William Herndon "Lincoln Read Less and Thought More Than Any Man in His Class"

William Herndon
Herndon, ca. 1875.
Born	William Henry Herndon (1818-12-25)December 25, 1818 Greensburg, Kentucky, U.Due south.
Died	March xviii, 1891(1891-03-eighteen) (aged 72) Springfield, Illinois, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Lawyer, biographer
Known for	Partner and biographer of Abraham Lincoln
Party	Republican

William Henry Herndon (December 25, 1818 – March xviii, 1891) was a police partner and biographer of President Abraham Lincoln. He was an early member of the new Republican Party and was elected mayor of Springfield, Illinois.

Early life [edit]

Herndon's birthplace in Greensburg

Herndon was born the first child of Archer G. Herndon (1795–1867) and his wife, on Dec 25, 1818, in Greensburg, Kentucky. The family moved to Illinois in 1820. Another child was born to Archer and his wife in Macon County, Illinois. By the spring of 1821 the family unit was living in Sangamon County. When William was five, the family settled in the High german Prairie settlement located five miles northeast of Springfield. 2 more than children were born to the family unit there.

Herndon'due south male parent built the showtime tavern in Springfield and was engaged in other forms of mercantile business from 1825 to 1836. He was also involved in politics every bit state senator, and was one of the men instrumental in having the land uppercase moved to Springfield.^{[i] [2] [three]}

William, known every bit "Billy" at the time, worked for his father at the Indian Queen hotel before he attended college. Information technology was one of the get-go hotels in Springfield.^[four]

Matrimony and children [edit]

On March 26, 1840, Herndon married Mary J. Maxcy in Sangamon County. Mary'southward family unit were as well early Illinois settlers; her grandfather and step-grandmother arrived in 1827 and Mary'due south immediate family arrived in 1834. Mary was born in Kentucky on July 27, 1822, to Maria Cook Maxcy and James Maxcy, a veteran of the War of 1812. James' male parent, Revolutionary War veteran Joel Maxcy, arrived in Sangamon County in 1827 with his 2nd wife and died the post-obit month.^{[2] [3]}

Mary and William had six children: James, Annie, Beverly, Elizabeth, Leigh and Mary. Mary Herndon died on August 18, 1860. The post-obit summer, on July 31, 1861, Herndon married Anna Miles with whom he had three more children: Nina Belle, William and Minnie. The family moved to a farm in Fancy Creek Township located six miles northward of Springfield.^{[three] [5] [nb one]}

Education and career [edit]

Herndon attended Illinois College from 1836 to 1837 in Jacksonville, Illinois,^[2] but he had "an unsuccessful year".^[four] Following this, he returned to Springfield and clerked at the Joshua Speed store, where he often engaged in debates, discussions, and poetry readings with Abraham Lincoln. Their conversations and readings were sometimes practice sessions before presenting material to the Young Men's Lyceum, where both Herndon and Lincoln were members. It was an organization of aspiring young men.^[4]

In 1840 Herndon began studying police force at the Logan and Lincoln law practice. Although employed at Joshua Speed's store, he studied upwards to fourteen hours per twenty-four hours later piece of work.^[4]

In November 1844, Herndon passed the bar test.^[4] In 1854, 10 years after beginning his partnership with Lincoln, he was elected mayor of Springfield, Illinois. Both men were members of the Whig Party. In 1856 Herndon was i of the organizers of the fledgling Republican Party after the dissolution of the Whigs. Lincoln also joined the Republican Political party, hoping to "fuse" people of disparate political affiliations who wanted to end slavery.^{[2] [6] [7]}

Herndon loved to learn and developed "one of the best private libraries in Springfield" including works by historians, economists, humanists, free-thinkers and philosophers.^[8]

Herndon enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle well into middle age due to the successful law firm and his various elected and appointed offices. Afterwards the Civil War he suffered severe financial reversals due to bad investments, banking concern failures, excessive generosity to relatives and friends, and his inability to economize when his income declined sharply. By 1869, he was destitute and facing foreclosure on his dwelling house.^{[ citation needed ]}

Abraham Lincoln [edit]

Partnership [edit]

In the fall of 1844, Lincoln was tired of being a junior partner. He had worked for senior partners with political ambitions, and Lincoln wanted a younger partner to whom he could relate. Surprising both his wife and Herndon, in October Lincoln invited his friend to form a partnership.^{[2] [iv]} Lincoln appreciated Herndon's friendship, loyalty, shared political beliefs and conscientious study. Lincoln said that Herndon "was my man always to a higher place all other men on the globe."^[9] Herndon did not disappoint his friend. He contributed to the exercise by performing enquiry for his older and more experienced partner, building the firm'due south police force library, and overseeing young men who came to report police force (read the police) at their function.^[8]

Politics [edit]

Herndon was a much stauncher opponent of slavery than Lincoln and claimed that he helped change Lincoln's views on the subject.^[10] He felt that President Lincoln acted too slowly to bring an finish to slavery.^[xi] Herndon felt that the only way to rid the country of slavery was "through bloody revolution."^[12]

During political campaigns Herndon made strong points that tended to alienate members of the Republican Political party and swing voters. Thus, for the 1860 presidential entrada, Herndon was non involved in straight political activities. However, he executed an important task during that campaign by conducting opposition research in the Illinois Country Library to exist used against Stephen A. Douglas in the 1860 presidential race. Finally, when Lincoln balked against voting for himself, Herndon ensured that he voted on election day.^{[13] [14]}

Relationship with the Lincoln family unit [edit]

Through the whole of his partnership and friendship with Lincoln he was never invited to Lincoln'southward dwelling for dinner due to his contentious relationship with Mary Todd Lincoln. He also admitted that his frustration with Lincoln'south overly permissive parenting of his two younger sons, Willie and Tad, whom he recalled as undisciplined and disruptive brats in the law offices, acquired some harsh words during their partnership.^{[15] [16]}

His concluding meeting with Lincoln occurred in 1862 when he visited Washington, D.C. Lincoln received him amicably, merely he was not invited into the family'south individual quarters in the White House due to the enmity of Mary Lincoln.^[16]

Biography [edit]

Initial research [edit]

Following Lincoln'due south bump-off, Herndon began to collect stories of Lincoln'southward life from those who knew him. Herndon aspired to write a faithful portrait of his friend and law partner, based on his own observations and on hundreds of letters and interviews he had compiled for the purpose. He was determined to present Lincoln equally a man, rather than a saint, and to reveal things that the prevailing Victorian era conventions said should be left out of the biography of a great national hero.^{[17] [18] [nb 2]}

In item, Herndon said of Lincoln's "official" biographers, John Nicolay and John Hay: "They are aiming, first, to do a superb piece of literary piece of work; second, to make the story with the classes as against the masses." He felt that this would represent the "real Lincoln about every bit well as does a wax figure in the museum."^{[19] [twenty]}

Shared enquiry information [edit]

Ward Hill Lamon, who was then collaborating with a ghostwriter on a Lincoln biography, approached him for assistance. Herndon provided copies of and admission to his original correspondences with Lincoln acquaintances and a written agreement not to publish his own biography of Lincoln for at least ten years in exchange for $two,000 cash and an agreement to receive up to $ii,000 of the book's royalties.^[21]

Collaboration with Jesse Weik [edit]

An older William Herndon.

By the time he was gratis to release his own biography of Lincoln, a miscellany of personal problems, including continued financial issues and his alcoholism, left him unable to formulate the stacks of papers into a coherent text.^{[ citation needed ]}

A young man named Jesse Due west. Weik who had corresponded with Herndon became a good friend. They then collaborated on the biography of Lincoln'southward life. Weik performed boosted inquiry in the 1880s, picking up whatsoever new data since Herndon'southward original enquiry, and rewrote much of Herndon's draft.^{[22] [nb 3]}

The collaboration between the two men was oft contentious due to farthermost artistic differences in writing style and in their visions of what type of biography should effect; Weik favored a narrative linear class while Herndon wanted essentially a loosely connected volume of reminiscences grouped past type such as domestic life, law practice, political philosophy, etc. All the same, the two persisted due to a recognition of their consummate dependence on each other. Weik depended on Herndon for the source materials and beginning person accounts of Lincoln, and Herndon on Weik for the energy of creating the manuscript and increasingly for financial support, which guaranteed their continued relationship.^{[ citation needed ]}

Herndon's Lincoln: The True Story of a Neat Life, the consequence of their collaborations, appeared in a 3 book edition published by Belford, Clarke & Company in 1889.^{[23] [24] [25]} The majority of the actual writing was done by Weik, who received full credit as co-author. The book received wildly mixed reviews due to the inclusion of such unvarnished elements every bit Lincoln'south female parent'due south illegitimacy (and even the rumors of Lincoln'south own), its sometimes viciously negative portrayal of Herndon'south longtime enemy Mary Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln'south suicidal depression, and other decidedly less than hagiographic accounts of the martyred president who was quickly becoming the most venerated and romanticized figure in American history.^[26]

Weik kept the notes gathered during the writing of the book and wrote a follow-upwardly book The Real Lincoln: A Portrait, which included Weik'due south personal insights and some embarrassing details for Herndon.^[22] Weik'southward family kept them for fifty more than years.^{[ commendation needed ]}

Reception [edit]

Particularly damning was the denunciation of the volume by Robert Todd Lincoln, whose grudge against Herndon stemmed largely from Herndon's recounting of Ann Rutledge as the only romantic love of his father's life.^[27] Weik felt that Herndon's portrayal of Robert'southward mother and the Lincoln's domestic life was especially hurtful.^[28]

Questionable business organisation practices and financial reversals on the function of the volume's publishers, combined with the book'due south poor initial sales, made the royalties of its two authors very meager, with most of Herndon'southward share going to repay the frequent small-scale loans advanced to him by Weik.^{[ commendation needed ]}

Death [edit]

Herndon died March xviii, 1891, at his subcontract north of Springfield. He is buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, the same cemetery as the Lincoln Tomb.^{[2] [29]}

Herndon'due south son William, or Willie, died the same day as his father. Herndon died of la grippe (flu) and his son Willie had la grippe that turned into pneumonia. At that time, William H., his wife Anna, Willie M. and their daughters Nina and Millie were at home. Herndon's wife Anna died less than two years later on.^[5]

Portrayal [edit]

He was portrayed by

• Jason Robards, Sr. in the 1930 movie Abraham Lincoln ^[30]
• Alan Baxter in the 1940 biographical picture Abe Lincoln in Illinois ^[31]
• Jeffrey DeMunn in the 1988 (Television receiver mini-series) Lincoln ^[32]
• Keith Carradine in the 1992 movie Lincoln ^[33]
• Michael Maize in the 2013 film Saving Lincoln ^[34]
• Bob Gunton in the 2017 film The Gettysburg Address ^[35]

Herndon was portrayed in many films for decades.^[36]

See likewise [edit]

• Abraham Lincoln's patent

Notes [edit]

1. ^ Biographical notes for Herndon in the Herndon-Weik drove of Lincolniana at The Library of Congress records that Mary Maxcy died in 1861 and Herndon married Anna Miles in 1862.^[two]
2. ^ Herndon's inquiry techniques of seeking out first hand interviews and information seem unremarkable today merely were almost unheard of past 19th century biographical standard. The raw material for Herndon's biography of Lincoln included correspondence, interviews, recollections, notes, newspaper clippings and other textile. Included in such primary cloth are:
   • An interview with Mary Todd Lincoln in 1871, 2 long interviews with Dennis Hanks (Lincoln'due south cousin, who lived with Lincoln growing upwardly), and hundreds of letters and notes from Herndon to Weik between 1 October 1881 and 27 February 1891, containing reminiscences of Lincoln'southward life.
   • Data from Lincoln'southward family members, schoolmates, neighbors in New Salem and Springfield, law partners, colleagues at the bar and in the Illinois legislature, party allies, and White House associates. Representative names include Ninian Wirt Edwards (brother-in-police force), Kate Roby Gentry (schoolmate), Mentor Graham (teacher), John Hay, whose alphabetic character of 5 September 1866 discusses Lincoln's daily life in the White House and ends with the statement that he was "the greatest character since Christ," John B. Helm (store clerk), Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln (stepmother), Stephen T. Logan (law partner), Leonard Swett (lawyer), Frances Wallace (sister-in-police), and Robert L. Wilson (i of the "Long Nine," a group of alpine Whigs, including Lincoln, who served together in the Illinois legislature in the 1830s).
   • Information organized by such headings as "Lincoln's Development," "Lincoln'south Courtship with Miss Owens," "The Lincoln-Douglas Debates," "Miss Rutledge and Lincoln," and "Lincoln's Ways."^{[ citation needed ]}
3. ^ At some point in the late 1870s, Herndon began a correspondence with an Indiana-born Lincoln gentleman named Jesse W. Weik. Past this time of his life, a growing number of Lincoln enthusiasts (including many similar Weik who were children when Lincoln died) had written to Herndon seeking any type of Lincoln memorabilia, peculiarly personal effects and autographs, and Herndon oftentimes obliged free of accuse. When he supplied the young Weik with a Lincoln shorthand from i of the stacks of legal documents in his possession, the grateful young man connected writing the sometime homo and a friendship began that would issue in the completion of the long-delayed Lincoln biography.^{[ commendation needed ]} Weik, an aspiring writer, began to run into frequently with the elderly Herndon both at Herndon'southward farm north of Springfield and later at Weik's family unit's home in Greencastle, Indiana, where Weik's begetter owned a general shop and Herndon became a frequent invitee. Herndon freely conceded that he was unable to complete the biography on his own and must have assistance if it was ever to reach fruition; thus he helped the worshipful immature Weik by supplying his materials and providing abiding description and elaboration on his ain memories of Lincoln.^{[ commendation needed ]}

References [edit]

1. ^ Joe DeSpain (1984). "Kentucky Historic Resources Inventory: William H. Herndon Business firm". National Park Service.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f yard} "Herndon-Weik collection of Lincolniana, circa 1824–1933 – Biographical Notes for William Herndon". Library of Congress. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
3. ^ ^{a b c} Newton Bateman (1912). Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume 3. Munsell Publishing Visitor. pp. 1303–1304.
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f} David Herbert Donald (2011). We Are Lincoln Men: Abraham Lincoln and His Friends. Simon & Schuster. pp. 67–68. ISBN978-0743254700.
5. ^ ^{a b} "Anna Miles Herndon (1836–1893)". Find a Grave. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
6. ^ David Herbert Donald (2011). Nosotros Are Lincoln Men: Abraham Lincoln and His Friends. Simon & Schuster. pp. 78–lxxx. ISBN978-0743254700.
7. ^ Larry D. Mansch (2007). Abraham Lincoln, President-Elect: The Four Critical Months from Ballot to Inauguration. McFarland. p. 41. ISBN978-0786431021.
8. ^ ^{a b} David Herbert Donald (2011). We Are Lincoln Men: Abraham Lincoln and His Friends. Simon & Schuster. pp. 69–seventy. ISBN978-0743254700.
9. ^ David Herbert Donald (2011). Nosotros Are Lincoln Men: Abraham Lincoln and His Friends. Simon & Schuster. p. 69. ISBN978-0743254700.
10. ^ David Herbert Donald (2011). We Are Lincoln Men: Abraham Lincoln and His Friends. Simon & Schuster. pp. 79–80, 82. ISBN978-0743254700.
11. ^ Facts On File, Incorporated (2009). Abraham Lincoln. Infobase Publishing. p. 57. ISBN978-1438126128.
12. ^ Larry D. Mansch (2007). Abraham Lincoln, President-Elect: The Four Critical Months from Election to Inauguration. McFarland. p. 6. ISBN978-0786431021.
13. ^ David Herbert Donald (2011). We Are Lincoln Men: Abraham Lincoln and His Friends. Simon & Schuster. pp. 84–85. ISBN978-0743254700.
14. ^ Nosotros're with Nobody: 2 Insiders Reveal the Dark Side of American Politics. Harper Collins: Alan Huffman, Michael Rejebian. 2012. pp. PT19. ISBN978-0062098801.
15. ^ David Herbert Donald (1996). Lincoln. Simon & Schuster. pp. 159–160. ISBN068482535X.
16. ^ ^{a b} David Herbert Donald (1948). Lincoln's Herndon . Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 188–189.
17. ^ Keith A. Erekson (2012). Everybody's History: Indiana's Lincoln Inquiry and the Quest to Reclaim a President'south Past. Univ of Massachusetts Press. pp. 58–61, 72. ISBN978-1558499157.
18. ^ Don Edward Fehrenbacher (1987). Lincoln in Text and Context: Collected Essays. Stanford Academy Press. p. 183. ISBN0804713294.
19. ^ William Henry Herndon, Emanuel Herz (1940). "The" Subconscious Lincoln: From the Letters Nd Papers of William H. Herndon. Blueish Ribbon Books. p. 15.
20. ^ John Nichols (2011). The "Due south" Give-and-take: A Brusk History of an American Tradition...Socialism . Verso Books. ISBN978-1844678211. Herndon with the classes every bit confronting the masses.
21. ^ David Herbert Donald (1948). Lincoln's Herndon . Alfred A. Knopf. p. 253.
22. ^ ^{a b} Michael Burkhimer (2003). 100 Essential Lincoln Books. Cumberland House Publishing. pp. 42–43. ISBN158182369X.
23. ^ "Herndon'due south Lincoln: The True Story of a Corking Life – volume ane". Retrieved March 23, 2013.
24. ^ "Herndon'due south Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life – volume 2". Retrieved March 23, 2013.
25. ^ "Herndon'south Lincoln: The True Story of a Slap-up Life – volume iii". Internet Archive. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
26. ^ Josh Zeitz. The Man Who Created the Lincoln Nosotros Know 150 years ago, William Herndon set out to write an honest biography of Honest Abe. Here'south what happened, Politico, Apr 2015
27. ^ Jason Emerson (2012). Giant in the Shadows: The Life of Robert T. Lincoln. SIU Press. pp. 403–404, 160. ISBN978-0809390717.
28. ^ Jason Emerson (2012). Behemothic in the Shadows: The Life of Robert T. Lincoln. SIU Press. pp. 675, 404. ISBN978-0809390717.
29. ^ "William Henry Herndon". Notice a Grave. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
30. ^ "Abraham Lincoln (1930 pic)". IMDb. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
31. ^ "Abe Lincoln in Illinois (film)". IMDb. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
32. ^ "Lincoln (Tv set mini-series)". IMDb. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
33. ^ "Lincoln – 1992 film". IMDb. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
34. ^ "Saving Lincoln". IMDb. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
35. ^ "The Gettysburg Address". IMDb. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
36. ^ "Billy Herndon (Character)". IMDb. Retrieved March 23, 2013.

Further reading [edit]

• David Herbert Donald, Lincoln's Herndon (1948) the standard scholarly biography online
• R. Vincent Enlow, "The Abraham Lincoln Genesis Cover-up: The Censored Origins of an Illustrious Antecedent," relating Herndon's accounts
• Abraham Lincoln, Ed. Roy P. Basler (1953) "Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln", including the xv February 1848 Letter from Lincoln to Herndon
• Letters:

(1) William H. Herndon to Jesse W. Weik, Jan. 16, 1886, Herndon-Weik Collection, Library of Congress

(2) Mary Todd Lincoln to David Davis, Mar. 6, [1867], "Mary Todd Lincoln: Her Life and Letters," ed. Justin G. Turner and Linda Leavitt Turner (1972)

External links [edit]

• Works past William Herndon at Projection Gutenberg
• Works by or about William Herndon at Internet Archive
• Works by William Herndon at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• William H. Herndon at Find a Grave

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Herndon_%28lawyer%29

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