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Selected American history
The Life of Abraham Lincoln
By Henry Ketcham
CHAPTER X.
SOCIAL LIFE AND MARRIAGE.
Springfield was largely settled by people born and educated in older
and more cultured communities. From the first it developed a social
life of its own. In the years on both sides of 1840, it maintained as
large an amount of such social activity as was possible in a new
frontier city. In this life Lincoln was an important factor. The public
interest in the man made this necessary, even apart from considerations
of his own personal preferences.
We have seen that he was extremely sociable in his tastes. He was fond
of being among men. Wherever men were gathered, there Lincoln went, and
wherever Lincoln was, men gathered about him. In the intervals of work,
at nooning or in the evening, he was always the center of an interested
group, and his unparalleled flow of humor, wit, and good nature was the
life of the assemblage. This had always been so from childhood. It had
become a second nature with him to entertain the crowd, while the crowd
came to look upon him as their predestined entertainer.
But Lincoln had been brought up in the open air, on the very frontier,
"far from the madding crowd." His social experience and his tastes were
with men, not ladies. He was not used to the luxuries of civilization,
--elegant carpets, fine china, fashionable dress. Though he had great
dignity and nobility of soul, he did not have that polish of manners
which counts for so much with ladies. His ungainly physique accented
this lack. He was not, he never could be, what is known as a ladies'
man. While his friendly nature responded to all sociability, he was not
fond of ladies' society. He was naturally in great demand, and he
attended all the social gatherings. But when there, he drifted away
from the company of the ladies into that of the men. Nor were the men
loath to gather about him.
The ladies liked him, but one of them doubtless spoke the truth, when
she declared that their grievance against him was that he monopolized
the attention of the men. This was natural to him, it had been
confirmed by years of habit, and by the time he was thirty years old it
was practically impossible for him to adopt the ways acceptable to
ladies.
Into this society in Springfield came a pretty, bright, educated,
cultured young lady--Miss Mary Todd. She was of an aristocratic family
from Kentucky. It is said that she could trace the family genealogy
back many centuries. She may have been haughty--she was said to be so--
and she may have been exacting in those little matters which make up so
large a measure of what is known as polish of manners. These would be
precisely the demands which Lincoln was unable to meet.
It was a foregone conclusion that the two would be thrown much into
each other's society, and that the neighbors would connect them in
thought. For Lincoln was the most popular man and Miss Todd was the
most popular young lady in Springfield. It was simply another case of
the attraction of opposites, for in everything except their popularity
they were as unlike as they could be.
It is proverbial that the course of true love never did run smooth. If
there were ripples and eddies and counter-currents in the course of
this love, it was in nowise exceptional. It is only the prominence of
the parties that has brought this into the strong light of publicity.
Much has been written that is both unwarranted and unkind. Even the
most confidential friends do not realize the limitations of their
knowledge on a matter so intimate. When they say they know all about
it, they are grievously mistaken. No love story (outside of novels) is
ever told truly. In the first place, the parties themselves do not tell
all. They may say they do, but there are some things which neither man
nor woman ever tells. In the heart of love there is a Holy of Holies
into which the most intimate friend is not allowed to look.
And in the second place, even the lovers do not see things alike. If
both really understood, there could be no misunderstanding. It
is, then, presumptive for even the confidants, and much more for the
general public, to claim to know too much of a lovers' quarrel.
We would gladly pass over this event were it not that certain salient
facts are a matter of public record. It is certain that Lincoln became
engaged to Miss Todd in the year 1840. It is certain that he broke the
engagement on January 1, 1841. It is certain that about that time he
had a horrible attack of melancholy. And we have seen that he never
outgrew his attachment to his early love, Ann Rutledge. Whether this
melancholy was the cause of his breaking the engagement, or was caused
by it, we cannot say. Whether the memory of Ann Rutledge had any
influence in the matter, we do not know.
Whatever the mental cause of this melancholy, there is no doubt that it
had also a physical cause. This was his most violent attack, but by no
means his only one. It recurred, with greater or less severity, all
through his life. He had been born and had grown up in a climate noted
for its malaria. Excepting for the facts that he spent much time in the
open air, had abundant exercise, and ate plain food, the laws of
sanitation were not thought of. It would be strange if his system were
not full of malaria, or, what is only slightly less abominable, of the
medicines used to counteract it. In either case he would be subject to
depression. An unfortunate occurrence in a love affair, coming at the
time of an attack of melancholy, would doubtless bear abundant and
bitter fruit.
Certain it is that the engagement was broken, not a little to the
chagrin of both parties. But a kind neighbor, Mrs. Francis, whose
husband was editor of the Springfield Journal, interposed with her
friendly offices. She invited the two lovers to her house, and they
went, each without the knowledge that the other was to be there. Their
social converse was thus renewed, and, in the company of a third
person, Miss Jayne, they continued to meet at frequent intervals. Among
the admirers of Miss Todd were two young men who came to be widely
known. These were Douglas and Shields. With the latter only we are
concerned now. He was a red-headed little Irishman, with a peppery
temper, the whole being set off with an inordinate vanity. He must have
had genuine ability in some directions, or else he was wonderfully
lucky, for he was an officeholder of some kind or other, in different
states of the Union, nearly all his life. It is doubtful if another
person can be named who held as many different offices as he; certainly
no other man has ever represented so many different states in the
senate.
At this particular time, Shields was auditor of the state of Illinois.
The finances of the state were in a shocking condition. The state banks
were not a success, and the currency was nearly worthless. At the same
time, it was the only money current, and it was the money of the state.
These being the circumstances, the governor, auditor, and treasurer,
issued a circular forbidding the payment of state taxes in this paper
currency of the state. This was clearly an outrage upon the taxpayers.
Against this Lincoln protested. Not by serious argument, but by the
merciless satire which he knew so well how to use upon occasion. Under
the pseudonym of Aunt Rebecca, he wrote a letter to the Springfield
Journal. The letter was written in the style of Josh Billings,
and purported to come from a widow residing in the "Lost Townships." It
was an attempt to laugh down the unjust measure, and in pursuance of
this the writer plied Shields with ridicule. The town was convulsed
with laughter, and Shields with fury. The wrath of the little Irishman
was funnier than the letter, and the joy of the neighbors increased.
Miss Todd and Miss Jayne entered into the spirit of the fun. Then they
wrote a letter in which Aunt Rebecca proposed to soothe his injured
feelings by accepting Shields as her husband. This was followed by a
doggerel rhyme celebrating the event.
Shields' fury knew no bounds. He went to Francis, the editor of the
Journal, and demanded the name of the author of the letters.
Francis consulted with Lincoln. The latter was unwilling to permit any
odium to fall on the ladies, and sent word to Shields that he would
hold himself responsible for those letters.
If Shields had not been precisely the kind of a man he was, the matter
might have been explained and settled amicably. But no, he must have
blood. He sent an insulting and peremptory challenge. When Lincoln
became convinced that a duel was necessary, he exercised his right, as
the challenged party, of choosing the weapons. He selected "broadswords
of the largest size." This was another triumph of humor. The midget of
an Irishman was to be pitted against the giant of six feet four inches,
who possessed the strength of a Hercules, and the weapons were--
"broadswords of the largest size."
The bloody party repaired to Alton, and thence to an island or sand-bar
on the Missouri side of the river. There a reconciliation was effected,
honor was satisfied all around, and they returned home in good spirits.
For some reason Lincoln was always ashamed of this farce. Why, we do
not know. It may have been because he was drawn into a situation in
which there was a possibility of his shedding human blood. And he who
was too tender-hearted to shoot wild game could not make light of that
situation.
The engagement between Lincoln and Miss Todd was renewed, and they were
quietly married at the home of the bride's sister, Mrs. Edwards,
November 4th, 1842. Lincoln made a loyal, true, indulgent husband. Mrs.
Lincoln made a home that was hospitable, cultured, unostentatious. They
lived together until the death of the husband, more than twenty-two
years later.
They had four children, all boys. Only the eldest, Robert Todd Lincoln,
grew to manhood. He has had a career which is, to say the least,
creditable to the name he bears. For a few months at the close of the
war he was on the staff of General Grant. He was Secretary of War
under Garfield and retained the office through the administration of
Arthur. Under President Harrison, from 1889 to 1893, he was minister to
England. He is a lawyer by profession, residing in Chicago--the city
that loved his father--and at the present writing is president of the
Pullman Company. In every position he has occupied he has exercised a
notably wide influence.
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