"Lincoln's Storytelling Propensity"

This one comes from the Southern Banner of Athens, GA on March 11, 1863:

Russell, of the Times gives the following illustration, which he himself witnessed, of Lincoln's story-telling propensity:

Mr. Bates remonstrating apparently against the appointment of some indifferent lawyer to a place of judicial importance, the President interposed with "Come now Bates, he's not half as bad as you think.  Besides that, I must tell you he did me a good turn long ago.--When I took to the law, I was going to court one morning, with some ten or twelve miles of bad road before me, and had no horse.  The Judge overtook me in his wagon.  "Hello, Lincoln! are you not going to the Court House? Come and I'll give you a seat."  Well, I got in and the Judge went on reading his papers.  Presently the wagon struck a stump on one side of the road; then it hopped off to the other.--I looked out, and I saw the driver was jerking from side to side in his seat, so says I, "Judge, I think your coach man has been taking a little drop too much this morning."  "Well, I declare, Lincoln," said he, "I should not much wonder if you are right, for he has nearly upset me half a dozen times since starting."  So putting his head out the window, he shouted, "Why you infernal scoundrel, you are drunk;"  Upon which, pulling up his horse and turning round with great gravity, the coachman said, "By gorra! that's the first rightful decision you have given for the last twelve-month."

Humorous Overview of U.S. Dog Laws, 1880s

From the Kentucky Law Reporter, Volume 1 (1880-1881):

Dogs

"And in that town a dog was found,

As many dogs there be,

Both mongrel, puppy, whelp and hound,

And ours of low degree."

The first question that arises is, as to how far a dog is to be considered as property, and the second and last, as to his master's liability for his torts, when sued by the party whom he has attempted to illegally detain, and reduce to possession; or, if the dog has been successful, by the victim's legal representative.

In most States a dog is recognized as property, and a suit for damages may be maintained for injury done to him by wrongfully causing his death, even though he has manifested a strange taste for live beef by biting off the tails of two cows, and a desire for transportation by hanging onto horses' tails as they passed on the highway, and although he is not shown to possess any other qualities.  And a man may be punished for stealing a dog.  Although the average jury would probably release such prisoner on the grounds of insanity, in most cases.

The legislature may prohibit dogs from killing sheep, and for that purpose may allow only licensed dogs to do so, by charging the owner of each dog a license fee for the privilege of keeping him.  This is on the principle that as sheep killing is injurious it should be restrained, the same principle upon which licensing the sale of liquor is based.  And as a license is a privilege to do an illegal act, the legal effect of such license, I suppose, is to give such licensed dogs the privilege of killing sheep to their heart's content, although I am not clear on this point.

The District of Columbia Court denies the right to grant these privileges, in an opinion clearly setting forth the legal and poetical status of the animal.

Wisconsin and Minnesota are the only States, I think, which deny that a dog is property, but dogs are not regarded with a great deal of favor by any except the District of Columbia and the English Courts in cases cited, on account of their tendency to wander from the path of rectitude into the byways of sin and the meadows where sheep are wont to congregate, for the purpose of satisfying their inherent love for mutton.

The courts will hold him (or rather his owner) liable for all assaults upon the peaceful lambs, or other animals, not excepting man.  For the purpose of protection of these other animals, dogs may be placed under the reasonable control of the municipal authorities, even though the only reasonable method is deemed to be to charge a license fee for the privilege of owning such property; and destroying it, if this fee is not paid.

If a dog is shown to be on friendly terms with a devourer of mutton, it will be presumed that he is in pari delicto [equal fault].

If a dog is too exclusive in his affections, and loves his master only, and despises the balance of the human race, and is too demonstrative in his hatred, manifesting it by inflicting injury upon the objects thereof, his master will be held to be answerable in damages to those whose feelings have been hurt by him; still he is not compelled to return good for evil, but may bite a man who stirs him up with his foot.  And this liability exists even though the victim of misplaced confidence is a trespasser, if done in the daytime, and the dog is loose.  The owner must be cognizant of his vicious propensities, however, which knowledge must be shown; it cannot be inferred from the dog's subsequent character.

If the person is bitten in another State, the master is not liable, but the injured party must take his satisfaction out of the dog.  This is certainly a discrimination between residents and non-residents, and unauthorized by the United States Constitution.  The rule of liability of the master for acts of his property applies also to the destruction of other property, such as sheep, etc.  And even when two dogs declare war, the aggressor (or his master) is liable for the damages done to the other dog in the contest.

Although a dog is dangerous, and has bitten several persons since he was chained, yet if a person has not been attacked by such chained dog, he is not justified in depriving him of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, by shooting him.  But had he been attacked and killed, his legal representative could have shot the dog, I suppose.

If a dog is mad, or supposed to be so, or has been recently bitten by a rabid dog, or if he is ferocious and attacks persons, or if he is chasing or eating sheep, he may be shot.  But a disposition to drive away trespassing stock will not authorize capital punishment to be inflicted.  A dog which haunts the premises, howling dismally, or baying the moon, may be shot or otherwise abated.

Some of the courts hold that the old maxim "an ounce of prevention" (or cold lead) "is worth a pound of cure" (or like Shylock's, of flesh), is strictly valid; and that if a dog is known to be vicious he may be killed, even though he may pass from earth in an innocent moment.  But the North Carolina court holds that if he has only evinced a disposition to bite a person, and was called off, the person thus rescued can not shoot his late antagonist.

Just what a dog is, has been somewhat doubted, as the Minnesota court says he is not a "beast" as it is used in an act making the malicious killing of "horses, cattle or other beasts" an indictable offense.  But he is an animal, and a person causing one dog to injure another can be indicted for cruelty to animals.  He may, however, be initiated into the mysteries of a dog churn, or tread-mill, or other useful employment, if not cruelly treated.

FRANK L. WELLS, in Western Jurist.

---

Reprinted in the Kentucky Law Reporter, Volume 1 (July 1880 to January 1881). [I omitted case citations from this transcription, please see image.]

Profile and Interview of Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1949

The following is an article printed in the Kansas City Star, Kansas City, MO. April 10, 1949. Pages 4D and 7D. Retrieved from Genealogybank.com.

------

[April 19, 1949] - 

The Famous Author of the "Laura and Mary" Children's
Books, Mrs. Laura Wilder of Mansfield, Mo., is Shown
In Her Farm Home in Front of a Scroll Given Her By Seattle
School Children. A Similar Scroll, Presented By
California Readers, Is on the Bookcase.

A MISSOURI WOMAN'S BOOKS ARE FAVORED BY CHILDREN

World Acclaim Has Come to Laura Ingalls Wilder of Mansfield, Mo., Whose Writings Cover Pioneer Life in the Middle West.

BY CHESTER A. BRADLEY. (A Member of The Star's Staff.)

MANSFIELD, MO., April 9. -- Stories of Middle Western American pioneer life which were written here on a school tablet with a pencil are being read around the world and by millions of Americans. Their author, Laura Ingalls Wilder, 82, is known and loved by countless school children. Their parents also like her "Laura and Mary" stories.

By all standards Mrs. Wilder is a famous American author. Nevertheless, she is unaffected and as unassuming as in her earlier days here when she helped "pull a crosscut saw" on Ozark timber.

This month the city of Detroit is paying high tribute to Mrs. Wilder. It is naming one of its new branch libraries for her. Other such libraries there bear some of the most famous names in American history. 

Mrs. Wilder is the author of eight books that tell a story of everyday life in early Western America, extending from Wisconsin to the Dakotas and including ventures into the Indian territory of Kansas. Seven of the volumes are "Laura and Mary" stories, these characters being representative of Mrs. Wilder and a sister named Mary. The other book in the series is the story of a year in the boyhood life of her husband, Almanzo Wilder, who is 92 and a native of New York. 

Most of the Materials for the 50-Year-Old Wilder Home
Came From Their Farm ... The Large, Old-Fashioned
Chimney Opens into a Large Living Room Fireplace,
Reminiscent of the Pioneer Period of Which Mrs. Wilder
Has Written So Often.

Live In Distinctive Home.

This Ozark town of a little more than1,000 population is 250 miles southwest of Kansas City. The Wilders live a half mile east of it. Their unpretentious, 2-story, white frame house sits on a hill overlooking U.S. highway No. 60. It has a vine-covered stone chimney, tall and wide. Inside the home it is connected with a large fireplace in the living room--a room at once distinctive to a visitor because of its beamed ceiling and liberal use of woodwork, all white oak cut on the farm and shaped into lumber by the Wilders years ago. Except for the siding, most all materials used in building the home came right off the farm.

The living room also has several wall cases and shelves for the many books of the family library and there are framed scrolls and other pieces of art, written or painted in tribute to Mrs.Wilder's stories.

Mr. and Mrs. Wilder have lived in this home on the land they call Rocky Ridge farm since they moved here in a covered wagon from De Smet, S.D. in 1894. A drought lasting nearly three years had ruined most everything and everybody in the Dakotas, so the Wilders set out for the Ozarks, then known as "the land of the big red apple," seeking a new start in life.

They lived here in town for awhile, then acquired forty acres nearby, including a tree lien on the place. That proviso of the deal required that they carry out the terms of the former owner--to plant apple trees. The Wilders did, some ten acres at first, and their orchards were tended well enough that production reached proportions of carload shipments to Memphis, Tenn. and other markets. Mrs. Wilder recalls that spraying was virtually unknown and unneeded in those days.

By the hardest work in their earlier years here--Mrs. Wilder remembering well having helped to pull a saw on timber--they expanded their farm to more than 200 acres, had many chickens and dairy cattle and kept farm work going until recent years.

"We worked hard, but it was interesting and didn't hurt us any," Mrs. Wilder says.

She Raised Chickens.

Their farm was made one of the most successful hereabouts. Mrs. Wilder raised the chickens and her husband handled the cows. Once they had a contest, she says, as to whether cows or chickens brought the biggest returns.

"We had to work against each other trying to prove our point," she adds with a brightening of the eyes, adding quickly that the contest "ended in a draw."

The Wilders take pride in their long years of work and in the success they made on their Ozark farmland. Mrs. Wilder is much less willing to talk of her success as a writer or of any claim to fame. She disdains having any display made over her writing, although it has attained a place that brings fan mail from Japan, Sweden, and other countries as well as points all around America.

Her first writings were for newspapers and magazines, usually on poultry, or farming and rural subjects. It was not until 1932 that her first book was published and this event was more or less unexpected as far as she was concerned.

"Pa" Ingalls, her father, was a pioneer hunter, trapper and Indian fighter. He guarded property of the Chicago-Northwestern railroad in the days it was being built, had many adventures in the Middle West and became one of the founders of De Smet, S.D. 

Time after time she had heard him tell of his experiences and her own part in the family activities are worth reading, as proven by book sales today.

"These were family stories and I believed they should be preserved," Mrs. Wilder said, "so I wrote some of them down and sent them to my daughter Rose, so she could keep them. I also suggested she might want to use some of them in her writings." 

Rose Wilder Lane, her daughter, who lives in Danbury, Conn., already was nationally known as a reporter and author.

“Rose wrote back, some time later,” Mrs. Wilder continued, “that an editor had said the stories could be published if I would put some meat on the bones; so after that I started doing just that.”

“I wrote between washing dishes and getting dinner, or just any time I could,” she added. “But sometimes I got stumped on a phrase or a chapter. Maybe the way to do it would not come to me until after I had gone to bed and then I would think of something in the middle of th enight.”

Thus the many duties of an active farm wife took on new chores, but highly worthwhile ones.

She used an ordinary pencil and school tablet. Her manuscripts were sent to New York for typing, and all business connected with the work of publication was and is handled by her agent. He is George T. Bye, former Kansas Citian, who handles the writing of Mrs. Franklin D. (Eleanor) Roosevelt, and other celebrities.

Favorite Among Children.

Harper & Brothers of New York published the first book by Mrs. Wilder and all the others in the series. Chicago school children in 1947 selected Mrs. Wilder as their favorite author. She was honored in a special radio broadcast there. A plaque in the home here contains signatures of many Chicago children who took part in the events. Similar plaques have come from the Association of Children’s Librarians of Northern California; also one from Seattle, representing children and librarians of the Pacific Northwest.

Her books are very popular with Kansas City Public Library patrons. “Pa’s Fiddle,” well known in the books now is in the state museum at Pierre, S.D., but is played every year in a special annual concert there.

Mrs. Wilder was born at Pepin, Wis., on February 7, 1867, and a portrait of her father is drawn in "Little House in the Big Woods." Other titles in the series, all true stories, she says, are "Little House on the Prairie" (the family in the Indian Territory of Kansas); "Farmer Boy (Mr. Wilder's boyhood), "On the Banks of Plum Creek" (Early Minnesota); "By the Shores of Silver Lake" (Dakota territory); "The Long Winter" (one even worse than the recent one in Missouri); "Little Town on the Prairie" (in Dakota), and "These Happy Golden Years" (Laura, who was a school teacher at sixteen, meets Almanzo. Sleigh rides and buggy rides figure in the romance. Following marriage in South Dakota in 1885 they go to make their home in a little house on the claim they acquired.)

With fame and extra cash from book royalties in recent years, most persons would say the golden years are certainly continuing, but writing success has its drawbacks these days, Mrs. Wilder finds.

Hit By Income Tax.

She doesn't talk in figures of the money she has received for her books, but she says:

The more I wrote the bigger my income tax got, so I stopped. Why should I go on at my age? Why, we don't need it here anyway."

The latter statement was in regard to her complete satisfaction with the simple, comfortable life in the home she has known for more than half a century. The Wilders sold their farm with the provision they could occupy the home until “I just finished planting the potatoes,” said Mr. Wilder as he entered the home to greet visitors. Despite “not being strong” and his 92 years he is most alert to the current scene. Both the Wilders, however, complain of not being able to get help, "either inside or outside the house."

Detroit is planning appropriate ceremonies for the dedication of the library named for Mrs. Wilder. Officials there are eager for Mrs. Wilder to take part, but she says "definitely" she will not. It would be too much of a trip for Mr. Wilder, she adds; also, while she feels well, and certainly looks it, she says, "I'm too nervous" for anything like that. 

Her last public appearance as an author was in Detroit six years ago when she took part in book week events there.

Ralph A. Ulveling, library director of Detroit, said recently that "we believe her books will live and will be read with interest a hundred years from now just as they are today. If our prediction is correct we will naturally take particular pride in having been the institution that led the way in bringing her permanent recognition among the American men and women of letters."

Others honored similarly by Detroit libraries include such famous Americans as Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas A. Edison, Ulveling noted. Seldom has the city so honored any living person.

"In choosing the name of Mrs. Wilder," Ulveling said, "we did so because we felt that she was a Midwestern writer who in her series of books has presented an invaluable social history of this great central portion of the country. While some historians, and they have an important place present the great sweep of history, bringing out the political and the military influences, Mrs. Wilder has directed attention to the commonplace things, the way of life of people. Thus she has preserved a portion of our history which is the part that is most likely to be lost in the course of time. She has done this beautifully, ably and understandingly, and like so few writers she has done it in a way which is interesting both to children and to adults.