Abraham Lincoln and travel

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Abraham Lincoln and

Travel

Correspondence regarding
List of Places Visited

Excerpts from newspapers and other

sources

From the files of the
Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection

/i OiCf) m~>. 03T22-

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2012 with funding from

Friends of The Lincoln Collection of Indiana, Inc.

http://archive.org/details/abrahamlincolntrOOmcmu

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AG SPENCER, Cashier

R.B PRICE, Pbesioent

C.B ROLLINS. Vice Pncsiocr.

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Boone County National Bank

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December 17, 1935

Mr. C. B. Rollins
Columbia, Missouri

My dear -Mr. Bollins:

We do not seem to be able to locate here any
definite information as to Lincoln's visit to Missouri
in the month of Juns, 1840, although we have always
been under the impression that he did make such a
visit. W© find he appeared in Springfield, Illinois
as late as June 5 when the Whig convention broke up.

We also find he directed a letter from
Springfield to Jonathan Randal on June 16, 1340 but
the contents of this letter and other letters written
in 1840 do not indicate his whereabouts during the
entire month.

We will keep watch, however, and see if we
can discover other items that would allow us to locate
definitely Lincoln's activities in the political
campaign of that year in which he was very active
indeed.

Very truly yours.

LAW:LH Director

Jj$J . <LCLA«J0**. fljtf,

326=E

4iJ;irik

and MOTOR LODGE

ineapolis, Minnesota 554-04

'■fflrii' "t

August 20th, 1969

Mr. R. Gerald McMurtry

910 West Rudisill Boulevard

Port Wayne, Indiana - 468O7

Dear Mr. McMurtry:

This morning I received my copy of "LINCOLN LORE" #1 578
for August and I thank you for it. I read the entire copy with great in-
terest and noted your remark, "the editor is eager to learn of other places
where Lincoln visited."

What I am about to mention and send to you, you may already
know about. However, there is nothing lost in sending it to you anyway. The
list shown on page two of "LINCOLN L0RE"and also on page three of Illinois
mentions Metamora, which of course was the former County Seat of Woodford
County. Versailles also mentioned I believe no longer exists in Illinois. If
it is the Versailles I have in mind, then it no longer exists, however, there
is a Versailles, Illinois about 30 to 40 miles Southwest of Beardstown, Ill-
inois, however, I do not know if this Versailles was there in 1843 t the time
Linooln is supposed to have visited there. Way back, there used to be a Ver-
sailles a short distance South of Eureka, Illinois, however, this is the one
I mention has gone out of existence. So, which Versailles did Lincoln visit
back in 1843? That is the question. It really isn't important.

The thing I felt might be important is shown on the attached
sheet. Eureka, Illinois is not mentioned in the "LINCOLN LORE" list of towns
visited by Lincoln. Before we go any further, I just made a discovery which
you may already know. Woodford County was organized in 1841 and Lincoln pract-
iced law at Versailles and later at Hanover which later became Metamora. The
county seat of Woodford County was moved to Eureka in 1894. The Versailles 1
mention having gone out of existence. Eureka originally was called Walnut Grove
and from what I have heard, Lincoln had been a visitor here many times while he
was visiting Metamora with Judge David Davis, Lincoln and Davis having traveled
the 8th Circuit together.

You will please note that I went into the attached sheet very
extensively and as mentioned, Hickey has no record of "LINCOLN'S" speech in the
archives and no mention is made of it in LINCOLN'S LAY BY DAY" so the attached
sheet evidently is the only close record of what happened. Mr. Rinker is a very
serious Lincoln student and I asked him. "point-blank" whether Professor Radford
might have colored his reports. Rinker bristled a bit and said that Radford was
a very honest man. So, I believed Rinker who was very courteous and had a desire
and enthusiasm of great help. May I mention that the mentioned boulder, as I remem-
ber it/ was about two feet high and about three feet across and about two feet in
thickness. No little stone. I endeavored to find out who placed tne stone there
but Mr. Rinker believed someone from Eureka College had it placed there.

I hope the above and the attached are of some help to, you. I
am still working on your three books. Best wishes and regards^ Cordially
ROOM RESERVATIONS CONFIRMED IMMEDIATELY BY TELEPHONE 612-333-^^£R TEI LET Y^Jjg^i jL-

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January 20th, 1966

43

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While doing some reconditioning of the county records for Woodford
county, Eureka, Illinois in 19°3 ^e undersigned had occasion to
ride around the town of Eureka in an endeavor to learn what he could
historically regarding the town. He looked over the grounds of the
; Eureka College and later came upon a large boulder at the corner of
South Vennum and East Campus whereupon he read the inscription on the
boulder which read "Lincoln talked here I&56" . Being somewhat cmrious
to know what Lincoln's talk was about he inquired of several people
and learned nothing. Later he want to Springfield and talked with one
James T. Hickey, Curator of the Lincoln Room in the Centennial Building
and found that Hickey knew nothing regarding Lincoln's appearance in
Eureka at the time above mentioned. Both Hickey and the undersigned
checked the 3 volume set of "Lincoln's Day by Day" and found no mention
in it regarding Lincoln's appearance in Eureka as of the above mentioned
time. Hickey said further that he has nothing. in the records that make
mention of Lincoln ever having been in Eureka^ At the time of the under-
signed visit back in 1963, he took pictures of the marker, which he has
in his possession.

On this date, January 20th, 1966 the undersigned was accompanied by one
D. L. Hawthorne, Assistant Superintendent of County Schools for Woodford
County, Illinois to the home pf Jacob Rinker, who lives on the property
at the location of the above mentioned boulder and gathered the follow-
ing information from Mr. Rinker;

In I925, Mr. Rinker had occasion to tdk wL th Professor Radford of the
Eureka College regarding Lincolnfe e-jipearance in Eureka. Prof . Radford
at this time was 95 years of age. Radford and Rinker went to the spot
where Lincoln is supposed to have talked and looked over the property
on which the home of Mr. Rinker -si; ill stands.- Mr. Rinker had done some
digging on his property and uncovered a foundation of a building which
Radford said was of the old Walnut (rove Academy ( Eureka was former- '
ly called Walnut Grove) There is in Illinois & Walnut Grove at this time.
Eelo^ is a drawing showing where the wall was located near the Ringer
home together with a cement marker placed by Rinker in 1925 showi:-. ; the
exact spot where Lincoln stood while making his talk/ According to' this,
Lincoln would have been inside the Walnut Grove Academy building near
the North-West corner of the inside of the building. Radford told Rinker
that Lincoln was campaigning for Congress at the time and there were sev-
eral young fellows present and they started to heckle Lincoln and Lin-
coln stopped talking and started to tell stories to some of the people
close to him down in front. Soon, several of the people in the bc-ck of
the room called out to Lincoln asking him to speak louder. By this tirre
the hecklers had become quiet and Lincoln continued his speech. What
the speech was about is not definitely known other than what Prof. Rad-
ford mentioned to Mr. Rinker, which was i at it was a political speech
pertaining to issues of the day,

Mr. Rinker has, been in the past, the Surveyor for Woodford County and
has taught geology at Eureka College, in fact he still teaches this sub-
ject at the College. He is a man about QO years of age, Mr. Rinker lives
in a house which was formerly a log cabin at 208 IJU—^mpus.

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Driveway to Rinker house
^Rinfcsr house

Fountain'1

v •> v^Rmker marker designating

^VS| O ex&c"t spot Linooln stood.

Foundation wall of *^^F
old Walnut grove Academy

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Boulder-with wording "Lincoln spoke here - IS56

Madison, Conn. 8/27/69

Dear Dr. McMurtry:

Thank you for the most interesting
issue of August 1969 - "Places ... .Lincoln lived &
visited". Because you ask of other places you do
not list, I beg to suggest that, according to a
placoue at the site, Lincoln did visit Manchester,
Vermont, I believe for several summers. This
suggestion may bear sd me research. May I add that
I enjoy the Lore very much.

Sinceoiely yourj
Rev'd Franfclin A. Bower

Box 3^2
Madison
Conn .
06Iii|3

FRANKLINJ),ROOSE\tElJ._

Dr. R. Gerald McMurtry, Editor
Lincoln Lore

The Lincoln National Life Ins. Go.

FOR'T WAYNE, INDIANA

September 2, 1969

Rev. Franklin A. Bower

Box 302

Madison, Connecticut 0644.3

Dear Rev. Bovver:

I have your card of August 27th relative to "Places...
Lincoln Lifeed and Visited." I have Bade a careful

search to see if Lincoln ever visited Manchester,
Vemont. Hhile "Irs. Lincoln visited there, I have
failed to find wheftfeherLincoln ever visited that
city or state.

Yours sincerely,

R. Gerald Mcvfurtry
PGM/cvrw

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Sherman Day Wakefield

144 east 24th street

new york, n. y. 100!0

August 28, 1969

Dr. R. Gerald McMurtry, Editor
LINCOLN LORE

The Lincoln lMational Life foundation
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Dear Dr. McMurtry:

In LINCOLN LORE No. 1578 you give the date 183
1838 for Lincoln* s earliest visit to Blooming ton.
If you will look in my hook, HOW LINCOLN BECAME
PRESIDENT (1936) p. 8-9, you will find that
Lincoln was in Bloomington in April 1837 as
lawyer for John W. Baddeley. This is further
borne out by the official LINCOLN DAY BY DAY
(1960) vol, I, p. 71, which is remiss in not
mentioning Baddeley and indexing him. Also in
Willard W. King's biography of David Davis (1960)
p. 27. Please correct this error in the next
issue of LINCOLN LORE.

Sincerely,

September 2, 1%9

Mr. Shaman Pay Wakefield

144 Host 24th Street
New York, Nsw York 10010

Dear Mr, Wakefield?

Many thanks for your letter off August 28th* I an
glad to -enow that Lincoln visited Bloooington in

April, 1837.

I should have caught the entry on pa^e 71 of Voluno
I of LINCOLN DAY BY DAY.

Yours sincerely,

R, Gerald McMmrtiy
RCM/cvrw

Wayde Chrismer

BOX 371, 219 WEST HALL STREET
BEL AIR, MD. 21014

(301) 838-3283-879-9238

Dr. R. Gerald McMurtry, Editor &ug. 29, 1969

LINCOLN LORE

Th<= Lincoln National Life Foundation,

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Dear Dr. McMurtry--

Your LINCOLN LORE for August, 1069, is very helpful—
as are all your issues— but you MAY have missed one Lincoln visit.
to Maryland.

Frederick W. Seward in REMINISCENCES OF A WAR-TIME STATES-
MAN AND DIPLOMAT, 1830-1915, writes (Page 175 of th 1916 edition)
that be accompanied his father and McClellan to Maryland where arrange-
ments were made to meet "General Banks... at his headquarters, at
Rockville."

This may not properly qualify as a "visit" and have been
excluded by you for that reason. Purpose of the trip was a confer-
ence with Banks about his actions in connection with suppressing
the (expected) "secession session" of the Maryland Legislature in
September. Th^ date of Seward's entry is simply August, 1861...
"a bright summer day".

I am not being a carping critic, but I '-now your desire
for every meticulous detail,' and I take the liberty of mentioning
■bis solely for that reason.

LINCOLN LOR" continues to b° a periodic source of interest
and I thank you for putting my name on your list of "subscribers".

Sincerely yours:

P. S. — Please do not bother to reply to this insignificant note.

September 2, l'J69

Mr. Wayde Cbrismer

Box 371, 219 West Hall Street

Bel Air, Maryland 21014

Dear Mr. Chrismer:

Many thanks for your letter of August 29th I have checked
vour reference ftf page 175 of Frederick W. Seward's book RE-
MINISmSsOT \ WARTIME STATESMAN AND DIPLOMAT. I thin
definitely that Uockville, Maryland, August, 1861 should bar.
been included in my compilation.

LINCOLN DAY BY DAY, Vol. Ill, page 62 1 under August 23rd states
that "President and Sec. Seward ^^ fom^^siUng enca^-

merits on Virginia side of river (WASI JNGTO , ST U, August 3rd) .
Cabinet in session. No subject announces DLC-w S Ganttto
Sherman. Aug, 22, 1861." Perhaps the entry snould reau in
addition to Secretary Seward "Assistant Secretary Seward.

I am very glad to have this information.

Yours sincerely,

R. Gerald McMurtry
RGJ J/cvrw

Dr. J. Duane Squires

NEW LDNDDN
NEW HAMPSHIRE

03257

30 August 1969

Dear Friend McMurtry:

In your excellent issue of LINCOLN LORE, August, I969,
you list many places that Lincoln^ visited during his life.
You also ask your readers for supplementary data on places
that you do not mention. Let me list the following:

On Thursday, March 1, he spoke in Concord at 2 P.M.
On Thursday, March 1, he spoke in Manchester at 8 P.M.
On Friday, March 2, he spoke in Dover at 8 P.M.
On Saturday, March J>, he spoke in Exeter at 8 P.M.

lour list has three of these places , but does not include
Concord.

See my GRANITE STATE OF THEUNITED STATES (New York,
1956) I, pp. 366-369.

With kind regards, I am

Very sincerely your

J. Duane -Squires

W^

September 4, 1969

Dr. J. Duane Squires

New London, New Hampshire 03257

Dear Dr. Squires:

I was pleased to have your letter of August 30th.
calling my attention to Lincoln's visit to Concord,
New Hampshire on March 1, 1860.

This is cleari^yan oversight on ray part. I hope that
in a supplementary article I may be able to include
the places that I missed in my original compilation.
I will certainly want to included Concord in that
supplementary list.

Yours sincerely,

R. Gerald McMurtry
RGN/cvrw

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Wayde Chrismer

BOX 371. 219 WEST HALL STREET

BEL AIR, MD. 21014 **, M

(301) 838-3288-879-9288 W*MW^W^^>^vHpC

December 10, 1969

Dr. R. Gerald McMurtry

Lincoln National Life Foundation

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Dear Dr. McMurtry—

Many thanks for your kind letter of Dec. 1, regarding
the reproductions of Lincoln paintings about which I wrote. I had not
expected you to take so much trouble about it and appreciate your answer
that much more because you did. I have been out of town and could not
thank you sooner.

Forgive me if I appear to belabour the issue of
"Places Lincoln Visited" but you seemed to appreciate my previous con-
tribution to the record, so mention this also:

Burton J. Hendrick in his LINCOLN'S WAR CABINET which
I am just now reading mentions (Pages 385-387) "Lincoln's frequent trips
to, ..Silyej^gr^^nc^J.n Maryland--the home of Francis Preston Blair, Sr.,
and (presumably; also to the home of Montgomery nearby. He goes into
great detail about this, but unfortunately does not mention specific
dates. Pprhaps these can be found in LINCOLN DAY BY DAY or some other
source.

It may well be that because Silver Spring was so close
to the District of Columbia, you did not look upon his trips to that
place as actual "visits" but we patriotic Marylanders would like to see
them so considered, officially.

Thanks again for your help with the Lincoln paintings.
I naturally regret to learn that I do not have all of that series, but am
pleased to know the full particulars.

I am taking the liberty of enclosing a little pocket-
secretary my clients find useful, hoping you can use it. Please do not
bother to write to thank me for it.

Sincere best wishes for the holidays:

i j ■ t - c t ' -- *

c WAYDE CHRISMER

December 15, 1969

Mr. Wayde Chrismer

Box 371, West Hall Street

Bel Air, Maryland 21014

Dear Mr. Chrismer:

I have your letterodf December 10th. Many thanks
for the attractive "Packet Secretary. " I will put
this to good use.

I was glad that you called my attention to Silver
Springs, Maryland, as a place where Lincoln visited.
Your letter will go into our files on Places Lin-
coln Visited. In compiling DAY BY DAY, I suppose
the compilers felt that Silver Spiings was hardly
a case of Lincoln leaving the city. Nevertheless,
I would have included it if it had been brought to
my attention.

With the season's best wishes, I remain

Yours sincerely,

R. Gerald McMurtry
RGW/cvrw