Abraham Lincoln News: Copy Of Famed Lincoln Letter Turns Up In Dallas

It has been a few days since last posting as thankfully we have been very busy at the Coral Ridge Mall. People took advantage of the cold weather to come out and shop heavily Friday, Saturday, and to a lesser extent Sunday, but all in all it was a very good weekend!! Thank you to the patriotic shoppers who made the effort to pull the retail sales out of the doldrums:)
I see there have been many bad stories out there, from the wildfires in California, to the taking of another ship by Somali pirates, but I found this "cool" story at Yahoo News this morning, and beings I am a huge fan of Abraham Lincoln wanted this to be the first post of the week!!

A Texas museum hopes a document found in its archives turns out to be an authentic government copy of Abraham Lincoln's eloquent letter consoling a mother thought to have lost five sons in the Civil War. The famed Bixby Letter, which the Dallas Historical Society is getting appraised as it prays for a potential windfall, has a fascinating history. The original has never been found. Historians debate whether Lincoln wrote it. Its recipient, Lydia Bixby, was no fan of the president. And not all her sons died in the war.

The letter, written with "the best of intentions" 144 years ago next week, is "considered one of the finest pieces of American presidential prose," said Alan Olson, curator for the Dallas group. "It's still a great piece of writing, regardless of the truth in the back story." Historians say Lincoln wrote the letter at the request of a Massachusetts official, who passed along news of a Boston woman grieving the loss of her five sons. The letter is addressed to "Mrs. Bixby, Boston, Mass." and begins with an acknowledgment that nothing written could possibly make a grief-stricken mother feel better about such a horrific loss.
"I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming," Lincoln wrote. After thanking Bixby on behalf of a grateful nation, Lincoln wrote that he would pray that God relieve her anguish and leave her with only the "cherished memory of the loved" along with "the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom." The letter, as was the president's custom in his personal correspondence, is signed "A Lincoln."
link to full story

199th Birthday Of Americas Greatest President

My belated birthday wishes to Abraham Lincoln on his 199th birthday, as I lost my link as was unable to post after I created it yesterday, but here is how the story should have gone:
"Today, Monday, February 12th, is the 199th birthday of the Greatest President in American history, and I just want to say Rest In Peace Mr. President,
what?...sorry someone just looked over my shoulder and "didn't" know who the Greatest President in American history was..
Wow, I was surprised, as Obviously it was Abraham Lincoln, and I have two links for you."
The first is to the "Lincoln Institute Presents Abraham Lincoln's Classroom" which has days and days of material for a Lincoln fair weather friend or a true fanatic. The second link is to a website that has a great deal of information about the Lincoln Museum in Springfield, Illinois, and their preparations for his 200th birthday next year!!


Happy 199th Birthday, Mr. President!!

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lincoln classroom


abraham lincoln museum

Abraham Lincoln Quotes

Civil War

As we head into Sunday and the end of the weekend I would like to share a website with you that has quotes from Abraham Lincoln, who is in my opinion the Greatest President of Our country. He is Great in so many ways that it sends shivers up my spine, when I think of everything that he went through, and the tragedy that befell our country, when he was robbed of the ability to rebuild the country, after the Civil War. He tore the country apart, to rebuild her stronger than ever, and I think that if he had lived the rebuilding of this battered nation would have been even better, than it was under Johnson. Sadly that is only wishful thinking as history has a way of being unchanging.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the site and can gain from his wisdom and quotes. In the future we shall provide other major and minor figures who gave quotes that will live in our memories for all time, such as Sir Winston Churchill's famous "fight them on the beaches", quote, but that is for another day.

Take Care.

"In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to 'preserve, protect, and defend it'." Abraham Lincoln Source: March 4, 1861 - Lincoln's First Inaugural Address

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