Stories, Legends and Myths

No. “I have always hated slavery,” he wrote in 1858. He lived his entire adult life to the time he was elected president in Indiana or Illinois, both free states.

Did Lincoln write the Gettysburg Address on the back of an envelope?

No. Lincoln worked on the address both before and after his trip to Gettysburg from Washington, D.C. using official stationery for part of the speech. The train ride would have been too bumpy to do any writing.

Do the hands on the Lincoln Memorial spell out a message?

Not intentionally, although the hands do appear to be forming the signs for “A” and “L” in American Sign Language. According to the daughter of sculptor Daniel Chester French, this was a coincidence and not French’s intent. French modeled the hands from Leonard Volk’s casts of Lincoln’s hands, as well as casts of his own hands.

While French did not intend to use the hands to form letters, he was at least familiar with the concept of sign language, having previously sculpted a memorial to Dr. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, the founder of the nation’s first permanent public school for deaf students. Gallaudet’s son Edward Miner Gallaudet founded the college for deaf students now called Gallaudet University, for which President Lincoln signed the charter in 1864.

Did scientists raise Lincoln from the dead?

The Weekly World News of October 5, 1993 featured a headline story, “He’s kept alive for 95 seconds! Abraham Lincoln’s Corpse Revived.” After being injected with the miracle drug Revivitol, according to the story, Lincoln stirred and said “Gentlemen, where am I?” before again losing consciousness.

Of course, as those who follow the supermarket tabloids know, the Weekly World News make the National Enquirer look like The New York Times. It’s so silly that no one takes it seriously. The real significance of this story, for Lincoln students, is that it marks Lincoln’s significance as continuing icon in American popular culture, like Elvis or JFK.

Did Lincoln ever walk miles to return change to a store customer?

Probably. Most of what is known about Lincoln’s early life, including the brief time when he kept a store in New Salem, Illinois, is based on unreliable reminiscences written down many years later. Lincoln’s scrupulous honesty is beyond question, however, and if he ever accidentally overcharged one of his few customers, he would certainly have made every effort to pay the money back.

Did the young Lincoln do his homework writing with coal on the back of a shovel?

Yes, but not often. He usually had paper and pen for his schoolwork.

Was Lincoln’s corpse ever stolen?

Almost. From 1865 to 1871, his body lay first in a public receiving vault and then in a temporary vault in Springfield’s Oak Ridge Cemetery. After the construction of the Lincoln Tomb in 1871, his remains were transferred there. In 1876, however, an attempt was made to steal the body and hold it for ransom. The plot was not successful, and when the tomb was rebuilt thirty years later Lincoln's body was buried under many feet of concrete.

Did Lincoln ever fight a duel?

Almost. In 1842, Lincoln wrote a series of anonymous letters published in the Sangamo Journal, mocking prominent Democrat James Shields, the Illinois State Auditor. After Mary Todd (to whom Lincoln had been engaged the year before) and Julia Payne wrote a similar letter, Shields demanded that the editor reveal the identity of the author. Upon learning that Lincoln had written the letters, Shields challenged him to a duel. Lincoln, who was always awkward with women, mustered a rare show of gallantry and made no mention of Mary’s involvement in writing one of the letters.

Since Shields was the challenger, Lincoln had the privilege of naming the conditions for the contest. He proposed the ludicrous spectacle of a fight with “Cavalry broad swords of the largest size” while standing in a square ten feet wide and about twelve feet deep, which would put the much shorter Shields at a serious disadvantage. Lincoln may have hoped that the silliness (as well as the danger) of the proposed contest would bring Shields to his senses, but both men went ahead with their preparations for the duel until their seconds managed to arrange a peaceable settlement. Lincoln afterwards was embarrassed by the incident and rarely spoke of it.

Was “Dixie” really his favorite song?

Lincoln was not particularly musical, but when a band serenaded him in the White House at the end of the Civil War, he asked it to play “Dixie,” saying, “I have always thought ‘Dixie’ one of the best tunes I have ever heard. Our adversaries over the way attempted to appropriate it, but I insisted yesterday that we fairly captured it... I now request the band to favor me with its performance.” (April 10, 1865)