What did Lincoln like to do in his free time for fun?
-Corey and Kayla Newland, Canby, OR
As a young person, Abraham Lincoln enjoyed wrestling, playing an early form of baseball, and other athletic endeavors, but it was his humor and storytelling ability that separated Lincoln from his peers. He employed humor to relate to people and to compensate for a lack of confidence because he was so self-conscious of his appearance. Although Lincoln did not have a lot of “chums,” male friends, during his lifetime, Lincoln enjoyed the friendship of men. Perhaps his closest friend was Joshua Speed of Louisville, Kentucky and Springfield, Illinois. Speed met Lincoln when Lincoln moved to Springfield, and Lincoln and Speed shared lodging together. It was friends like Joshua Speed to whom Lincoln turned to assist him with his occasional bouts of the blues, the “melancholy.” However, Lincoln’s favorite hobby was reading. Lincoln believed in education, and especially self-education since he was largely self-educated; most of Lincoln’s knowledge came from the reading he did on his own often with borrowed or loaned books. Whenever Lincoln faced a problem, he turned to books searching for answers or comfort and relaxation in times of high stress.
Dr. Thomas C. Mackey and Seam Williamson, student
University of Louisville
**********
What was Abe Lincoln's relationship to Daniel Boone?
-Gary Hughes
Both spent time in Kentucky, but there is little else in their relationship. Boone was two generations older than Lincoln and moved to Missouri before Abe was born. Both were of westward moving pioneer families, but Lincoln left that kind of life behind to become a lawyer and political leader.
Dr. James H. Madison
Indiana University Bloomington
**********
Lincoln had a beautiful way with words. Did he ever write poetry? Did he ever meet Walt Whitman?
-D. Wasserbach
Yes, he wrote pretty poetry in childhood and youth, but his prose is rich in passages that may be lined and read aloud as poetry [I have done that], and he only briefly met Whitman, but often waved to him when they met on the streets of Washington, and he often read Whitman’s book, Leaves of Grass, kept it by the door to pick up before leaving, and he often read it aloud to himself and to others in his office. Whitman wrote one of the 3 or 4 greatest poems about the death of his president.
David Madden
Louisiana State University
**********
How did Lincoln stand on the equality of women including the right to vote?
-Noah Stonecypher, Homeschooler, 5th Grade, Jackson, MS
In my research, I have never turned up any evidence on Lincoln's views about women's rights or voting rights for women.
Dr. Edna Greene Medford
Howard University
**********
What were Lincoln's favorite foods?
-Corey and Kayla N., Canby, OR
Lincoln never outgrew his love of the wild game, fish, nuts and berries, and other foods which surrounded him during his primitive upbringing from birth in Kentucky to growing up (ages 7 – 21) in Indiana to his residence in New Salem, Illinois.
He probably liked his vegetables cooked soft and his meats cooked well, with only basic seasonings. He also enjoyed sweets – pies, cakes, and puddings – but did not care for strong drink, like beer or liquor. He was probably a moderate eater, purportedly eating whatever was set in front of him with little discussion.
For the best information on this subject, I’d recommend Wayne C. Temple’s “THE TASTE IS IN MY MOUTH A LITTLE…”: LINCOLN’S VICTUALS AND POTABLES.
Daniel Weinberg
Abraham Lincoln Book Shop, Chicago, IL
**********
Why did Lincoln insist on not having much protection if a lot of people wanted him dead?
-Clay Moyer, 5th grader, Fargo Public School, Fargo, OK
In 1865 most Americans, including Abraham Lincoln (despite all the death threats), did not believe that the president would be assassinated. Lincoln was also concerned that if he had protection that was noticeable to the average person, people would think he was afraid of the American public. One of the reasons he wanted to do everything he could to avoid appearing to be afraid was that the night before Lincoln first arrived in Washington as president-elect on February 23, 1861 he agreed to change his travel plans while going by train from Philadelphia to Washington because a possible assassination plot had been uncovered. In order to avoid the possible assassination attempt, which was to take place in Baltimore, Lincoln took an earlier train and did not stop in Baltimore. Once people found out that he had changed his travel plans because of an assassination plot, some people accused Lincoln of being a coward because he had "snuck" into town in 1861. Lincoln was willing to do almost anything (including not having much protection) to avoid having people think of him as a coward.
Frank Hebblethwaite
Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site
**********
Did Lincoln have hobbies?
-K. Shelton
He did not have hobbies of the sort we usually think of, but his recreation was reading Shakespeare to anyone who would listen—to recite the soliloquies he had memorized—and to attend the theater. He went to Grover’s Theater as many as a hundred times in his four years, and maybe as many to Ford’s Theater (you may say, if you like black humor—one time too many.)
William Lee Miller
Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia
**********
Did Lincoln ever have any diseases or health conditions?
-From Ms. Gamble's 8th grade History Class, Piccowaxen Middle School, Newburg, MD
President Abraham Lincoln’s health has constituted a rich area of speculation both when he was alive and since. As far any historian knows during his lifetime, Lincoln did not suffer from any serious diseases. He was occasionally ill with the usual illnesses that everyone experienced such as colds and fevers, and perhaps a touch of malaria. Lincoln did occasionally suffer bouts of “melancholy,” depression. An introspective man, when feeling blue, Lincoln often shut himself up in a room and read and contemplated his fortune in life. These moods passed -- sometimes on their own, sometimes through Lincoln using his noted humor to get past the blues, and sometimes by others taking his mind off his troubles. In November 1863, after returning to Washington, D.C. after delivering his address at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Lincoln came down with and became bedridden with “varioloid,” a mild form of the smallpox. Lincoln quipped (thinking about all of the requests for favors and political offices he had received as president) that he finally had something he could give to others, and no one wanted it! Over the years Lincoln enthusiasts have put forward a number of medical explanations to account for his height and moods, but none can be definitively demonstrated. Thus, medically speaking, Lincoln lived a normal and healthy life.
Dr. Thomas C. Mackey and Emily Veal, student
University of Louisville
**********
Also, how did Lincoln stand on the equality of women including the right to vote?
-Noah S., 5th Grade, Jackson, MS
During his career, Lincoln spoke of his support for voting for everyone --immigrants and women notwithstanding. In a June 13, 1836 letter to the editor of the Sangamo Journal, he wrote "I go for admitting all whites to the right of suffrage, who pay taxes or bear arms, (by no means excluding females.)"[reprinted in Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, v.1, p. 48, Rutgers University Press, 1953, 1990] This was the only time he mentioned women voting and he certainly should not be included in the group of northern men and women who, after Seneca Falls Declaration in 1848, began the long tedious struggle to obtain women's suffrage, which was obtained only in 1920. Still, in his personal life with Mary Lincoln he had a very companionate marriage and he certainly treated her as an equal partner.
Dr. Jean Baker
Goucher College
**********
I have heard that Lincoln had a genetic disease or malady that made him grow as tall as he did. Did he?
-Chris, Hunt, TX
Some medical historians believe that Lincoln had Marfan’s Syndrome, a genetic disorder that sometimes is characterized by long, lean body-types, but most historians are skeptical. There are occasional reports of various medical theories about the state of Lincoln’s health. They are just very difficult to analyze or verify because so much time has passed and so little physical evidence remains –and many of the samples which might contain his DNA have either been degraded or compromised.
Dr. Matthew Pinsker
Dickinson College
**********
What was Lincoln’s middle name?
-K. Shelton
-Ms. Gamble's 8th grade History Class, Piccowaxen Middle School, Newburg, MD
He had none-many people of that era had no middle name.
Brooks Davis
Institute of Learning in Retirement
Northwestern University
