LINCOLN’S AIDE
A SHORT STORY BY RICHARD SWAIN
His mother would only address him using his full name. George Washington Adams, stand straight and look at their eyes when speaking. He was born a slave, like his mother and her mother. She would admonish him often with statements like “George Washington Adams, we earn respect, no matter how painful the process, when we give respect.” Home was a tobacco farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky. While life destined George to work in the fields, his mother served in the house, and gained a modest education, most valuable the ability to read. Teaching George to read and lighting the fire within his mind to savor the written word was her greatest gift. She would often borrow a book without permission from the plantation library and return it only after George devoured each word and deeply considered each thought presented. One particular book always left him with a deep longing, Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan.
The protagonist Christian leaves his hometown, “The City of Destruction” and embarks on a journey to save himself as he seeks the “Celestial City.” George felt a heaviness that he was a modern day Christian, burdened not so much by his sin, but seeking deliverance for his people from slavery, a true Hell on earth.
In early 1858, Harriet Tubman completed plans for her 12th trip north. She selected a literate and passionate young 16-year-old from Kentucky as her assistant. George felt a physical ache, trembling with both anticipation and fear as he weighed his responsibilities. The first step was surely the most treacherous, making his way to the eastern shore of Maryland. A network of “Whisperers” guided him nightly as he made his way in unknown land. Word quickly spread throughout the “Underground Railroad.” A young man named after two presidents was joining their beloved “Moses.” At each morning hideout, George would meet others willing to risk their lives for liberty. Before setting out at nightfall, he would tell John Bunyan’s story to each traveler, instilling the fortitude of each being their own “Christian” to vanquish the common foe.
This army of soldiers for freedom grew to ten souls by the time they crossed from Virginia into Maryland. Tears fell from Harriet’s cheek as she hugged each one with a powerful embrace while extolling their courage. Reaching the safety of Pennsylvania after three nights of dangerous travel, they conceived an alternative plan. Harriet had recently purchased a small farm near Auburn, New York. She would lead the travelers to her farm, where others would take them into Canada, and George would take an important letter west to Illinois.
Armed with documents for safe passage across free states, George arrived in Springfield and sought an upcoming leader in the Republican Party, Abraham Lincoln. This respected lawyer had reached a national audience with a series of seven debates with incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas. The debate topic was slavery, and Lincoln’s quote from Mark 3:25 “A house divided against itself cannot stand” inspired Harriet to make an audacious request. “Free us from slavery!”
Lincoln graciously invited a young George Washington Adams into his office. Upon learning of his trek to freedom from Hodgenville, Kentucky, Lincoln roared that providence surely brought them together as he was born in a small log cabin on Sinking Springs Farm a stone's throw from town. Invited to spend the night at Lincoln’s home, he slept soundly in his own bedroom for the first time in his life.
The lawyer’s wife, Mary, found George sitting on the floor of the library early in the morning with four books nestled in his lap. Jumping up, the books spilled out before him. Mary laughed wholeheartedly and inquired what books he had selected. Picking up Pilgrim’s Progress, George could not contain himself as he shared the passion of his quest. Mary spoke tenderly, telling him her husband considered the importance of this book second only to the Bible.
At breakfast, the two men discussed the letter from Harriet Tubman and what role each could play if they worked together on this common goal. Lincoln was being encouraged to run for President in the upcoming 1860 election, and George could be of invaluable help as an aide. By late morning, they agreed one was to be called Abe and the other G.W.
G.W.’s two junior assistants in the Lincoln household were Willie, age eight, and Tad, who just turned five. Mary would playfully shoo the men off to the office each morning so the boys could settle down and focus on studying.
In February 1860, Lincoln and Adams traveled to New York to meet with Harriet, and prepare for a speech Abe would give at Cooper Union. On the 27th Lincoln was forceful in arguing against slavery and rejected any “Groping for some middle ground between the right and the wrong.” Journalist Noah Brooks reported, “No man ever before made such an impression on his first appeal to a New York audience.”
G.W. was a fresh and encouraging voice to Lincoln. “Be yourself,” he would say. “People respect your plain-talking way and ignore those who say you are unpolished.” Together, they and others began cultivating a nationwide youth organization called the Wide Awakes to spearhead voter registration. On November 6th, Abraham Lincoln became the 16th President of the United States.
Several of Lincoln’s closest advisors voiced concern about a young 18-year old black man having the ear of their leader. G.W. heard the voice of his mother encouraging him to be respectful and patient, even as he suffered slights by those that belittled his efforts to improve his education and standing. Even as President, Abe could not persuade a law school to accept his young protege, and encouraged G.W. to follow in his footsteps. Handing him a stack of Blackstone’s Commentaries, Abe said, “I studied with nobody.”
The Lincoln household was somber and fearful as young Willie could not recover from a mysterious fever in early 1862. At age 11, he lay ill in a huge carved rosewood bed. Each night, either Abe, Mary, or G.W. would sleep in a chair by his bedside to wipe his brow, or comfort his pain. On the 20th of February, William Wallace Lincoln passed quietly away. When his father gazed at him, he mourned, “My poor boy, he was too good for this earth. God has called him home. I know he is much better off in heaven, but then we loved him so. It is hard, hard to have him die.”
As the Civil War raged, Harriet worked for the Union Army as a nurse, cook, and spy. G.W. became one of her eight scouts. On June 1, 1863, Harriet partnered with Colonel James Montgomery, who commanded the Second South Carolina Volunteers, a Black Regiment. They sailed down the Atlantic on the Federal Ship John Adams to rescue a large group of slaves, laying in wait. As Harriet was illiterate, she would commit to memory the topography of the countryside, and dictate the details to G.W. Of the 85 former slaves, now free, G.W. wept, sweeping Abigail Adams his mother off her feet. Colonel Montgomery gathered Harriet, G.W. and Abigail to his side as he addressed all on board, “No man could fail with Moses, George Washington, and Abigail Adams by his side.”
G.W and his mother lived in a small home on 15th Street near the White House. At age 22, young Mr. Adams was a successful lawyer representing a growing black business community, while providing an active Pro Bono service to newly freed slaves. Abigail would leave early each morning and walk to the corner of 6th and B and enter the Armory Square Hospital. Often working for twelve hours without rest, she would nurse wounded solders from both sides. After a tiring day of legal service, G.W. would often find solace at the Smithsonian Castle reading room next to the hospital, before walking his mother home under the lights of the capital.
As President Lincoln prepared his second Inaugural Address, he sought his young friend for advice. By 1865, over 500,000 had already died, and Lincoln feared the worst was yet to come. What could he say to strike at the heart of anyone who would listen, what words might pierce the soul of those who mourned on both sides? As G.W. read the prepared remarks, he offered a phrase that burned within his conscience, “Until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid.” Lincoln nodded his head and rested his hand on the shoulder of his trusted friend.
A month later, a special letter arrived at the 15th Street home, “An Evening With The President.” The invitation invited mother and son to sit in the Presidential Box at Ford’s Theatre for a performance of a popular comedy, “Our American Cousin.” While deeply honored, both felt uncomfortable, and Abigail insisted it was not right for her. “I will tend wounds to my last breath,” she loudly proclaimed, “Before I could endure laughter in such a time as this.” G.W. struggled with his answer, but in the end, he felt obligated to attend.
The President introduced George to Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancee, Clara Harris. Mary expressed sadness not seeing Abigail and handed G.W. a letter she had penned to his mother. It was a late evening, and George struggled to stay awake. Not wanting to embarrass himself, he quietly moved his chair further behind the others, while pinching his wrist to stay alert. As the play entered the last act, a slight commotion startled the young man as a dark figure slowly pushed the door inward. Lunging forward at the sight of a gun leveled at President Lincoln’s head, George struck the man as the pistol fired. Struggling to hold the assailant, he felt a sharp pain as a knife was thrust into his abdomen.
The dream was vivid. A young George Washington Adams was carrying a large sack of tobacco leaves to the drying barn. Suddenly, the sky opened to a brilliant light that blinded his vision. Dropping to his knees in fear, he felt a weightlessness as his body rose from the soil. Looking around, others in the field joined his accent amid vibrant colors of blues, greens, and yellows swirling in their midst. Sounds of rejoicing filled his ears as he reached toward his mother before him.
Abigail pulled his extended hands toward her tear washed face as he lay on the hospital bed. George tried to speak, but his breathing was shallow and his body grew rigid. She held a blood stained letter before him, “Look at the kind words Mrs. Lincoln wrote to me. Listen as I read.”
“Dear Mrs. Adams, we missed your presence this evening. The President and I extend our warmest best wishes to you for good health. Thank you for your service to our wounded brothers and sisters. Your son has been such a blessing to my husband and our family. Abe considers him his Kentucky brother. As mothers, we ache for our children, wanting them to be safe, honoring them in their accomplishments, and holding them in their trials. You are always welcome in our home, fondly Mary Lincoln.” Leaning closer to hear her son, he gasped, “Does the President live?” Without hesitation, she responded, “Yes, you saved his life, and the nation is grateful.” A smile formed on his face and she felt a slight squeeze on her hand as he quietly passed.
President Lincoln died from his head wound on April 15, 1865. Two days later, a young black lawyer passed away while attended by his mother at Armory Square Hospital. Newspapers never mentioned a fifth person in the Presidential Box at Ford’s Theatre on that fateful night. A few people within the White House staff assisted Mrs. Lincoln in transporting a certain Mrs. Adams to New York to live with the abolitionist and political activist Harriet Tubman.
RICHARD SWAIN
A SHORT STORY BY RICHARD SWAIN
His mother would only address him using his full name. George Washington Adams, stand straight and look at their eyes when speaking. He was born a slave, like his mother and her mother. She would admonish him often with statements like “George Washington Adams, we earn respect, no matter how painful the process, when we give respect.” Home was a tobacco farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky. While life destined George to work in the fields, his mother served in the house, and gained a modest education, most valuable the ability to read. Teaching George to read and lighting the fire within his mind to savor the written word was her greatest gift. She would often borrow a book without permission from the plantation library and return it only after George devoured each word and deeply considered each thought presented. One particular book always left him with a deep longing, Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan.
The protagonist Christian leaves his hometown, “The City of Destruction” and embarks on a journey to save himself as he seeks the “Celestial City.” George felt a heaviness that he was a modern day Christian, burdened not so much by his sin, but seeking deliverance for his people from slavery, a true Hell on earth.
In early 1858, Harriet Tubman completed plans for her 12th trip north. She selected a literate and passionate young 16-year-old from Kentucky as her assistant. George felt a physical ache, trembling with both anticipation and fear as he weighed his responsibilities. The first step was surely the most treacherous, making his way to the eastern shore of Maryland. A network of “Whisperers” guided him nightly as he made his way in unknown land. Word quickly spread throughout the “Underground Railroad.” A young man named after two presidents was joining their beloved “Moses.” At each morning hideout, George would meet others willing to risk their lives for liberty. Before setting out at nightfall, he would tell John Bunyan’s story to each traveler, instilling the fortitude of each being their own “Christian” to vanquish the common foe.
This army of soldiers for freedom grew to ten souls by the time they crossed from Virginia into Maryland. Tears fell from Harriet’s cheek as she hugged each one with a powerful embrace while extolling their courage. Reaching the safety of Pennsylvania after three nights of dangerous travel, they conceived an alternative plan. Harriet had recently purchased a small farm near Auburn, New York. She would lead the travelers to her farm, where others would take them into Canada, and George would take an important letter west to Illinois.
Armed with documents for safe passage across free states, George arrived in Springfield and sought an upcoming leader in the Republican Party, Abraham Lincoln. This respected lawyer had reached a national audience with a series of seven debates with incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas. The debate topic was slavery, and Lincoln’s quote from Mark 3:25 “A house divided against itself cannot stand” inspired Harriet to make an audacious request. “Free us from slavery!”
Lincoln graciously invited a young George Washington Adams into his office. Upon learning of his trek to freedom from Hodgenville, Kentucky, Lincoln roared that providence surely brought them together as he was born in a small log cabin on Sinking Springs Farm a stone's throw from town. Invited to spend the night at Lincoln’s home, he slept soundly in his own bedroom for the first time in his life.
The lawyer’s wife, Mary, found George sitting on the floor of the library early in the morning with four books nestled in his lap. Jumping up, the books spilled out before him. Mary laughed wholeheartedly and inquired what books he had selected. Picking up Pilgrim’s Progress, George could not contain himself as he shared the passion of his quest. Mary spoke tenderly, telling him her husband considered the importance of this book second only to the Bible.
At breakfast, the two men discussed the letter from Harriet Tubman and what role each could play if they worked together on this common goal. Lincoln was being encouraged to run for President in the upcoming 1860 election, and George could be of invaluable help as an aide. By late morning, they agreed one was to be called Abe and the other G.W.
G.W.’s two junior assistants in the Lincoln household were Willie, age eight, and Tad, who just turned five. Mary would playfully shoo the men off to the office each morning so the boys could settle down and focus on studying.
In February 1860, Lincoln and Adams traveled to New York to meet with Harriet, and prepare for a speech Abe would give at Cooper Union. On the 27th Lincoln was forceful in arguing against slavery and rejected any “Groping for some middle ground between the right and the wrong.” Journalist Noah Brooks reported, “No man ever before made such an impression on his first appeal to a New York audience.”
G.W. was a fresh and encouraging voice to Lincoln. “Be yourself,” he would say. “People respect your plain-talking way and ignore those who say you are unpolished.” Together, they and others began cultivating a nationwide youth organization called the Wide Awakes to spearhead voter registration. On November 6th, Abraham Lincoln became the 16th President of the United States.
Several of Lincoln’s closest advisors voiced concern about a young 18-year old black man having the ear of their leader. G.W. heard the voice of his mother encouraging him to be respectful and patient, even as he suffered slights by those that belittled his efforts to improve his education and standing. Even as President, Abe could not persuade a law school to accept his young protege, and encouraged G.W. to follow in his footsteps. Handing him a stack of Blackstone’s Commentaries, Abe said, “I studied with nobody.”
The Lincoln household was somber and fearful as young Willie could not recover from a mysterious fever in early 1862. At age 11, he lay ill in a huge carved rosewood bed. Each night, either Abe, Mary, or G.W. would sleep in a chair by his bedside to wipe his brow, or comfort his pain. On the 20th of February, William Wallace Lincoln passed quietly away. When his father gazed at him, he mourned, “My poor boy, he was too good for this earth. God has called him home. I know he is much better off in heaven, but then we loved him so. It is hard, hard to have him die.”
As the Civil War raged, Harriet worked for the Union Army as a nurse, cook, and spy. G.W. became one of her eight scouts. On June 1, 1863, Harriet partnered with Colonel James Montgomery, who commanded the Second South Carolina Volunteers, a Black Regiment. They sailed down the Atlantic on the Federal Ship John Adams to rescue a large group of slaves, laying in wait. As Harriet was illiterate, she would commit to memory the topography of the countryside, and dictate the details to G.W. Of the 85 former slaves, now free, G.W. wept, sweeping Abigail Adams his mother off her feet. Colonel Montgomery gathered Harriet, G.W. and Abigail to his side as he addressed all on board, “No man could fail with Moses, George Washington, and Abigail Adams by his side.”
G.W and his mother lived in a small home on 15th Street near the White House. At age 22, young Mr. Adams was a successful lawyer representing a growing black business community, while providing an active Pro Bono service to newly freed slaves. Abigail would leave early each morning and walk to the corner of 6th and B and enter the Armory Square Hospital. Often working for twelve hours without rest, she would nurse wounded solders from both sides. After a tiring day of legal service, G.W. would often find solace at the Smithsonian Castle reading room next to the hospital, before walking his mother home under the lights of the capital.
As President Lincoln prepared his second Inaugural Address, he sought his young friend for advice. By 1865, over 500,000 had already died, and Lincoln feared the worst was yet to come. What could he say to strike at the heart of anyone who would listen, what words might pierce the soul of those who mourned on both sides? As G.W. read the prepared remarks, he offered a phrase that burned within his conscience, “Until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid.” Lincoln nodded his head and rested his hand on the shoulder of his trusted friend.
A month later, a special letter arrived at the 15th Street home, “An Evening With The President.” The invitation invited mother and son to sit in the Presidential Box at Ford’s Theatre for a performance of a popular comedy, “Our American Cousin.” While deeply honored, both felt uncomfortable, and Abigail insisted it was not right for her. “I will tend wounds to my last breath,” she loudly proclaimed, “Before I could endure laughter in such a time as this.” G.W. struggled with his answer, but in the end, he felt obligated to attend.
The President introduced George to Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancee, Clara Harris. Mary expressed sadness not seeing Abigail and handed G.W. a letter she had penned to his mother. It was a late evening, and George struggled to stay awake. Not wanting to embarrass himself, he quietly moved his chair further behind the others, while pinching his wrist to stay alert. As the play entered the last act, a slight commotion startled the young man as a dark figure slowly pushed the door inward. Lunging forward at the sight of a gun leveled at President Lincoln’s head, George struck the man as the pistol fired. Struggling to hold the assailant, he felt a sharp pain as a knife was thrust into his abdomen.
The dream was vivid. A young George Washington Adams was carrying a large sack of tobacco leaves to the drying barn. Suddenly, the sky opened to a brilliant light that blinded his vision. Dropping to his knees in fear, he felt a weightlessness as his body rose from the soil. Looking around, others in the field joined his accent amid vibrant colors of blues, greens, and yellows swirling in their midst. Sounds of rejoicing filled his ears as he reached toward his mother before him.
Abigail pulled his extended hands toward her tear washed face as he lay on the hospital bed. George tried to speak, but his breathing was shallow and his body grew rigid. She held a blood stained letter before him, “Look at the kind words Mrs. Lincoln wrote to me. Listen as I read.”
“Dear Mrs. Adams, we missed your presence this evening. The President and I extend our warmest best wishes to you for good health. Thank you for your service to our wounded brothers and sisters. Your son has been such a blessing to my husband and our family. Abe considers him his Kentucky brother. As mothers, we ache for our children, wanting them to be safe, honoring them in their accomplishments, and holding them in their trials. You are always welcome in our home, fondly Mary Lincoln.” Leaning closer to hear her son, he gasped, “Does the President live?” Without hesitation, she responded, “Yes, you saved his life, and the nation is grateful.” A smile formed on his face and she felt a slight squeeze on her hand as he quietly passed.
President Lincoln died from his head wound on April 15, 1865. Two days later, a young black lawyer passed away while attended by his mother at Armory Square Hospital. Newspapers never mentioned a fifth person in the Presidential Box at Ford’s Theatre on that fateful night. A few people within the White House staff assisted Mrs. Lincoln in transporting a certain Mrs. Adams to New York to live with the abolitionist and political activist Harriet Tubman.
RICHARD SWAIN