed to Thomas P. Reep and dated May 10, 1918. He also had the interview with Mary Berry, which is published in "Rock Creek—A Retrospect of One Hundred Years" and the writings of Rev. R. D. Miller, who spent a long and useful life in the ministry and schools of Menard County and for nearly a quarter of a century, Superintendent of the Schools of Menard County. In addition to that, he had the writings of T. G. Onstott, whose father moved into the Rutledge Inn in 1833. Although T. G. Onstott was a small child in 1833, his residence in this historic house would create an interest in the affairs of New Salem and in the man who was the greatest character that New Salem produced. He would doubtless make diligent inquiry in later years into the history of this man's life. Reep talked with Andrew MacNamar, son of John MacNamar; with Mrs. Emma Rutledge Houghton; Mrs. Mary Rutledge Moore; Mrs. Louisa Clary; Mrs. Parthena Jane Shipp, one of Mrs. Reep's relatives; John Armstrong, son of Jack; Mrs. Samuel Hill; and every other person who could give him direct information regarding any facts about which he was inquiring and any facts that might be connected with Lincoln's life in New Salem.
Surely Mr. Reep's investigations are of great value in determining the truth or falsity of Mr. Herndon's statements. If you read "Lincoln at New Salem," you will have little doubt regarding the truth of Herndon's statements of Lincoln's love for Ann Rutledge and the terrible effect her death had upon him.
Dr. William E. Barton in "The Women Lincoln Loved/' published in 1927, praises Herndon's ability as a biographer and recognizes his great opportunity to know the facts, but disagrees with Herndon's story of Lincoln's love for Ann Rutledge or the terrible effect that Ann Rutledge's death had upon Lincoln. The writer has great respect for the work of Dr. Barton and his wonderful contributions to Lincoln's biographies and Lincoln literature. Too much cannot be said in favor of his splendid article in the Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society of 1929. It would be presumptuous on my part to criticize Dr. Barton. Therefore, I am submitting his comments upon the Lincoln-Rutledge romance and tragedy with his permission and the permission of Bobbs-Merrill Company, the publisher of his book.
Dr. Barton quotes something over one hundred words from Nicolay and Hay, which refers to the romance and tragedy under discussion, and says: "This reticence is in striking contrast with the freedom which other biographers have taken with the incident." These one hundred words are as follows: "Besides his stepmother, who was a plain, God-fearing woman, he had not known many others until he came to live in New Salem. There he had made the acquaintance of the best people the settlement contained, and among them had become much attached to a young girl named Ann Rutledge, the daughter of one of the proprietors of the place. She died in her girlhood, and though there does not seem to have been any engagement between them, he was profoundly affected by her death."
With the knowledge that Nicolay and Hay were private Secretaries to President Lincoln, that they were part of the Lincoln official family, that they were loyal to the Lincoln household, we are quite surprised that they mentioned his early romance. Every Lincoln student is fully informed about the opposition of the Lincoln family to the mention of this story. When either Nicolay or Hay felt warranted in saying that Abraham Lincoln was much attached to Ann Rutledge and that "he was profoundly affected by her death," the romance and tragedy must have been of considerable importance. It must have been important that Nicolay and Hay felt compelled to mention the courtship and Lincoln's sadness. The fact that they even mentioned it is worth serious consideration.
Isaac N. Arnold was a member of Congress, a friend of Abraham Lincoln, and spent many years in historical research. In his "Sketch of the Life of Abraham Lincoln," published in 1869, in referring to the "boyish fancy" of Abraham Lincoln for Ann Rutledge, he says: "The idea that this fancy had any permanent influence upon his life and character is purely imaginary.'' Yet in "The Life of Abraham Lincoln," published in 1884, he confirms Herndon's story of this romance and tragedy. He also confirms the conversation between Lincoln and Isaac Cogdale. Between 1869 and 1884, he had had an opportunity to interview many persons whose testimony he could not question. In the book last mentioned above, in discussing Ann Rutledge and Abraham Lincoln, he says: "Her beauty and attractions, and her early death, made a profound impression upon him. He idealized her memory, and in his recollections of her, there was a poetry of sentiment, which might possibly have been lessened had she lived, by the prosaic realities of life."
The older members of the Chicago Historical Society have testified to the energy with which Arnold made investigations while engaged in historical research. He was one of the many who desired to eliminate the story of Ann Rutledge and Abraham Lincoln in New Salem, hoping or believing that the story was not true and yet willing to brush the story aside even though it were true. Mary Todd Lincoln and the Lincoln family frowned upon the story. Members of the Lincoln administration and members of the Lincoln household were not willing to discuss the story. Many of them did not believe that this story belonged in a biography of Lincoln or in any story of the life of Abraham Lincoln. Many students know that Arnold was included in this group. Arnold began his investigation of the Lincoln-Rutledge story to refute it. The evidence he obtained compelled him to believe the statements that Herndon made in his lecture of 1866, showing Lincoln's great love for Ann and the terrible grief her death caused him. This would seem to be an unusual bit of evidence. A man of ability and honor had formed his opinion but, after a more thorough investigation, decided against his first opinion and agreed with the statements made by Herndon.
Charles Godfrey Leland in "Abraham Lincoln," published in 1879, endorses Lamon's story of romance and tragedy. In "Abraham Lincoln, Abolition of Slavery," published in 1879, he tells of the love of Lincoln for Ann Rutledge and says: "At her death, Lincoln seemed for some weeks nearly insane, and was never the same man again."
Charles Carleton Coffin, in his "Life of Lincoln" published in 1893, endorses the Herndon statements referred to and adds: "Never before have the spring birds been so joyful, the days so bright, the nights so calm and peaceful, the vault of heaven so lit with stars, or the air so perfumed with flowers ... August 25, 1835, Ann Rutledge enters the life eternal, and all that is mortal of her is borne to its resting-place. He is stunned by the loss and walks as in a dream. He spends the night beside her grave, heeding not the chilling wind or driving storm."
From 1893 to 1896, with the prestige of the McClure Magazine and with the assistance of J. McCan Davis of Illinois, Ida M. Tarbell investigated as fully as possible Herndon's account of the Lincoln-Rutledge romance and tragedy. Miss Tarbell's stories of Lincoln have been appreciated not only for their literary qualities but also because of her great ability to separate the statements based upon facts from those that are mere inventions. Many of the persons whom Herndon interviewed were dead when Miss Tarbell made her investigations, yet many material witnesses were alive in 1893 to 1896. Among them were Nancy Armstrong McHenry, Parthena Hill, James McGrady Rutledge, and Sarah Rutledge Saunders.
Herndon had an opportunity to interview practically all of the persons whose testimony would either prove or disprove the love story of Ann Rutledge and Abraham Lincoln; but Tarbell, Onstott, Miller, and one or two other writers had an opportunity to interview a number of persons who knew the story directly or had heard it from members of the family and friends of the Rutledges who were living in New Salem in 1835. T. G. Onstott, Rev. R. D. Miller, and Thomas P. Reep grew up in the vicinity of New Salem and heard the story of this love affair and the tragic sequel from many persons. From every interview, they obtained practically the same information—that Lincoln was deeply in love with Ann Rutledge, that Ann died and that her death had such a terrible effect upon Lincoln that he wandered in the woods for days, that his friends found it necessary to care for him, that he told William Green and others that he could not bear to think of the rain and snow falling on Ann's grave, that he called Nancy Green, Ann, that for two weeks at least he was seemingly a mental and physical wreck. Herndon heard much of this in 1835 and in the years that followed. He knew the traditions. The Herndon story has been accepted by nearly every writer that came after him.
Norman Hapgood, in his "Abraham Lincoln, the Man of the People," published in 1899, makes practically the same statement as Herndon and adds: "Whatever the causes, almost all who ever knew Lincoln well believed that the death of Ann Rutledge was an aggravation of the morbid tendency," William Eleroy Curtis in "The True Abraham Lincoln" published in 1903 says: "Lincoln's sorrow was so intense that his friends feared suicide."
William Eleroy Curtis, in "The True Abraham Lincoln," published in 1903, says: "Lincoln's sorrow was so intense that his friends feared suicide."
Francis E. Browne in "The Every Day Life of Abraham Lincoln," published in 1913, confirms the statements made by Herndon, Lamon, Leland, Tarbell, and others.
Brand Whitlock, after a full investigation of the story of Abraham Lincoln's love for Ann Rutledge and his indescribable grief over her death, in his "Abraham Lincoln" published in 1916, by Small, Maynard, and Company, confirms the Herndon story of this romance and tragedy. His last paragraph can hardly be misinterpreted. In speaking of Lincoln, he says: ''His friends watched him, and at last, when on the very verge of insanity, Bowling Green took him to his home, nursed him back to health, and the grief faded to that temperamental melancholy which, relieved only by his humor, was part of the poet there was in him, part of the prophet, the sadness that so early baptized him in the tragedy of life, and taught him pity for the suffering of a world of men."
Those who are acquainted with Brand Whitlock would not expect him to be deceived or misled when making an investigation in any historical field. He knew what constituted evidence and knew how to weigh it.
In "The Love Affairs of Washington and Lincoln, " Elton Raymond Shaw," published in 1923, says: "It was at this time that Lincoln made the greatest spiritual transition of his life, under the most severe mental and emotional strain. He endured the strain, and he came forth a purified soul from the discipline of love, but he carried the mark all his life." He also gives full endorsement to the statements of Herndon that we have under discussion.
Nathaniel Wright Stephenson in his "Lincoln," published in 1924, endorses the statements of Herndon that we have been discussing, and in speaking of Lincoln's grief, he says: "Its significance for after-time is in Lincoln's 'reaction.' ... A period of violent agitation followed. For a time, he seemed completely transformed. ... "
Albert J. Beveridge, in his "Abraham Lincoln," published in 1928, devotes but little space to the Lincoln-Rutledge romance and the grief caused by the death of Ann. He refers to Robert B. Rutledge's letter to Herndon, "Lincoln at New Salem" by Thomas P. Reep, a letter from James Short to Herndon, a letter from Caleb Carmen to Herndon, Mrs. Bowling Green's statement in the manuscript of George U. Miles, which was forwarded to Herndon, statement of William Rutledge in the Miles manuscript. A true copy of the Rutledge letter to Herndon in 1866 is included in these pages and makes comments unnecessary. The statements of Sarah Rutledge Saunders, John Sonee, and Mary Berry are also included in these pages. All the other references mentioned have no particular bearing on the case under discussion.
Beveridge states that neither Ann nor Abraham, it would seem, displayed any precipitancy of passion. He also says James Short, who lived within half a mile of Mc- Namar's farm while the Rutledge family lived there and whom Lincoln came to see every day or two, knew nothing of love-making, much less of an engagement. Further on, Beveridge says in referring to Lincoln: "He must have shown distress, for James Short concluded that Lincoln's melancholy was due to love or an engagement, although he had heard of neither."
It might be possible that many persons, including Mr. Short, knew nothing of the love affair between Ann and Lincoln. We would not ask such persons to give testimony. We usually inquire of persons who have knowledge of the happening of a certain event. There might be many serious-minded people in and around New Salem who would consider it entirely beneath their dignity to pay any attention to the courtship or love of a young man and young woman of the age of Lincoln and Ann.
I would expect only the best from Mr. Beveridge on any subject. The author of the "Life of John Marshall" could hardly fail in writing any biography. I say this after a close personal friend of many years, and I will not criticize his quotations and paragraphs in which he discusses this romance and tragedy. However, it would seem that this part of the biography makes reference to only a few persons who might be called as material witnesses and omits the names of many whose letters and manuscripts are the best items of documentary evidence that can be offered.
As we have stated before, Norman Hapgood and Francis E. Browne have accepted Herndon's story and Lamon's story, and quite a long list of others have depended entirely upon Herndon for information regarding the Rutledge-Lincoln romance and tragedy. In a fascinating work, which is very highly commended by the President of the University of Wisconsin, Fred Holmes depends entirely upon Herndon, Lamon, Whitney, and other investigators for his information regarding the early life of Abraham Lincoln.
In his "Abraham Lincoln, The Prairie Years," Carl Sandburg, called by many a prose poem, tells a beautiful story of Lincoln's love in New Salem; but as a matter of course, he must rely upon the testimony of others.
If a court of inquiry were established and investigators were appointed to bring in all the evidence to prove the truth or falsity of Herndon's statement, they could do little else than what has already been done by many writers. Many documents exist that should be competent to prove or disprove the statements of Herndon. I think it is generally agreed by all persons who have made these investigations that Herndon's statement was truthful, that he, more than any other man, had the will and the opportunity and the energy to gather the information that enabled him to write his lecture in 1866 and his stories of 1889 and 1893.