The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1872-03-29
THE PR ESS.
FRIDAY MORNING, MARCH go, 1879.
Valuable Souvenir.
A SKETCH OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, wRrrrrx
BY HIMSELF.

A SKETCH OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. wprrrr~s
BY HIMSELF.
from the Bloomington qll.) Pantagraph1
An interesting and valuable manuscript of
President Lincoln is in the possession of Mr.
Jesse w. Fell, of Normal. The circumstan-
ces under which it was written were these:
1t was suggested to Mr. Lincoln in the latter
part of 1850, by Mr., Fell and others, that he
might become an Unavailable Republican candi-
date for the Presidency in 1850, but il was a
long time before Lincoln would believe that
he could come prominently before the con-
vention, inasmuch as Seward, Cameron,
Banks, and others, who had been prominent
party leaders, were all mentioned in connec-
ton with the Office. Mr.. Fell wished to pre-
sent Lineoln's name in Pennsylvania in the
event OF Cameron's withdrawal, and request
ed Mr.. Lincoln to write brief sketch of who
he was, so that an accurate statement of his
points as a candidate might be placed before
the people of that State. 1t was not until af-
ter repeated solicitations that Lincoln respon-
ded to the request, and when he did in De-
cember, 1850, he sent to Mr.. Fell the manu-
script referred to, which is brief statement
OF his ancestry and his early life, and a char
aeteristic description of his personal appear
ance.
Mr. Fell sent the documents to Hon. 10.
seph j. Lewis, of Pennsylvania, late commits
sioner of Internal Revenue, who from it pre-
pared sketch of Mr.. Lincoln's life and SER
wees and his strong points as a candidate for
resident The article thus prepared appear
gu originally, we believe, in the North Amer
tcG', OF Philadelphia, in January, 1S60 and
was the most active and comprehensive pa
per ON the subject that appeared. 1t was i'm
mediately copied into all the leading journals
oi Pennsylvania and all other Eastern States,
and indeed the Illinois press either generally
copied it or obtained their leading facts and
arguments from it. The manuscript has
been in Mr.. Lewis possession until recently,
when he returned it to Mr.. Fell. OF course
it was never imagined by the writer that the
paper would ever either be published or be
seen by any person except Mr.. Fell.
1t was evidently written off-hand, as it has
frequent lineation and erasures. The Ian
guage is, therefore, his own natural express
ions, such as he would use to friend in pri-
vate conversation. For instance, he says his
parents ''were both born in Virginia, of un-
distinguished families-second families per-
haps should say" Further on he says that
his father moved to what is now Spencer
county, Ind, in Lincoln's eighth year, where
he grew up. ''There were some schools, So
called but no qualification was ever required
of a teacher beyond readin' writin' and ci-
pherin' to the rule of three. Ifa straggler,
supposed to understand Latin, happened to
sojourn in the neighborhood, he was looked
| upon as a wzard.'
He goes-on to say that he was raised to
farm work, which he continued until he was
%. His last year in Illinois he spent in Ma
con county; then he was at New Salem,
(now Menard county "as sort of clerk in
store" He then refers to the Black Hawk
war, and to his election to the Legislature
and to Congress, winding up with the follow
ing sentence: 'If any personal description
OF me is thought desirable it may be said-I
am in height six feet four inches, nearly lean
in flesh, weighing on an average $50 pounds;
dark complexion, with coarse black hair and
gray eyes; no other marks or brands recollec-
ted."
The manuscript has been neatly framed,
and for a day or two past has been on exhibit
ton. 1t is one of the most valuable souven-
irs of Mr.. Lincoln in existence, and the only
thing of the kind he ever wrote.