Lincoln, the unknown

70•LINCOLN THE UNKNOWNSmall as Springfield was at the time, no one was ever chargedwith the murder, and the killing remains a mystery to this day.Dr. Early left a very small estate; so his widow was obligedto take in boarders to support herself; and, shortly after theirmarriage, Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Lincoln came to Mrs. Early'shome to live.Uncle Jimmy Miles told me that he had often heard hisaunt, Dr. Early's widow, relate the following incident: Onemorning Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln were having breakfast when Lincolndid something that aroused the fiery temper of his wife.What, no one remembers now. But Mrs. Lincoln, in a rage,dashed a cup of hot coffee into her husband's face. And she diditin front of the other boarders.Saying nothing, Lincoln sat there in humiliation and silencewhile Mrs. Early came with a wet towel and wiped off his faceand clothes. That incident was probably typical of the marriedlife of the Lincolns for the next quarter of a century.Springfield had eleven attorneys, and they couldn't all makea living there; so they used to ride horseback from one countyseatto another, following Judge David Davis while he was holdingcourt in the various places throughout the Eighth JudicialDistrict. The other attorneys always managed to get back toSpringfield each Saturday and spend the week-end with theirfamilies.But Lincoln didn't. He dreaded to go home, and for threemonths in the spring, and again for three months in the autumn,he remained out on the circuit and never went near Springfield.He kept this up year after year. Living conditions in thecountry hotels were often wretched; but wretched as they were,he preferred them to his own home and Mrs. Lincoln's constantnagging and wild outbursts of temper. "She vexed and harassedthe soul out of him"—that was what the neighbors said; and theneighbors knew, for they saw her, and they couldn't help hearingher.Mrs. Lincoln's "loud shrill voice," says Senator Beveridge,"could be heard across the street, and her incessant outburstsof wrath were audible to all who lived near the house. Frequentlyher anger was displayed by other means than words,and accounts of her violence are numerous and unimpeachable.""She led her husband a wild and merry dance," says Herndon.And Herndon felt he knew why "she unchained the bitternessof a disappointed and outraged nature."