Abraham among the Yankees by Williams Frank J.; Williams Frank J.;

Author:Williams, Frank J.; Williams, Frank J.; [Неизв.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press

CHAPTER VII

DORCHESTER AND CHELSEA

There are, unfortunately, two stops on Lincoln’s tour of which little is known. These are his visits to Dorchester and Chelsea. They were poorly reported at the time and many interesting questions have been left unanswered.

His speech in Dorchester, given on September 18, was well advertised beforehand. On Saturday, two days before the rally, four Boston dailies, the Atlas, the Courier, the Herald and the Advertiser all ran the same notice: “The Hon. Abram Lincoln [sic], of Illinois, and the Hon. George Lunt, of Boston, will address the citizens of Dorchester on Monday evening next, Sept. 18th, at Richmond Hall.”1 A good indication of Lincoln’s prior fame in Massachusetts is the fact that most Boston newspapers continued to misspell his name throughout his entire trip.

One newspaper which took note of the Dorchester speech before it was given was Samuel Bowles’ Springfield Republican. On the day of the rally this journal reported that Lincoln, “who spoke so ably and interestingly at the Worcester Convention, addressed a great Whig meeting in New Bedford on Thursday evening, and is to speak to the Dorchester Whigs tonight.” Lincoln, said the Republican, “is a very effective orator, and in hight [sic] is almost a match for ‘Long John’ Wentworth of his own State.” Word of Lincoln’s unusual speaking style was getting around because the writer said, “We hope he won’t go home without giving us in this part of the State the benefit of his sound arguments and practical instruction.”2

Dorchester lies south of Boston and in 1848 it was home to over 7,000 people.3 Lincoln rode down there by carriage and arrived at about 8 p.m. His speech was given in Richmond Hall, on the corner of Washington Street and Churchill Place.

Nathaniel Safford, a local Whig, introduced Lincoln that evening. He said that the visitor was one of the Hingham Lincolns, as well as a descendant of General Benjamin Lincoln. The Illinoisian disclaimed descent from the Revolutionary general and, according to William Herndon, playfully said that in his home state he had tried to introduce the principles of the Lincolns of Massachusetts. The audience, wrote Herndon, was struck by Lincoln’s great height in the low-studded hall.4

The next day the Boston Courier reported a “full and enthusiastic” meeting, but said little more. This was the only available newspaper account of the Dorchester appearance.5 Likewise, we know that Lincoln spent the night of September 18 at Stafford’s beautiful house, on the corner of Washington and Morton Streets, a short distance from Richmond Hall, but nothing more is known of the visit.

The next day, Tuesday, September 19, Lincoln spoke in Chelsea, just north of Boston. That day’s edition of the Boston Atlas contained a small notice giving the time and place of the meeting. Lincoln was to speak in Gerrish Hall, which the previous evening had been used for a Free Soil speech by Charles Sumner.6

The Atlas of September 20 had the only press coverage of the Chelsea appearance. “The Hon. Abraham Lincoln,” said the

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