Historic Shrines of America Part 39

Five years later, on November 4, 1842, Lincoln married Miss Mary Todd, a member of a prominent Kentucky family, who had come to Springfield in 1839 to live with her sister, Mrs. Ninian W. Edwards. The house in which she spent the three years before her marriage was one of the handsomest in the town, and was a centre of social gayety. Mr. and Mrs. Edwards opposed the marriage to the poor and plebeian lawyer; they urged the folly of exchanging a cultured home for the surroundings to which Lincoln would take her. But she knew her own mind, and she went with Lincoln to the home he provided for her.

The character of the accommodations to which he took his bride is revealed by a letter written in May, 1843: "We are not keeping house, but boarding at the Globe Tavern.... Boarding only costs four dollars a week."

But the day came when the young statesman was able to open for Mrs.

Lincoln the door of their own modest one-story house. Later a second story was added under the direction of his wife, most of the work being done while he was away from home, riding the circuit.

J. G. Holland's pleasing picture of life in the home during the years from 1850 to 1860 should be remembered:

"It was to him a time of rest, of reading, of social happiness, and of professional prosperity. He was already a father, and took an almost unbounded delight in his children.

The most that he could say to any rebel in his household was, 'You break my heart, when you act like this.' A young man bred in Springfield speaks of a vision that has clung to his memory very vividly.... His way to school led by the lawyer's door. On almost any fair summer morning he could find Mr.

Lincoln on the sidewalk in front of his house, drawing a child backward and forward, in a child's gig. Without hat or coat, and wearing a pair of rough shoes, his hands behind him holding on to the tongue of the gig, and his tall form bent forward to accommodate himself to the service, he paced up and down the walk forgetful of everything around him. The young man says he remembers wondering how so rough and plain a man should live in so respectable a house."

Once Lincoln was sitting on the porch when three-year-old Willie escaped from the bathtub, ran out cf the house and the gate, up the street, and into a field. There his father caught him, and carried him home on his shoulder.

The children liked to ride on his shoulder, and they clambered for the position. If they could not get there, they contented themselves with hanging to his coat tails. One day a neighbor heard the boys crying, and asked what was the matter. "Just what's the matter with the whole world," was Lincoln's reply. "I've got three walnuts, and each wants two."

During the last day of the Republican Convention of 1860, which was in session in Chicago, Lincoln was in the office of the Springfield _Journal_, receiving word of the progress of events. A messenger came in and said to him, "The Convention has made a nomination, and Mr.

Seward is--the second man on the list!" After reading the telegram, and receiving the congratulations of all in the office, Lincoln spoke of the little woman on Eighth Street who had some interest in the matter, and said he would go home and tell her the news.

When the news became generally known, the citizens followed him to the house on Eighth Street. In the evening, after a meeting in the State House, the Republicans present marched to the Lincoln home. The nominee made a speech, and invited as many as could get in to enter the house. "After the fourth of March we will give you a larger house," came the laughing response.

Next day Lincoln was in a quandary. Some of his friends had sent him a present of wines and other liquors, that he might be able to give what they thought would be appropriate refreshment to the Committee sent from Chicago to notify the nominee. Before the formal notification, Lincoln asked the members what he should do with the wine. J. G.

Holland says that "the chairman at once advised him to return the gift, and to offer no stimulants to his guests."

A few years later, when he had closed the house which he was never to enter again, he said to his friends, who had gathered at the train to say good-bye:

"My friends: no one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe everything. Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and have pa.s.sed from a young to an old man. Here my children have been born, and one is buried.

I now leave, not knowing when or whether ever I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Was.h.i.+ngton. Without the a.s.sistance of that Divine Being who ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that a.s.sistance I cannot fail. Trusting in Him, who can go with me, and remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell."

When the body of the martyred President was brought back to Springfield on May 3, 1865, it was not taken to the old home on Eighth Street, but to the State Capitol, and from there to Oak Ridge Cemetery.

The house is now the property of the State of Illinois, the gift of Robert T. Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's son.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON'S HOUSE, VINCENNES, IND.

_Photo furnished by Frank H. Curtis, Vincennes_ See page 376]

Lx.x.xV

THE GOVERNOR'S PALACE AT VINCENNES, INDIANA

WHERE "OLD TIPPECANOE" WELCOMED HIS GUESTS

William Henry Harrison, son of Benjamin Harrison, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was a ward of Robert Morris. The great financier opposed the young man's purpose to enlist in the Ohio campaign against the Indians that followed the war of the Revolution, but when young Harrison applied directly to Was.h.i.+ngton he was appointed ensign and sent to the front. This was in 1791, and the new ensign was but nineteen years old.

Gallant conduct during a campaign of four years under General Anthony Wayne brought to him promotion to a captaincy, the favor of his general, and the command of Fort Was.h.i.+ngton, at what is now Cincinnati, Ohio.

This post was resigned in 1798, when there seemed no further prospect of active service. Thereupon Was.h.i.+ngton appointed the twenty-four-year-old captain Secretary of the Northwestern Territory and _ex officio_ Lieutenant Governor. When, in 1800, the Northwestern Territory was divided, he was nominated by Thomas Jefferson Governor of Indiana Territory, including what is now Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa.

Vincennes, one of the three white settlements in all this vast territory, became the seat of government. As Fort Sackville Vincennes had been made famous during the Revolution by the brilliant exploit of George Rogers Clarke, who took it from the British after an approach across Illinois and through the flooded valley of the Wabash, for which he will ever be remembered by a grateful country.

For thirteen years he was the autocrat in his remote outpost. To him were committed, in company with the Judge, all legislative powers; he was commander-in-chief of the militia, and he had the power of treaty-making with the Indians. His signature became a valid t.i.tle to lands in the Indian country. His care of the interests committed to him was so satisfactory that the legislature of Indiana asked for his reappointment. He was especially successful in dealing with the Indians. The victory at Tippecanoe became a rallying cry when, in 1839, he was nominated for the Presidency.

One of the most notable events of his career as Governor took place before his house at Vincennes. The Indian warrior Tec.u.mseh, claiming that lands ceded by other tribes belonged to his own tribe, threatened vengeance on any who should attempt to settle on these lands. General Harrison sent for him, promising to give him a careful hearing and full justice. Accordingly, in August, 1810, Tec.u.mseh came to Vincennes, accompanied by several hundred warriors. The meeting of the Governor and the Indians took place in front of the official residence. At one point in the conference, Tec.u.mseh, being angry, gave a signal to his warriors, who seized their knives, tomahawks, and war clubs and sprang to their feet.

The Governor rose calmly from his armchair, drew his sword, and faced the savage. His bearing overawed the Indians, and when he told Tec.u.mseh that he could have no further conference with such a bad man, the chief and his supporters returned to their camp.

The house that looked down on this scene was probably the first house of burned brick built west of the Alleghenies. It was erected in 1804, at a cost of about twenty thousand dollars.

The walls of the bas.e.m.e.nt are twenty-four inches thick; the upper walls are eighteen inches thick. The outer walls are of hard red brick. The doors, sash, mantels, and stairs are of black walnut, and are said to have been made in Pittsburgh.

The bas.e.m.e.nt contains the dining-room, the kitchen, in which hangs the old-fas.h.i.+oned crane, a storeroom in which the supplies of powder and arms were kept, and four servants' bedrooms. At one side of the large cellar is the entrance to a tunnel which led to the banks of the Wabash, some six hundred feet distant. This was built, so tradition says, that the Governor and his family, if too closely pressed by Indians, might escape to the river and continue their flight in canoes. This would be useful also for the carrying in of water and food during a siege.

On the first floor a commodious hallway communicates on the left with the Council Chamber, where notable visitors were received. This was also the chamber of early territorial lawmakers. Here, in 1805, by Rev. Thomas Clelland, was preached the first Presbyterian sermon in what is now the State of Indiana.

In the shutter of a room facing the rear is the mark of a bullet which, it is said, was fired by an Indian who was attempting the life of the Governor, while that official was walking the floor with his little son in his arms.

To-day the house is cut off from the city by railroad tracks and is surrounded by factories. Until 1916 it was owned by the Vincennes Water Company, which proposed to raze it to the ground, that they might have room for extension. Learning of this purpose, six members of the Francis Vigo Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution begged the City Council to buy the house and preserve it.

When the Council announced that the way was not open to do this, a number of patriotic women, led by Mrs. Frank W. Curtis, raised the sum necessary for the purchase of the property.

Under the direction of the Francis Vigo Chapter, the house has been restored, and opened for visitors. It is the intention to maintain it for the inspiration of those who visit Vincennes to look on the scene of the wise labors of the first Governor of the Indian Territory.

[Ill.u.s.tration: RUFUS PUTNAM'S HOUSE, MARIETTA, O.

_Photo furnished by Miss Willia D. Cotton, Marietta_ See page 377]

Lx.x.xVI

THE HOUSE OF GENERAL RUFUS PUTNAM, MARIETTA, OHIO

THE MAN WHO LED THE FIRST PERMANENT SETTLERS TO OHIO

In 1775 General Was.h.i.+ngton decided that he must fortify Dorchester Heights, Boston, if he was to force the British to leave the country.

But how was he to do this? The ground was frozen to a depth of eighteen inches, and the enemy's cannon commanded the coveted position. Lieutenant Colonel Putnam told the General that the seemingly impossible task could be performed. Was.h.i.+ngton was dubious, but he had learned that Colonel Putnam was to be counted on. One night, after dark, the work was begun, and before daylight it was so far completed that the surprised enemy were compelled to retire.

In recognition of services like this, Colonel Putnam was made a brigadier general. A reward even greater was his; he won the lasting friends.h.i.+p of Was.h.i.+ngton.

Eight years after the fortification of Dorchester Heights, two hundred and eighty-three officers asked Congress for a grant of land in the western country. General Putnam forwarded the pet.i.tion to Was.h.i.+ngton, and urged that it be granted, in order that "the country between Lake Erie and the Ohio might be filled with inhabitants, and the faithful subjects of the United States so established on the waters of the Ohio and on the lakes as to banish forever the idea of our western territory falling under the dominion of any European power."

Action by Congress was delayed. On June 2, 1784, Was.h.i.+ngton wrote to Putnam:

"I wish it was in my power to give you a more favorable account of the officers' pet.i.tion for lands on the Ohio and its water, than I am about to do.... For surely if justice and grat.i.tude to the army, and general policy of the Union were to govern in the case, there would not be the smallest interruption in granting the request."

Putnam did not lose heart. His next step, taken in January, 1786, was to call a meeting of officers and soldiers and others to form an Ohio Company. The meeting was held at the Bunch of Grapes Tavern, in Boston, March 1, 1786, and the Ohio Company of a.s.sociates was duly formed. It was agreed to raise a fund to purchase from Congress, for purposes of settlement, the western lands which Congress had been asked to give them.

On July 27, 1787, a tract of 1,500,000 acres on the Ohio River, between the Scioto and the Muskingum rivers, was sold to the Company at sixty-six and two-thirds cents per acre. Half the amount was paid down. When, later, it became impossible to pay the remainder, Congress gave a measure of relief.

The first emigrants to go to the new lands set out from Danvers, Ma.s.sachusetts, December 1, 1787, under the guidance of General Rufus Putnam, while a second party started from Hartford, Connecticut, January 1, 1788. The first party of twenty-two men followed the Indian trail over the Allegheny Mountains and reached the Youghiogheny River, on January 23, 1788, while the second party of twenty-eight men, making better time, joined them on February 14. Then a barge, called the _Mayflower_, was built, forty-six feet long and twelve feet wide.