The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1911-02-09

Nicolay and Hay, the most authentic
b;ogr:.phers of Abraham Lincoln, have
taken assiduous pains to minimize as
far as possible the impression as to
his utter lack of physical comeliness.
Nicolay said of the great war presi-
dents personal appearance. President
jncoln was OF unusual stature, 6 feet
4 inches, and of spare but muscular
huild: he had been in youth remark
abIy strong and skilful in the athletic
games of the frontier, where, how
ever, his popularity and recognized i'm
nartiality oftener made him an umpire
than a champion. He had regular and
nrepossessing features. prominent
cheek bones, deep set eyes, and bushy
black hair turning to gray at the time
of his DEATH
AS a young man, scarcely more than
a roy, recently emancipated from the
cloisters of an eastern college, saw him
for the first time in 1859, this descrip-
tion seems in memory little highly
colored The tau, gaunt figure was
somewhat round Shouldered and bent,
/ lessening the great stature, the face
not regular in outline though bold and
salient in features with crag-like
. forehead. The mouth large with rather
. thin lips and sunken cheeks with their
lean, strong jaw certainly did not com,
plete an ensemble which may be called
''good looking" in it's conventional
meaning But the eyes were magnifi-
| cent and would have redeemed a much
palmer face. Large, bluish-gray in col
or. deep set under the cliff-like brows,
. softly. brilliant as those of a stag,
! and centered with a piercing light,
. their tradition was magical especially
when he smiled. A scrawny neck, all
sinew; large, bony hands and big feet
were accented by great carelessness of
attire. habit from which Mr. Lincoln
I'm the days of his anchored greatness
was never graduated.
On the occasion referred to the man,
whose rising fame was beginning to
make the west clamorous and the east
equally inquisitive, was CARRIED in
style that would have made a New
York macaroni sniff. Large, baggy
trousers that did not come well down
over the instep, an alpaca coat, rather
| short slecved,, with nankeen waistcoat
and wilted collar exposing the brown
corded neck. certainly did not alleviate
what at crude glance was an ungain-
1 " exterior. How in later conversation,
/ in which the writer took very humble
part, Mr.. Lincoln slipped easily into a
TRANSPORTATION which stripped from
him everything of the commonplace
was like the effect of an enchanters
wand This did not so much appear
at that time in his platform talk as
| in the familiar touch-andgo converse
ton with q group of friends, when the
individuality of the man cleaned at so
many facets and prisms. 1t is impos-
sible to recall details of what was said
on an occasion more than a half CEN
fury since. but the impression left
was intensely vivid.
1t was at an independence day fes-
tival at an Illinois town in 1859 that
the writer first saw odd Abe" as the
man encased in that homely chrystals
destined soon to burst into immortal
fame was generally known to the peo-
| pie of the state. Hon. owen Lovejoy,
the congress representative from the
district and an intimate friend of Mr..
Lincoln, had been scheduled as the ora
| tor. But impending illness prevented,
and Mr.. Lovejoy had persuaded his
good natured friend to take his place,
a change which was more than well
coined. Mr.. Lovejoy's brother had
been killed and his printing press de-
stroyed the year before at an "Egyp-
tan" town by an angry 'pro-slavery"
mob. The natural radicalisnl of tenn
permanent and CONJUNCTION inherent in
| Mr. Lovejoy's mental habit had been
embittered into gall by this political
crime, and some of the more prudent
republicans had dreaded a firebrand
/ touch in his Fourth of July talk. When
| 1t was known that Mr.. Lincoln was
coming. the feeling Of satisfaction was
/ something like relief, for the repub-
licanism Of that day was tentative and
believed in making haste slowly. Lin
coins wonderful public debate with
/ the little giant" the year before had
set him in the limelight as one who
embodied the terms of an memorable
/ logic with an Illuminating force, which
was also tolerant and fair minded. If
any one ever united the 'suaviter in
modo'' with the ''fortiter In re-" 1T was
that glorified country pumpkin" as
many OF his opponents were in the habit
| of calling him.
The audience numbered some thou
sands who had streamed in from the
contiguous portions of three counties,
| Tor there was to be a grand barbecue
after the platform exercises; and the
beautiful green was alive with happy
folk attired in all styles from broad
cloth to jeans and cowhide boots. with
their women folk in progeny. Horses
and mules picketed at great Gordon