Pages 116-120

HOW LINCOLN FIRST EARNED THE SOBRIQUET OF "HONEST ABE."—HIS SPEECH WINS THE DEBATE.—CIRCUMSTANCES OF HIS SPEECH IN 1858 WHEN RUNNING FOR SENATOR.

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When Mr. Lincoln first commenced the practice of law there was nothing that brought him so prominently before the people

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as a lawyer as his punctuality in collecting debts for his clients and paying over the money.

At that time about two-thirds of all the business was done on credit. The Illinois merchants would buy their goods from the Eastern and St. Louis wholesale merchants on twelve months’ credit and sell them to the farmers and mechanics on the same time. The consequence was that the merchant’s note would not be paid and it would be sent to some lawyer for collection, and then there would be as much trouble to get the money from the lawyers as it was from the customer. But Mr. Lincoln, whenever he collected any money, immediately forwarded it to the creditor, and in that way built up a practice that extended over several counties and earned for him the name of "Honest Abe" Lincoln.

I remember meeting Mr. Lincoln, in the spring of 1839, between Canton and Lewistown. I overtook him about two miles north of Lewistown, and as we rode along he told me he had been attending court in Knox and Warren counties and was on his way back to Springfield. As it was late in the afternoon and the roads were muddy, Mr. Lincoln said he would stay in Lewistown over night, and inquired about the taverns. I directed him to Truman Phelps’ tavern, as it was the best place, and he stayed there over night. I remember he had a large pair of portmanteaus on his saddle which appeared to be pretty well filled. I supposed he had his law books and some clothing in them, for at that time lawyers who traveled around the circuit carried their law books with them. He was dressed in a suit of Kentucky jeans, over which was a heavy overcoat having four capes and a standing collar and fastening with a hook and clasp. He also wore a pair of green baize leggings, wrapped two or three times around the leg and tied just below the knee and pinned at the top and bottom.

The night Mr. Lincoln stayed in Lewistown happened to be the evening for the regular meeting of the Lewistown lyceum, and he attended. The meetings of the lyceum were largely attended by both the ladies and gentlemen of the town and were held in the old Methodist church, two blocks west of the court

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house. The subject for discussion that evening was "Which had done the most for the establishment and maintenance of our republican form of government and free institutions, the sword or pen?" and Mr. Lincoln was invited to take part in the debate, which he did. The men speaking on the side of the sword were Lewis W. Ross, Richard Johnson and Joseph Sharp, all lawyers, and those speaking for the pen were J. P. Boice and Abraham Lincoln, both lawyers, and William Kelly, a merchant of Lewistown. The speakers for the sword commenced with George Washington and ran down to General Jackson and General Cass and other officers who had gained great victories by the sword. When Lincoln commenced his speech he eulogized the other side for the effort they had made but said they had omitted the name of one of the valiant generals who lived in their own country. "For instance," said he, "there is General Stillman, who led the volunteers in the Black Hawk war." When he mentioned the name of General Stillman a smile came over the face of every one present, for we all remembered the general’s defeat, and how Black Hawk, with his little band of Indians, chased him, with his larger force, fifteen miles and drove them into Fort Dixon. After Mr. Lincoln had joked them a little about their generals he entered into the subject in earnest and quoted from the writings of Patrick Henry, Benjamin Franklin and many other great men, which showed that he was well posted in the writings and history of our country. He made a royal good speech and the judges awarded to his side the victory, much to the gratification of Messrs. Boice and Kelly.

Mr. Lincoln was dressed in a suit of jeans with heavy boots and looked like a farmer, and the people were very much surprised when they heard his speech. A number of ladies attended that evening and I had walked over to the meeting with Miss Isabella Johnson, who remarked that she thought the rough, farming looking man had made the best speech. Attorney Johnson, who was one of Lincoln’s opponents in that debate, and who was familiarly known as "Dick" Johnson, came to California in 1850 and was elected attorney general of the state and held several other important offices. He came to see me

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after I came to California and in talking over old times asked me if I remembered the time he and Lincoln measured the sword

against the pen in the old Methodist church in Lewistown. He said he little thought that the man who defeated him in that debate would some day become President of the United States.

Mr. Lincoln was well posted in all that took place in the Black Hawk war, for he enlisted three times. The first time the volunteers were called out by Governor Reynolds it was for three months and Mr. Lincoln was elected Captain of his company. After the company was discharged it re-enlisted and served its time out and was again discharged, when Mr. Lincoln again re-enlisted and served until the close of the war.

I remember the circumstances connected with Mr. Lincoln’s speech in Lewistown in August 1858, when he was running for United States Senator against Stephen A. Douglas. I was then living at Vermont, twenty miles from Lewistown, and drove to the latter town with my wife. She had often heard me speak of Mr. Lincoln and of his kindness to me when I was a lad carrying the mail, and she wanted to see him and hear him speak. I might say right here that we have been married for almost fifty-seven years, and that is the only political meeting she has ever had a disposition to attend. We stopped at my brother Lewis’ house and found Mr. Lincoln sitting on the west porch. He and my brother Lewis had served together in the legislature and he had called at my brother’s home to see him. I shook hands with him and told him that my wife and I had driven twenty miles that morning to hear him speak.

Mr. Lincoln delivered his address in front of the old court house on a platform erected between two pillars. There were seats erected for 400 or 500 people, which were mostly occupied by ladies. I should think there were from 2,000 to 3,000 people present. He spoke on the repeal of the Missouri compromise and of the steady and sure encroachment of slavery on the free territory, and it was considered as one of his ablest speeches. I got a front seat for I was anxious to hear all he said, and as I sat there my mind went back twenty-five years, during the same month, when I met him in Springfield on the day of the big show,

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how he dressed on that day and how he catechized me about coming through New Salem without having the mail opened—

which I mentioned in a former article. In place of the short pants and brown linen coat and low shoes tied across the instep and buckeye hat, he wore a fine light linen suit, fine boots and a silk hat. Major Newton Walker and John Proctor accompanied him to the court house in a fine carriage, and I think Major Walker took him in his carriage the next day to Canton, where he was to speak again.

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