Lincoln Legends: Myths, Hoaxes, and Confabulations Associated with Our Greatest President PDF
Preview Lincoln Legends: Myths, Hoaxes, and Confabulations Associated with Our Greatest President
LINCOLN LEGENDS This page intentionally left blank LINCOLN LEGENDS Myths, Hoaxes, Confabulations and Associated with Our Greatest President Edward Steers Jr. - 0 With an Introduction by Harold Holzer Publication of this volume was made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Copyright © by The University Press of Kentucky Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University. All rights reserved. Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky – www.kentuckypress.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Steers, Edward. Lincoln legends : myths, hoaxes, and confabulations associated with our greatest president / Edward Steers Jr. ; with an introduction by Harold Holzer. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN ---- (hardcover : alk. paper) . Lincoln, Abraham, -—Legends. . Presidents— United States—Folklore. . Legends—United States. . Folklore—United States. I. Title. E..S .—dc This book is printed on acid-free recycled paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials. Manufactured in the United States of America. Member of the Association of American University Presses Respectfully dedicated to John R. Preer Jr. Christian B. Anfinsen Jesse Roth Allen M. Spiegel Funny how life just falls in place somehow. This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS Acknowledgments ix Introduction xi The Birthplace Cabin Lincoln’s Father Abe and Ann Ann Rutledge’s Resting Place Was Lincoln Baptized? The Mole in the White House You Can Fool All of the People Some of the Time . . . The World Will Little Note . . . The “Lost” Draft of the Gettysburg Address The Gay Lincoln Myth Noble American or Deceptive Doctor? The Missing Pages from Booth’s Diary Peanut John The Man Who Never Was Notes 231 Index 255 This page intentionally left blank ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am indebted to a great many people without whose generosity and help this book would not be possible. First and foremost, I am in- debted to Harold Holzer, author of the introduction. Harold has been a good friend, a coauthor, and an invaluable source of knowl- edge on nearly every aspect of Abraham Lincoln’s life. I am also in- debted to James O. Hall, the dean of assassination scholars, for mak- ing his research files readily available and sharing his vast knowledge on Lincoln’s assassination with me over the years. I wish to thank Michael Musick of the National Archives and Records Administra- tion, who was an invaluable aid when searching through the vast re- pository of military and civilian documents within his domain. Many projects have been enriched as a result of his help. Similarly, David Vancil, head of the Special Collections Department of the Cun- ningham Memorial Library at Indiana State University, guided me through the extensive Neff-Guttridge Collection and provided me with numerous copies of documents and photographs so necessary to parts of this study. I wish to thank Ray A. Neff, who spent several hours with me explaining his views on Lincoln’s assassination. A special thanks goes to William C. “Jack” Davis of Virginia Tech, who sent me his entire files on Lincoln’s assassination from the time when he was editor of Civil War Times Illustrated. They proved invaluable to my own research. I thank Frank J. Williams, another outstanding Lincoln scholar and friend, for generously providing me with materi- als from his extensive library of Lincolniana. Richard Sloan, Thomas R. Turner, Terry Alford, and Joseph H. Nichols generously took time to examine various parts of the manuscript, correcting errors and making numerous suggestions to improve the text. I am indebted to each of them. I thank Steven L. Carson, past president of the Lin- coln Group of the District of Columbia and editor of the Manuscript Society News, for generously sharing his files and writings with me. My good friends Joan L. Chaconas and Laurie Verge of the Surratt House Museum have always been available to answer questions and ix
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