The Conversion Testimony of Abraham Lincoln from "The Chronicle," from November 3, 1864.

   At a Massachusetts Sunday School Teachers Convention on October 18th and 19th of 1864, which was attended by over 1500 people, a person shared the conversion testimony of Abraham Lincoln.  This was then reported on November 3, 1864, by The Chronicle, sub-titled at that time the New York Chronicle and Philadelphia Christian Chronicle since those two publications had merged.  It may be the oldest written record of this testimony.
   In my search over the past ten years, this is a testimony I dreamed of finding.  I did not even know of the existence of this particular document, though I was told in 2009 about a letter containing the testimony, the reason I kept searching.  I consider it a gem, and I am grateful to God for enabling me to persevere with the search for a decade.

   I am also grateful to Adam Winters, who is the keen Archivist at the James P. Boyce Centennial Library of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  He found it in microfilm among countless documents.
   It is found on page two of The Chronicle.
   The testimony, which concludes with the words, "I do love Jesus" is in the third column, near the bottom of the page:

The President buried his face in his handkerchief, turned away and wept.  He then turned, and said: "When I left home to take this chair of State I requested my countrymen to pray for me.  I was not then a Christian.  When my son died, the severest trial of my life, I was not a Christian.  But when I went to Gettysburg, and looked upon the graves of our dead heroes who had fallen in defence of their country, I then and there consecrated myself to Christ; I do love Jesus."

   May there continue to be healing in this special country.  And may we Christians be encouraged there is eternal life in Jesus Christ, and may those who are not Christians know there is indeed eternal life in Jesus Christ, who loves everyone.
Hunter

You are reading from the blog entitled, The Faith of Abraham Lincoln, by Hunter Irvine.

Was Abraham Lincoln a Christian?

The testimony of Abraham Lincoln "consecrating" himself to Jesus was told in a sermon by the Reverend Isaac E. Carey on November 24, 1864, and subsequently published in the Freeport Weekly Journal on December 7, 1864.  Was Abraham Lincoln a Christian?  Carefully read the testimony found in the second column of text, in the second to last paragraph near the bottom:

Public Domain Image
You are reading from http://thefaithofabrahamlincoln.blogspot.com/

I add the text of a note I received from Dr. Mark Noll on February 14, 2015:
"Dear Hunter Irvine,
   Thanks much for sending this photocopy.  As you know very well, reports on Lincoln published before April 1865 are many times more valuable than those appearing afterwards.  This is a most interesting document.
   My best in all your efforts, Mark Noll"

The tragic loss of Abraham Lincoln 150 years ago today

   150 years ago was the tragedy of President Abraham Lincoln being murdered.  He was shot at Ford’s Theater on Friday April 14th, and he passed away at 7:22am the following day.  In the late fall of 2005, I read Lincoln for the Ages, which I think is great, (minus chapter 49)!  The day after Christmas, I had to go to work at my “temp” job showing model homes.  I was in Brighton, Colorado, sitting in a model home.  No one was visiting, so I read in the quiet home, reaching the conclusion of the book.  Reading the chapter on the death of Lincoln, once I reached 7:22am on April 15th, I cried.  There after a nice Christmas, there in a model home, there in Colorado 140 years after he was killed, I cried, because even though I never even lived in this world at the same time as Lincoln, after reading that book, I love him.
   Scripture teaches people are sinful because of the separation between God and man.  Doing that which is opposed to the will of God is wrong and brings hurt.  There are countless tragedies in history because of sin.  There will be tragedies today in this world because of sin.  And Scripture teaches Jesus is the only hope for people, the One who offers mercy for any person, and the One who will in His time carry out justice by judging all people.  Jesus died as the substitute for the consequence of sins of anyone, which is spiritual death, thus now any person who receives His gift by believing in Jesus will be forgiven of sins and will have eternal life.
   The Bible teaches dying for someone is the greatest act of love.  Jesus died for people, because He loves people.
   When Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd took their wedding vows, Abraham place a ring on her finger which was inscribed: “Love is eternal.”[1]  The teaching of Scripture is that such eternal true love comes from Jesus, the One who loves everyone.
Hunter Irvine

[1] Ralph Newman, ed., Lincoln for the Ages (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1960), 81.

On the birthday of Abraham Lincoln

   On this day of remembrance, I explain why I have an intense interest in the faith of Abraham Lincoln, a subject debated by many folks over the years.  When I was a young boy, my family moved to Northern Virginia because my dad gained a job with the Federal government in Washington, D.C.  As a boy, one summer day Mom took my sister and I to see the Lincoln Memorial.  I was extremely impressed and moved emotionally as I read his profound words etched in the stone.  Afterwards we walked around the side of the building to an area where there was a window where you could see the open space under the Lincoln Memorial, which I thought was cool.  Nearby was a woman sitting at a portable stand selling Abraham Lincoln books.  Before leaving we looked at her books, and I found one on my reading level.  My mom, who was always supportive of me reading, offered to buy it for me.

   The book was Abraham Lincoln by Anne Colver, first published in 1960.  I read the book, and the result was that as a young boy, I came to admire Abraham Lincoln.  As I grew older, I gained an increasing interest in American history, and my admiration for Lincoln only increased.  As a Boy Scout with Troop 150 in Annandale, Virginia, we toured many Civil War battle sites, so many I got tired of the many war details.  Though an active teenager who was more interested in having fun with my fellow Scouts than the war stuff, I still gave plenty of attention to the Civil War education, and I learned the Civil War was an epic tragedy.  I remember standing once in a museum at one of the many battlefields we toured, reading the statement that more Americans were killed in the Civil War than any other war.  I was saddened.

   Less than one year after graduating from the great Virginia Tech, I gave my heart to Jesus.  Thus I have been following Jesus since that April day in 1990.  Years later, I was reading a book which has short biographies of many Christians, entitled More Than Conquerors.[1]  That book has a piece about the faith of Abraham Lincoln.  The piece was fascinating, but the author did not give a single citation.  Thus when he gave the testimony of Lincoln, I had no way of knowing if it was genuine.

   The result is I wanted to learn whether the testimony given was legit.  Over three years later, I was studying at the special Colorado Christian University, and I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Ronald Rietveld, professor emeritus at California State University, Fullerton, speak.  His topic: the faith of Abraham Lincoln.  And the pinnacle of the talk was the same testimony told in More Than Conquerors.  Afterwards he told me he had personally seen the quote written by Lincoln himself in a letter which had been archived by someone at, or from, New York Avenue Presbyterian Church.  After talking with Dr. Rietveld, I began doing my own research into the testimony, and this blog expresses the results of that research.
Hunter Irvine

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[1] John Woodbridge, ed., More Than Conquerors (Chicago: Moody Press, 1992).

Abraham Lincoln photogravure from Fassett

   The sole purpose of this post is to give information about the photogravure which heads this blog concerning the Christian conviction of Abraham Lincoln.
   First viewed by myself during a tour of East High School in Denver, Colorado, as a part of "Doors Open Denver," I was going from the museum room to the observation tower.  (East High is quite the historic and exquisite high school I quickly learned.  How many high schools have a museum room?)  On the stairwell leading to the tower, this portrait hung.  (Recognizing it's value, I talked with an administrator at East High the next day to recommend it come under better security surveillance.)
   I found the large portrait to be stunning.  I stood there for awhile admiring it.  I wished I had a camera.  Then I even had a conversation about Lincoln with a nice mother and daughter who noticed me admiring the photogravure.
   The portrait was a gift from five African-American graduates of East High, called Denver High School at that time, in appreciation of all Lincoln did for African-Americans.  The gift was given on Lincoln's birthday in 1897.  I was touched by their gratitude.
   Who took the original photo?  It was Samuel M. Fassett.
Take a close look at this famous picture by Fassett:


Portrait by Samuel M. Fassett from October of 1859.
LC-USZ62-11492
Courtesy of Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2009630657/

   This portrait is best known to be the one that First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln liked the most!

   The Library of Congress has two photos listed together, apparently the same photo, though the second is more of a closeup like the photogravure:


Portrait by Samuel M. Fassett from October of 1859.
LC-USZ62-7727
Courtesy of Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2009630657/

   I did have an adventure learning who the photographer was, because at first I found it on the Internet from a 1907 pamphlet advertising the sale of the photogravure by A.W. Elson and Co.  They clearly identified Alexander Hesler as the photographer.  Check it out at the "Open Library:"
https://archive.org/stream/portraitsofabrah00awel#page/n1/mode/2up
    A.W. Elson and Co. copyrighted the photogravure in 1894, and not only did they claim the photographer was Hesler, they said it came from a daguerreotype.
   I assumed the pamphlet was true until one day I saw Samuel Fassett's photo in a book in a bookstore.  I recognized it!  Then I started researching the subject.
   During my research I found a cool article by a Mr. Ralph Deeds who has his own story about this photogravure, and his own search to discover the photographer.  You can read his article from this link:

http://ralphdeeds.hubpages.com/hub/Portrait-of-Abraham-Lincoln-c-1859-by-Samuel-Montegue-Fassett

   Did A.W. Elson make a mistake regarding the photographer?  Yes.  And they may have made a mistake saying it came from a daguerreotype.  The first print I showed from the Library of Congress site is a Salt Print according to the Smithsonian Institute:

http://www.civilwar.si.edu/lincoln_byfassett.html#
   And it is widely stated the "negative" was destroyed in the Chicago fire in 1871.  If so, A.W. Elson and Co. would have made the photogravure simply from a print, though they claimed to have a daguerreotype.  Yet maybe they had a negative from the Fassett sitting which we do not know about.  This remains a bit of a mystery for me.
   The big mistake about the photographer acknowledged, I personally am grateful A.W. Elson and Co. of Boston produced such a magnificent photogravure!
   The day I saw this magnificent portrait for the first time was a great day in my life, and I am proud to have that photogravure heading this blog.  And that day I learned in a personal manner of five African-Americans who lived in Denver, Colorado, who had genuine appreciation for the work and the sacrifice Abraham Lincoln made for his fellow American citizens and for the cause of morality concerning all human beings.
Hunter
(This piece was edited on 10/29/2017.)

Americans mourned, and we all can keep learning.

   I edit this piece here on 2/18/19, since Isaac E. Carey moves from the forefront now that I have read The Chronicle from November 3, 1864.  That is obviously where Reverend Carey got the testimony for his sermon, and that document becomes much more important.  Yet I did not want to delete this piece since the description of Americans mourning the death of Lincoln is important.  And thanks to Reverend Carey's sermon, I had encouragement to keep searching over a period of ten years for further evidence of the testimony!
   Note my presentation of historical evidence does not mean I am advocating all of the theologies expressed.  I have serious disagreements with some things Reverend Carey said at other times in this sermon from June 1, 1865, which was given over a half year after the sermon where he told of the conversion testimony.  Yet we can learn from certain folks in history even if we have disagreements.  And we can all continue learning more from God through His revelations given in Scripture.

   Here are two sentences from Reverend Carey: “The mourning was not simply formal, but sincere and deep. It was not confined to the great cities, where many thousands could gather to witness the imposing obsequies and look upon the remains of the deceased President, but extending throughout the land, and manifesting itself in a very marked way at all the villages and stations through which the funeral cortege passed in its long course to the place of burial; people of every place along the route, gathering at the stations, in great numbers and by means of bonfires, the tolling of bells, the singing of dirges, the scattering of flowers in the Funeral Car, and other appropriate acts, expressing their love and reverence for the departed good man and Savior of his country, and their deep sorrow in view of his untimely death.”[1]

   And I repeat from the previous post Lincoln’s key quote in response to an African-American man calling him the “great Messiah,” as written by Carl Sandburg: “Don’t kneel to me.  You must kneel to God only and thank him for your freedom.”[2]

Hunter Irvine


United States Postal Service stamp issued on February 12, 2014.
Carol Highsmith took the original photograph, and Derry Noyes was the Art Director for the 21 cent stamp.

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[1] Isaac E. Carey, “Abraham Lincoln. The Value to the Nation of his Exalted Character,” sermon preached on June 1, 1865, at the First Presbyterian Church of Freeport, Illinois,

https://archive.org/stream/abrahamlincolnva00care#page/n4/mode/1up   (accessed December 6, 2014).

[2] Carl Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and The War Years One-Volume Edition (New York: Harcourt, Inc., 1954), 684.

Lincoln said, "Don't kneel to me..."

   In examining the faith of Abraham Lincoln, we learn he recognized he was not the Savior of the African-Americans, and we learn he himself knew the Savior.  I preface this claim by saying some attribute the popularity of Lincoln in the wake of his death by wrongfully claiming he was killed on Good Friday, yet this is not accurate because Lincoln was shot on Good Friday, in the evening, yet Lincoln did not pass away until Saturday, April 15, 1865, at 7:22 am. (1)  Then the following morning was Easter, April 16, 1865.  Since he did not die on Good Friday, the American Messiah analogy loses its evidence.  It is true that once Lincoln was shot, he never regained consciousness. (2)
   Lincoln would have shunned people making him some sort of American Messiah.  Going back less than two weeks from his physical death to April 3, 1865, Lincoln entered Richmond after it was gained by the Union troops.  In my opinion, going to Richmond was one of the worst decisions Lincoln ever made.  It made him look like a conqueror, and it surely increased bitterness against him there in the weeks preceding his assassination.  Now I do not think this was his intention at all.  Lincoln liked to be actively involved; his daily schedule was intense.  And I personally think Lincoln saw his visit to Richmond as his way of supporting the country, rather than coming as a conqueror.  Yet my objective here is not to get into that history, rather I will simply say that reading about the journey into Richmond by Lincoln is one of the most surreal and incredible events I have read concerning American history.  And from the event is preserved his priceless statement about the Messiah.  Here is what Carl Sandberg said the response of Lincoln was after an African-American man called Lincoln the "great Messiah," fell on his knees, and then bowed at the President's feet: "Don’t kneel to me.  You must kneel to God only and thank him for your freedom.” (3)
   Secondly, regarding his knowledge of the Savior, we learn the Savior is the reason he wanted to visit the Holy Land.  I close with what Reverend Miner said, which Johnson got from the Lincoln Scrapbook of the Library of Congress: “Mrs. Lincoln informed me that the last day he lived was the happiest of his life.  The very last moments of his conscious life were spent in conversation with her about his future plans, and what he wanted to do when his term of office expired.  He said he wanted to visit the Holy Land and see those places hallowed by the footprints of the Saviour.  He was saying there was no city he so much desired to see as Jerusalem…” (4)
Hunter Irvine

(1) Ralph G. Newman, ed., Lincoln for the Ages (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1960), 404.
(2) Ralph G. Newman, ed., Lincoln for the Ages (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1960), 404.

(3) Carl Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and The War Years One- Volume Edition (New York: Harcourt, Inc., 1954), 684.

(4) William J. Johnson, Abraham Lincoln the Christian (New York: Eaton and Mains, 1913), 182.