Lincoln and the Children
Hurrah for Lincoln!
Abraham Lincoln loved children, and even strange children were drawn to him, as though they had known him all their lives. Here are a few of the stories told about Lincoln and his child-friends.
Soon after Lincoln was elected President, he went to Chicago, where he was welcomed with shouts and cheers.
Later, as he sat in a room talking with friends, a little boy was led in. At the sight of the President-elect, he took off his hat and swung it, shouting:—
“Hurrah for Lincoln!”
Lincoln rose, and catching the little fellow in his strong hands, tossed him to the ceiling, shouting:—
“Hurrah for you!”
Only Eight of Us, Sir!
On this same visit to Chicago, while Lincoln was talking with visitors, a little German girl, heading a delegation of other girls, walked timidly up to him.
“What do you want, my little girl? What can I do for you?” he asked kindly.
“I want your name,” she said.
“But there are many other little girls that want my name, and as I cannot give it to them all, they will feel hurt if I give it to you.”
She looked around at her companions, and said, “Only eight of us, sir!”
Lincoln could not resist that, so he sat down immediately, and forgetting his other visitors, took eight sheets of paper and wrote a line and his name on each. These he gave to the little girls, and they went away happy.
He’s Beautiful!
Once a little girl’s father took her to call upon Lincoln. She had been told that he was very homely. But when he lifted her on his knee and talked to her in his kindly, merry way, she turned to her father, and exclaimed:—
“O Pa! He isn’t ugly at all! He’s beautiful!”
Please Let Your Beard Grow
But there was another little girl who did not think so. She lived in Westfield, in the State of New York. She had seen Lincoln’s picture, and did not like it; so after his election she wrote a letter asking him to let his beard grow, as she thought it would make him better looking.
Lincoln enjoyed the letter very much.
It happened later that he was on a train passing through Westfield, and, as the train stopped for a few minutes, he was asked to address the people at the station. He told about the letter, and stroking his chin, added:—
“I intend to follow her advice!”
He then called for the little girl. She came forward, and he greeted her kindly.
Three Little Girls
One day, after Lincoln had gone to Washington, three little girls, the children of a workingman, went to the White House on a reception day. They joined the throng, and were pushed along until they came to where Lincoln was shaking hands with each of his visitors.
When the children reached him, they were so bashful, that they did not dare to put out their hands. But Lincoln saw them passing by, and called:—
“Little girls, are you going to pass me without shaking hands?”
Then, stooping over, he kept every one waiting while he shook hands with each child.