Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1882-08-02
Lincoln.s Year of Insanity.
Clevelnnd Ohio Leader.

half owner of the largest store in th
place. A this time he met with Mis-
Ann Rutledge. Two well-to-do gentle
men of the place-Hill and Mcneil
were courting her with devoted assid
uity; she decided in favor of the latter
He parted with her early in 1882 t
visit his father in New York, promis
ing to return at a given day and make
her his own She watched him ride
away on Old Charley, an antiquateC
animal that had seen hard usage in the
Black Hawk war, and that logged
slowly along the bad roads to New
York Then there came letter telling
of sickness in his family which forbade
his return at the appointed time This
was followed by other postponements,
until years rolled by The unaccount-
able delay, the infrequency of his let
ters, and his failure to give a reason
able explanation of his postponements
finally lessened her attachment and
made frightful inroads upon her health.
She only waited to see him in order to
ask a release from her engagement, and
|
another and more urgent suitor, whose
name was Abraham Lincoln. During
| three years young Lincoln visited Miss
Rutledge two or three times week,
first as friend in quest of congenial
company, and finally as a suitor for
her hand She was great favorite in
the village, loved by all who knew her.
She was probably the. most refined
woman to whom Mr.. Lincoln at that
time had ever spoken, He wasalways
welcomed by her father and mother
The latter he always called "Aunt
Polly" in his familiar way. Both father
and mother entertained for him deep
affection, and though they never openly
expressed themselves in regard to
Ann s choice of husband, yet they
would, without doubt, have rejoiced to
receive the manly Abe Lincoln into
their family. He lighted up their
home with cheerful glow whenever
he entered, and he gave apleasant flow
of mirth and JOY to their conversation.
AIMS relatives were all united in en-
couraging the suit, which the young
man pressed with great earnestness,
but she firmly insisted that her honor
demanded her to wait until she could
be released from her first engagement
before she made a second. In 1885
she and Lincoln were formally and
solemnly betrothed, but she asked to
wait another year, hoping that Mcneil
would return and that she might re-
lease herself from her pledge to him.
Weeks and months passed, and he re-
turned not. While she was waiting
Lincoln was studying night and day
to make himself more worthy of Ann,
and while he was growing in mind aud
body and daily developing the great in
tellect that was to fit him to lead a
mighty nation through the fierce strug-
giles of war, Ann was hourly fading
away. In August, 1885, she died, as
her physicians said, of brain fever, but,
as her neighbors believed, of the long
series of bitter disappointments and
the pangs inflicted upon her heart and
mind in striving to do right in regard |
to two lovers, to whom she had pledg- |
ed her hand Ann was buried in the |
little cemetery at New Salem, and as
the future President stood oyer her |
green grave with streaming eyes, he |
said: "My heart lies buried here"
After the burial Lincoln began to ex-
bibt that deep vein of gloom and sad
ness so often noticeable in his conduct |
while President He lost all sell-con- |
troll, and every friend he had in New |
Salem pronounced him insane. He
was constantly watched, and with
especial vigilance, SAYS one of his
during storms, fogs, and
damp, gloomy weather, lor fear of an
accident" Az such times he would |
rave piteously, saying, among other
wild expressions, II can never be rec
onciled to have the snow, rains, and |
storms to beat upon her grave" His
friends finally succeeded in secluding
him in log hut but a little way from
town, where he was watched over with
anxious solicitude for a few months,
until he appeared restored to his rea-
son, but the traces OF sadness always
fingered in his character. He visited
the cemetery daily and spent hours
over her grave At this time he
was heard frequently to repeat few
lines of that poem that he often recited
in after years, entitled: "Why should
the spirit Of mortal be proud?" Some
nights as he left the grave Of Ann
Rutledge he was heard to murmur
portions of it On the evening of
March p, 1864, as he sat in the White
House, he dropped his pen, turned
from his letters, and with half-closed
eyes repeated itentire to friend.