Vigo County Historical Society
Historical Treasure Article

February 14, 1993
By Alice Zimmerman Johnson
Vigo County Historical Society

Lincoln virtuous as man, president
 

His letter gave woman pride

When I think of Abraham Lincoln, I think of a kind and gentle man who cared for the people as a whole.

It did not surprise me to see a copy of Lincoln’s letter to Mrs. Bixby as part of an exhibit in the museum. Maybe it doesn’t surprise me that he wrote to Mrs. Bixby, when he had the burdens of the entire country upon his shoulders. She had lost five sons in battle. No mother even wants to try imagining her grief.

President Lincoln did not try to lessen her sorrow, but he gave the mother of five something she could live with. He gave Mrs. Bixby pride. Pride is necessary if one is to maintain ones sanity after losing five sons to war.

She also was given his respect. Pride and respect--bestowed upon a mother from the President of the United States of America.

Lincoln. Fitting that I should feel at one with him. He lived in Indiana from the age of 9 until he turned 21. He said that Indiana aroused feelings in him that were poetical.

Robert Front felt a oneness with Lincoln and explained the Lincoln who wrote to Mrs. Bixby in a poem, “A Tribute to Abraham Lincoln.”

Frost wrote: “He stands for decency, honest dealing, plain talk and funny stories. He had something they would love to see spread everywhere over the world.”

Americans still value the virtues for which Lincoln stood. If you read his letter to Mrs. Bixby, remember that this president, in the words of Frost, realizes “that wherever there is freedom, there have been those who fought, toiled and sacrificed for it.”

The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.

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