"I have never had any doubt of your good intentions": William Henry Herndon and Ward Hill Lamon as Described in Correspondence from the Robert T. Lincoln Letterpress Volumes

To David Davis

Chicago Dec 8th, [1]866

Hon David Davis[2]

Washington

My dear Sir

I have just returned from Springfield to see Mr. Herndon. We talked everything over in a very good natured way & I found that he really had no idea of conveying the impressions he does in his lecture and that the main trouble comes from his heaping words on words without much care in their selection. He has promised me not to circulate [two lines illegible] on that subject hereafter before it [was?] put in type. I think this is about as well as I could do, as he is bound to [write?] his book. He told me that one of the McDaniell's [3] had and paid his half of the note amounting to $167.50 & that he had deposited it to his own credit. I told him that it had better be transferred to your A/c. in the Bank. The remainder of the note is to be paid in January.

I called at the Bank and found that there is now standing to your Page  [End Page 37]

So that there is no need of any of the interest to be drawn at Washington this winter.

I enclose you Mr Turner's letter[4] to me. I hear that he is worthless in a pecuniary point of view and if ever got final consent, it would hardly stand any chance of collection, so I guess it would be as well to make a compromise — for instance abandon the interest. Let me hear from you about it.

Very respectfully Yours

Robert T. Lincoln

To William Henry Herndon

Chicago Dec 13/66

William H. Herndon Esq

Springfield

My dear Sir:

Your letter of Dec 10 is received and it contains first what I understood to be the result of our conversation at Springfield.

As I said then, I have never had any doubt of your good intentions but in as much as the construction put upon your language by everyone who has mentioned the subject to me was so entirely different from your own, I felt justified in asking you to change your expression. Beyond this, I do not wish, nor have I any right to go. Your opinion may not agree with mine but that is not my affair. All I ask is, that nothing may be published by you, which after careful consideration will seem apt to cause pain to my father's family, which I am sure you do not wish to do.

Very sincerely your friend

Robert T. Lincoln

Page  [End Page 38]

To John G. Nicolay[5]

Dec 16 [1866]

My dear Nicolay

The enclosed slip from the Tribune explains itself. I have cut off the tail of it & pinned it to one of the pencilled papers.

Herndon has so clearly falsified the record that I think it time he was squelched. My idea is this — I have hastily written what is enclosed — if Judge Davis [6] coincides, do you wish it out in your own name, for I do not wish personally to enter this controversy. Change and re-write just as you choose referring to the Clerk's letters which I must have sent you for I cannot find them & get Mr Harlow [7] to print your letter in the Chronicle & send me a copy. Consult with the Judge & I will be entirely satisfied with any change of program. I think however what is done should be done at once.

In Chas. Friends' [8] last letter (dated Sept 1.) 3) he says he is going to see Joshua McDougal (son of the old preacher). [9] Had not you better write him & find out what he learned?

Excuse bad pen & spelling for I write hastily.

Yours

R.T.L.

To William Henry Herndon

Chicago Dec 24 1866

My dear Mr. Herndon

I should have acknowledged your letter sooner but I have been very much engaged. I am sorry about the book but only because our old friend Dr Smith [10] will be disappointed. In answer to your question I have to say that I do not know of Dr Smith's having "converted" my father from "Unitarian" to "Trinitarian" belief, nor do I know that he held any decided views on the subject as I never heard him speak of it.

I infer from your letter, but I hope it is not so, that it is your purpose to make some considerable mention of my mother in your Page  [End Page 39] work. I say I hope it is not so, because in the first place it would not be pleasant for her or for any woman, to be made public property of in that way. With a man it is very different, for he lives out in the world and is used to being talked of. One of the unpleasant consequences of political success is that however little it may have to do with that success, his whole private life is exposed to the public gaze — that is part of the price he pays. But I see no reason why his wife and children should be included — especially while they are alive. I think no sensible man would live in a glass house and I think he ought not to be compelled to do so against his will. I feel very keenly on this subject, for the annoyance I am subjected to sometimes is nearly intolerable. I hope you will consider this matter carefully, my dear Mr Herndon, for once done there is no undoing.

Sincerely your friend

Robert T. Lincoln

Wm H. Herndon Esq

Springfield Ills

To William Henry Herndon

Chicago Dec. 27/66

My dear Mr Herndon

Your letter of yesterday is at hand and I am very glad to find that I misunderstood your language and that you do understand my feelings on that subject. There is no need of saying anything more about it.

Dr. Smith did not say the book was his— merely that my father had once loaned it to him and that he desired very much to possess it. You did all right about it of course. I can doubtless hunt up something that will please the Dr. quite as well.

Very sincerely yours

Robert T. Lincoln

Wm H. Herndon Esq

Springfield

Page  [End Page 40]

To William Henry Herndon

Chicago Jan 4/67

My dear Mr Herndon

I am going to ask Judge Davis to send me a check for an amount so large as to cover the first half of the McDaniel Note which you told me was collected and standing to your credit in the Bank. If it is convenient will you be so kind as to have it transferred to Judge Davis' A/c, if it is not already done? And oblige

Yours very sincerely

Robert T. Lincoln

Wm H. Herndon Esq

Springfield

To William Henry Herndon

Chicago Jan 11/67

My Dear Mr. Herndon:

Yours of 11th is recd. Judge Davis has an a/c in the Mar.[ine] & Fire Ins[urance] Co.[mpany] at S.[pringfield] as Admr. I find that I will not need the money referred to, so that my last letter goes for nothing.

I learned on Tuesday that my letter must have reached you when you were thinking little of business. My ignorance must be my excuse.

Sincerely yours

Robert T. Lincoln

Wm H. Herndon Esq

Springfield

To William Henry Herndon

July 29 [186]7

W. H. Herndon Esq

Springfield

My dear Sir

I have just returned from Washington after an absence of four weeks and I find your letter of July 5. In the present state of my business, it is impossible for me to go to Springfield and I will therefore have to give up the idea of purchasing any of your books. Page  [End Page 41] I am not able, financially, to take them all in a lump — and in case I saw them would only wish a few.

Hoping my delay has given you no inconvenience I am very truly yours

Robert T. Lincoln

To Dennis F. Hanks[11]

Chicago Dec 4. 1872

D. F. Hanks Esq

Charleston Ills.

My dear Sir:

On my return from Europe I find your letter of Oct 1st. I have not seen Lamon['s] book and I do not intend to read it. I am told by several persons that it is full of falsehoods invented by Herndon, who sold them to Lamon.

There is one point to which my attention has been called and which you know something about. Herndon makes the astonishing statement that he believes my father's father and mother were never married. I understand his reasons for it are that [there was on file?] no record of the marriage in the County where my father was born. I do not propose to as for the question as to its being proper to draw such a conclusion from such a fact, even if it may be a fact.

Yesterday a gentleman showed to me a leaf, slightly torn, apparently from a Bible, which purports to be a record of the marriage of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks (giving the age of each) and to the birth of Sarah Lincoln and of Abraham Lincoln & Accompanying the papers is a certificate by you as follows:

Charleston Ill Oct 17. 1866

D. F. Hanks

the former preceptor of A. Lincoln

Now this record is evidently old but you make a mistake I am very sure in saying it is in my father's writing — but that is of little importance. I wish you could tell me how and when and where you put the paper and if you know where the rest of the Bible is from which it was taken. Page  [End Page 42]

I will be very much obliged if you will let me hear from you soon.

You also say that you have seen statements from Lamon's book which are false. I will today send you two copies of the book one for you to keep for yourself and I will be obliged if you will take a pen and in reading the other one, when you come to a lie that you know to be a lie write your opinion on the margin of the book and also anything else you may think proper.

Herndon has acted like a scoundrel & your notes may be of great use.

Please do not communicate this letter to anyone.

Yours very truly

Robert T. Lincoln

To Dennis F. Hanks

Chicago Jan 17. 73

D. F. Hanks Esq

Charleston Ills

Dear Sir:

Your letter of the 15th is received. You say the Bible from which you took the Record is where you can get at it. I wish the next time you have a chance you would see if a piece of the record is not still in the Bible. The part here has one corner torn off.

I find that by an accident the books have not been sent to you. I have written today a bookseller telling him to attend to it at once.

Yours truly

R. T. Lincoln

To Book Seller

16 Congress St.

Chicago Jan. 17.73

My dear Sir:

Could you oblige me by sending by express if possible — carrier paid — to D. F. Hanks Page  [End Page 43]

Charleston

Coles Co. Ills.

two copies of Lamon's book. I have never seen this book myself & do not care to, but I have a special object in view.

Please send bill to come [by?] express to me & oblige

Yours truly

Robert T. Lincoln

To J. W. Wartmann

Private

June 5th, 1882

Dear Sir:

I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of May 31st, sending me an article concerning my father.

I was so well aware of the motives which actuated Lamon in procuring the publication of his book, that I have saved my self considerable annoyance by never having opened the covers of the book. The special piece of black guardism executed by him, and which is the subject of the article you send, has never given me any annoyance, for I believe that a similar statement would be very difficult to be refuted by records by a large majority of people.

I thank you for your courtesy.

Very truly yours,

Robert T. Lincoln

J. W. Wartmann, Esq.

Attorney at Law

Evansville, Ind.

To Thales Lindsley[12]

August 12, 1882

Dear Sir:

In response to your letter of the 5th of August, inquiring as to where you can get the second volume of the Life of President Lincoln, by Ward H. Lamon, I have to inform you that no second volume was ever published. I regret that you possess the first as I consider Page  [End Page 44] it a book largely made up of inventions, some of them inspired by malice.

Very respectfully yours,

Robert T. Lincoln

Thales Lindsley, Esq.

No. 4 Cedar St.

New York City

To Isaac N. Arnold[13]

Jan'y 28th, 1883

Hon. Isaac N. Arnold,

Chicago, Ills

My dear Mr Arnold:

I have your letter of the 22nd instant.

I am very glad to know that you propose to republish your book.[14]

I hardly know what to say to you about Herndon. Personally, I have no confidence in him whatever. From what I have heard of him lately, I think he has gone to pieces entirely. I certainly would believe nothing that he said. I think that you are likely right in supposing whatever papers he has got to be made up of foolish gossip partly, and partly of crazy inventions of his own. I do not know what they are, but I should regard them as trustworthy only in so far as they were supported by evidence entirely disconnected from Herndon.

Very Sincerely yours,

Robert T. Lincoln

To Ward Hill Lamon

Washington, D.C.

May 10th, 1883.

Sir:

In reply to your letter of the 3rd instant, I have to advise you that your information in respect to my action at the time you were Page  [End Page 45] proposed for appointment as Postmaster at Denver, while not correct in details, is so in substance.

I never spoke to the President on the subject at any time, and your name was never mentioned between Senator Hill[15] and myself until long after I had spoken to the Postmaster General (Judge Howe), [16] and I think not until after Judge Howe's death.

The facts are that I observed in a morning paper here a statement that you were a candidate for the place in question. I took an early opportunity to say to the Postmaster General that your appointment would be personally offensive to me, and I explained to him, briefly, the reasons.

They are that notwithstanding the especially kind consideration accorded to you by my father, from the time when he was in a position to benefit you, you, after his death, published a volume called "The Life of Abraham Lincoln," so offensive in its character that upon the advice of several friends to avoid useless personal annoyance to myself, I have never until today opened it. I was made aware, however, by many newspaper paragraphs, which I could not easily avoid seeing, that it contained one insinuation which was especially offensive in itself, and made more so by the pretended effort to take away its force by a reference to mere neighborhood repute. I refer to the first paragraph[17] on page 10 of your book, which I have opened for the sole purpose of being definite in a matter which, to my amazement, you seem to have forgotten. The statement in lines 16, 17, and 18[18] of the paragraph was easily proved to be absolutely false, — more easily, as it chanced, than would be likely in nine cases out of ten. I cannot believe you acted by inadvertence, merely using carelessly material bought from Herndon; for it was told me before the publication of your book that you had resisted the importunity of at least one good friend of my father, who begged you to omit some offensive statements which he had seen in the proof sheets, of which I believe this was one.

I have no reason to believe that you did not know the statement to be without foundation when you made it; but however this may be, the burden of the paragraph has always appeared to me to be an astonishing exhibition of malicious ingratitude on your part towards your dead benefactor. I cannot say whether my action in this matter is, as you say, unlike anything my father ever did or was capable of doing. He was charitable and forgiving to the last degree, but I think that no man attempted while he was living to give him such a wound as you tried to deal when his friendship was no longer Page  [End Page 46] of practical use to you except to be advertised to increase the sale of your merchandise.

I am,

Your obedient servant,

Robert T. Lincoln

Ward H. Lamon, Esq.,

Denver, Col.

To H. M. Teller[19]

Personal

Washington, D.C.

June 22nd, 1883

My dear Mr. Secretary:

I return to you Judge Usher's note, [20] which I have read with the care and interest which are prompted by my high respect and regard for him. I think that it is hardly possible that the Judge can have read Lamon's two letters to me, and mine intervening, with the care necessary to possess himself fully of the situation, for he seems to think that Lamon has been injured by me, and that I ought to take steps to appease him. I appreciate, with gratitude, the Judge's sentiments regarding my father, and his kind feelings towards myself; but I do not see what I can do, with self-respect, in the direction he indicates. I have been for years indignant at Lamon's outrageous conduct towards my father after his death, about which I do not care to enlarge in this note. An expression of mine regarding him recently reached his ears, and he had the assurance to challenge me to write him on the subject. I did so, in a private letter to him, in as concise and emphatic a style as I could use. This is the letter which Lamon has shown Judge Usher. It was not intended to be complimentary, and I cannot imagine what pleasure its recipient had in exhibiting it. If Lamon thinks it of advantage to himself to make Page  [End Page 47] public what I wrote to him, and his reply, his letter will, I think be found to justify my expressions to him; and while such a publication would probably be regretted by those of my father's friends who might see it, as was this book, it would not be because of anything I wrote; and I do not understand how I could properly be held responsible for any new public offenses of his against my father's memory. Any distress to those friends is to be caused by him — not by me — and any efforts in restraint should be directed upon him.

I am,

Very sincerely yours.

Robert T. Lincoln

Hon. H. M. Teller,

Secretary of the Interior,

Washington, D.C.

To B. H. Fackenthall

April 21st, 1884

Dear Sir:

In reply to your letter of April 9th, I beg to say that out of a desire to avoid useless annoyance to myself, I have never even read the book which you mention; although I have not been able to remain ignorant of some of the offensive things in it. I have heard, a number of times, explanations of its publication, substantially like that which you suggest. I am not able to recall how I heard them; but they have been made so often as to impress a feeling of probability on my mind. I myself do not believe that the reputed author had either the skill or the persistency to accomplish the work published under his name.

I beg that you will consider this a private communication in response to your courteous letter.

I am, very truly yours

Robert T. Lincoln

B. F. Fackenthall, Esq.,

Attorney-at-Law,

Easton, Penn.

Page  [End Page 48]

To Dewitt Miller[21]

June 26, 1899

Dewitt Miller, Esq.,

The Union League Club,

Philadelphia, Pa.

My Dear Sir:

Your letter of June 21st reaches me upon my return from a short absence.

The vicious animus of Herndon's book was so well known to me, and to many others, that I have never suspected of countenancing it; and therefore the information to you that the copies on sale, to which you refer, came from me is, of course, incorrect.

Yours very truly,

Robert Lincoln.

To Charles L. Hammond[22]

February 11th, 1903

Mr. Chas. L. Hammond,

Room 56–84 Washington St.,

Chicago, Ill.

Dear Sir:

The slander you speak of in your letter [23] was invented by Herndon as a malicious revenge upon the memory of a friend who saved him from ruin, but would not safely gratify his wish to be put in a lucrative position of public responsibility. It has no longer any hold upon decent people, and I do not see why you should give yourself trouble about it. I have long since ceased to be annoyed by it, and am a little surprised that any one could think that I would promote the literary crusade you propose.

Yours truly,

Robert T. Lincoln

Page  [End Page 49]

Robert T. Lincoln as a successful corporate lawyer. Page  [End Page 50]

To Robert T. Hubard

April 29th, 1903.

Robert T. Hubard, Esq.

Counsellor at Law,

Bolling, Buckingham County, Va.

Dear Sir:

Upon my return from an extended absence, I find your two letters in relation to certain correspondence between my father and Mr. Abraham Lincoln of Lacy Springs, Va.

The publication you mention was, I have no doubt, a purely malicious invention of the author, who took every possible means, after my father's death, to revenge himself for not having received official distinction at my father's hands, — my father having found it impossible to gratify his wishes on account of his bad habits and disrepute.

I am obliged for your interest in this matter, and should be glad to see the letters, or copies of them, and I may undertake to do so.

Very truly yours,

Robert T. Lincoln

To Reverend Ulysses S. Villars[24]

Augusta, Ga. February 22nd, 1907.

Rev. Ulysses S. Villars,

Superior, Wisconsin

My Dear Sir:

I received here your letter of February 16th, and assure you that I have read with interest the extract from your address in relation to my father, and that I appreciate highly all you say about him.

In reply to your inquiry, I cannot undertake to verify the quotations and statements made from authors of works upon his life, and least of all those which emanate from William Herndon.

I cannot here speak very fully on the subject of authority on the side of my father's life which was the theme of your address; but it is my recollection that the most satisfactory statement I have ever seen respecting it is in the last edition of his Life by Hon. Issac [sic] Page  [End Page 51] N. Arnold which was published by A. C. McClurg & Company of Chicago.

Yours very truly,

(sgd) Robert T. Lincoln.

To President Lowell[25]

June 14th, 1911.

Dear Mr. President Lowell: —

Recalling your much appreciated inquiries about the way in which my father's address at Gettysburg was received by those who heard him, I send to you, in a separate package, a little book by Colonel Clark E. Carr, [26] of Galesburg, Illinois, who was present at the Dedication, in which he deals with the subject, and says that he did not observe any applause during the delivery, and that at the close it was not especially marked.

I send, also, a reprint I have had made of Mr. Nicolay's article in the Century Magazine. [27] He was also present, but does not give his own recollection as to any applause, merely referring to the fact that the Associated Press report indicated such applause as having been given several times.

Colonel Carr also quotes Mr. Lamon on this matter. I give no consideration to Mr. Lamon, because his book was written by him when he had so far deteriorated in position as to be what was known as a jackal of the famous copperhead Jeremiah Black, [28] in Washington City so-called law business, and it is notorious that he was hired by Black to write the book, and that its tone was inspired by Black's hatred of my father.

Taking Colonel Carr and Mr. Nicolay's reports together, it would be my feeling that the applause was very slight. Indeed, it would be my idea that applause would be very unlikely to be given to any speaker within the first two or three minutes of an address on an occasion so peculiarly solemn as the Dedication was.

Very sincerely yours,

Robert T. Lincoln

Page  [End Page 52]

Colonel Clark E. Carr

To Wayne Whipple[29]

April 16th, 1908.

My dear Sir: —

I have your note of the fourteenth, in which you ask some information from me in regard to the ownership of the Herndon material which was used by him in various publications.

I can only say to you that I have not the slightest idea as to its location or ownership, beyond what I might guess from the latest publication in which this material was used, by a man named [Jesse] Weik, whom you know about.

It may not surprise you to know that my regard for Herndon or anybody connected with him is not great. It was very difficult for Page  [End Page 53] me to understand him at first, but soon after my father's death, I became convinced that he was actuated by an intense malice, an[d] was possessed of a most ingenious imagination. The malice arose, I am quite sure, from the fact my father could not see his way, in view of Herndon's personal character, to give him some lucrative employment during the war of the rebellion. Those who knew Herndon personally could well understand the reasons for that. I have endeavored for my own peace of mind to refrain from thinking much about him, and I absolutely know nothing of the location of the manuscript of his stories.

Very truly yours,

Robert T. Lincoln

Wayne Whipple, Esq.

1010 Cherry Street,

Philadelphia, Pa.

Page  [End Page 54]