Abby and The Ugly Man

About the Book

Abby, a precocious, motherless twelve-year-old, constantly irritates her fastidious father, Charles Martin, who is a haberdasher in Washington City. The time is spring, 1865. Abby’s a rather clumsy little redhead with freckles who is careless in her dress, is late for breakfast, asks countless questions, lacks any visible sign of becoming a lady and is obsessed with President Lincoln. Martin doesn’t understand why a child, especially a girl, should be so interested in Mr. Lincoln and the Civil War that appears to be coming to an end, although the South is struggling to hold on. Martin refuses to listen when Abby tries to explain that her mother, who died a year ago, had admired the President and told Abby that if she paid attention, she could learn compassion and humility from him.

Abby always becomes angry when magazines and newspapers call her beloved Mr. Lincoln all manner of shameful names, such as: ugly, buffoon and gorilla, She’s determined to meet him and shake his hand one day. Robert, the boy she secretly likes, has gone to the White House and shaken hands with the President. Unaware of her father’s sense of helplessness with regard to her upbringing, and the depth of his pain over the death of her mother, Abby concludes that her father doesn’t love her, something she desperately needs.

Two former slaves reside in their house: Shala who is their housekeeper and Yabu, a tall, quiet boy of thirteen whom Shala rescued when he ran away from an abusive owner. Yabu’s duties are to help Shala and to accompany Abby any time she is permitted to take a walk. The streets of Washington City are full of soldiers, prisoners, horses and all manner of war equipment. The city still fears that General Robert E. Lee may try to capture the city. So, even when cannons boom all over the city to announce the end of the war, Abby is terrified. Her only friends have moved away, but her Uncle Chris, who lost a leg at Gettysburg, visits occasionally, and they play checkers. Each night, she finds comfort in opening her diary and writing a letter to her mother.

A friend of Abby’s father, Luke Cunningham, arrives from Springfield, Illinois, to get help in locating his missing brother. He wishes Mr. Lincoln could help.

During her walks, Abby becomes acquainted with Tad Lincoln, the President’s youngest son, who plays with his dog on the White House lawn. Tad offers to take Abby into the White House to meet his father someday. Disobeying her father, because she just cannot stay indoors on a sparkling spring day, Abby forces Yabu to sneak off with her to the White House. When caught, she uses the excuse that Tad said tomorrow she may bring Mr. Cunningham, and he will take them to his father’s office, which he does. So, finally, Abby shakes the President’s hand, is served refreshments by Mrs. Lincoln, plays with Tad and sees his little theater, a day she’ll never forget.

Abby’s father had promised to take her to Ford’s Theatre on Friday evening when the President and Mrs. Lincoln plan to be there. However, her father is ill, so Mr. Cunningham takes Abby. Pandemonium ensues when John Wilkes Booth shoots Mr. Lincoln, leaps from the President’s box onto the stage and escapes. Somehow, Abby and her escort make it to the sidewalk in front of the theater. Amidst the frantic, shoving crowd, Abby is torn from Mr. Cunningham’s hands. In shock and unable to free herself from under a man’s voluminous cape, she is nearly crushed to death. Police rescue her, and Mr. Cunningham takes her home. The story ends in May, 1865, when Abby is invited to Robert’s party. It’s her party, too, since they share the same birthday. Robert thrills Abby with special attention, and she finds she has made new friends after telling them about her exciting visit to the White House.

Because Abby’s father sees the extent of her sorrow over Mr. Lincoln’

About the Author

At age 86, the author hung up her tennis racquet and edited her trilogy of novels written years ago: Jenny’s Family Circle, Jenny’s Fame, The Many Paths of Love. The characters in her books became like family, so she wanted to see them in print. Two nonfiction books: Altoona and the Pennsylvania Railroad and Voices of the Pennsylvania Railroad were published in 1999 and 2001. Now in print is her young adult novel Abby and the Ugly Man (Mr. Lincoln). Also published were 95 of her stories, essays and poems. Her articles about present-day concerns appear monthly in area newspapers.