LINCOLN, 16th, 1861-65

Abraham Lincoln described himself in a letter: "If any personal description of me is thought desirable, it may be said I am, in height, six feet four inches, nearly; lean in flesh, weighing on an average of one hundred and eighty pounds; dark complexion, with coarse black hair and grey eyes. No other marks or brands recollected."

Lincoln was of Melungeon descent. Cartoonists nicknamed him, "Abraham Africanus the First." Walt Whitman wrote, "I see very plainly Abraham Lincoln's dark brown face, with the deep cut lines, the eyes always to me, with a deep latent sadness in the expression. ...None of the artists or pictures have caught the deep though subtle and indirect expression of this man's face."

William G. Greene told Billy Herndon, "Speaking of Lincoln physical Strength let me say I saw him lift one thousand & twenty four pounds."

Lincoln fought clinical depression all his life. "Lincoln went Crazy," his closest friend Joshua Speed recalled, "— had to remove razors from his room — take away all Knives and other such dangerous things — & — it was terrible." For four years the two men shared a bed along with their most private fears and desires. "Their births, the loins and tissues of their fathers and mothers, accident, fate, providence," wrote Carl Sandburg in 1926," had given these two men streaks of lavender, spots soft as May violets."

Lincoln's marriage to Mary Todd was indisputably rocky. They fought hard and bitterly, often and audibly. Adjudged insane in 1875, she was, however, later found to be competent though she suffered from arthritis, migraine headaches, diabetes, and female troubles.

Lincoln had a penetrating and far-reaching voice that could be heard over great distances. He was not a good sleeper and he liked cats and kittens as he did no other animal.

Lincoln caught syphilis from a prostitute in 1832.

In response to his Mary Todd's admonition not to hold her hand at Ford's Theater during the performance of the play "Our American Cousin," because people might see them, Lincoln said, "It doesn't really matter." He was laughing when he was shot.

The last breath was drawn at 21 minutes and 55 seconds past 7 A.M. and the last heartbeat flickered at 22 minutes and 10 seconds past the hour on Saturday, April 15, 1865. "Over the worn features had come," wrote John Hay, "a look of unspeakable peace."

Leo Tolstoy said, "Lincoln is the only real giant...a Christ in miniature." None threw a longer shadow than he.

d. April 15, 1865 (Washington, DC) at 56 shot by actor John Wilkes Booth in the back of the head.