The Brothers Speed — Joshua and James

The Brothers Speed — Joshua and James. . On April 15, 1837, Abraham Lincoln rode into Springfield, Illinois, on a borrowed horse, to begin his career as an attorney. He stopped in a local store where he met the clerk, Joshua Speed, a fellow Kentuckian. They became roommates and began a close friendship that lasted the remainder of Lincoln's life. This friendship continued despite differing political views and their disagreement over slavery. Speed moved back to Louisville, Kentucky, in 1842, and lived on the Farmington plantation., After Lincoln's election and the outbreak of the Civil War, Joshua and James Speed were two of Lincoln's most ardent supporters. Joshua played an important role in distributing guns to Union forces in Kentucky, which became known as “Lincoln guns.” Lincoln appreciated Joshua Speed's counsel and reportedly offered him the post of secretary of the treasury, but Joshua repeatedly declined., James Speed, Joshua's older brother and a Louisville attorney, had his political career in Kentucky stunted because of his opposition to slavery. James and his brother Joshua, despite their divergent opinions about slavery, played a key role in keeping Kentucky in the Union. James served two important roles during the Civil War. He was mustering officer for Kentucky Union volunteers and commanded the Louisville Home Guard., James became Lincoln's attorney general in December 1864. After Lincoln's assassination, he remained attorney general for President Andrew Johnson until July 1866. On April 16, 1865, after Lincoln was killed, James wrote his mother:, The best and greatest man I ever knew, and one holding just now the highest and most responsible position on earth, has been taken from us, but do not be downcast and hopeless. This great Government was not bound up in the life of any one man. The great and true principles of self-government will under God be worked out by us or by better men., Sidebar , A core group of Kentucky advisors kept Lincoln informed about the Bluegrass State during the Civil War., Robert J. Breckinridge was a Kentucky politician, Presbyterian minister, and leading figure in antebellum education. He was a staunch Unionist during the Civil War and was temporary chairman of the national convention that led to Lincoln's renomination in 1864. He was a leading voice for the border states throughout the Civil War., Born in Connecticut, George Prentice came to Kentucky in 1830 to write a campaign biography of Henry Clay. He remained in the commonwealth until his death in 1870. He became editor of the Louisville Journal, the mouthpiece of the American Whig Party, and remained a strong Unionist during the Civil War. Prentice's two sons joined the Confederate army., Joseph Holt was a distinguished attorney and Kentucky politician who was President James Buchanan's secretary of war. When the Civil War erupted, his many letters and public addresses helped keep Kentucky in the Union. In 1863, he became judge advocate general of the United States and presided over the trial of Lincoln's assassination conspirators., James Guthrie was an attorney and Kentucky politician who presided over the 1849 Kentucky Constitutional Convention. He was secretary of the treasury under President Franklin Pierce and a U.S. senator following the Civil War. in February 1861, he led a National Peace Conference in Washington, D.C., as a last-ditch attempt to avert war. He worked for the Union cause throughout the war., Timeline , 1809 , Abraham Lincoln born at Sinking Spring farm, in present-day Larue County, Kentucky. , 1816 , Lincoln family moved from Kentucky. , 1841 , Abraham Lincoln visited his friend Joshua Speed at Farmington, the Speed family plantation, in Louisville, Kentucky. , 1842 , Abraham Lincoln married Mary Todd of Lexington, Kentucky. , 1847 , The Lincoln family visited Lexington, Kentucky, en route to Abraham's only term in Congress. , 1860 , Abraham Lincoln elected President of the United States in November. , 1865 , Abraham Lincoln assassinated at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., Captions , Top center: Joshua Speed Courtesy of The Filson Historical Society, Louisville, Ky. , Bottom center: James Speed Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. , Bottom right (left to right): , . Robert J. Breckinridge Courtesy of the Kentucky Historical Society. , . George Prentice Courtesy of The Filson Historical Society, Louisville, Ky. , . Joseph Holt Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. , . James Guthrie Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.