Relating a variety of rarely told stories, this overview explores the brand names that supplied food, medicine, clothing, and weapons during the Civil War from the perspective of the producers. From du Pont’s gunpowder and Brooks Brothers’ uniforms to Procter & Gamble’s soap and Borden’s condensed milk, each company and product are investigated in detail. This study also touches upon how combat affected the companies, with each firm telling a tale that mirrors the war itself: family and friendships torn asunder, political intrigue, pitched battles, and paths crossed with the book’s namesake, Abraham Lincoln.
Brooks Brothers crafted Abraham Lincoln's greatcoat in honor of the president's second inauguration. The coat's wool was "finer than cashmere." Its quilted silk lining bore an embroidered banner that read, "One Country, One Destiny." Lincoln wore the garment when he was assassinated on April 14, 1865. After his death, Mrs. Lincoln gave the greatcoat to a faithful doorkeeper. The coat was returned to Ford's Theatre more than a century after her bequest, but not before it underwent a mysterious journey. This book recounts that journey as a reminder of the 16th president and his call to "bind up wounds" and care for others.
New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini's compelling historical novel unveils the private lives of Abraham and Mary Lincoln through the perspective of the First Lady's most trusted confidante and friend, her dressmaker, Elizabeth Keckley. In a life that spanned nearly a century and witnessed some of the most momentous events in American history, Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley was born a slave. A gifted seamstress, she earned her freedom by the skill of her needle, and won the friendship of First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln by her devotion. A sweeping historical novel, Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker illuminates the extraordinary relationship the two women shared, beginning in the hallowed halls of the White House during the trials of the Civil War and enduring almost, but not quite, to the end of Mrs. Lincoln's days.
After Abraham Lincoln's assassination in 1865, William H. Herndon began work on a brief, "subjective" biography of his former law partner, but his research turned up such unexpected and often startling information that it became a lifelong obsession. The biography finally published in 1889, Herndon's Lincoln, was a collaboration with Jesse W. Weik in which Herndon provided the materials and Weik did almost all the writing. For this reason, and because so much of what Herndon had to say about Lincoln was not included in the biography, David Donald has observed, "To understand Herndon's own rather peculiar approach to Lincoln biography, one must go back to his letters." An exhaustive collection of what Herndon was told by others about Lincoln was published by Douglas L. Wilson and Rodney O. Davis in Herndon's Informants: Letters, Interviews, and Statements about Abraham Lincoln . In this new volume, Wilson and Davis have produced a comprehensive edition of what Herndon himself wrote about Lincoln in his own letters. Because of Herndon's close association with Lincoln, his intimate acquaintance with his partner's legal and political careers, and because he sought out informants who knew Lincoln and preserved information that might otherwise have been lost, his letters have become an indispensable resource for Lincoln biography. Unfiltered by a collaborator and rendered in Herndon's own distinctive voice, these letters constitute a matchless trove of primary source material. Herndon on Lincoln: Letters is a must for libraries, research institutions, and students of a towering American figure and his times.
From one of our most acclaimed new biographers--the first full life of the leader of Lincoln's "Team of Rivals"--William Henry Seward, one of the most important Americans of the nineteenth century.
From the legendary Lincoln scholar Wayne C. Temple comes the long-awaited full-length biography of Noah Brooks, the influential Illinois journalist who championed Abraham Lincoln in Illinois state politics and became his almost daily companion at the White House. Best remembered as one of the president's few true intimates, Brooks was also a nationally recognized man of letters, who mingled with the likes of Mark Twain and Bret Harte. Temple draws on archives and papers long thought lost to re-create Brooks's colorful life and relationship with Lincoln. Brooks's closeness to the president made him privy to Lincoln's thoughts on everything from literature to spirituality. Their frank conversations contributed to the wealth of journalism and personal observations that would make Brooks's writings a much-quoted source for historians and biographers of Lincoln. A carefully researched and well-documented scholarly resource, Lincoln's Confidant is the story of an extraordinary friendship by one of the luminaries of Lincoln scholarship.
"Abraham Lincoln was the first president consistently to make storytelling and laughter tools of office. This book shows how his uses of humor evolved to fit changing personal circumstances, and explores its versatility, range of expressions, and multiple sources"--
From the author of the forthcoming Building the Great Society (February 2018), an intimate look into Lincoln’s White House and the aftermath of his death, via the lives of his two closest aides In this timely look into Abraham Lincoln’s White House, and the aftermath of his death, noted historian and political advisor Joshua Zeitz presents a fresh perspective on the sixteenth U.S. president—as seen through the eyes of Lincoln’s two closest aides and confidants, John Hay and John Nicolay. Lincoln’s official secretaries, Hay and Nicolay enjoyed more access, witnessed more history, and knew Lincoln better than anyone outside of the president’s immediate family. They were the gatekeepers of Lincoln’s legacy. Drawing on letters, diaries, and memoirs, Lincoln’s Boys is part political drama and part coming-of-age tale—a fascinating story of friendship, politics, war, and the contest over history and remembrance.
Charles Lincoln Wilson was the founder of Lincoln. His enthusiasm brought the Sacramento Valley Railroad from Folsom as far as the Auburn Ravine. The citizens of Western Placer now had a rail terminal. The new town was given Charles Lincoln Wilson's middle name. After the goldfields played out, copper deposits were discovered. By April 1863, large pieces of copper were being exhibited from the Gardner Claim. There were large copper mines at the J.D. Saunders ranch and at Whiskey Diggins, later Kilaga Springs. In 1874, clay deposits were also found while mining for coal. Charles Gladding, Peter McBean, and George Chambers, all from Chicago, had read about the superior, widespread clay deposits in Lincoln, and they started the California Clay Manufacturing Company in May 1875. The name soon became Gladding, McBean & Company.
