|
 Mary Lincoln gave the Bible to family
friend Noyes W. Miner in 1872. Miner, a Baptist minister who had
lived across the street from the Lincolns in Springfield for several
years, was “a friend very much beloved by my husband,” Mrs. Lincoln
wrote.
Miner and his descendants kept the Bible safe for nearly 150 years.
Now they have donated it to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library
and Museum to ensure it is preserved for generations to come.
“We feel that Lincoln’s Bible belongs to the American people as a
national treasure. Lincoln is our most revered president and this
Bible will be a constant connection to his incredible life,” said
Sandra Wolcott Willingham, the great-great-granddaughter of Noyes
Miner.
Alan Lowe, executive director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential
Library and Museum, thanked the family on behalf of Lincoln fans and
scholars everywhere.
“President Lincoln once called the Bible ‘the best gift God has
given to man.’ Now Rev. Miner’s family has made a gift of Lincoln’s
own Bible so that it can be shared with everyone,” Lowe said.
The Bible will be exhibited in the museum’s Treasures Gallery for
the rest of 2019.
An inscription on the front of the Bible says it was given to
Lincoln by “the Ladies of the Citizens Volunteer Hospital of
Philadelphia.” It was probably presented on June 16, 1864, when
Lincoln visited Philadelphia for a “sanitary fair” to raise money
for medical care of Union soldiers. He contributed signed copies of
the Emancipation Proclamation to the fundraising effort.
The back says, “Mrs. Abraham Lincoln to N.W. Miner, D. D., Oct. 15,
1872.” In a surviving letter to Miner, Mrs. Lincoln mentions giving
him the Bible.
Lincoln frequently visited Miner’s home when they were neighbors.
Miner was among the VIPs who escorted Lincoln’s body from Chicago to
Springfield. He also spoke at Lincoln’s funeral, reading from the
Book of Job.
Miner kept in touch with Mary Lincoln after the president’s death
and supported her efforts to obtain a federal pension. She rewarded
his years of friendship with the very personal gift of Lincoln’s
Bible engraved with her name.
Miner’s family has had the Bible ever since.
“Some of my fondest memories of childhood were visiting my
grandparents, Dr. and Mrs. Miner C. Hill of Oyster Bay, NY, and
entering the living room where they proudly displayed Lincoln’s
Bible and other family treasures,” Willingham said.
The Bible went to their daughter, Carol Hill Lamb, and then in 1994
it was inherited by Lamb’s grandson (Willingham’s son), William
Prescott Wolcott of San Francisco. He is the one formally donating
the Bible to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.
Lincoln knew the Bible well and frequently quoted it. Its themes and
language helped shape his most famous speeches. His religious views,
however, are a matter of significant debate. Lincoln never joined a
church. In 1846, he denied being an enemy of religion and of
Christians but did not specifically say he was a believer. Some of
his friends later described him as an atheist.
But others, including his wife, said he did believe in God. He often
attended church in Washington. He mentioned God in speeches and
letters – writing, for example, in April 1864 that, “I am
responsible … to the American people, to the Christian world, to
history, and on my final account to God.”
And Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address was dominated by religious
themes: “Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty
scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it
continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred
and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every
drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn
with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it
must be said, ‘the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous
altogether’.”
“The donation of this Bible offers a new opportunity to reflect on
Lincoln’s religious beliefs,” said Ian Hunt, head of acquisitions
for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. “It’s a
tangible connection to the fascinating question of what Lincoln
believed and how those beliefs evolved as he endured tragedy after
tragedy.”
It’s also a reminder of Mary Lincoln’s efforts to shape her
husband’s legacy. She was furious over claims by his former law
partner, William Herndon, that Lincoln had been an atheist. Giving
this Bible to Miner may have been a way to encourage the reverend to
offer an alternative view on Lincoln’s beliefs – which he did in
later years.
“I never heard a word fall from his lips that gave me the remotest
idea, that his mind was ever tinctured with infidel sentiments,”
Miner wrote.
Dr. Samuel Wheeler, the state historian of Illinois, said, “As a
widow, Mary Lincoln worked tirelessly and successfully to protect
her husband’s memory. One of her strategies was cultivating allies
like Miner who could offer a sympathetic portrait.”
[to top of second column] |
The Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum uses a combination of
rigorous scholarship and high-tech showmanship to immerse visitors in the life
and times of Abraham Lincoln. Visitors can see ghosts come to life on stage,
watch TV coverage of the 1860 presidential election, roam through the Lincoln
White House, experience booming cannons in a Civil War battle and come face to
face with priceless original Lincoln artifacts.
The library holds an unparalleled collection of Lincoln books, documents,
photographs, artifacts and art, as well as some 12 million items pertaining to
all aspects of Illinois history.
For more information, visit
www.PresidentLincoln.illinois.gov.
Lincoln’s Bible
This edition of the Bible was published in Philadelphia by H. C. Peck and Theo.
Bliss. The firm opened in 1851 and went out of business in 1862.
The edges of the pages are covered in gilt. The decoration includes the words
“Faith,” “Hope” and “Charity.” They refer to 1 Corinthians 13:13, which in the
King James version says, “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but
the greatest of these is charity.”
The front of the Bible says, “Presented to Abraham Lincoln, President of the
United States, by the Ladies of the Citizens Volunteer Hospital of
Philadelphia.” The hospital was a temporary facility that treated ill and
wounded soldiers during the Civil War.
On June 16, 1864, President Lincoln visited the Great Central Fair in
Philadelphia, a charity event that raised money to care for soldiers. He donated
48 copies of the Emancipation Proclamation that were sold to help fundraising.
These are the only known surviving copies of the Emancipation Proclamation
signed by Lincoln himself.
In addition to the text of the Old Testament and the New Testament, the Bible
includes handy “tables of measures, weights and coins.”
The book’s dimensions are 14 1/2 inches long by 11 5/8 inches wide by 4 1/4
inches thick. It weighs 18 pounds.
Lincoln and Religion
Abraham Lincoln often mentioned religion in his letters and speeches, but he
never explicitly stated his personal views, which probably changed over time.
Here are some of his comments over the years:
“If ever I feel the soul within me elevate and expand to those dimensions not
wholly unworthy of its Almighty Architect, it is when I contemplate the cause of
my country …” – 12/26/1839
“I doubt not that it [the Bible] is really, as she says, the best cure for the
`Blues' could one but take it according to the truth.” – 9/27/1841
“To have expected them to do otherwise than as they did – to have expected them
not to meet denunciation with denunciation, crimination with crimination, and
anathema with anathema, was to expect a reversal of human nature, which is God's
decree, and never can be reversed.” – 2/22/1842
“`Give to him that is needy' is the christian rule of charity; but `Take from
him that is needy' is the rule of slavery.” – approximately 1858
“May the Almighty grant that the cause of truth, justice, and humanity, shall in
no wise suffer at my hands.” – 5/21/1860
“Unless the great God who assisted him [Washington], shall be with and aid me, I
must fail. But if the same omniscient mind, and Almighty arm that directed and
protected him, shall guide and support me, I shall not fail, I shall succeed.
Let us all pray that the God of our fathers may not forsake us now.” – 2/11/1861
“It is most cheering and encouraging for me to know that in the efforts which I
have made and am making for the restoration of a righteous peace to our country,
I am upheld and sustained by the good wishes and prayers of God's people. No one
is more deeply than myself aware that without His favor our highest wisdom is
but as foolishness and that our most strenuous efforts would avail nothing in
the shadow of His displeasure.” – 1/5/1863
“In regard to this Great Book, I have but to say, it is the best gift God has
given to man. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through
this book.” – 9/7/1864
“Fondly do we hope – fervently do we pray – that this mighty scourge of war may
speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth
piled by the bond-man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be
sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by
another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it
must be said `the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether’.” –
Second Inaugural Address, 3/4/1865
“Men are not flattered by being shown that there has been a difference of
purpose between the Almighty and them. To deny it, however, in this case, is to
deny that there is a God governing the world.” – 3/15/1865
[Christopher Wills] |
