February 16, 1861 (Saturday)

"I bring a true heart to the work." 
----Abraham Lincoln

From the House Divided:
"At Westfield, Mr. Lincoln greeted a large crowd of ladies, and several thousand of the sterner sex.  Addressing the ladies, he said, 'I am glad to see you;  I suppose you are to see me; but I certainly think I have the best of the bargain. (Applause.)  Some three months ago, I received a letter from a young lady here; it was a very pretty letter, and she advised me to let my whiskers grow, as it would improve my personal appearance; acting partly upon her suggestion, I have done so; and now, if she is here, I would like to see her;  I think her name was Miss Barlly [Grace Bedell].'  A small boy, mounted on a post, with his mouth and eyes both wide open, cried out, 'there she is, Mr. Lincoln,' pointing to a beautiful girl, with black eyes, who was blushing all over her fair face.  The President left the car, and the crowd making way for him, he reached her, and gave her several hearty kisses, and amid the yells of delight from the excited crowd, he bade her good-bye, and on we rushed."

From Ted Widmer and his narrative on the sixth day of Lincoln's journey to Buffalo, NY "Bayonets in Buffalo", he adds: "Grace Bedell lived until November 2, 1936 -- the day the BBC pioneered the use of television.  After leaving New York, she spend most of her life as a pioneer in Delphos, Kansas, where a campaign is underway to save her house."  (Nice article at the Grace Bedell Foundation.)

Also from the Ted Widmer narrative:
"A teeming crowd of 75,000 waited in desperate anticipation at Buffalo.  Hay called it the largest crowd ever seen in that part of the country.  A wild cheering 'that began with the multitude away down the track of the railroad, gathering volume as it rolled up to the depot...becoming a roar that was mightier than the boom of a cannon.' 

But that enthusiasm quickly turned dangerous.  '...the crowd, in its crazed eagerness to get nearer to the distinguised visitor...became an ungoverned mob."  (Continue reading at the link above to see what happens next)


From the Lincoln Log:

"At Ashtabula, Ohio, the crowd call for Mrs. Lincoln, and the President-elect remarks that 'he should hardly hope to induce her to appear, as he had always found it very difficult to make her do what she did not want to.' "

At the Library of Congress there is this article that shares a piece of a speech Lincoln gave on his reception to the City of Buffalo:

"I bring a true heart to the work.  [Tremendous applause.]  For the ability to perform it, I must trust in that Supreme Being who has never forsaken this favored land, through the instrumentality of this great and intelligent people.  Without that assistance, I shall surely fail; with it, I cannot fail."