River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1885-11-19
LINCOLN WAS HIS FRIEND

I az iilil VA lilttt AAAtbNAN tAAN t'N NtttAAi
lance of George CLARK, who, in a small
way. was an insurance agent.
Clark, though in humble circumstan-
ces and often pinched in pecuniary mat
/ ters, was of that class of men whom
misfortunes do not sour, who borrow
very little trouble, and who awake or
asleep-are happy and contented with
their lot. Everything he had was good
I enough aud would do It'll the tide
| turned. He was, withal, an eccentric
individual, and he had a habit of mag
nifying his statements regarding many
things to the degree that those who
/ knew him best accepted his tales with
a large degree OF allowance.
Among his many claims was one that
he was born in log cabin in Illinois,
and that he grew up in the same neigh
/ borhood with Abraham Lincoln; had
+ split rails with him; had bunked with
/ him; knew him backwards and for
wards. and that during MIR. Lincoln 5
/ brief stumping tour in New England,
/ he had come out all the way from Bos-
! ton to see him: declined the accomoda-
1 tons of the best hotel in the city, and
! slept in an imprOvised bed in one Of the
1 two rooms which he and his wife occu-
I pied. He also claimed that ABE he
/ mentioned him Familiarity the
/ orandeSt man in this country, and that
| the fatcs had more in store for him than
most people realized. | knew very
/ al, I ina1in OF ~
/ Like most people in the East believed
4 that Seward was the com nc man.
A few years passed and Mr.. Lincoln,
sure enough, was the man of the aour.
/ Clark. whenever I met him, was talk
/ ing about him. Il can have any office
| want, be said emphatically; abe
| will look out for me- | thought him
dreamer. and like all his acquaint-
ances. doubted his claim. One day
when he was repeating his story,
mildly informed him that nobody
believed him. TO my surprise he was
not indignant He only insisted that
should accompany him to the Apple
ton Mills and take note of the fact
that at the time Mr.. Lincoln visited
him they registered there together, he
| having shown abe through the mills
of the company. The record was as
he stated | was convinced.
Shortly after Clark said he was
going to have an office, and that in
order to get it he must raise S12 to pay
his fare to Washington. | told him it
was a useless undertaking. He laughed
at me ABE" wouldn't refuse him
ANYTHING he asked. He had made up
| his mind he must havea postotlice. /
told him that Sl2 would only pay his
fare. and that everything was 50 high
aud the hotels so crowded that he
couldn't live a hours in Washington.
Again he laughed in my face, and then
said What do | care for high prices
and hotels? Abe'll take care of me.
All / want is money enough to get
there.
Half in earnest, half in jest, and
wholly III doubt about the propriety Of
the thing, the late Hon. Dana Sargent
then a resident of Lawrence -seyeral
other gentlemen and myself contributed
the amount and sent him on his jour
ney rejoicing.
In due time Clark arrived in Wash
ington. 1t was evening. He had no
money and no place TO lodge. He was
hungry. A reception was taking
place at the White House, and man
Of his plebean appearance was not only
''out Of place" but was hustled about
in an unceremonious manner, and in
one way and another deferred from APP
preaching MIR. Lincoln. Clark S pa
ticnce under the embarrassing situation
served him for more than an hour. when
| hunger and anxiety about a place to
put up for the night" caused him to
I lose discretion and become desperate
/ Mounting a chair Just as foreign min
/ lister was approaching Mr.. Lincoln, he
| sang out, ABE! Abel Mr. Lincoln in
stantly recognized the speaker. The
passing pageant of chiYalry and fash
1 ion became to his mind like the Areal-
itv of dream from which he had been
suddenly aroused, and in all that brill
liant assembly he saw only George
/ Clark, the man who had shared with
him the hardships and priyations of
/ frontier life in the days of small things.
'.Make way for my friend" exclaimed
! the president, and the surprised ladies
and gentlemen paused in establishment
! as Mr. Clark approached Mr.. Lincoln,
and was received with cOrdiality and
warmth of erecting that had not been
accorded any other guest of the even
ing.
A few minutes later Mr.. Lincoln eX-
cused himself from the reception and
passed into another room with his old
friend and closed the door. The scene
that followed is known only through
Mr.. Clark, and. as he has inclined some
what to exaggerate circumstances.
J L..
I allowance.
! Mr. Lincoln so Clark repeatedly told
/ his friends, was as familiar and off-hand
/ as in their youth. He leaned against
the wall and laughed He was like an
| over-joyed boy. You don't know, =
/ he said, ''how glad | am to see you.
/ The face of an old friend is like ray
! of sunshine through dark and ominOus
/ clouds I've shook hands till | M tire
| der than | ever was splitting rails ;"
/ He inquired where Clark was stopping
and if he had been to supper, and when
/ Clark told him that he was stopping
/ with Abe Lincoln and haden't had any
/ thing of any account to eat since leav-
I inc home,f he ordered the best the
/ White House afforded set before him,
while he returned to ''finish up the
I business he had in had in hand.
/ Clark used to say that he never Jared
/ so sumptiously before in his life. If
! he been foreign prince or some big
! gun from nobody knows where, instead
! of an office seeker, he couldn't have
/ been treated better The cooks and
servants actually overwhelmed him
with kindness, and to use his own
words gave him ''oysters and meat
cooked in five different languages. >
/ Until late that highland until late
hour for several nights after-Mr. Lin
4 coin laughed and talked with him con-
corning the events of their youth. In
fact. through recourse to Clark, and
the stories of days when they were com
panions, Mr.. Lincoln found needed re-
lief from the tremendous tension to
which his strength and mind were sub
I iected in those trying hours that pre-
ceeded the opening of the rebellion.
During the day Clark rode around in
Mr.. Lincoln's carriage when the horses
were being aired. and was shown many
I attentions from people of note. Some
| how as Clark affirmed, it got out that
/ he was the the man behind the
1 throne" and it so happened that he
was in great demand by office-seekers
4 from all over the country, who desired
1 his influence and offered to pay liber-
ally for it. But he was proof against