The Legend of Abraham Lincoln
and Ann Rutledge

Carrie Deppe
Waterloo High School, Waterloo

Few know about the story of Lincoln's youthful love for a blue-eyed woman named Ann Rutledge. Nearly thirty years had passed after the death of Ann before it was told that she and Lincoln loved each other, causing the story to be based more on legend than on facts. Residents of the town where it occurred, New Salern, held opposing views when asked about Lincoln and Rutledge. While some saw the two as being deeply in love, others saw them as merely friends. They were engaged to be married, however.

Lincoln and Rutledge became acquainted in 1833 when he was boarding at the tavern of Ann's father. Lincoln was then a tall twenty-four-year-old, Ann a red-haired woman of twenty. She was also engaged to a man named John McNeil. His real name

Historians still debate the nature of the relationship between Lincoln and Ann Rutledge.

was John McNamar. He went west under an assumed name in hopes of making his own money without interference from his family in the East. He and Ann were to marry as soon as he was done visiting his family. McNamar kept writing to Rutledge explaining why he could not return immediately. John's prolonged absence became too long. Ann wrote to him and freed herself from her pledge of marriage. Abraham Lincoln went to Vandalia in 1834 to hold his first elective political office as a member of the Illinois legislature. He returned to New Salem in the spring of 1835, having only been in Vandalia a little over a year. Then Lincoln and Rutledge reportedly fell in love. They became engaged and planned to marry as soon as Lincoln gained a little money. The Rutledges sold their tavern and moved to a farm some miles away. Lincoln rode back and forth from New Salem to the Rutledge farm near Sand Ridge to visit with Ann. Lincoln and Rutledge talked about their plans for the future together. Ann was to go to the Jacksonville Female Academy the next fall, and Abraham thought about registering at Illinois College in Jacksonville. Their plans were ultimately crushed, however, when Ann became very sick. In August 1835, Ann Rutledge was struck with fever, perhaps typhoid. Doctors were helpless against her disease. Ann called for Lincoln to come visit her, for fear that she might die before ever seeing him again. He rode out to the Sand Ridge farm from New Salem. The two were left alone for a last hour together. Two days later, August 25, 1835, Ann Rutledge died.

Abraham Lincoln took Ann's death incredibly hard. Many of his friends feared that he was on the verge of insanity. One later said, "the thought that the snows and rains fell upon her grave filled him with indescribable grief." All who knew Lincoln and were close to him saw him turn into a very grieved man. Abraham also said while speaking of Ann's grave, "I can't bear to think of her out there alone." Lincoln became a very depressed man after Ann's passing.

Many have speculated that the reason Lincoln was so quiet throughout his life was because the death of his first love scarred him for life. No one can be sure. It devastated him no doubt, but the weight it posed on him in later years is unknown. The two, Ann Rutledge and Abraham Lincoln, were engaged, but the extent of their love cannot be measured because no one but them could be certain. The legend, whether true or not, will likely live for a long time.— [From Paul M. Angle, The Lincoln Reader; Godfrey R. B. Charnwood, Abraham Lincoln; Carl Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln.]

ILLINOIS HISTORY / FEBRUARY 1995

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