I recently received a nice email from a relative of one of Abraham Lincoln's clients in a case I wrote about in "Prairie Defender: The Murder Trials of Abraham Lincoln." He graciously allowed me to publish the letter, which gives some information on the client's life after Lincoln defended him.
Dear Mr. Dekle,
I've really enjoyed reading your book, Prairie Defender, especially the chapter on the Moses Loe murder trial. I have always had an interest in Lincoln and the Civil War, and a personal interest in this case since Moses Loe was my great-great grandmother's first cousin. I was also interested to see that you are a fellow Floridian and associated with UF. I'm a UF grad (1980) with an MA in History. At one point I considered writing up the Loe case for submission to a historical journal. Now, I'm glad I didn't, since your account, with your legal expertise, is far more perceptive than anything I could offer.
I think this case is particularly interesting since Lincoln saved Moses's life from the hangman and Moses eventually gave his life for Lincoln's foremost cause of saving the Union, a cause for which Lincoln himself proved to be the ultimate sacrifice.
I hope to visit Moses's grave the next time I am in the Atlanta area. Last year, while in Chattanooga, I had the honor of visiting the grave of his older brother, Fielding (Fielden) Loe, a Mexican-American War veteran who was also killed in the Civil War.
Thank you very much for your research and your insights.
Regards,
Rodney Dillon, Jr.
No comments:
Post a Comment