Recollections of Abraham Lincoln 1847-1865

by Ward Hill Lamon

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Genres: History, Presidents, Civil War, Nonfiction, Biography

251 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 28, 1994

About the author

Ward Hill Lamon (January 6, 1828 – May 7, 1893) was a personal friend and self-appointed bodyguard of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. Lamon was famously absent the night Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865, having been sent by Lincoln to Richmond, Virginia.

Lamon's relation with Lincoln has been traced by Clint Clay Tilton in Lincoln and Lamon. Lamon was born near Winchester, Virginia, studied medicine for two years, and moved to Danville, Illinois, when he was 19 to live with relatives. He attended the University of Louisville to receive his law degree and was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1851. In 1850, he moved back to Virginia, married Angelina Turner, and then returned to Illinois to practice law. Angelina was a daughter of Ehud and Priscilla Strode Turner, whose house at Beddington, West Virginia, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002 as the Priscilla Strode Turner House. Angelina died in April 1859, leaving a daughter, Dorothy, who was raised in Danville by Lamon's sister, Mrs. William Morgan. In November 1860, Lamon married Sally Logan, daughter of Judge Stephen T. Logan. Logan had been Lincoln's law partner from 1851 to 1854

Lamon's professional association with Lincoln started in 1852. Lamon became the prosecuting attorney for the Old Eighth Judicial district and subsequently moved to Bloomington, Illinois, in 1858. While Lamon had Southern sympathies and his hatred of abolitionism set him apart from Lincoln, they remained friends, despite their very different characters. Lamon joined the then-young Republican Party and campaigned for Lincoln in 1860. Lincoln was up against New York Senator William Seward for the Republican nomination, and Lamon proved his friendship by printing up extra tickets for the convention to fill the hall with Lincoln supporters. When Lincoln was elected President, Lamon hoped for a foreign diplomatic post, but received a letter from his friend that said, "Dear Hill, I need you. I want you to go to Washington with me and be prepared for a long stay." Lamon then accompanied him as he traveled from Springfield, Illinois, to Washington D.C. in February 1861. This trip would prove to be eventful.

After Lincoln's death, Lamon published two books (one posthumously) about the late President. The more famous of the two is a biography that was largely ghostwritten by Chauncey Black, the son of former Attorney General of the United States Jeremiah Black. The elder Black was Lamon's law partner from 1865 until 1879. The book, published in 1872 by James R. Osgood and Company of Boston under the title The Life of Abraham Lincoln; From his Birth to his Inauguration as President, contained allegations and personal information about Lincoln that were deemed scandalous by nineteenth century society. It was a financial failure. One of the most shocking claims was that Lincoln was not a man of faith: "Mr. Lincoln was never a member of any church, nor did he believe in the divinity of Christ, or the inspiration of the Scriptures in the sense understood by evangelical Christians." The basis of the book was the papers of William Herndon, which Lamon purchased for either $2,000 or $4,000. Shortly after his death, Lamon's daughter collected and edited many of his unpublished writings about Lincoln into a biography of the president, Recollections of Abraham Lincoln (1895). In Recollections, Lamon reversed his earlier denial of the Baltimore plot of 1861, writing, "It is now an acknowledged fact that there was never a moment from the day he crossed the Maryland line, up until the time of his assassination, that he was not in danger of death by violence, and that his life was spared until the night of the 14th of April, 1865, only through the ceaseless and watchful care of the guards thrown around him." The authenticity[citation needed] of this book is generally more highly regarded by the scholarly community than is the earlier volume by Lamon and Black.

Reviews

[Jeff Bracken · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written by Ward HIll Lamon, Lincoln's law partner in Springfield and who accompanied him to Washington as Marshall of DC and his personal friend. This is a very personal set of reflections and surely the basis of books written about Lincoln. Lamon's stories are very personal and a great addition to my understanding of Lincoln the person.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book for Lincoln fanatic. Many stories of Abraham Lincoln's Presidency by one of his friends that worked in his administration. So the stories are a little biased but very enjoyable.