Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 in Harden County, Kentucky. Lincoln once said that his childhood could be condensed into one sentence from Gray’s Elegy, “The short and simple annals of the poor.” His parents, Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, struggled to survive on the American frontier. That struggle involved many hours of back breaking work and frequent shortages of the basic necessities. Thomas Lincoln moved his family several times during Abraham’s childhood and teenage years. Thomas moved his family to another farm in Kentucky when Abraham was two years old and later moved to Indiana and finally Illinois before the future president set out on his own. The Lincoln family moves were usually prompted by a desire to find better land, but the move from Kentucky to Indiana reflected Thomas’ desire not to live in a state that allowed slavery. Lincoln’s mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, died in 1818 when he was nine years old. It was a devastating blow for the young boy who later said, “All that I am or hope to be I owe to my sainted mother.” Two years later Thomas Lincoln married a widow, Sarah Bush Johnson. Abraham became quite close to his step mother. She encouraged him to continue his on-going efforts to self-educate himself. Lincoln’s father thought that “book learning” was a waste of time that could be better spent on physical labor. In total Abraham Lincoln had only one year of formal education. Supporters used Lincoln's long time nickname "Honest old Abe" on this medalet from the 1864 campaign. Upon reaching manhood Abraham Lincoln settled in New Salem, Illinois. There he clerked at a store, which soon closed and received a government appointment to be town postmaster. Lincoln established a reputation for honesty and integrity and came to be known as “honest Abe” by his neighbors. When Lincoln first ran for the Illinois State Legislature in 1832, he failed to win a seat; but he received 277 of the 300 votes cast in the New Salem area. He also was elected captain of the militia when local men were mustered to serve in the Blackhawk Indian War. Lincoln cherished that vote of confidence from his neighbors as one of the most satisfying events in his life. The old Illinois state capital at Vandalia. Lincoln won a seat in the Illinois Legislature in 1834 and quickly rose through the ranks to become the Whig Party floor leader and the chairman of the Finance Committee. He played a leading role in passing legislation that moved the state capital from Vandalia to Springfield. During this period Lincoln began to study law. After a year of study under a lawyer, Lincoln was admitted to the bar. Lincoln left the state legislature in 1842. New Salem had little future as a community because steamboats were unable to navigate the river that flowed by it for most of the year. That prompted Lincoln to move to the state capital, Springfield, Illinois, in 1837. There he practiced law as a junior partner under Stephan T. Logan. In 1844 Lincoln opened a law office with William H. Herndon in which Lincoln was the senior partner. Lincoln was a very successful lawyer, but success did not come easily. He was away from home for three to four months of the year following the circuit court as it moved from town to town. Lincoln tried both civil and criminal cases and was willing to take almost any client, including at least one slave owner. His fees usually ranged from two to five dollars. By the 1850s Lincoln was earning much larger fees as a railroad lawyer. His highest fee came when he won a suit against the Illinois Central Railroad for $5,000. That judgment came after the railroad refused to pay Lincoln commensurate compensation for a suit he had won that saved the railroad tens of thousands of dollars in property taxes. In the 1850s $5,000 was more money than most Americans earned in a lifetime. The earliest confirmed Lincoln photo Lincoln married Mary Todd in 1842. The marriage was sometimes a rocky one because Mary had a volatile personality that got worse as she grew older. She was unreasonably jealous of her husband, and sometimes accused him of having affairs despite the fact her accusations had no basis. She was a shrewd political observer, however, and often aided Lincoln in accessing his supporters and opponents. The Lincolns had four sons. Two sons, Edward and Willie, died in childhood. Willie who died in 1862 was the only child of a President to die in the White House. A third son, Tad, died when he was 19 years old after Lincoln’s assassination. Only the eldest son, Robert, lived to maturity. Robert became a successful lawyer and served as secretary of war in the Garfield and Arthur administrations from 1881 to 1885. Later he served as minister to Great Britain during the presidency of Benjamin Harrison from 1889 to 1893. Despite his success as a lawyer, Lincoln’s first love was politics. Lincoln’s biggest political problem was that he was a Whig and then a Republican in Illinois, which was predominately a Democratic state. Lincoln’s political idol was Henry Clay. Like Clay Lincoln favored extensive (for the time) public works projects, like roads and canals, and protective tariffs for American industry. Lincoln was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1846. He served only one term in part because he had an agreement with two other men that they would “rotate” the seat among them. Lincoln’s single House term was not particularly successful. He spent a great deal of time criticizing the Mexican War, while U.S. troops were in harm’s way, which drew considerable criticism. Lincoln admitted that he could have handled the office better after he completed his term. Lincoln’s most cherished ambition was to win a seat in the U.S. Senate. In Lincoln’s time U.S. senators were elected by the state legislatures, not the people. Since the Democrats usually held a majority in the Illinois legislature, Lincoln faced an uphill battle. He failed to win a Senate seat in 1855 and in 1858. A Stephen Douglas ferrotype from the 1860 presidential campaign. The second contest was marked by the now famous series of debates between Lincoln and his arch rival, Stephen A. Douglas. Despite that fact that the Republicans received more votes in the state legislative elections, the Democrats retained their majority of seats, and Douglas won re-election. The debates made Lincoln a national figure, and provided him with a platform from which he could seek the Republican presidential nomination in 1860. The Wig Wam, a temporary wooden building that was the site of the 1860 Republican Convention. William Seward was the front-runner at the 1860 Republican Convention, but Lincoln's supporters out outmaneuvered him. This the obverse of a Hard Times token that was issued during the 1834 New York gubernatorial campaign. Lincoln entered the race for the Republican nomination as the underdog to New York senator, William Seward. The Republican convention was held in Chicago which gave Lincoln’s handlers a large advantage. Lincoln’s men packed the galleries with hundreds of screaming Lincoln supporters who drown out the opposition. Lincoln trailed Seward after the first ballot, came within two and a half votes of Seward on the second ballot and won the Republican presidential nomination on the third poll of the delegates. There were four major candidates for president in 1860. Lincoln ran for the Republicans. The Democrats divided between Douglas and Breckenridge which made the race Linocoln's to lose. What was left of the southern branch of the Whig Party supported John Bell. These four pieces are listed as Civil War and political tokens. Civil War Token collectors call them part of the "Wealth of the South" series. All of them are scarce to rare. In 1860 the political system was dividing along the same lines as the nation would be dividing during the Civil War. The Democratic Party split along regional lines. Lincoln’s old rival, Stephen Douglas, led the northern wing of the party and sitting vice president, John Breckenridge, led the southern branch. A third group, the Constitutional Union Party, further split the popular vote. With the Democrats hopelessly split, Lincoln won the presidency with only 40% of the popular vote. Lincoln’s election prompted the southern states to secede from the Union and form the Confederate States of America. Lincoln was determined to re-unite the country, and that was his primary goal through out the Civil War. Lincoln’s major tasks were to find Union generals, who could win battles, keep the boarder states like Delaware Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri, in the Union, and limit the influence of peace movements in the North that wanted to end the war without reuniting the country. Lincoln dropped his first running mate, Hanibal Hamlin, and picked Democrat, Andrew Johnson as his replacement. Lincoln ran on a fusion ticket to help him win the election and get Democrats to rally to his cause. Contined, next post.
By 1864 many in the North had become war weary and were ready to make peace with the Confederacy. Lincoln was convinced as late as August before the November election that he would lose. To improve his chances, Lincoln dropped Republican vice president Hannibal Hamlin from the ticket and replaced him with Democratic Tennessee governor Andrew Johnson. Lincoln hoped that the resulting fusion ticket would win the election for him. Union military victories in Georgia and Alabama improved the Republican’s prospects, and the people elected Lincoln to a second term by wide margin over former Union general, George McClellan. Former Union general, George McClellan, was Lincoln's opponent in 1864. The phrase, “With malice toward none, with charity toward all,” set the tone for Lincoln’s second inaugural address. Many historians rate that inaugural address as among the finest ever delivered by a president. Lincoln’s plan was, “to let them (the South) up easy,” but it was not to be. On the night of April 14, 1865 John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theater. Booth was a southern sympathizer who had not had the courage to join the Confederate cause during the war. His plan was to throw the Union government into chaos after the war by killing its most prominent leaders. Plots to kill vice president Andrew Johnson and secretary of state William Seward that same night failed. Historians warn that it is risky to project what would have happened if a major event, such as a presidential assassination, had not occurred. Many people believe, however, that the reconstruction of the Union might have been easier had Lincoln been able to enact his policies. Even Confederate president Jefferson Davis admitted that Booth had done the South no favors. Since his death Abraham Lincoln has become an American icon. A significant majority of historians rate Lincoln as the greatest United States President. His portrait has been reproduced on more coins than any other historical figure, and his monument in Washington, DC, the Lincoln Memorial, is a symbol of freedom recognized through out the world. Lincoln represented the best that American has had to offer. He was born to a low status in life, educated himself, built a career largely through his own efforts and saved the American experiment in democracy at a time when it faced its greatest challenge. Few figures in history have left a more enduring legacy. This Lincoln medal by George Morgan is considered to be one of the most attractive medals that the Philadelphia Mint issued in the 19th century.
Thanks for your post and information. I did not know this medal was designed by G. Morgan. This one is done in copper and is very reflective.
