The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1860-06-07
Thrilling Episode in the Life of ABE
Lincoln"

Correspondence OF tue CleVelanQ Leader
i. As Western man, l wish to give ven
to my enthusiasm over the nomination @
the Hon. Abraham Lincoln for Presiden
of the United States. Mr.. Lincoln. o
j"Old Abe" as his friends familisrly cal
him, is q self made man. A Kentuckia,
by birth, he emigrated to Illinois in BIZ
boyhood, where he earned his living a
the anvil, devotiug bis leisure hours t.
study. Having chosen the law as bis fu
ture calling, he devoted himself assidu
ously to bis mastery, sontending at every
step with adverse fortune. During thi,
period of study, be for sometime found q
home under the hospitable roof of one
Armstrong, farmer who lived in log
house some eight miles from the village
of Petersburg, Menard County. Here
clad in homespun. with elbows out, and
knees covered with patches, young Lin.
coin would master his lessons by the fire.
light of the cabin, and then walk to town
for the purpose of recitation. This man
Armstrong was himself poor, but be saw
the genius struggling in the young student
and opened to him bis rude home, and
bid him welcome to his coarse fare. How
Lincoln graduated with promise, how he
has more than fulfilled that promise, how
honorably he acquitted himself alike on
the battlefield. in defending our border
settlements against the ravages of savsge
foes, and in the halls of our national le.
gislature, are matters of history, and need
no repetition here. But one little Incl.
dent of more private nature, standing
asst does as sort of sequel to some things
already alluded to. deem worthy of rec-
ord. Some few years since the oldest
sonof Mr. .Lincoln's old friend Armstrong,
the chief support of bis widowed mother
the good old man having some time pre-
viously passed from earth--was arrested
on the charge of murder. A young man
had been killed during a riotous melee,
in the night time, at campmeetng, and
one of his associates stated that the
death wound was inflicted BY young Arm
strong, A preliminary examination was
gone into, at which the aecuser testified
so positively that there seemed no doubt
of the guilt of the prisoner, and therefore
he was held for trial. As is too often the
case, the bloody act caused an undue de-
gree of excitement in the public mind
Every improper incident in the life Of the
prisoner-eaeh act which bore the least
semblance of rowdyism-eacb school boy
quarrel-was suddenly remeu bered and
until they pictured him as a
6end Of the most horrid bue. As these
ruUors spread abroad, they were receiv.
ed as gospel truth, and feverisb desire
for vengeance seized upon the infatuated
pOPulace, while only prison bars preven-
ted horrible death at the hands of a
mob. The events were heralded in the
,ounty papers, painted in the highest COL
DTS, accompanied BY rejoicing over the
certainty of punishment being meted out
% the guilty party. The prisoner, over
Fhelmed by the circumstances under
bicb he found himself placed, fell into
melancholy condition, bordering upon
despair; and the widowed mother, looking
through her tears, saw no cause for hope
rom earthly aid.
At this juncture, the widow received
etter from Mr.. Lincoln, volunteering his
ervices in an effort to save the youth
ron the impending stroke. Gladly was
lis aid accepted. although it seemed i'm
possible for even bis sagacity to prevail
o such desperate case; but the heart of
he attorney was 10 bis work, ard he set
Ibout it with will that knew no such
Eord as fail Feeling that the poisoned
of the public mind was such as
o preclude the possibility of fimpaDneliDg
IS impartial Jury in the Court having
Jurisdiction, he procured change of ven-
le, and postponement of the trial. He
hen went studiously to work unraveliDg
he history of the case, and satisfied him
elf that bis client was the victim of NAL
ce, and that the statements of the accu-
er we're a tissue of falsehoods. When
he trial was called Cd, the prisoner, pale
Ind emaciated, With hopelessness written
'n every feature, and accompanied by his
half despairiDg mother
whose only hope was iu mothers belief
II her sons innocence, in the justice of
he God she worsbiped. and in the noble
counsel, who, without hope of fee or re-
ward upon earth, had undertaken the
his seat in the prisoners box,
md with "stony irmDess" listened to
he reading of the Indictment. Lincoln
at quietly by, while the large auditory
ooked on him as though wondering what
le could say in defence of one whose guilt
hey regarded as certain. The examipa-
ion of witnesses for the State was begun,
md a well-arrauged mass of evidence,
and positive, was intro.
Iuced, which seemed to impale the pris:
'ner beyond the possibility of extricstion.
rhe counsel for the defense propounded
,ut few questions, and those of charae.
er which excited no uneasiness on the
art of the prosecutor-merely, in most
iases, requiring the main witness to be
Iefuite as to time and place. When the
violence of the prosecution was ended,
Lincoln introduced few witnesses TO re-