Ward Hill Lamon

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Ward Hill Lamon : biography

January 6, 1828 – May 7, 1893

Ward Hill Lamon (January 6, 1828 – May 7, 1893) was a personal friend and self-appointed bodyguard of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. Lamon was famously absent the night Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865, having been sent by Lincoln to Richmond, Virginia.

Lamon as Lincoln’s biographer

After Lincoln’s death, Lamon published two books (one posthumously) about the late President. The more famous of the two is a biography that was largely ghostwritten by Chauncey Black, the son of former Attorney General of the United States Jeremiah Black. The elder Black was Lamon’s law partner from 1865 until 1879. The book, published in 1872 by James R. Osgood and Company of Boston under the title The Life of Abraham Lincoln; From his Birth to his Inauguration as President, contained allegations and personal information about Lincoln that were deemed scandalous by nineteenth century society. It was a financial failure. One of the most shocking claims was that Lincoln was not a man of faith: "Mr. Lincoln was never a member of any church, nor did he believe in the divinity of Christ, or the inspiration of the Scriptures in the sense understood by evangelical Christians."Lamon, W: Life of Abraham Lincoln, page 486. James R.Osgood and Company, 1872. The basis of the book was the papers of William Herndon, which Lamon purchased for either $2,000 or $4,000.Barton, W: The Soul of Abraham Lincoln, page 129. George H. Doran Co., 1920.Donald, D: Lincoln’s Herndon, page 253. Alfred A. Knopf, 1948. Shortly after his death, Lamon’s daughter collected and edited many of his unpublished writings about Lincoln into a biography of the president, Recollections of Abraham Lincoln (1895). In Recollections, Lamon reversed his earlier denial of the Baltimore plot of 1861, writing, "It is now an acknowledged fact that there was never a moment from the day he crossed the Maryland line, up until the time of his assassination, that he was not in danger of death by violence, and that his life was spared until the night of the 14th of April, 1865, only through the ceaseless and watchful care of the guards thrown around him."Lamon, W: Recollections of Abraham Lincoln, page 47. The authenticity of this book is generally more highly regarded by the scholarly community than is the earlier volume by Lamon and Black.

Lamon after Lincoln’s death

Lamon had tendered his resignation as Marshal of the District of Columbia in June 1865. He was offered the cabinet position of Postmaster General but declined.Tilton, page 222. He formed his law partnership with Jeremiah Black as referenced above, and the law practice dissolved in 1879 due to the poor reception of The Life of Lincoln ghostwritten by Black’s son Chauncey. In 1879, Lamon and his wife Sally moved to Boulder, Colorado and later to Denver where he formed a friendship with poet Eugene Field.Tilton, page 224. The ill health of both Lamon and Sally caused them to return to Washington in 1886, and in 1889 they traveled to Europe for the spas and subsequently Sally died in Brussels in 1892.Tilton, page 226-227.

Lamon moved to Martinsburg, West Virginia where he was cared for by his daughter Dorothy until his death on May 7, 1893.Tilton, page 227. He was age 65 when he died. Lamon was buried in Gerrardstown, West Virginia in the Presbyterian Cemetery (Sally had been buried in Springfield, Illinois). The home built by Lamon’s cousin Joseph in Danville, Illinois is open as a museum..

Notes

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Perceptions of Lamon

Some contemporaries and biographers of Lincoln tend to treat Lamon with a certain casual contempt. In 1862, during his tenure as Marshal, a number of senators called for his removal from office.Tilton, page 203. Although Lincoln refused this demand, the Senate was able to decrease some of Lamon’s official duties and thus reduce his income.Tilton, page 209. Allan Pinkerton’s opinion of him was voiced above, during the Baltimore Plot. Historian Allan Nevins in The War for the Union characterizes Lamon as "a big loquacious bumbler of more self-assurance than discretion".Nevins, page 49. Even one of Nevin’s footnotes that discusses the controversial trip to Charleston in 1861 further dismisses Lamon: "Lamon’s papers in the Huntington Library throw no light on the subject except to confirm his general ineptness."Nevins, page 54. A few carry the flag for Lamon, however. In 1931, Clint Clay Tilton repeatedly affirms Lamon’s generosity and good humor and dubs him "the Cavalier".Tilton, page 176. When Lamon campaigned for Lincoln’s re-election in 1864, a song was written with this verse remaining: