One of the strangest things about writing Abraham Lincoln as a character is that everyone already knows what he looks like. Or at least they think they do. The beard. The black suit. The stovepipe hat. The deeply lined face staring out from Civil War photographs. That’s not the Abraham Lincoln I’m writing. In LincolnContinue reading “How Do You Turn Abraham Lincoln Back into a 28-Year-Old Man?”
Category Archives: Writing blog
One Shot Could Start a Bloodbath. Enoch Long had to Decide When to Fire.
The men defending Elijah Lovejoy’s printing press were armed. So were the men threatening to destroy it. That left Enoch Long with a terrible responsibility. When, exactly, do you tell your men that are allowed to shoot? Long was already deeply involved in the struggle surrounding Lovejoy in Alton. When armed men were needed toContinue reading “One Shot Could Start a Bloodbath. Enoch Long had to Decide When to Fire.”
Abraham Lincoln’s Love Life was More Complicated Than You Might Think
When we picture Abraham Lincoln, romance probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. We picture the president. The beard. The solemn photographs. The man who led the country through the Civil War. But the Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln Seeks Justice for Elijah Lovejoy is only twenty-eight years old. He is unmarried. And heContinue reading “Abraham Lincoln’s Love Life was More Complicated Than You Might Think”
Three Doctors Wanted Elijah Lovejoy Silenced. A Fourth Regretted His Silence.
One of the things that surprises people most when I talk about my research for Lincoln Seeks Justice for Elijah Lovejoy is the role played by some of Alton’s doctors. We tend to think of a physician as someone who protects life. Three doctors in the Lovejoy controversy became involved in something very different. DoctorsContinue reading “Three Doctors Wanted Elijah Lovejoy Silenced. A Fourth Regretted His Silence.”
Who Was Lyman Bishop? The Forgotten Man in the Elijah Lovejoy Controversy
Sometimes a person appears in the historical record for only a moment. Lyman Bishop is one of the forgotten figures in the story of abolitionist newspaper editor Elijah Lovejoy and the violence surrounding his printing press in Alton, Illinois. Bishop was a young carpenter who had recently come to Alton from the East. He hadn’tContinue reading “Who Was Lyman Bishop? The Forgotten Man in the Elijah Lovejoy Controversy”
Abraham Lincoln and Joshua Speed Were Best Friends. They Didn’t Agree About Slavery
When Abraham Lincoln arrived in Springfield in 1837, he didn’t have enough money to furnish a bed. Joshua Speed offered to share his. Lincoln carried his saddlebags upstairs, came back down and announced, “Well, Speed, I’m moved.” It was an extraordinarily generous thing to do for someone he had only just met. It also beganContinue reading “Abraham Lincoln and Joshua Speed Were Best Friends. They Didn’t Agree About Slavery”
The Prison Picnic That Cost a Warden His Job
Historical research sometimes turns up a story that practically writes it’s own punch line. While researching Lincoln Seeks Justice for Elijah Lovejoy, I came across one involving Illinois Attorney General Usher F. Linder, his friend Benjamin S. Enloe, and a picnic with a rather unusually servicing staff. Enloe was the warden of the state penitentiaryContinue reading “The Prison Picnic That Cost a Warden His Job”
Before Owen Lovejoy Became Abraham Lincoln’s Ally, He Had to Find His Own Way
What do you do when your older brother seems to know exactly who he is–and you don’t? That is the Owen Lovejoy I met while writing Lincoln Seeks Justice for Elijah Lovejoy. Owen admired his older brother Elijah enormously. Elijah had strong convictions. He had become a minister and newspaper editor. He had taken aContinue reading “Before Owen Lovejoy Became Abraham Lincoln’s Ally, He Had to Find His Own Way”
They Planned to Tar and Feather Elijah Lovejoy. Then He Said Something They Didn’t Expect.
Two men were waiting for Elijah Lovejoy on the road from Alton. Doctors Beall and Jennings threatened to tar and feather him, and they had intercepted him away from home. Lovejoy was alone and unarmed. By this point, the controversy surrounding Lovejoy had become increasingly dangerous. His opposition to slavery and the positions he tookContinue reading “They Planned to Tar and Feather Elijah Lovejoy. Then He Said Something They Didn’t Expect.”
Abraham Lincoln Was Funnier Than His Photographs Make Him Look
Look at almost any photograph of Abraham Lincoln and you see a serious man. Sometimes a very tired man. You probably don’t look at that face and immediately think, There goes the funniest man in the room. But humor was an important part of Lincoln’s personality long before he became president. One story from hisContinue reading “Abraham Lincoln Was Funnier Than His Photographs Make Him Look”
