The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-02-12
OLD-T|MERS TELL
OF ABE LINCOLN
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he laughed. He is commander of
the George Thomas Post II, G.. A.
r., and is not only Civil War vet,
but also the son of one. His father,
Wesley M. Carney, fought in some
of the same battles with him. Gainey
first saw Lincoln December, 1862.
First Glimpse
That was when Lincoln reviewed
the Army of the Potomac at Fal.
mouth, Va, across the river from
fredericksburg" said Carney. II
had been in the army only a few
months, having joined shortly after
my fifteenth birthday anniversary.
At the time the rebels were occu.
plying fredericksburg, and my boy
1sh brain was full of patriotic ex.
citement. One morning they lined
us up for review and word Travelled
down the line that Gen. A. e. Burn
side, his staff of perhaps 100 officers
and President Abraham Lincoln
would appear.
Presently they came into view.
travelling slowly down the lines, all
on horseback. Lincoln rode a bay,
and somehow looked big and awk-
ward on his mount, and l remember
I was unimpressed.
Three years later the man had
loomed so large in my thought that
being in Washington in March.
1865, about three weeks before his
assassination, 1 made a number of
attempts to see Lincoln, and sue.
ceeded in doing so twice.
MY father was lying in a Wash.
1ngton hospital, recovering from bull.
let wounds received in the Battle
of the Wilderness, and I, waiting to
take him home, visited many places
in the capital city. 1 remember of
attending a play in Ford's Theater.
where, as you know, Lincoln received
his mortal wound.
Heard Sad News
The play / saw was the one just
preceding My Cousin which Lin
coin was attending when shot. After
ward, when news of his assassina.
ton came to me, l had a particu.
larly vivid mental picture of the
tragedy"
upon both occasions when l saw
Lincoln in Washington he was
standing, informally chatting with
visitors in the White House. 1 was
then Is. but still possessed of a boys
self consciousness, and l did not ap-
proach him or try to shake his hand.
] was satisfied to just look at him.
and 1t seemed to me he had gained
enormously in impressive dignity
since the first time 1 saw him. A
fortnight later, when 1 had returned
to my home town and word came
of his death, simply couldn't recon
Gle the news with that strong, vivid
face I had so recently SEEN"
At Same Table
w. D. Wilson, 1854 Congress Ave-,
also an octogenarian, a Statehouse
policeman, was but 10 years old
when Lincoln took supper at the
home of Wilson's father, DIR. viii.
liam H. Wilson, at Winmester, Ill.
Lincoln was in town to engage in
debate with Stephen A. Douglas,
in their campaign for the Senate"
said Wilson. II sat at the same
table with them and listened to their
conversation relative to this, but,
like so many others, was not i'm.
pressed with Lincoln's long, lanky
appearance. Why, Mother, that man
looked just like farmer / remem-
Der of telling my mother. He meant
more to ME later, when 1 enlisted,
March, 49,"
Col Oran Perry, superintendent of
the Soldiers and Sailors Monument,
living at 1920 Central Ave-, is one of
the few local men who shook hands
with Lincoln, and had conversation
with him. This was when Perry was
a soldier near Jamestown, Md,
Perry was under the command of
Colonel Hackleman, of the 18th Ind,
and Lincoln, who was a personal
friend Of Hackleman and designated
him as my best friend in Indiana"
seemed, especially interested in dis
cussingN the colonel with Perry.
Emotions Boil
This was in October. '61. AZ
hurried back to camp to tell the
Colonel all about it," remarked
Perry my emotions were at the
boiling point. 1 had heard adverse
pa tisan press criticisms Of Lincolns
appearance and was anxious to re-
port. Why, Colonel, that ape story
is all lie, for Lincoln has the best
face have ever seen on a man."
If a wagon hadn't broken down
on a muddy road, Mrs. Mariah
Romano. 50, living at 414 st. Clair
Sc, might have seen Lincoln. 81
was but a young girl and the