James Smith (1807-1874) From 1849 to 1856 Dr. James Smith was minister of First Presbyterian Church of Springfield, where the Lincolns sometimes attended church. Mr. Lincoln first heard Rev. Smith preach at age 16 when he spoke at… Abraham Lincoln and Friends >

Matthew Simpson (1811-1884) Methodist Bishop Matthew Simpson moved from Ohio to Evanston, Illinois in 1859. Simpson got to know President-elect Lincoln in the winter of 1860-61 when he visited with him in… Abraham Lincoln and Friends >

Owen Lovejoy (1811-1864) Cordelia Perrine Harvey, a crusader for better hospitals for Union soldiers, encountered Congressman Owen Lovejoy one day as she was leaving the White House after an unproductive interview with… Abraham Lincoln and Friends >

James Jaquess James Jaquess joined the Army in the Civil War, helping to organize the Seventy-third Illinois. It was called the “Preacher Regiment” because of the number of ministers who had joined the unit. In May 1863, Jaquess proposed a mission into the… Abraham Lincoln and Friends >

Phineas D. Gurley Mr. Lincoln and the Rev. Peter Cartwright first met in 1830. “Before the Black Hawk war Lincoln was driving prairie team for Reuben Brown, who was breaking prairie for me on my farm at…” Abraham Lincoln and Friends >

Peter Cartwright (1785-1872) Mr. Lincoln and the Rev. Peter Cartwright first met in 1830. “Before the Black Hawk war Lincoln was driving prairie team for Reuben Brown, who was breaking prairie for me on my farm at…” Abraham Lincoln and Friends >

James Harrison Wilson (1837-1925) Wilson (not to be confused with General James Grant Wilson) was a take-charge officer, the kind President Lincoln liked. Historian Bruce Catton wrote of the Tennessee campaign in late 1864: “James H. Wilson, the former…” Abraham Lincoln and Friends >

William O. Stoddard (1835-1925) William O. Stoddard wrote a great deal about Mr. Lincoln over the five decades after President Lincoln’s death. Stoddard was a professional journalist when he met Mr. Lincoln and he became a professional writer after… Abraham Lincoln and Friends >

John G. Nicolay (1832-1901) Nicolay had met Mr. Lincoln when he worked at the Free Press in Pittsfield, Illinois. Thomas Hall Shastid wrote how his father introduced Nicolay to Mr. Lincoln: “Once into the printing office, fresh from the courthouse in… Abraham Lincoln and Friends >

John Hay (1838-1905) The chief qualification of John Hay for his White House position may have been his sense of humor. Hay could guffaw while colleague John G. Nicolay growled. In comparison to the somewhat morose… Abraham Lincoln and Friends >