Abe Lincoln, the story 'retailer'

 

I’ve always loved the stories Abe Lincoln told. I grew up with them. They still make me laugh—or help me see something in a new light.

I created this blog so you can enjoy some of those memorable stories, too.

The first post after this one—“Abe Lincoln, the Storyteller”—dives into Lincoln’s gift for spinning a tale. It includes reflections from his contemporaries, insights from scholars, and even Lincoln’s own thoughts on what made his storytelling so distinctive.

Lincoln once said:

“You speak of Lincoln stories. I don't think that is a correct phrase. I don't make the stories mine by telling them. I'm only a retail dealer.”

Retail or not, his stories filled his speeches, his courtroom arguments, and his everyday conversations. Some come from books published in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, drawn from a mix of verified and unverified sources. But J.B. McClure’s Lincoln Stories (1879) is often considered the most reliable collection. Others were preserved in letters and journals by those who knew him—no doubt polished by time and reverence.

Proving whether Lincoln actually told a particular story is often impossible. But the sheer number of stories attributed to him—far more than to any other American president or public figure—is a testament to the respect and affection people felt for him. As the New York Herald once put it, Lincoln was “the American Aesop.”

What a legacy!

I hope you enjoy this collection of Lincoln’s anecdotes and frontier wisdom, curated from the archives of Abraham Lincoln, Storyteller.

—Mac