All but a few sources of the quotations in this book are listed in the bibliography above, and most sources are apparent from the context of the quoted material. For example, John Hay kept a diary during the war. It was edited and published in 1997. Hay also wrote letters and newspaper columns, most of which are dated and in print. Quoted information from Hay, with a few exceptions, is from one of those published sources, and I have tried to distinguish among letters, journalism, and diary entries in the text. Quotes from Lincoln’s letters and speeches are from the Collected Works, edited by Roy Basler. All are dated.
Nicolay wrote regularly to his fiancée, and many of those letters were collected in With Lincoln in the White House, cited above. Nicolay letters that are not included in that edition, and passages that have been deleted from published letters, can be found in the John George Nicolay collection at the Library of Congress. The sources of William Stoddard’s dateline journalism, like Hay’s, are easily located. But his autobiographical impressions are undated, so I have annotated them.
The informal notes below will assist readers in locating important sources of quotes when the source is not clear from its context. I have tried to avoid annotating the obvious.
The main source of information on Ellsworth, and quotes from his letters, is RANDALL. Hay’s comments on Ellsworth are from HAY LETTERS, pp. 144–45. The main source of information on Nicolay’s life, apart from his own writings, is LINCOLN’S SECRETARY. The story of Howells and Hatch comes from that source, p. 34. The milking machine joke is traditional, like others attributed to Lincon; vide Phunny Phellows (Chicago: Rhodes & McClure, 1889), p. 242. Hay’s early youth is told by DENneTt, and in A. S. Chapman’s, “The Boyhood of John Hay,” published by the Century Magazine, vol. 78, pp. 444–54. As there is no biography of Jean Margaret Davenport [Lander], I have relied on the Frederick West Lander collection at the Library of Congress (which contains her incoming letters and scrapbooks), Joy Leland’s Frederick West Lander (Reno: Desert Research Institute, 1993), Brown’s History of the American Stage, Annals of the New York Stage, and standard encyclopedias of American biography. All prewar letters of John Hay are courtesy of the RPB. Anna Ridgely’s description of Hay is from “Springfield, Illinois in 1860 . . . ,” an unpublished memoir, DRPB. Hay’s quote on first meeting Lincoln is in the introduction of HAY LETTERS, p. xvi. Lincoln’s comment “Let Hay come” is from DENnett, p. 87.
The Republican leader who criticized Nicolay on page 20 was Herman Kreismann. The quote is from NICOLAY, p. xvii. Hay’s comment “I’m the keeper of the President’s conscience” is from F. A. Mitchell, quoted by Burlingame in the introduction to HAY DIARY, p. xiii. Stoddard tells the story of his first visit to the White House in STODDARD MEMOIRS, p. 216. His description of Nicolay is in ibid., p. 317. The quotes on page 30 concerning Lincoln’s “confinement” are from Abraham Lincoln: The Observations of John G. Nicolay and John Hay, ed. Michael Burlingame (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2007), p. 34; comments to Robert Wilson are in ibid., p. 34. Hay’s comments on Ellsworth are from a biographical sketch of the soldier in HAY LETTERS, pp. 141–51. All other information on Ellsworth is from RANDALL.
Stoddard’s conversation with Lincoln (pages 44–45) is in STODDARD’S LIFE, pp. 220–22. Jefferson’s story is told in The Autobiography of Joseph Jefferson (New York: Century Company, 1890), p. 27. Stoddard tells of Ellsworth and the broken window in STODDARD MEMOIRS, p. 164, and STODDARD’S LIFE, p. 228.
Lincoln’s response to Ellsworth’s death is in RANDALL, p. 262. Stoddard’s comment on Douglas’s death (page 66) is from STODDARD MEMOIRS, p. 164. Reference for details of the war’s progress is E. B. Long, The Civil War Day by Day (New York: Doubleday, 1971). Stoddard’s comment “We live a strange life here . . .” is from DISPATCHES, p. 27. Information about Baker comes from Harry C. Blair and Rebecca Tarshis, Colonel Edward D. Baker (Portland: Oregon Historical Society, 1960). Lander to Hay, December 31, 1861, is courtesy of RPB. Stoddard on Mrs. Lincoln is from STODDARD MEMOIRS, p. 33. For Stoddard re. the mail, vide STODDARD’S LIFE, pp. 242–45. Re. Mrs.Lincoln’s mail, vide STODDARD MEMOIRS, pp. 17–18. Incident of Stoddard and the pardon comes from STODDARD’S LIFE, p. 245.
The Lincolns’ conversation concerning state dinners is in Elizabeth Keckley, Behind the Scenes (New York: Penguin, 2005; reprint of 1868 edition), p. 43. Stoddard’s anecdotes on the ball tickets are in STODDARD’S LIFE, pp. 260–61. Recollections of the dancing and French tutor are in ibid., p. 235. Nicolay on Mrs. Eames is from NICOLAY, pp. 45–46. Stoddard on gambling fever is from STODDARD MEMOIRS, p. 36, and STODDARD’S LIFE, p. 273. Letters from Stoddard to Anderson are courtesy of the University of Rochester Library.
McClellan’s quotes are from Mark E. Neeley Jr., The Abraham Lincoln Encyclopedia (New York: Da Capo, 1982), p. 199. Lincoln’s quote on contention is from NICOLAY AND HAY, vol. 1, p. 222. Stoddard’s recollection of visiting McClellan is in STODDARD MEMOIRS, pp. 63–65. Lincoln’s fury regarding the canalboats is in NICOLAY, p. 72. Lincoln’s comment on the Penninsular Campaign (page 113) is cited by Burlingame in ibid., p. 221. Stoddard’s account of Hay’s joke is in STODDARD MEMOIRS, pp. 95–96. Lincoln’s quote “McClellan’s bodyguard” is from DAY BY DAY, p. 143. His quip about McClellan’s horses is from Neeley, Abraham Lincoln Encyclopedia, p. 201. The “stationary engine” quote may be found in John S. Bowman, Who Was Who in the Civil War (North Dighton, Mass.: JG Press, 1998) p. 143.
Descriptions of the weather and events in Washington on December 7 are from the Washington Chronicle, December 8, 1862. Mrs. Frederick Lander to Hay, December 27, 1862, is courtesy of RPB. Stoddard’s description of the drinking life is from STODDARD’S LIFE, p. 259. The reporter who noted that Lincoln looked “haggard” was from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, February 28, 1863. Quote from Seth Rogers is courtesy of the collection of James S. Rogers, available at www.unf.edu/floridahistoryonline. Essential sources for this chapter are the Hay scrapbooks, Hay MSS, DLC, which contain columns from the New York Herald Tribune dated May 22, 26, 27, and 28, describing the picnics and ceremonies in Beaufort and Hilton Head. Higginson’s quote is from Letters and Journals of Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 1846–1906, ed. Mary Thatcher Higginson (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1921), pp. 201–2.
For “What will the country say?” vide BROOKS, p. 61. Stoddard on Lincoln’s pacing is in STODDARD MEMOIRS, pp. 114–16. For Stoddard on the July 4 celebration, vide ibid., pp. 117ff; for French on the event, vide FRENCH, p. 425. Stoddard’s comment on the gold market is STODDARD’S LIFE, p. 313. His remarks on his illness and the draft riots are from Ibid. pp. 314–16. Information on the observatory is from Philp’s Washington Described, ed. William D. Haley (New York: Rudd & Carlton, 1861), pp. 156–58. The conversation over the Conkling letter is indexed in both of Stoddard’s autobiographical works. The target practice and the McManus joke are recounted in STODDARD MEMOIRS, pp. 22–25, and the Durant incident on p. 37. Information on the scandal and Stoddard’s gold line comes from Michael Burlingame’s introduction to STODDARD MEMOIRS, pp. xvi–xvii, articles in the Washington Star of March 12, 1878, and the New York Evening Post of March 11, 1878, and letters from Stoddard to Hay in RPB. Stoddard publicly denied the accusations.
All Helen Nicolay quotes are from LINCOLN’S SECRETARY. Her comment on the Washington visit is on p. 192, and the length of the engagement on p. 239. The journalist who commented upon Lincoln and Booth was George Alfred Townsend in the New York World, quoted in notes to HAY DIARY, p. 325. The New York Times article on Mrs. Lander appeared on August 14, 1863. The Wadsworth Papers are DLC. Hay’s news column on the Gettsyburg consecration was published in the Washington Daily Chronicle, November 21, 1863. Stoddard’s description of his 1864 illness is in STODDARD’S LIFE, p. 317. His anecdote at the chapter’s end is in ibid., p. 339.
On Horace Greeley, vide John C. Waugh, Reelecting Lincoln (New York: Crown, 1997), pp. 134ff. Thomas Hood’s poem “A True Story” may be found in its entirety in The Choice Works of Thomas Hood (Boston: DeWolfe, Fiske, n.d.), p. 211. The quote “Lie still . . . into the darkness” is recounted by Elihu Root, and quoted in the footnotes to HAY DIARY. Stoddard’s involvement in Johnson’s nomination is indexed in both of his autobiographical works. He tells the story of his departure for Arkansas in STODDARD’S LIFE, p. 325. Kate’s memoir is quoted in the introduction to ibid., p. 8. The famous Sherman quote may be found in CW, vol. 8, pp. 181–82.
Jean Lander’s performance in Chicago is cited in the Chicago Tribune, April 14, 1865. Robert Lincoln’s telegram to Davis is quoted in Ruth Painter Randall, Lincoln’s Sons (Boston: Little, Brown, 1955), p. 164–65. Mrs. Keckley’s observations of Mrs. Lincoln are in Behind the Scenes, pp. 82–85. Stoddard’s notes on Lincoln’s death are in STODDARD’S LIFE, pp. 344–46. His letter to Hay of April 22 is DRPB. Most information and quotes concerning Nicolay, as well as his letters from 1866 to 1891, are from LINCOLN’S SECRETARY, pp. 239ff. The information on Stoddard’s later years comes from STODDARD’S LIFE, specifically Harold Holzer’s excellent introduction, and the postscript by his granddaughter Eleanor Stoddard. (The quotes about the secretaries’ competing books are from Holzer’s introduction.) The reviews of Mrs. Lander’s comeback are in the pamphlet by T. B. Hugh, Biographical Sketch of Mrs. F.W. Lander (Philadelphia: Lander Histrionic Company, 1867), pp. 7–10. Hay’s diary entry of June 13, 1905, is published in Thayer, vol. 2, p. 405.