The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1916-02-12

years old and clerking in a store
at New Salem, Ill. Ann Rutledge, tavernkeepers
daughter, was the girl.
The second affair came when he was about
twentysix. 1t began as a Joke, after Lincoln had
become a lawyer and was practicing at Spring.
field, but it caused him untold worry-because
the girl, Mary Owens, was fat and he didn't
want to marry her. The third affair took"
That is, Mary Todd became Abraham Lincoln's
wife, when he was thirty-three years old.
When he was a youth in the wilds of southern
indiana, Lincoln had his sentimental vaporings,
one of which appealed so strongly to his sense Of
romance that he wanted to write a story about
1T. This vaporing was the kind most of US have
along about the time the down on our upper lin
begins to tougher.
1t is doubtful if Ann Rutledge ev IT loved Lin
coin. She simply appreciated his sympathy and
afection-she had been Tilted by James Mcneil,
who tired of her and went East to escape his
obligation. Her father, James Rutledge, one of
the founders of New Salem, kept a tavern, and
there Lincoln went to board when in 1881 he left
his home and became clerk in a store there.
AT breakfast, dinner and supper he sat by the
side of the tavernkeeper's daughter. He was
twenty-five; she was less than twenty. She was
sad of heart and he tried to cheer her. Lincoln's
sympathy ripened into deep affection, but the girl
was faithful for more than a year to the memory
of Mcneil.
Even if the girl had been willing, Lincoln was
in no position to marry. He was very poor. He
Ndb OuC VI II lie W volunteer III the Black
Hawk war. When the war was ended he re-
turned to New Salem. ran for the legislature
and was defeated. His financial condition was so
muddled at this time that he seriously contem-
plated becoming a blacksmith in order to make a
living. An opportunity came to him to get an in
terest in a store without putting up any real
money. He was a wretched storekeeper and his
partner was no better. The business did not
flourish, but his courtship did. He and Ann Rut-
ledge sat at night on the tavern steps or walked
along the roads around the little settlement.
They were young and youth is the age of glamour.
Lincoln was beginning to think of a career as a
lawyer He believed he would be able in a year
or two to support a wife. Ann could not forget
MCNEIL, but the devotion of Lincoln prevailed
and she consented to marry him.
The summer Of their engagement was the hap
piest, perhaps, in all of Lincoln's life. Ann Rut.
ledge was beautiful in face and figure and charm
ing in every way. She was not tall and was
rather delicate. At times when she would be-
come a little weary, Lincoln, whose strength was
unusual, delighted in taking her up in his arms
and carrying her as if she were a child.
With their engagement everything seemed to
brighten for Lincoln. He was appointed post
master, he began to make a little money doing
survey work, and in the fall he was elected to
the legislature.
The young couple decided to get married In
the spring. Ann, anxious to complete her educa-
ton, decided to go to Jacksonville to attend an
academy there during the winter. Meanwhile,
Lincoln went to Springfield to attend the session
of the legislature, continue his law studies and
prepare for his admission to the bar in the spring.
He was in Springfield when he got a message
that nearly broke his heart. Ann Rutledge was
dead. At the academy she contracted a fever
and died in a few days. Lincoln was predisposed
to melanchoIa. The death of the woman he loved
so much almost upset his reason. He never fully
recovered from his grief.
Ann Rutledge had been dead two or three years
when Lincoln became engaged again. In Spring
field there lived a Mrs. Able, with whom he was
we'll acquainted. She had a sister, Mary Owens
of Kentucky, who visited Springfield for a short
time and to whom Lincoln had been introduced.
Mary Owens was bright, clever and buxom. She
returned to Kentucky and Lincoln probably forgot
her. But one day Mrs. Able informed him that
she was going to Kentucky and then, in o spirit
of banter, she said to Lincoln: