2/13/2009:
If you tune in regularly to Dakota Datebook, you’ve likely heard of Smith Stimmel. Starting his career as a personal bodyguard to President Abraham Lincoln, he later moved to Fargo where he practiced law and served as president of the Dakota Territorial Council.
Smith Stimmel lived out the remainder of his life in North Dakota, but he never forgot his experiences with Abraham Lincoln. Penning his memoirs, Stimmel wrote, “to the end of my life I shall be grateful for…glimpses of one of the earth’s grandest heroes.” Like so many who were personally acquainted with the President, Stimmel was a Lincoln-man from beginning to end. For Stimmel, that beginning was on this date in 1861.
Stimmel was attending school in Columbus, Ohio when Lincoln set out on his 12-day inaugural trip. Traveling by rail, the President-elect covered nearly two thousand miles, seven states and hundreds of cities, towns and villages.
Arriving promptly at 2:00pm on February 13, Lincoln’s train eased to a halt at the Columbus station. Glad that school had been dismissed for the day, Stimmel was eager to see the distinguished guest. Having overheard others in the crowd predict Lincoln would emerge from the rear, Stimmel edged his way to within a few feet of the last car. Within moments Lincoln appeared on the platform bowing and smiling, before being whisked away to an open carriage for a slow procession to the state Capitol grounds. All along the route every door, window and rooftop was crowded with people eager to get a glimpse of the President-elect. Smith Stimmel kept abreast of the presidential carriage as he threaded his way along the densely packed sidewalks desperate to witness Lincoln’s every step of the way. Finally, he climbed the steps of the Capitol building to hear Lincoln’s address. His words so impressed the young man of 18 that he never forgot them. As Stimmel recalled, after thanking the audience, Lincoln said, “I hope that if my worthy competitor, Judge Douglas, had been elected and were here in my place at this time, you would be extending to him the same cordial greeting you are now giving me.” Stimmel was amazed. Recording the event in his memoirs, he wrote, “when I heard those generous words fall from his lips, my stock in Abraham Lincoln, already at high esteem, went up about 500 percent.”
Lincoln withdrew to address the state legislature and departed the next morning. Years later, recalling his first of several experiences with Abraham Lincoln, Stimmel said, “I remember how I thought at the time that Abraham Lincoln was the greatest man I had ever seen, and he was, and I do not believe I have ever seen a greater since.”
Written by Christina Sunwall
Sources:
Searcher, Victor. Lincoln's Journey to Greatness: A Factual Account of the Twelve-Day Inaugural Trip. Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Company, 1960.
Stimmel, Smith. "Experiences as a Member of President Lincoln's Body Guard, 1863-65." North Dakota Historical Quarterly 1, no. 2 (January 1927): 5-33.