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by Isaac Markens (Author)
Since the name of Abraham Lincoln has been linked with no stirring event in connection with American Judaism it follows that the subject "Lincoln and the Jews" may possibly be lacking in the essentials demanding treatment at the hands of the critical historian. Nevertheless, as a student of the great war President the writer has been impressed by the vast amount of interesting material bearing upon his relations to the Jews, which it occurs to him is worthy of compilation and preservation. A contribution of this character seems specially fitting at the present time in view of the centenary of the one whose gaunt figure towers above all others in the galaxy of American heroes - "the first of our countrymen to reach the lonely heights of immortal fame." The Jews of the United States formed but a small portion of the population in Lincoln's time. The President of the Board of Delegates of American Israelites, their representative organization, estimated their number in the loyal States near the close of 1861 at not less than 200,000, which figures are now regarded as excessive. The Rev, Isaac Leeser as late as 1865 could not figure the entire Jewish population of the United States as exceeding 200,000, although he admitted that double that number had been estimated by others.
