Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-02-12

the outside world seems little informed
as to the career of this patriotic and
distinguished soldier boy.
l had heard the tradition that Lin
coin during the dark days Of 1864 had
sent a substitute to the front But to
confirm the truth of the tradition was
quite another matter. The popular opin-
ion of those ] consulted appeared to be
that the tale of Lincoln's substitute be-
longed in the myth category, and had no
more foundation In sober fact than the
legend of Washington and the cherry
tree.
Men high in the ranks of the Grand
Army of the Republic assured me that
they were certain that "Old Abe was un-
represented in the ranks Of the boys In
blue. For all that, it seemed to me that
the story was something more than one
OF those romantic incidents SO frequent
~ quoted as having occurred in the lives
of famous men after they had passed
over to the great majority; incidents
lending color to laudatory biographical
historian as being formed Of 1.-The stuff
dreams are made Of Lincoln, with his
exalted ideals, his stern devotion to duty,
his undying love for the Union and all
that it represented, was exactly the type
of man to consider himself at fault If he
neglected to make every possible sacrifice
in his power to the cause he held dearer
than life.
y y
! corresponded with the federal au-
thorities at Washington on the subject,
but the replies / received did not tend to
bring me any closer to the goal. Instead
they asserted positively that the report
ed tradition was entirely without founda-
A lott ha War rtr
stated emphatically: 1T does not appear
from the official records of the depart
ment that President Lincoln over furnish
ed a substitute" Another informed me
that Abraham Iancoln was not liable
TO draft" a fact of which ] was already
well aware. Had not such been the
case the employment of substitute
would have lost all significance.
But a personal search through the Of
fetal records Of the civil war brought TO
light a reference to Abraham Lincoln,
principal. and John Staples. recruit. both
of the District of Columbia And on an
other page appeared an entry to the eff
feet that Lincoln wished representative
recruit and same was assigned as private
to Company II OF the I'd Regiment. ID. {.
Infantry. With these entries as "a base
CT operati it became possible 10 trace
tie substitute and the discovery was
made that John s. Staples was buried in
Stroudshurg, Pa. Further details were
furnished by Mr. John W. Burnett OF
Massachusetts. a comrade OF Staples in
the following letter.
II we'll recall the military career OF ].
s Staples of my regiment. The awful
losses of the Union army. east and west,
were weighing heavily or dear Lincoln,
and he, with others IN public life, was
considering the desirablity of having per-
senal representatives in the field for those
not eligible for service at all. According
TO my recollection. in the fall o: late
summer of 1864 Mr.. Lincoln had a COM
m,ttee of citizens of the District of
Columbia search for as perfect speci-
men of physical manhood as could be
found to become his representative recruit.
This committee, or some of them, met
my dear comrade (Staples) OH the streets
of Georgetown, and seeing his superbly
compact form. and being at once salts
fed that he was the man worthy to be
Iincoln's representative in the army, they
made a proposition to him. and the loyal
boy-for he was but a boy-at once sig
nified his desire to fill the honora BILE po-
sition. He was soon afterward introduced
to President Lincoln. and the latter gladly
chose MIN as his representative"
Although the communication received
from Mr. Burnett was as convincing as
one could wish, yet II was clear that
without governmental sanction there still
would remain persons who would dispute
the claim made in behalf Of the dead