The Shadows Rise: Abraham Lincoln and the Ann Rutledge Legend

x, 187 pp. Reviewing the writings of Lincoln scholars Albert Beveridge, William Barton, Carl Sandburg, and James G. Randall, Walsh revives the story of Ann Rutledge and the role she played in Lincoln's formative years. Reexamination of the William Herndon papers by historians John Y. Simon and Douglas Wilson have led to renewed interest in Rutledge and her alleged affair with Lincoln. Walsh continues the search, giving credit to New Salem residents who knew Lincoln and Rutledge and attested to the special loving relationship between the two young people. No longer a myth, Rutledge clearly deserves a place in the study of Lincoln's life.