Lincoln was
naturally known at the time to all their friends. Lincoln's melancholy
was evident to them all, nor did he, indeed, attempt to disguise
it. He wrote and spoke freely to his intimates of the despair which
possessed him, and of his sense of dishonor. The episode caused a
great amount of gossip, as was to be expected. After Mr. Lincoln's
assassination and Mrs. Lincoln's sad death, various accounts of the
courtship and marriage were circulated. It remained, however, for one
of Lincoln's law partners, Mr. W.H. Herndon, to develop and circulate
the most sensational of all the versions of the rupture. His story
would not be referred to here were it not that it has been generally
accepted as truthful by even his most conservative biographers,
including Mr. John T. Morse and Mr. Carl Schurz. According to Mr.
Herndon, the engagement between the two was broken in the most violent
and public way possible, by Mr. Lincoln's failing to appear at the
wedding. Mr. Herndon even describes the scene in detail:
"The time fixed for the marriage was the first day of
January, 1841. Careful preparations for the happy occasion
were made at the Edwards mansion. The house underwent the
customary renovation; the furniture was properly arranged,
the rooms neatly decorated, the supper prepared, and the
guests invited.
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