Abraham Lincoln's Dog Met An Eerily Similar Fate To His Owner
On the face of it, Fido appears to be just an everyday family pet pooch, but he most certainly wasn’t just any old dog. He belonged to the family of a certain Abraham Lincoln. Sadly, this much-loved pet was separated from his owners just before Lincoln traveled to Washington, DC, to move into the White House as the 16th President of the United States. But a few years later the two, Abe and Fido, would come to eerily similar tragic ends.
Floppy ears and a stubby tail
So who was this faithful family pet, Fido? The Presidential Pet Museum website tells us that the animal was “a yellowish, mixed-breed dog with floppy ears and a stubby tail.” By all accounts Fido, who probably came into Lincoln’s home in about 1855, was well-suited to his role of family pet.
He had been more than happy to play with Lincoln and his sons, enjoying the rough and tumble. The boys were Robert, born in 1843; William, who came along in 1850; and Thomas, known as Tad, who had been born in 1853. Another boy, Edward, had died as a toddler.
How many legs does a dog have?
The future president was not above romping with Fido and his boys in a melee on the floor, with the dog yapping and chasing his tail. Lincoln had a canine joke he liked to tell the boys. In her 1954 article about Fido published in Life magazine, Dorothy Kunhardt recorded the quip.
“If you call a tail a dog, how many legs does a dog have?” Lincoln asked his boys. Then came the punchline, “Five? No, you’re wrong. Calling a tail a leg don’t make it a leg.” Apparently Lincoln was a much better president than a comedian.
Billy the Barber
Clearly a faithful hound, Fido often followed Lincoln to work and lay patiently in his law office while his master worked. He’d also follow Lincoln around Springfield as the future president visited friends and neighbors.
One particularly favorite haunt was the shop run by a local character, William Florville, known by all as Billy the Barber. Lincoln went there regularly for a shave in the days before he grew his trademark beard. When Lincoln had a package to carry home, Fido would often help out by carrying it in his mouth.
Wild rejoicing
If Fido wasn’t with Abe, he’d be with one of the boys, enjoying the free rein to which he’d become accustomed. But in the spring of 1860 came the first indication that Fido’s idyllic life as the Lincoln family pet might not last forever. That was when Lincoln won the Republican nomination as presidential candidate.
On the day the news was announced, Springfield erupted in joyous celebration that their local man now had a shot at the White House. But there was one creature who didn’t enjoy the wild rejoicing at all: Fido.