"now he belongs to the ages" or angels?

[Stephen Goranson]

This was discussed previously on this list. According to the account published in 1890 by John Nicolay and John Hay, Edwin M. Stanton said, after Lincoln died, "now he belongs to the ages." Later, others asserted that James Tanner, a stenographer who was there (as was Hay), later recalled (not from notes; his pencil had broken) that Stanton said "angels." What may not have been remarked here is the counterclaim that Tanner actually wrote "ages" and that someone may have mis-transcribed his account (in 1965 or earlier [if so, how much earlier?]). So Richard W. Fox at a bog from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum:

http://www.alplm.org/blog/2010/08/a-phrase-for-the-ages/

Stephen Goranson
www.duke.edu/~goranson

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