Wednesday, November 25, 2020

The First Statue of Abraham Lincoln and his Wife, Mary in the United States.

In late June of 1867, Mary Todd Lincoln traveled to Racine, Wisconsin. Her sons, Robert and Tad, had been called to Washington to testify in the trial of John Surratt. (Surratt had been an accomplice of John Wilkes Booth. Surratt escaped after the assassination but was later caught and brought to trial.) Racine was the site of an Episcopal secondary school, Racine College, which had been recommended to Mary for Tad. Mary took advantage of her sons' absence to spend time relaxing in Racine and looking over this school.

Many years later a pioneer resident of Racine, Miss Lena Rosewall, who had studied the lives of the Lincolns, felt Mary had done much to further her husband's career. When Miss Rosewall passed away in 1935, she left her entire estate of $20,000 for the construction of a memorial of Abraham and Mary together. The executors of Miss Rosewall's estate chose Frederick C. Hibbard, a well-known artist, and sculptor, to make the statue.
The statue's base is of Minnesota pink granite five feet high. The Lincolns are chiseled from Elberton gray granite from Georgia. Mary stands seven feet high.


Hibbard, who completed the two-year project in his Chicago studio, said he wanted to portray the Lincolns "before Abe became president in 1861, before the president's face became seamed and furrowed in the struggle to save the Union, and while Mrs. Lincoln's future was unclouded." The statue portrays Abraham seated with Mary standing beside him. They are dressed for a formal occasion. The statue was dedicated on July 4, 1943. The work stands in Racine's East Park in front of the Gateway Technical College campus on Main Street.
NOTE: A second statue of the Lincolns together, which was patterned after the Racine statue, is located in Phillips, Wisconsin, at Fred Smith's Wisconsin Concrete Park.
Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.
Contributor, Abraham Lincoln Research Site

Monday, November 23, 2020

Abraham Lincoln's Favorite Dessert: Gingerbread with an Apple and Brown Sugar Topping..

Lincoln was extraordinarily fond of gingerbread. A plain man with tastes to match, Lincoln once said, "I don't s'pose anybody on earth likes gingerbread better'n I do—and gets less'n I do.
This is the kitchen Mary Todd Lincoln cooked and baked for the man who later became President of the United States. Their modest home at Eighth and Jackson Streets in Springfield, Illinois, is a National Historic Site. The Lincolns lived here from 1844 until 1861.


This was in the days before the package mix. Otherwise, Mrs. Lincoln surely would have catered more closely to her husband's food likes. And here is one of the best possible dress-ups for it, a buttery brown sugar and apple topping particularly compatible with the spicy goodness of gingerbread warm from the oven.

If it's for company, or even if it isn't, a puff of whipped cream makes it even better.


A POPULAR EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY GINGERBREAD RECIPE
  • Take two pounds and a half of flour
  • Mix an ounce of beaten ginger with it, and half a pound of brown sugar
  • Cut three-quarters of a pound of orange peel and citron (a citrus fruit) not too small
  • One ounce of Carraway seeds
  • Mix all these together
  • Take a mutchkin and a half (a Scottish unit of capacity equal to a little less than a pint or 14.5oz) of good treacle (treacle and molasses may both be by-products of the sugar refining process, but they are not as interchangeable as many believe) 21.75oz of treacle, and melt it on the fire.
  • Beat five large eggs
  • Wet the flour with the treacle and eggs
  • Weight half a pound of fresh butter, "Scots weight" (8 ounces)
  • Melt it and pour it in amongst your other materials
  • Cast them all well together
  • Butter a frame and put it in the oven. (NOTE: There is no oven temperature given because they used wood to bake and cook.) All these cakes must be fired in an oven, neither too hot nor too cold. 
  • This gingerbread won't fire without frames. (not important in today's ovens)
  • If it rises in blisters when it is in the oven, run a fork through it. 
  • It makes very fine plain bread without the fruit, with a few caraway seeds.
APPLE AND BROWN SUGAR GINGERBREAD TOPPING
  • 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup butter
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 4 medium apples, sliced very thin
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon cold water
Combine brown sugar, butter, and milk in a saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves, then add apple slices and simmer just until tender. Spoon out the apple slices and arrange on baked gingerbread. Combine cornstarch and cold water and stir into syrup in which apples were cooked. Stir over low heat until thickened, then pour over apples and gingerbread. Serve with whipped cream if you like.

Research by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

The Real Story About a Tavern License for the Berry-Lincoln Store in New Salem, Illinois.

In the spring of 1831, at 22 years old, Abraham Lincoln arrived in a flatboat in New Salem, where he would live for the next six years. He soon made friends with William "Bill" Franklin Berry, a hard-working young man who was the son of Reverend John McCutchen Berry, founder of Rock Creek Cumberland Presbyterian Church and a Christian leader. Apparently, the business attracted Lincoln for lack of other plans. 

In August 1832, Abraham Lincoln entered into a partnership as a storekeeper with Berry in the town of New Salem. William Berry was noted as being a very astute businessman. Contrary to popular belief, he did not leave a large debt for Lincoln to pay off and is, in fact, noted for having paid off some of Lincoln's personal debts. Bill died of Malaria fever on January 10, 1835, at the young age of 24.
The two men were thriving merchants for a short time until they bought Rubin Radford's stock of goods, then moved across Main Street into the second "Berry-Lincoln Store." The second Store was probably the first building in the original village of New Salem, being constructed in 1829. The building was sold to Berry and Lincoln as a General or Dry Goods Store in January of 1833. 
The second Berry-Lincoln store was north on Main Street and was a one-story frame building, twenty feet square on the outside, and consisted of two rooms. One was a large room in front with a smaller room adjoining on the north. The smaller room had a fireplace. Mr. Lincoln stayed there. When it was slow, as it often was, Lincoln would get lost in the pages of a book.

This venture in the 2nd building didn't last long. A liquor license was issued on March 6, 1833. According to Lincoln, the business simply put him deeper and deeper in debt. According to the New Salem tradition, Lincoln was more interested in reading and talking politics, while Berry was interested in drinking the spirits. In April of 1833, Abe sold his interest in the Berry-Lincoln store to Berry after only 3 months, and Berry sold out to the Trent Brothers.

A printed document featuring a tavern license taken out in the name of Berry and Lincoln at New Salem has circulated for years. Many posters of various sizes have presented this information, which has become known to Lincoln scholars as "The Tavern License Broadside."

This reproduction of two early documents associated with Lincoln's New Salem days, which may be found in many forms and sizes, is usually captioned "Abraham Lincoln's Saloon License" and has been given nationwide circulation. A picture of Lincoln is often associated with a facsimile of the tavern license taken out by William F. Berry and another facsimile of a "good behavior" bond purported to be signed by Abraham Lincoln, William F. Berry, and John Bowling Green. Without careful scrutiny, the observer would conclude that there is positive proof that Abraham Lincoln at one time ran the general or dry goods store as a tavern/saloon or a "grocery, as it was then called. It is apparent from notations on the broadsides and the feature of the alleged Lincoln signature that the purpose of the broadsides is to convey this idea.

The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln should be accepted as a final authority on the genuineness of all original documents that have come to its editors' attention. Roy P. Basler and his assistant, Mrs. Harry Pratt, who are experts in the field of Lincoln's handwriting, in passing on the authenticity of writings submitted, also have had the professional advice of three other Lincoln authorities, Paul M. Angle, the late J. G. Randall, and Benjamin P. Thomas. 

Appendix Two in the Collected Works presents a list of documents where someone other than Lincoln signed his name. The first manuscript noted where this occurs is on the peace bond mentioned above. The comment of the editors of the Collected Works who had before them this original bond is now in the archives of the Illinois State Historical Society.
This commemorative print features the tavern license for the New Salem, Illinois store, owned by William F. Berry and Abraham Lincoln in 1833. They obtained a license on March 6, 1833, from the [Sangamon] County Commissioners Court to keep a tavern in the town of New Salem for one year. The license was in Berry's name only. The rates they were allowed to charge were also listed. A note just below the price list reads, "Facsimile of tavern license issued to Berry and Lincoln. Certified by Chas. E. Oppel, Clerk Sangamon County Court, Springfield, Ill. Date April 25, 1908." A second note below the paragraph stating the condition of the $300 bond reads, "Facsimile of Bond given by Abraham Lincoln, William F. Berry and John Bowling Green binding themselves in a penalty of $300 not to sell whiskey to negroes, Indians, or children, i. e. to obey the liquor laws of the State of Illinois." Below this note is a paragraph of explanatory text about whiskey typically sold in grocery stores then. The License and the bond are each shown printed on an illustrated scroll.



Here, these authorities substantiate what leading Lincoln scholars have claimed for years that the signature in question is not that of Abraham Lincoln. In his book Lincoln and Liquor, William Townsend, published as early as 1934, states: "Apparently Berry subscribed his partners' name to the document since an examination of the original shows that it is not in Lincoln's handwriting."  

Although not given much prominence, the other manuscript usually displayed is the license that was issued on the strength of the bond. It, however, was taken out by William Berry and apparently issued to him personally to do business in the name of Berry and Lincoln. An excerpt from the license follows:
Springfield, Wednesday, March 6, 1833
Ordered that William F. Berry, in the name of Berry & Lincoln, have a license to keep a tavern in New Salem to continue twelve months from this date and that they pay $1 in addition to the $6 heretofore paid as sub-treasury receipt and that they be allowed the following rates: 
French brandy, per pint, 25¢
Peach brandy, per pint, 18¾¢
Apple brandy, per pint, 12¢
Holland Gin, per pint, 18¢
Wine, per pint, 35¢
Rum, per pint, 18¾¢
Whiskey, per pint, 12½¢
Breakfast, dinner and supper, 25¢
Lodging for night, 12½¢
Horse, for night, 25¢
Single feed 12½¢
Breakfast, dinner or supper, for stage passenger, 37½¢
As an example of another liquor license, the Green Tree Tavern, established in 1833 at Lake and West Water Streets in Chicago, a Cook County Liquor License, costing $5, which permitted the recipient to not only sell carryout pints of spirits but to also keep an inn and tavern serving drinks at a bar and with meals. My Green Tree Tavern article includes an eye-opening first-hand account of an overnight stay. The Green Tree Tavern license contained printed regulations and maximum charges:
For each ½ Pint; Rum, Wine, or Brandy - 25¢ 
For each Pint; Rum, Wine, or Brandy - 37½¢ 
For each ½ Pint Gin - 18¾¢ 
For each Pint Gin - 31¼¢ 
For each Glass of Whiskey - 06¼¢ 
For each ½ Pint Whiskey - 12½¢ 
For Cider or Beer: 1 Pint - .06¼¢; 1 Quart - 12½¢
For Breakfast and Supper - 25¢ 
For Dinner - 37½¢ 
For Horse single feed - 25¢ 
For Lodging for each person one night - 12½¢ 
As was customary in those days, most general or dry good stores sold spirits, some having a serving license for shots and glasses of liquor at the business's bar or tables.

While the documents seem to designate the firm name of the tavern operators as Berry and Lincoln, it is evident that Lincoln was not present when the bond was signed, or it would have contained his actual signature. The same conclusion might be drawn regarding granting Berry the license individually instead of the partners Berry and Lincoln. 
UNFOUNDED CLAIM: "I [Daniel Green Burner] clerked in the [Barry-Lincoln] store through the winter of 1833-34 {, up to the 1st of March. While I was there they had nothing for sale but liquors. They may have had some groceries before that, but I am certain they had none then. I used to sell whiskey over their counter at 6¢ a glass—and charged it too. N. A. Garland started a store, and Lincoln wanted Berry to ask his father for a loan, so they could buy out Garland; but Berry refused, saying this was one of the last things he would think of doing." —Abraham Lincoln the Man of the People, Norman Hapgood, page 37, published 1899. 
NOTE: The 2nd Berry-Lincoln store was open from January 1833 and closed in April 1833; the liquor license was obtained on March 6, 1833. William Berry sold out to the Trent Brothers shortly thereafter, so Daniel Green Burner has the owner or time-frame wrong.
During the first debate with Lincoln at Ottawa on August 21, 1858, Douglas made this statement early in his speech: 
"I have known him (Lincoln) for nearly twenty-five years. There were many points of sympathy between us... I was a school teacher in the town of Winchester, and he a flourishing grocery-keeper in the town of Salem. (Applause and laughter)."
Mr. Lincoln opened his argument with Douglas in these words:
"When a man hears himself somewhat misrepresented, it provokes him—at least, I find it so with myself; but when the misrepresentation becomes very gross and palpable, it is more apt to amuse him. (Laughter)."
Lincoln then goes on to discuss some politically important questions in which he had been misrepresented, passing by the more personal allusions until later in the speech when he says:
"Now I pass on to consider one or two more of these little follies. The Judge is woefully at fault about his early friend Lincoln being a 'grocery keeper.' (Laughter). I don't know as it would be a great sin, if I had been, but he is mistaken. Lincoln never kept a grocery anywhere in the world. (Laughter)." 
Abraham Lincoln, in his speech at Charleston, Illinois, during the debate on September 18, 1858, gave the definition of a forgery: 
"What is a forgery? It is the bringing forward something in writing or in print purporting to be of certain effect when it is altogether untrue."
With this definition before us and the statement of Lincoln's that he "never kept a grocery," we are inclined to look upon this whole tavern license transaction as it is now so widely publicized as a forgery. There is a tradition extant that Berry's procedure in securing the tavern license was responsible for the immediate dissolution of the merchandise partnership of the two men at New Salem.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.