Abraham Lincoln and Black History

“MOST IMPORTANT BOOK ON THE LINCOLNS IN A CENTURY”

By William D. Pederson
Professor of Political Science
Louisiana State University

(A review of LINCOLN’S UNKNOWN PRIVATE LIFE
which appeared in the Louisiana Lincolnator, Spring 1996)

As irony would have it, two of the most important books about Abraham Lincoln ever published have appeared on bookshelves within the past six months, but light-years separate their origins. One is the product of scholarly research; the other, firsthand reminiscences.

David Donald’s Lincoln (Simon & Schuster, 1995) has attracted widespread national attention as expected since it is written by a pre-eminent historian noted for his long and productive career. Donald’s book has eclipsed Lincoln’s Unknown Private Life, An Oral History by His Black Housekeeper Mariah Vance 1850-1860 (Hastings House, 1995). Little attention has been paid to this oral history edited by Lloyd Ostendorf and Walter Oleksy. But every library needs both.

Because Lincoln is recognized as one of the major biographies about our sixteenth President, my comments are limited to the latter book. I consider it to be one of the most important contributions on Lincoln.

For the ten years before the Lincolns left Illinois to move into the White House, Mariah Vance was their laundress, maid, and housekeeper in Springfield. During her long and difficult life (1819-1904), she was noted for telling stories about her experiences with the Lincolns. Fortunately for posterity, these recollections were preserved by a young white woman named Adah Sutton (1884-1976) who took the trouble to record the Vance stories in shorthand between 1900 and 1904. Before Sutton’s death she transcribed the stories and they now -- after a long, twisted trail -- have been published. It’s the best firsthand look at the Lincoln marriage. Readers now are afforded the opportunity to judge Abraham and Mary’s relationship, and much else about the Lincolns, for themselves.

Several aspects of this oral history merit special attention. Superb insights into the character of Mary, Abraham, and Robert, their oldest son, are offered. The Lincolns clearly did not have an Ozzie and Harriet marriage. In fact, there were recurrent episodes of friction between them that might lead some to believe that their relationship was a daily civil war between spouses. Yet, that goes too far. It’s apparent that both politics and their children brought the couple together. Ample evidence is presented to conclude that the Lincolns spoiled all four of their sons, although Mariah Vance obviously favored Robert.

Vance’s account gives further credence to Abraham’s romance with Ann Rutledge, his first love. Abraham credited Ann for directing him into law and Mary for pushing him into national politics. Mary’s reaction of jealousy and fear that Abraham did not love her were fueled by memories of Ann.

An unvarnished but human image of Mary Lincoln emerges. Because she had a strong reliance on paregoric, a mixture of opium and alcohol [also called laudanum], her moods worsened into regular temper tantrums that unleashed abuse on both her husband and Vance. Her [Mary Lincoln’s] of being alone was exacerbated by her husband’s habit of “riding the circuit” for weeks at a time. She occasionally tried to combat her loneliness -- and perhaps punish her absentee husband -- by holding lavish parties that exceeded their family budget and irritated him.

Just as it provides a new view of the Lincoln marriage, the oral history also suggests that the relationship between Abraham and his father was not as strained as often thought. For example, Abraham credited both of his parents for bringing him up right. Mary named their youngest son after her father-in-law, and Abraham arranged for a formal photograph of his father, even buying him a suit for the occasion.

Apart from suggesting Mary’s addiction to her elixir, the most controversial assertion that Vance makes is that Abraham was secretly baptized. Because Vance eventually founded the Zionist Baptist Church in Springfield, many scholars will doubt the reliability of this story. Nonetheless, Abraham is portrayed as religious, albeit in an unconventional way.

Sometimes I think God should have always been spelled “Good.” God as an individual mind seems narrowing, and hampers the power we should feel is omnipotent.

Good is all inclusive. All things, if good, are relative, hinge, help each other, and work together for good of those who love good. Thus to love good is to work out our destiny with the help of all good. Regardless of our own plans and often highest desires, our destiny is gauged by our own thoughts and actions often come to pass far better than we ever hoped for. Love -- Good -- leads the way, if we cooperate.

His commitment to “goodness,” to Mary when they reconciled after he broke their original engagement, and to blacks, is reflected in how he treats others -- especially blacks -- on a daily basis. While never an Abolitionist until the war pushed him into that camp during his presidency, he never believed in slavery. He respected his employee’s work, courage, and family. He showed genuine concern for the Vance’s that included arranging for Dr. William Wallace (the namesake of Lincoln’s son Willie) to treat one of their [Mariah Vance and her husband] babies who was sick. In numerous ways, Vance’s stories demonstrate Lincoln’s consistent behavior patterns. Such non-public acts contradict latter-day revisionists who claim that Lincoln was a “racist.”

The personal ties between the white, “well-off” Lincolns and the black, poor Vances, who both married in 1842, further illustrate this caring portrait of the Lincolns. Specific examples include the final time that Vance and her son, Bill, saw Abraham, and the continuing relationship between Vance and Robert Lincoln, who as a grown man visited her, sent her monthly checks from 1896 until her death, and bought her family a cemetery plot.

For readers who prefer firsthand accounts of historical figures, this oral history from the mid 19th century provides an unsurpassed and honest account of a personage who is viewed by a household intimate simply as a person.