President-elect Abraham Lincoln decided to travel to Washington, D.C. by train to allow persons along the way to see their newly elected leader. Before the train pulled out of the Great Western depot in Springfield at 8 .m. on February 11, 1861, Mr. Lincoln talked to the crowd. I was puzzled when he said “With these words I must leave you – for how long I know not. Friends, one and all, I must now bid you an affectionate farewell.” It sounded to me like he didn’t think he’d ever return.
With that we started on a twelve day, 1900 mile trip involving twenty-three separate railroads. We would stop for a few minutes at every town we passed through, with overnights in major cities along the way.
That first night we stayed at the Bates Hotel in Indianapolis, Indiana. Several of Mr. Lincoln’s friends prepared to return home. They met with the president elect and wished him well. They cut locks from his hair for “posterity”. Then they cornered me in a room.
Jessie Dubois (who I knew as “Uncle Jessie”) got close to my face, looked me in the eye and shook his finger in my face. “Mr. Lamon,” he said. “We entrust the life of Abraham Lincoln to your keeping. If you don’t protect it, never return to Illinois for we will murder you on sight.” And they were not kidding.
On that evening I unofficially became the personal bodyguard of President Abraham Lincoln. As a man of stature, weighing 250 pounds and standing 6 feet 4 inches tall, I also knew that I was one of the few men in Abraham Lincoln’s life who he totally trusted.
I did not take my assignment lightly at all. I would have taken a bullet for my friend, if necessary. I was also one who would shoot first and ask questions later, if that was what was needed.
W. H. Lamon
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