Lincoln Home Historic Furnishings Report

SECTION D: EVIDENCE OF ORIGINAL FURNISHINGS (continued)

CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTS

Although some information is available for the entire historic period, many accounts describing Lincoln's home were written at the time of his nomination for the presidency. The following pages, presented in chronological order, present those accounts that refer to the interior appointments of the house, including several written by Lincoln's contemporaries but after Lincoln's death. One of these accounts lists Lincoln furniture purchased by the Lucien Tiltons who rented the Lincoln home while Lincoln was President. These accounts focus on the first floor rooms, primarily the east and west parlors. A summary of the furniture mentioned begins on page 43:

Account by Charles Carleton Coffin, western correspondent of the Boston Journal May 1860, quoted in Paul Angle, ed., The Lincoln Reader (New Brunswick, 1947), pp. 278-280. [1]

...I crossed the hall and entered the library. There were miscellaneous books on the shelves, two globes, celestial and terrestrial, in the corners of the room, a plain table with writing materials upon it, a pitcher of cold water, and glasses, but no wines or liquors ....

Springfield (Mass.) Republican, May 23, 1860. [2]

As nearly as could be made out in the evening light [of May 19], his dwelling house is of the style and character suited to his position in life. It is a two-story wooden house of more than ordinary good exterior; and the interior arrangements are such as show that good taste and good domestic rule reigns within. The furniture, without pretension to show, was neat, and in admirable keeping with what is understood to be his moderate pecuniary ability. Everything tended to represent the home of a man who has battled hard with the fortunes of life, and whose hard experience has taught him to enjoy whatever of success belongs to him, rather in solid substance than in showy display.

New York Evening Post May 23, 1860. [3]

I found Mr. Lincoln living in a handsome, but not pretentious, double two-story house, having a wide hall running through the centre, with parlors on both sides, neatly, but not ostentatiously furnished. It was just such a dwelling as a majority of the well-to-do residents of these fine western towns occupy. Everything about it had a look of comfort and independence. The library, I remarked on passing, particularly, that I was pleased to see long rows of books, which told of scholarly tastes and culture of the family.

New York Commercial Advertiser, May 25; the New York Evening Post, May 26; and New York Sun, May 30, June 9, 1860. [4]

The door opens into a broad hall, with rooms upon either side. Mr. Lincoln, who had been apprised of our coming, stood at the back end of the double parlor on the left,--in which was a bookcase filled with law books,--and the committee and other guests upon entering grouped themselves around him.

By editorial correspondent of The Utica Morning Herald letter dated Springfield, Illinois, June 21, 1860, and reprinted in the New York Semi-Weekly of July 6, 1860, under the caption, "An Evening with Lincoln." Ed. [5]

I have an instinctive aversion to dogging the footsteps of distinguished men. Nothing was farther from my thoughts four days ago than a visit to Abraham Lincoln. Nothing seemed more impossible than that I should ever---before or after his election to the Presidency---join the great mob of those who should 'pay him their respects' ....

I had little difficulty in finding the place of my destination. A modest-looking two-story brown frame house, with the name "A. Lincoln" on the door plate, told me that my pilgrimage was ended. I was met at the door by a servant, who ushered me into the parlor, and carried my note to Mr. Lincoln, who was upstairs. The house was neatly without being extravagantly furnished. An air of quiet refinement pervaded the place. You would have known instantly that she who presided over that modest household was a true type of American lady. There were flowers upon the table; there were pictures upon the walls. The adornments were few, but chastely appropriate; everything was in its place, and ministered to the general effect. The hand of the domestic artist was everywhere visible. The thought that involuntarily blossomed into speech was, "What a pleasant home Abe Lincoln has."

Presently, I heard footsteps on the stairs, and a tall, arrowy, angular gentleman, with a profusion of wiry hair "lying around loose" about his head, and a pair of eyes that seemed to say "make yourself at home," and a forehead remarkably broad and capacious, and arms that were somewhat too long and lank for a statue of Apollo, made his appearance. The lips were full of character, the nose strongly aquiline, the cheekbones high and prominent, and the whole face indicative at once of goodness and resoluteness. In repose, it had something of rigidity, but when in play, it was one of the most eloquent I have ever seen. None of his pictures do him the slightest justice. His presence is commanding---his manner winning to a marked degree. After you have been five minutes in his company you cease to think that he is either homely or awkward. You recognize in him a high-toned, unassuming, chivalrous-minded gentleman, fully posted in all the essential amenities of social life, and sustained by the infallible monitor of common sense.

He approached, extended his hand, and gave mine a grasp such as only a warmhearted man knows how to give. He sat down beside me on the sofa, and commenced talking about political affairs in my own State with a knowledge of details which surprised me ....

New York Herald, June 26, 1860. [6]

Mr. Lincoln lives in a plain brown two-story wooden house, a little off at one side of the city, which is without ornament on it or in its grounds around it. Everything bespeaks a becoming absence of affectation and love of show, and an almost becoming absence of taste and refinement .... The internal appointments of his house are plain but tasteful, and clearly show the impress of Mrs. Lincoln's hand, who is really an amiable and accomplished lady.

New York Herald, August 13, 1860. [7]

In a large two-story frame house, bearing no slight resemblance to Washington's headquarters at Cambridge, Massachusetts, now the residence of Professor [Henry Wadsworth] Longfellow, resides the Republican candidate for President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is situated at the corner of Eighth and Jackson Streets in this city.

Here Mr. Lincoln has resided for some twenty years, since 1844. The edifice affords no indications of ostentation. It has no ornaments, no flowers or shrubbery, no marble vases or cooling fountains, no fashionable fences surrounding it, but is built plumb out to the sidewalk, the steps rather encroaching on the walk. It is like the residence of an American gentleman in easy circumstances, and is furnished in like manner. It is not near so aristocratic an establishment as the houses of many members of your Common Council. In short, there is no aristocracy about it; but it is a comfortable, cosy home, in which it would seem that a man could enjoy life, surrounded by his family.

Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, November 17, 1860. [8]

It [the Home] stands on a sort of platform of brickwork, and is two stories high, having two windows on each side of the door and five on the upper story. The side view shows it has an extension and side entrance with a receding stoop running the whole length of the extension. In the rear are the stables and barn. The edifice is painted a pale chocolate color, and the window blinds are of deep green. The roof extends a little over the edges, like that of a Swiss cottage. The rooms are elegantly and comfortably furnished with strong well-made furniture, made for use and not show. On the front is a black door plate, on which, in silvered Roman characters, is inscribed the magical name "A. Lincoln."

Frank Leslie's Illustrated Weekly Magazine, March 9, 1861. [9]

...simply and plainly fitted up, but are not without indications of taste and refinement. They are the "leisure-rooms," as parlors might properly be called, of the great majority of Americans in comfortable circumstances in country towns, and will doubtless suggest to the reader many a pleasant hour passed in such apartments .... The rooms are elegantly and comfortably furnished with strong well-made furniture, made for use and not for show.

Chicago Tribune, May 6, 1865. [10]

There is little of the furniture in the house which belonged to Mr. Lincoln. In the front parlor is a whatnot and a small marbletopped table on which was lying a beautiful cross of white camellias. In the back parlor, which he was accustomed to use as his study, is his bookcase. This was his favorite room, and here he toiled and wrote unconsciously preparing himself for the great mission he was to fulfill .... A heavy oaken bedstead and a chamber set conclude the relics.

The following article is dated February 18, 1867, but the newspaper is not identified; found in Kenneth Scott, "Lincoln's Home in 1860," Journal the Illinois State Historical Society, Vol. XLVI, No. 1, p. 12. [11]

The plain, two-story brown house in which Mr. Lincoln lived, is well represented in the steel engraving found in Dr. [Joseph G.] Holland's Life of Lincoln It is located on Eighth Street, two or three blocks southeast from the State House. Fronting westward and southward on two streets, it stands about fifteen feet from the sidewalk, its sombre aspect in full keeping with the memories which cluster around it.

A single elm tree, half a foot or so in diameter, near the edge of the sidewalk, is the only object which relieves the eye from a full view of the house. On the south, a close board fence encloses the lot two-thirds of its length, the rest of the yard, including that in front of the house, being enclosed with a plain picket fence. A climbing rose with a few other shrubs are the only natural ornaments which adorn the place.

Through the centre of the house, east and west, is a hall, on the left of which are two parlors connected by folding doors .... On the south side of the hall is a sitting room fronting westward and southward; in the rear of this, also fronting southward, is the dining room, and still further east are the kitchen and other rooms occupying the east wing.

On the rear of the lot resting on the alley, is a small barn and woodshed combined, covered with boards rough from the saw, and browned by the weather. The whole establishment is embraced in a single lot, sixty by one hundred and sixty feet [152 feet] in size. It is a type of republican simplicity, which contrasts widely with the extensive mansion and numerous outbuildings, the once beautiful gardens, the extended lawns, and broad fields of Mt. Vernon. The latter was a home illustrative of the tastes of the Virginia cavalier, not more so than was the plain brown house in Springfield, a home in keeping with the tastes of the Illinois lawyer.

J.S. Bliss to W.H. Herndon January 29, 1867, Herndon-Weik Collection, Library of Congress. [12]

I presented myself to the door of our nominee...

I was ushered into the sitting room by the young man who answered the bell, and from that place, I sent my verbal card to Mr. Lincoln.

I was sitting opposite the door and partly in sight of the stairs. After a short time, Mr. L. came tripping down the stairs, as lively as a young man of sixteen years of age -- sliding his right hand on the bannister. He approached me and after shaking hands -- we were soon immersed in a lively conversation on various topics.

As I was from near Madison, Wisconsin, he was anxious too and did inquire as to the resources and development, to which I replied to the best of my ability.

He spoke of the press in Wisconsin, and gave readily the course they had pursued (especially some of the Milwaukee papers) as readily as a resident of that city.

While sitting there, the chimney swallows came down behind the fire boards, and absolutely twittered, fluttered, and sung as to nearly drown our voices.

I remarked that these birds rarely descend so low but Mr. L. replied "that they usually come down once a day!"

On a section of the wall of his parlor, hung a picture of himself and Mr. Herndon; since he said he had not seen Mr. Herndon yet, whereupon, I took the liberty to remark, that they would meet in the city of Washington, ere long to which he smiled in his thin, then, usual good natured style.

We stepped to the opposite side of the room where was one of the best executed pictures of Mr. Lincoln I had ever seen and it was this one, I was paying rather more than ordinary attention.

He was immediately at my left, and pointing to it, said--"that picture, gives a very fair representation of my homely face."

A whatnot in the corner of the room was laden with various kinds of shells, I took one in my hand and said:

"This, I suppose, is called a (Trowsby?) to a geologist or naturalist." Mr. Lincoln replied, "I do not know for I never studied it."

...Mr. Lincoln following without his hat -- continuing conversation, shook hands across the gate ....!

Memoirs of Gustave Koerner, 1809-1896. Vol. II, pp. 93-95. [13]

A committee made up by the vice-president, headed by Ashmun, the president, had been appointed to inform Mr. Lincoln of his nomination. They were to start in the morning on an extra train. I went down to Springfield on the regular train, and arrived a few hours before the committee did. In company with E. Peck, later one of the judges of the Court of Claims in Washington, I called on Mr. Lincoln at his handsome, but unpretending frame house in a quiet part of the city. Entering the hall, on the right, there was a library or sitting room, which was joined at the south by another, probably the dining room. The door of the first room was open, and there was a sort of long table set on one side, on which stood many glasses, a decanter or two of brandy, and under the table a champagne basket. Cakes and sandwiches were just being placed on the table by a colored man. We went in there first, and asked the servant what the proceeding meant. "O, this is for the Chicago folks, that come down to congratulate master." Presently, Mrs. Lincoln came in. After the customary "how do you do's?", she asked us what we thought of setting out this lunch for the committee. We told her at once that this would hardly do. This meeting of the committee would be a somewhat solemn business. Several, perhaps, of the Eastern men were strictly temperance people, and they might think treating the committee would not be the proper thing. She remonstrated in her very lively manner, but we insisted on dispensing with this hospitality, which we appreciated ourselves, but which might be misconstrued. I finally told the black man bluntly to take the things out into the back room, which he did. But, Mrs. Lincoln still argued with us. Lincoln, being in the parlor right opposite, came in, and learning of the trouble, said: "Perhaps, Mary, these gentlemen are right. After all is over, we may see about it, and some may stay and have a good time."

We went to the parlor and gave Mr. Lincoln a good many particulars about the Convention, which, of course, interested him much. Some very humorous remarks were made about it, Mr. Peck himself being a very witty and lively talker. Some other of Mr. Lincoln's particular friends called in. About six o'clock in the evening, the committee called, and after the usual salutation,---Mr. Lincoln standing on the threshold of the back parlor and leaning somewhat on an armchair,---the committee formed before him in the front parlor, and Mr. Ashmun very formally addressed him in a well considered speech. Mr. Lincoln looked much moved, and rather sad, evidently feeling the heavy responsibility thrown upon him. He replied briefly, but very pointedly. Somehow, all of us felt more serious than the occasion called for. All appeared to have a foreboding of the eventfulness of the moment, and all felt that in this contest there was more than the mere possession of power and office at stake, nay, the vital principle of our national existence. Ice water, it being a very hot evening, was the only refreshment served.

The Republican Committee of Springfield had arranged an elegant supper for the committee at the hotel. After that, everyone repaired to the State House and the square around it, where a vast deal of speaking and cheering was going on.

Raymond made a most capital speech in the hall of the House of Representatives,---one of the finest of the kind I ever heard. He was one of the great lights of the Republican party of New York. The whole town was alive all night. Champagne flowed in the hotels; toast followed toast. Bands of music played in the streets. Fireworks were let off. Even the Democrats, who all liked Lincoln personally, joined in the jubilee.

Abraham Lincoln by Some Men Who Knew Him, "Recollections of Judge Franklin Blades," p. 121. [14]

On being ushered upstairs I found Mr. Lincoln and the Democratic State Auditor... sitting on a high post bed, chatting with each other, Mr. Lincoln particularly greeting all who came into the room. Mr. Lincoln was not then talked of for the presidency.

Summary of Furnishings Documented by Contemporary Accounts

Front Parlor:

   Whatnot [15]
   Small marble-topped table [16]
   Fireboards [17]
   A picture of himself [Lincoln] and Mr. Herndon [18]
   A picture of Mr. Lincoln (opposite wall from picture of Lincoln and Herndon) [19]
   A whatnot in the corner of the room [20]
   Various kinds of shells (on whatnot) [21]
   A Trowsby shell [22]
   Flowers upon the table [23]
   Pictures upon the walls [24]
   A sofa [25]

Back Parlor:

Bookcase [26]
Long rows of books (in the Library) [27]
Arm chair (near threshold of hall and parlor) [28]
Two globes, celestial and terrestrial [29]
A plain table with writing materials upon it, a pitcher of cold water, and glasses. [30]

Sitting Room:

   A sort of long table set on one side, on which stand many glasses, a decanter or two of brandy, and under the table a champagne basket. [31]

Bedroom:

   Heavy oaken bedstead [32]
   Chamber Set; and high post bed [33]

Windows:

   Deep green window blinds. [34]