Category: Daily Story

Mule’s Tail [Recalling an evening at Ford’s Theatre when AL seemed bored, sitting with his eyes closed:] Suddenly I left his heavy hand on my shoulder, and in place of the worn and wearied man who looked so haggard as if soul and body might part then and there,… Read the full story

Don’t Swap Horse in Mid-Stream [Responding to a suggestion that he replace a general:] “Gentlemen, your request and proposition remind me of two gentlemen in Kentucky.”… Read the full story

HOGSHEAD For a while during the Civil War, General [JC] Fremont was without a command. One day in discussing Fremont’s case with George W. Julian, President Lincoln said he did not know where to place him, and that it reminded him of the old man who advised… Read the full story

Horse to Resurrection On one occasion when Mr. Lincoln was going to attend a political convention one of his rivals, a liveryman, provided him with a slow horse, hoping that he would not reach his destination in time. Mr. Lincoln got there, however, and when he… Read the full story

McClellan an Prisoner [General George B. McClellan] reminds me of the story of a man out in Illinois who, in company with a number of friends, visited the State penitentiary. They wandered all through the institution and saw everything, but… Read the full story

Frogs’ Legs A fellow who lived out of town, on the bank of a large marsh, conceived a big idea in the money-making line. He took it to a prominent merchant, and began to develop his plans and specifications. “There are at least ten million frogs in that marsh… Read the full story

Run, Rabbit, Run Mr. Lincoln enjoyed the description of how this Congressman led the race from Bull’s Run, and laughed at it heartily. “I never knew but one fellow who could run like that,” he said, “and he was a young man out in Illinois. He had been sparking a… Read the full story

Wrong End of a Dog [Quoting from “Personal Recollections of Lincoln” by Judge H.W. Beckwith, of Danville, Illinois, as a good example of Mr. Lincoln’s skill in “condensing the law and the facts of an issue in a story”:] “A man, by vile words, first provoked… Read the full story

Sam Brown’s Credit [The Detroit Free Press, 9 January 1898, interviews 88-year-old Richard W. Thompson who recalls AL’s opinion of one claim:] I will say of your case that it suggests to me a story I once heard about Sam Brown, lawyer, in Illinois. This… Read the full story

Deer and a Calf [In the Chicago Times-Herald a correspondent reports an interview with Philip Clark, pioneer of Sangamon County, about AL:] “In one of his early races for Congress I heard him debate with Peter Cartwright, who was the terror of every… Read the full story