The Lincoln and the Johnston children were treated with absolute impartiality and equality, and as a result Abraham and his stepmother were bonded in a close and understanding relationship. Lincoln’s affection for his stepmother is evident when he said fondly,” Everything I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother,” Sarah Lincoln instilled in her stepson the attributes and morals that he would keep close to his heart and consistently show to others throughout his entire life. Lincoln later implied this himself when he said, "I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.”
While growing up, Lincoln was considered lazy by his father because young Abraham was growing so quickly he was often tired. He is said to always to have been reading, as Lincoln himself said the extent of his formal teaching did not amount to one year. He would borrow books from neighbors and read while he was resting from fieldwork. Though his teacher called him a very slow learner, Abraham’s stepmother understood Lincoln better. “He must understand everything, even to the smallest thing, minutely and exactly. He would then repeat it over to
himself – sometimes in one form and then in another. And when it was fixed in his mind to suit him, he never lost that fact or his understanding of it.”
The Lincolns moved to Illinois in 1830, and Abraham was restless to get away from his father and out on his own. He worked in whatever jobs he could find, from storekeeper to
Postmaster to surveyor – because he was “willing to try anything once.” According to several stories of the time, whenever Lincoln found that he had short-changed a customer, even if it was just a few pennies, he would close the shop and walk to the person’s house — no matter the distance. Other stories also told of Lincoln’s sincere honesty, and spread his reputation to every home in town.
Not long after Lincoln began establishing his manhood, he is said to have been romantically involved with the young and charming Ann Rutledge. Though we do not know much of the extent of their relationship, we do know that when Ann died of typhoid fever, Lincoln went into deep depression. Many years later, when asked by a friend if it was true he had been in love with Ann, his reply was,” "It is true - true indeed I did. I loved the woman dearly and soundly: she was a handsome girl - would have made a good loving wife...I did honestly and truly love the girl and think often - often of her now."
When Lincoln relocated to Springfield, Illinois, he knew no one. The first person he met was what would be in the future his closest friend, Joshua Speed. Speed and Lincoln roomed together for four years. Lincoln shared with Speed some of his most intimate thoughts and feelings.
Lincoln continued to carry on his reputation of honesty and integrity, which had been established in New Salem. People soon grew fond of the tall, intelligent, easy-going Lincoln. Though he was awkward around women, he was quite comfortable around the men and generally accepted by them. He would tell stories for hours, just as his father had done.
Acquiring a name in politics by his election to the Illinois General Assembly (which he carried the title of for four terms), Lincoln was also gaining a name as an attorney. Receiving his law license from the Illinois Supreme Court in 1836, he entered into practice as the junior partner of John Todd Stuart and then Stephen Logan. Through Stuart he met the charming Mary Todd, a cousin of Stuart.
Mary Todd and Abraham Lincoln were married in 1842. Mary Lincoln told a friend many years later that "Mr. Lincoln . . . is almost monomaniac on the subject of honesty." Despite their many arguments and rumored fights, Mary and Abraham honestly, deeply loved one another. The Lincoln’s second child, Eddie, became sick at the age of three with what was probably pulmonary tuberculosis and died shortly thereafter. The third of the Lincoln’s four boys, Willie, came down with a case of typhoid fever and died at the young age of 11. The Lincolns were devastated by both deaths and Mary Lincoln never fully recovered.
Tired of being a junior partner, Lincoln asked Billy Herndon – a friend of his– to be his junior partner. The Lincoln-Herndon law office was in business until Lincoln’s death in 1865 – a total of twenty-one years. Despite their differences both physically and in personality (they were almost complete opposites), Lincoln really like Herndon, and Herndon once said of his partner, "His mind caught the substantial turning point of his case and he stript[ed] all cobwebs and collaterals away, and stood up the substantial question fairly and honorably before his opponent – court & jury."
Lincoln was “the glue that held our nation together,” and his influence should always be remembered as the single fiber that would not let our country fall into pieces. I believe Lincoln’s admirable character was evident to those around him – as this quote from his friend Leonard Swett reveals: "He believed in the great laws of truth, the right discharge of duty, his accountability to God, the ultimate triumph of the right, and the overthrow of wrong."
Works Cited
- Internet:
- http://members.aol.com/RVSNorton/Lincoln34.html
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Lincoln (on tape), Simon & Schuster Inc., 1995
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Lincoln (documentary, 3 videos), Kunhardt Productions, 1992
