It used to be popular, and may still be, for a place to announce, “George Washington [or other historical figure] slept here.” Goodness knows that if could ever make such a claim, I would want to be able to say, “Abraham Lincoln slept in my house.” Interestingly enough, I have come close to being able to truthfully say this.
One of my former bus drivers accurately characterized me not as a Lincoln scholar, but a Lincoln enthusiast. This began in third grade when I read the first of many books I would one day own and read about Lincoln, a paperback entitled, “The Man on the Penny.”
In an effort to become more scholarly, while I was an undergraduate at Lincoln Memorial University I enrolled in Dr. Joseph Suppiger’s “Lincoln’s Life.” The text for the class was The Intimate Lincoln, written by Dr. Suppiger himself.
I thoroughly enjoyed the class. As final week approached, I was burdened with several final exams. The final for Lincoln’s Life was completely essay, and though I knew I could pass, I asked Dr. Suppiger’s permission to take his final at the beginning of the next term. This would result in an “incomplete” grade for the course and inability to be on the Dean’s List, but the lower stress level during final week seemed a good trade.
Initially, Dr. Suppiger was not impressed. When I told him I had four other difficult finals to prepare for, he sarcastically asked, “What’s your major, business?”
His attitude brightened considerably when I replied, “English.”
From that point Dr. Suppiger could not have been more accommodating. It turned out that Dr. Suppiger had a background and interest in English himself. He granted my request, and I made an “A” on both the final exam and for the course. Later I took his class “History of the Old South.”
Years later, when I was principal of Sharps Chapel Elementary, I attended the East Tennessee Title I Conference in Gatlinburg. While looking through the scheduled break-out sessions, I came across a session titled “Meet Mr. Lincoln.” I knew I must go and learn what it was about and how it tied into improving student academic achievement.
My interest was not amiss. I have, over the years, studied many pictures of President Lincoln, and I was amazed at how much the presenter looked just like him! Dressed in full Lincoln costume, this gentleman told the story of Lincoln’s life in first person, from birth to assassination, in about 45 minutes. Major emphasis was placed on how Lincoln, with less than one year of what the United States frontier would have called “formal” education, rose to the highest office in the nation through his basically self-taught ability to read.
At the end of the session, the presenter introduced himself as Dennis Boggs from Nashville, a Lincoln “impersonator” (and in this case it seemed such a harsh term—I prefer “impressionist”). He explained that he was available to deliver the session we had just heard to school groups to deepen and develop a love of reading in students. He invited anyone who was interested to pick up literature at the session’s end.
I was most interested in getting Mr. Boggs to come do a presentation for the students at Sharps Chapel. I called Boggs a few days later to discuss details. He told me his fee, which was reasonable, and said he would also charge for lodging. He suggested that it might be helpful to partner with another school to share expenses. Maynardville Elementary Assistant Principal Martha Warwick agreed to also host Boggs at her school, but I had a better idea for the lodging.
I explained how tight Sharps Chapel’s school funds were, and suggested that if he was willing that my mother and I would be more than happy to host him and his wife (who was a Mary Todd Lincoln impressionist) as overnight guests in my home. I told him I would let him sleep in my Lincoln bedroom. To my delight, he accepted.
In anticipation of the Boggs’s arrival, I dressed for work in one of my stars and stripes ties. Boggs and wife Molly arrived in the early afternoon at my house. I showed the Boggs to my bedroom where they would spend the night. Several of my very favorite and best Lincoln pictures hung on the walls, as they had since I had obtained them. Boggs told me later that he began to get worried when he saw my Lincoln bedroom, speculating that perhaps I might be a Lincoln stalker!
After visiting for a while, I asked Boggs if he would care to accompany me to my fiancé’s house to visit with her handicapped son. He was most accommodating. After his tiring journey to my house from Nashville, he dressed in his Lincoln regalia. He took a picture with his arm around my mother, which I have in my office. She was short, just like Mrs. Lincoln, the top of her head just slightly higher than Mr. Boggs’ shoulder.
Boggs then accompanied me to pay a special visit to my future stepson. I have the picture in my office of Boggs and myself with Dustin. He graciously let Dustin wear Abraham Lincoln’s hat to pose for the picture.
During our discussion later that evening at my house I learned that Boggs started his career as an actor in community theater. People kept telling him that he looked like Abraham Lincoln, and he decided to become a Lincoln impressionist. He began to be in such demand to speak to school children and civic organizations that he decided to give up community theater and become a full-time Lincoln impressionist. At the time of his visit, he was the exact age as President Lincoln when he was assassinated, if memory serves me correctly. I felt truly honored to be able to host such a distinguished visitor. It was as close to having the real Abraham Lincoln (or any other famous historical figure) in my home that I will ever have.
I had one more surprise in store for the Boggs. When they turned down the covers to go to bed, they discovered that the sheets and pillowcases were American flag patterned! He told me later that he really started to worry when he saw those sheets. Perhaps he thought I was going to kidnap or assassinate him, as John Wilkes Booth did President Lincoln. After all, Boggs was almost a “dead-ringer” for the president, and I must say I bear more of a resemblance to Booth.
The next day Boggs did an outstanding presentation for the students of Sharps Chapel and Maynardville Elementary. He took their questions at the end of the session, and left them with the strong impression that Lincoln demonstrated the importance of reading so necessary to his rise from poverty to the highest office in the United States.
Sometime later, I was entering a Cracker Barrel in Nashville. Who should be exiting at the same time except for Dennis Boggs himself! That day, he was in regular casual attire, but there was still no mistaking his resemblance to the 16th President.
In later years, I hosted Boggs one more time, and again he stayed in my Lincoln bedroom. I’m sure he was more at ease that time, as I did not kidnap nor assassinate him on the first visit. I still get to see my friend at the East Tennessee Title I Conference almost every year, though this year’s conference has been cancelled due to Coronavirus.
It is said that “Close only counts in horseshoes;” nevertheless, I was privileged to host Boggs, and he, the closest living likeness of President Abraham Lincoln I have ever encountered, stayed in my home not once, but twice! I feel that The Great Emancipator would be pleased for his legacy to be so preserved.
I leave you with another thought from my email world:
"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." – Oscar Wilde