Hannah Armstrong

I wrote him a letter asking him for old times'sake
To discharge my sick boy from the army;
But maybe he couldn't read it.
Then I went to town and had James Garber,
Who wrote beautifully, write him a letter;
But maybe that was lost in the mails.
So I traveled all the way to Washington.
I was more than an hour finding the White House.
And when I found it they turned me away,
Hiding their smiles. Then I thought:
"Oh, well, he ain't the same as when I boarded him
And he and my husband worked together
And all of us called him Abe, there in Menard."
As a last attempt I turned to a guard and said:
"Please say it's old Aunt Hannah Armstorng
From Illinois, come to see him about her sick boy in the army."
Well, ust in a moment they let me in!
And when he saw me he broke in a laugh,
And dropped his business as president,
And wrote in his own hand Doug's discharge,
Talking the while of the early days,
And telling stories.

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Questions for Hannah Armstrong:

1. Describe Hannah Armstrong.
2. Not only is Hannah Armstrong's personality revealed, but we learn something about another figure. Who is it and what is learned about him?

 

Hannah Armstrong

This poem was based on Hannah who knew Abraham Lincoln. Hannah and her husband, Jack, let Lincoln live with them when he moved to New Salem. Their son was ill in the war, and Lincoln discharged him. Masters' grandmother, Lucinda Masters, was an acquaintance of Hannah. She is buried in Petersburg's Oakland Cemetery.