, 1906-02-28

dDOul lie IlilS
and troubles in conducting his great Of
fee" Born in V'~ginia in 1926 or 1927,
Lamon at an early age removed to
Danville, Ill. He practiced law at DAN
Vile, and in 1852 a card in the Illinois
Citizen of that place announced that
abraham Lincoln, Springfield. and w.
H. Lamon, Danville, Attorneys at Law,
having formed a co-partnership. will prac-
tice in the Courts of the Eighth Judicial
Circuit and the Superior Court. and all
business intrusted to them will be at
tended to with p~romptness and fidelity"
When Mr.. Lincoln was making his plans
to leave Springfield for Washington for
his first Inauguration his friends became
greatly alarmed for his safety, discover
ing, as they thought, that a widespread
plot existed for the abduction or assassi-
nation of the president elect en- route.
Mr.. Lamon was selected by Mr.. Lincoln
to be his bodyguard on the journey.
When the memorable trip was made
Mr.. Lamon was more than six feet high
strong, stout and athletic. He was, says
another intimate personal friend of Mr..
Lincoln, "a Hercules in stature. He vas
skilled In all the ways of the manly art
and, although prudent and cautious, was
thoroughly courageous and bold"
After Mr.. Lincoln was in~augurated one
of his first official acts was to appoint
Mr.. Lamon marshal of the District of
Columbia. AS of that office
Colonel Lamon was charged, among many
other things, with the duty of securing
the personal safety of the president and
the other high governmental officials.
1t is said on good authority that there
was not a time during the civil war when
there was not in Washington or Balti-
more or in the vicinity of those cities
some conspiracy to injure or capture Mr..
Lincoln or one or more of the members
of his cabinet Mr. I amnn has left IL on
record that he discovered and fooled man.
such plots the details of which have never
come to the light of public knowledge.
1t may be asked why so vigilant a body
guard, aided by all the resources of the
federal and district governments, could
not prevent or foil the fatal pistol shot
of Booth on the night of April IA. 1865.
The answer may be found partly in Mr..
Lincoln's own words you may guard
me at a single point, but l will neces-
sarily be exposed at others. The truth Is,
if any nan has made up his mind that he
will give his life for mine he can take
mine'-and partly in the fact that on
April II, 1865, Mr.. Lamon was sent by the
president to attend a convention held in
Richmond for the purpose of devising
means to get that state back into the
Union.
Before leaving for Richmond Marshal
Lamon had a final interview with the
president. Make me one promise, SAID
he to Mr.. Lincoln. ''What is that ?" asked
the latter. perhaps L can" II want you
to promise me not to go to the theater
during my absence" After some further
talk the president said, Il will do the
best / cam" and then. turning to John p.
Usher, secretary of the interior, who was
present at the interview, he said, in sub
stance, my friend is crazy on the sub
ject of my assassination
When Secretary Seward regained con-
seriousness after the attack upon him,
made at the same time that Mr.. Lincoln
was shot, almost his first words on learn
ing that the president was dead were:
"Where is Colonel Lamon? If he had
been in the city this would not nave hap
pened." Many times afterward he re-
peated this remark, and his words were
echoed by those who were nearest and
dearest to the martyred Lincoln.
After Mr.. Lincoln's death Colonel La
mon lived in Washington for many years.
He removed later to Martinsburg, w. Va.
There, on May 8, 1898, he passed away.