THE REPUBLICAN

November 29, 1895

 

Lincoln’s Substitute

 

            It is not generally known that Abraham Lincoln sent a substitute to the war against the south, but such is a fact.  During the earlier days of the war it seems to have been the desire of all prominent men in Washington to have a representative in the ranks, and Lincoln was no exception to the rule.  At that time there was a minister named Staples in Washington, one of whose sons, then aged 19, had a desire to go to the front.  Lincoln heard of him, and after a conference selected him as his representative, and he proved worthy, for he won honor on the field.  He survived the war and finally died in Strondsburg, Pa.  The inscription on the stone over his grave reads as follows:  “J. Summerfield Staples, a private of Company C, One Hundred and Seventy-sixth Regiment, D.C. Vols., as a substitute for Abraham Lincoln.”  - Philadelphia Record.