It is likely that Lincoln had some sexual experiences during his travels as a surveyor, perhaps also with a prostitute in Beardstown, a town he visited regularly in 1835–1836 to help promote its canal. In Springfield, [Byron] Speed had “a pretty woman,” a prostitute with whom he had semi-exclusive or exclusive privileges. When Lincoln expressed an interest, Speed sent him to see the girl with a note, so Speed told William Herndon. When they were naked, Lincoln remembered to ask the price. It was two dollars more than he had. “I’ll trust you, Mr Lincoln, for $ 2.” He mulled it over. “I do not wish to go on credit — I’m poor & don’t know where my next dollar will come from and I cannot afford to Cheat you.” He got dressed “and offered the girl the $ 3.00, which she would not take, saying — Mr Lincoln — You are the most Conscientious man I ever saw.” — Lincoln: The Biography of a Writer
Why didn’t we learn about this in 9th grade?
Really would’ve hammed home the Honest Abe moniker.
I wonder what there is to learn from this weird story.
How you do anything is how you do everything. If you’re a truly honest person, you’ll be honest in Monopoly and Politics and Buying Prostitutes.
Before the Internet, all we knew about people came from history books, which most of us have never read. We’re getting a third-hand account of often-biased primary sources.
We almost never hear the prostitute stories from historical figures. But now we'll hear them all, and then some.
- Possibly our most-esteemed President was once “poor and [didn’t] know where my next dollar will come from.”
I’m also poor and don’t know where my next dollar will come from. You’ve probably got 99 problems, too. I think we’ll be fine if we start acting like we plan to when we “make it.”
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