Abraham Lincoln in the Kitchen (41 page)

John Woods's 1820 descriptions of foods and life (1968 reprint) were invaluable assets to understanding the pioneering Indiana culture. You can read his descriptions of pumpkins, vegetables, and seasonings on pages 155–61; rabbits running into logs on page 142; and frolics on page 154.

The staff of the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial generously answered my questions both during my visit and in follow-up telephone conversations and e-mails.

Once again I relied upon Louis A. Warren (1991) and David Herbert Donald (1995) for the known facts of the departure of the extended Lincoln family for Illinois and for Abraham Lincoln's first trip down the Mississippi. Ida Tarbell (1924) captured details of Lincoln's New Salem life.

I had the extraordinary benefit of reading firsthand descriptions of the river and New Orleans written by other young men near the time Lincoln made his journey. Reading their words as they encountered this vital city and dynamic river was almost as though I could see, smell, and taste the place as Lincoln would have experienced it. All of these resources are available through Google Books. Robert Baird's (1834) description of the cargoes at the levee can be found on page 280 and in H. Didimus (1845) on pages 6–7. Charles Sealsfield's (1828) description of the steamboat sound and smoke can be found on page 111. James Stuart's (1833) images of food for sale along the river on page 277 and George William Featherstonhaugh's (1844) tales of evening entertainment along the way on page 137 gave me additional details of a traveler's life on the river. Benjamin Moore Norman's (1845) positive descriptions of all the virtues, sights, and edifices of his hometown highlighted the marketplaces on pages 136–39, while John Purdy (1839) described the vendors' wares on page 185.

Lincoln's associates described the Mississippi adventure to William Herndon. John Hanks's key recollection that they “elected Abe cook” is somewhat contradicted by his remark that Lincoln “boarded at Carman's,” the tavern in the town. However, I don't think the two are mutually exclusive. Lincoln could easily have prepared two of the three days' meals and gone up the bank and into the village for dinner.

Richard Campanella's (2010) analysis of the two Lincoln journeys provided helpful details including the possible construction of the flatboat. I found information about the speed and routes of steamboats at “The History of Steamboats,” on the
About.com
inventors website. Robert Fulton is credited with inventing the practical steamboat when the
Clermont
made her round-trip from New York City to Albany in 1807. Fulton with partner Edward Livingston established steamboat routes between New Orleans and Natchez, Mississippi, beginning in 1814. These early boats traveled eight miles per hour with the downstream current and three miles per hour against the current upstream.

The slim volume by Thomas Reep,
Lincoln in New Salem
(1927), captures that village and its short history. Memories of Lincoln's life and impact in the village can be found indexed by the names of the residents I quoted.

I discovered the Lake Pontchartrain Railroad history on the New Orleans Past website and the barred owl gumbo in Alexander Wilson and Charles Lucian Bonaparte (1831) volume 4, page 284.

Robert Mazrim's (2007) wonderful descriptions of his archaeological explorations below New Salem's soil highlighted the sophistication of this frontier community with settlers bringing and wanting to buy china, glassware, and clothing in addition to rustic basics.

The barrels of oranges and lemons arriving in Springfield were advertised in the January 1, 1842, edition of the
Sangamo Journal
.

George M. Harrison's culinary details dovetailed nicely with my perspective for this work. His lengthy letters to William Herndon form the basis for much of this chapter and our understanding of Lincoln's brief military career. Harrison's 1860 letter was quoted in Michael Burlingame (2006), pages 99–100.

William Souder (2004) quoted Audubon's respect for the hunting skills of the Native American on page 139.

Wayne Temple's (1981) explanation of Illinois militia equipment provided the information I needed to understand what the New Salem volunteers would have taken with them and how they were equipped.

I found details from the 1830 federal census online at
Ancestry.com
.

In the recipe section, I brushed up on my history of election cakes with Marian Burros's November 2, 1988,
New York Times
article, “Election Cake: A Noble Tradition.”

I first encountered the recipe for Mary Todd's almond cake in Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks (1968). However, the same recipe, or a close version, appears in countless other sources.

Paul M. Angle's (1935) work describing the increasingly sophisticated community of Springfield as it grew from a village into a city yielded many important details as I came to understand Springfield as the Lincoln family's home.

Ruth Painter Randall (1953), David Herbert Donald (1995), and Michael Burlingame (2008) all wrote of the events leading up to the James Shield's challenge of Lincoln and the duel. Each provided important facts and perspectives.

Judge Lockwood's skeptical assessment of his wife's new stove was related by Caroline Owsley Brown in her article “Springfield Society before the Civil War” in the
Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society
(April–June 1922) on page 477.

Springfield residents Mrs. William Black (“Took Tea at Mrs. Lincoln's,”
Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society
, Spring 1955) and Caroline Owsley Brown wrote of parties and social activities in town and hosted by the Lincolns. These descriptions, no matter how brief, gave me important insights. I quote from them here and in the chapters that follow.

Eugenia Hunt Jones provided “My Personal Recollections of Abraham and Mary Lincoln,” published in the
Abraham Lincoln Quarterly
, March 1945. She recounted Frances Todd Wallace's description of the wedding.

Descriptions of Abraham Lincoln's speaking style and apparel were reported by the Herndon informants quoted, also by Harold Holzer (2004) on page 408. James O. Cunningham's recollection appears in Wilson (1943). Lincoln's genuine amusement in his stories was told by Helen Nicolay (1918), page 17.

Cunningham recalled the political picnic in “Lincoln on the Old Eighth Circuit” from Wilson (1943).

Wayne Temple (2004) quoted the Sunday school fire-pit barbecue description,
while the Hanks-Lincoln wedding feast is recalled by Louis A. Warren (1926). News of the Jacksonville Fourth of July celebration appeared in the
Daily Illinois State Journal
of July 7, 1859.
The Cultivator
explained the economics of fattening a shoat into a hog in February 1860.

John Egerton (1993), page 276; Lillie S. Lusting (1939), page 6; and Daniel Beard (1920), page 136 all offer perspectives on burgoo; Samuel Corbley's first-person perspective appears in the
Indiana Magazine of History
(March 1906) on page 16.

The National Park Service staff at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Illinois generously answered my questions and reviewed this and the three other Springfield-focused chapters that follow. Curator Susan Haake responded quickly and thoroughly to my e-mail requests and offered helpful perspectives as we visited on the telephone. I am especially thankful for her accurate measurements of Mary Lincoln's Royal Oak stove (discussed in
Chapter 10
). Haake and other staff members read and commented on the chapters in progress.

Along with information from Springfield residents cited in
Chapter 6
notes, I found the home-life descriptions of Lincoln from Mary's perspective in Ruth Painter Randall (1953), where the overcooked chicken saga and “regularly irregular” comment are related on pages 88–89. Phillip Ayers's telling of his mother's experience with “The Lincolns and Their Neighbors” appears in Rufus Wilson (1943). Orville Hickman Browning (Pease and Randall 1925) made brief entries in his diary of parties he attended at the Lincoln home and of other Springfield social events during the legislative session.

The value of Harry Pratt's work (1943 book and article “The Lincolns Go Shopping” published in the Spring 1955 issue of the
Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society
) cannot be underestimated. His inclusion of the store-ledger entries gave me the data I used to put the family's grocery purchases into perspective. Additionally the
Springfield City Directory
for 1857–58 lists twenty-one restaurants. The 1859 listing shows thirty-two restaurants and saloons, and the 1860 directory lists twenty-eight restaurants and saloons.

I found the delightful description of Abraham Lincoln's carryout breakfast in Francis Fisher Browne (1995), page 206.

H. B. Masser's Patent Ice-Cream Freezer was advertised in the July 1855 edition of
Godey's Lady's Book
.

Dorothy Meserve Kunhardt wrote of the Lincoln boys' dog, Fido, and their neighborhood playmates in
Life Magazine
(February 1954).

The
Daily Illinois State Journal
offered a wide view of life in town. The circus was advertised in the July 2, 1856, edition. A porcelain steak maul was advertised in the January 4, 1858, paper. Ice availability was shouted on March 13, 1858.

Wayne Temple (2004) reported the corned beef and Ruth Painter Randall (1953) the chicken fricassee on page 339.

Charles Zane wrote of Lincoln and apples in the
Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society
in 1921.

Journalist Thurlow Weed colorfully described his meetings in Lincoln's home. His accounts can be found in volume 1 of his autobiography (1884) on pages 603–12.

I found the two additional food-related stories that Lincoln told in R. D. Wordsworth (1908), pages 14 and 41.

Springfield newspapers and agricultural journals and magazines from across the nation brought forth a harvest of information on crops, seeds, and growing conditions. Fruit tree planting was mentioned by A. J. Downing in the December 1840 issue of
The Gardener's Magazine
, where he noted “Progress of Gardening in the United States.” The pineapple controversy appeared in the September 1854 edition of
Valley Farmer
. The value of keeping a garden was highlighted in the 1854
Report on the Commissioner of Patents
, page 323. That publication also fully described the qualities of beans on pages 323–38. The
Tennessee Farmer
sang the healthy praises of rhubarb in June 1837 on page 72.

In a 1982 landscape analysis and report for the National Park Service prepared by Robert R. Harvey & Associates, I discovered information about the Lincolns' apple trees as well as the copy of Simeon Francis's
Illinois Farmer
seed advertisement.

I found the date for the first canned tomatoes in Alan Davidson (2006). As to cooking the vegetables, in addition to suggestions from cookbook authors Miss Leslie, Mrs. Putnam, and Mrs. Bliss, agriculturalist Daniel Pereira Gardner (1854) suggested several simple preparations on pages 141, 494, and 803.

Emanuel Hertz (1938) reported William Herndon's observation of Lincoln, vegetables, and apples on page 166. The president's White House breakfast of baked beans was recounted by Wayne Temple (2004).

Temple also wrote extensively of Mariah Vance's relationship with the Lincoln family in two articles in
For the People
, the publication of the Abraham Lincoln Association (Winter 2004 and Spring 2005). I have called upon his work here and in
Chapter 11
.

In addition to finding inspiration from the Red Bourbon turkey, much of this chapter relies on the kindness and inspirational work of the staff of the National Park Service. Timothy P. Townsend's essay “Almost Home” in
Abraham Lincoln: A Living Legacy
, published by the Eastern National Division of the Park Service, added depth and insights to my understanding of the family's life in their home at Eighth and Jackson. Floyd Mansberger's report of his archaeological findings not only of the Lincoln house yard, but of the neighbors' yards added depth to my analysis. Lincoln Home curator Susan Haake generously answered my questions and considered my theories. Once again, Caroline Owsley Brown in her article “Springfield Society before the Civil War,” printed in the
Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society
(April–June 1922), and the Springfield newspapers provided key details. I took the closing image of the grief-stricken parents from David Herbert Donald (1995).

Erica Holst told Springfield's telegraphic history in the
Quarterly Newsletter of the Papers of Abraham Lincoln
, the April–June 2009 issue.

David Herbert Donald (1995) set the stage for the Lincoln quotations that follow. The railroad quotation is from Lincoln's speech to the jury in the Rock Island Bridge case trial in Chicago in September 1857. The Rock Island Railroad hired Lincoln to defend them against the steamboat company who sued when their boat, the
Afton
, crashed against the pillars of what was the first railroad bridge across the Mississippi River and burned to the waterline. Lincoln argued that the rights of rail travel were the same as those of river travel. Nine of the twelve jurors agreed with him. The full text of Lincoln's argument can be found in volume 2, page 415, of his collected works (Basler 1953). Lincoln's expression of the value of his participation in the 1858 campaign is found on page 339 of volume 3, while his letter to Judd regarding expenses is also in volume 3 on page 337.

Paul Angle's comprehensive history of Springfield's early years (1935) provided details of that business community's growing and diverse population.