The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1860-06-15
Thrilling Episode in the Life of
ABE LINCOLN"

"Auc A4Auc0lms
Asa Western man, | wish space 20 |
give vent to my enthusiasm over the nom
ination Of Hon. Abraham Lincoln for
President Of the United States. Mr.. Lin |
coin, OF "Old Abe" as his friends famll-
iarly call him, is a self-mude man. A
Kentuckian by birth, he emigrated TO IL
Enois in his boyhood, where he earned his
living at the anvil, devoting his leisure
hours to study. Having choose the law
as his future calling, he devoted himself
assiduously to its mastery, oontending at
every step with adverse fortune. During
this period Of study, he for some time
found n home under the hospitable
roof of one Armstrong, farmer who
lived in log house some eight miles
from the village Of Petersburg Mem
ard county. Here, clad in homo-spun,
with elbows out, and knees covered with
patches, young Lincoln would master his
lessons by the freight of the cabin, and
then walk to town for the purpose Of
itation. This man Armstrong was him
self poor, but he saw the genius strug-
Cling in the young student, and opened
70 him. his rude home and bid him well
come 70 his coarse fare. How Lincoln
graduated with promise-how he has more
r than fulfilled that promise-how honoru-
bly, he acquitted himself alike OH the bat
tle-feld, in defending our border settle
ments against the rdyages Of savage foes
and in the halls of our national lcgisla-
ture, are matters Of history, and need no
.repcu iCn h re. Out one little incident OF
a more private nature, standing as il does
as a sort Of sequel TO some things already
alluded to, / deem worthy Of record
Some few years since the oldest son Of
IMr. Lincoiu's old friend Armstrong, the
chief support of his widowed mother
= the good old man having sometime previ-
d ously passed from earth--was arrested on
. the charge of murder. A young man had
been killed during rlotous melee, in the
night time, at a camp-meeting, and one
: Of his associates stated that the death
8 wound was inflicted by young Armstrong
: A preliminary examination was gone in
to, at which the accuser testified so posi-
; lively that there seemed no doubt Of the
n prisoner, aud therefore he was held foi
{ trial. As is too often the case, the bloody
. act caused an undue degree ofexcitement
in the public mind. Every improper in
: cident in the life of the prisoner-eacl
G act which bore tho least semblance o.
d rowdyism--each schoolboy quarel--waI
suddenly remembered and magnified, un
Ill they pictured him as n iend Of thC
: most horrible hue. AS these rumors spreat
n abroad, they were received as gospe
truth, and fevcrish desire for vengeance
. seized upon the infatuated pOpulace
whilst only prison-bars prevented hoT,
: rible death at the hands Of a mob. The
I events were heralded in the county pa.
d pers, painted in highest colors, accompR'
- MED by rejoicing over the certainty o.
punishment being meted out 20 the gull
ty party. The prisoner, overwhelmed by
l. the circumstances under which he foUnt
?, himself placed, foil into a melancholy
/ condition, bordering upon despair; anS
the widowed mother, looking through hel
d tears, saw no cause for hope from earth
p ly aid.
II AT this iuncture, the widow received I
: letter from Mr.. Lincoln, volunteering hi
, services in an effort to save the you'll
e from the impending stroke. Gladly wal
5, his aid accepted, although Il seemed i'm.
a possible for even his sagacity TO prevail
: in such desperate cuse; but the hear
! VI khN uAluAAAbN W 10 III htn WI NJ aAA ~
&c set about il with will that knew no sHcl
Ie worl as fai'. Feeling that the po!sone'
e. condition Of the pubic mind was such Al
f. to preclude the possibility Of impanelinl
an impartial jury in the court having ju
i riBdlctiOn, he procured a change Of venue
q and postponemt Of the trial. He thel
u went studiausly TO work unraYeling th
/ history Of the case, aud satisfied himsel
! that his client was the victim of malic
and that the statements Of the aecuser
a. were a tissue of false hoods. When tn
., trial was called on, the prisoner, pale an
re emaciated, with hopelessness written O
~ every feature, and accompanied by hi
hOll-hoping, hRlf-despairing mother
ID whose only hope was in a mothers be
e, lief Of her sons innocence, in the justic
,e Of the God she worshiped, and in the nc
J, BILE counsel, who, without hope Of fee Q
reward on earth, had undertaken tn
u cause-to0k his seat in the prisoners bO
10 aad with o "stony frmness" listened {
y the reading Of the Indictment. Lipcol
sat quietly BY, whilst the large auditor
= looked on him a. though wondering whH
pa he could say in defense Of one who's
i'd guilt they regarded as certain. The eX
b. animation Of the Witnesses for the Stat
was begun, and well arranged mass q
: evidence, oircumstanfial and positive wa
introduced, which seemed TO impale N
ou prisoner beyond the possibility of extu