Brown or not - that was the question: An Abe Lincoln Story

 

Abraham Lincoln like to tell the story about a well-to-do farmer who came by his Springfield law office one day, seeking a divorce from his wife.

When Lincoln asked the farmer the reasons for such a drastic action, the farmer complained that he and his wife had quarreled about the color to paint their new clapboard house. Explained the man, 

"I wanted to paint it white like our neighbors' houses, but my wife preferred brown. Our disputes finally became quarrels. She has broken crockery, throwing it at my head, and poured scalding tea down my back and I want a divorce!"

 Lincoln urged the couple to settle their differences for their children's sake. The farmer agreed to try.

One day, a few months later, Lincoln saw the farmer and asked how they were getting along. The farmer told Lincoln he and his wife had reached a compromise: 

"We're going to paint the house brown."[1]

 This was another tale from Abe Lincoln, storyteller.

Mac

Works Cited

[1] Leidner, Gordon. Lincoln's Gift: How Humor Shaped Lincoln's Life and Legacy. (2015) Naperville, IL: Cumberland House. pp. 230-231.