Excerpt from The Life and Times of Hannibal Hamlin In offering "The Life and Times of Hannibal Hamlin" to the public, I beg to make a brief explanation. This volume represents three years' work on my part, in which time I have received valuable assistance from many sources. For the personal narrative I am chiefly indebted to my father, General Charles Hamlin, my grandfather's right-hand man for many years. He gathered material for the purpose of writing the biography, but was prevented on account of public and business duties. He also rendered me invaluable aid in consultation, while the manuscript was being written. I also acknowledge important help received from John G. Nicolay, Josiah H. Drummond, Noah Brooks, Henry L. Dawes, Albert E. H. Johnson, John Conness, Frank B. Fay, and others, in preparing the chapter which demonstrates Lincoln's desire for the renomination of the ticket of Lincoln and Hamlin in 1864. I would add that my own investigations into this subject cover a period of seven years, during which time I consulted and corresponded with many surviving delegates to the Union Convention of 1864. The genealogical record was obtained mostly from the comprehensive "Life of the Hamlins," by H. Franklin Andrews, of Iowa; also from the researches of Professor Charles E. Hamlin, of Harvard University; James H. Hamlen, of Portland, Maine, and William Hamlyn, of Buckfastleigh, England. The chief feature of Hannibal Hamlin's career is his anti-slavery record. This is the principal story of the biography, and it includes a substantial account of the rise and fall of the slave party in Maine, as well as in the nation. In dealing with the struggles of the antislavery men in Maine, one invaluable authority was my grandfather's private correspondence, which included fully ten thousand letters, and nearly half of which related to this picturesque phase of Maine politics. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.