The
Day Robert Lincoln
Lost His Father’s Speech
It was almost the worst birthday of Abraham Lincoln’s life.
On February 11, 1861 (the day before he turned fifty-two), Lincoln left for Washington to become the nation’s sixteenth President. As he left home in Springfield, Illinois, Lincoln handed his son Robert a black oilskin pouch, or “gripsack,” and told him to guard it carefully. He did not tell Robert what was inside.
Unknown
to his seventeen-year-old son, Lincoln had placed his newly
written inaugural speech in the pouch. It was to be the
most important speech he ever made. And it was his only
copy.
When the train arrived in Indianapolis—the first stop on the long journey—Lincoln rode off in a special carriage without his family. Robert walked from the depot to the local hotel.
When Robert arrived at the hotel, he learned that his family’s suite was not ready. So he asked that the pouch be held at the front desk. Then he went off to be with friends.
On his return, Robert found his father waiting anxiously. Where was the bag? Robert explained that he had checked it at the desk.
An angry Lincoln sped to the lobby and leaped over the front desk. He began searching through a huge pile of luggage.
As bewildered guests looked on, Lincoln dragged from the pile a familiar-looking black gripsack and opened it, only to find someone else’s dirty laundry. It was the wrong bag. Back he went to the pile.
At last he located the precious pouch and found the speech inside. Lincoln handed it to his son and said sternly, “Now you keep it!”
It was the one and only time, Robert said, that his father had ever lost his temper at him. But with his speech found and his birthday yet to be celebrated, Abraham Lincoln grew cheerful. As Robert proudly recalled, “Father did not scold.”
