Lincoln's Little Girl

Book excerpt: During the presidential campaign of 1860, eleven-year-old Grace Bedell wrote to Abraham Lincoln and suggested that he grow whiskers, thinking that the beard would increase his chances of election. The exchange of letters between Grace and Mr. Lincoln and their meeting at the Westfield, New York train depot is one of the warmest human interest stories in American history and has been much publicized over the years. In this unique biography, Grace Bedell's life plays against the tumultuous backdrop of mid-nineteenth-century New York State--the 1860 presidential campaign, the Civil War, and the slavery issue. Here was a life rich with pioneering spirit.