[Ads-l] Lincoln belonged to the ages or the angels?

[Stephen Goranson]

If Stanton said one or the other, which is more likely to have been
misheard?
Given the accent on the first syllable, angels?
(I may be influenced by how my 97 year old Mother expected to die.)


On Wed, Feb 11, 2026 at 4:08 PM Stephen Goranson <goransonsc at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Thanks, I long ago read the article by Gopnik, who I don't consider
> primarily an historian. And, of course. I am not the first to think that
> Stanton said—if he said either one—angels. I merely gave my reason.
> sg
> ------------------------------
> *From:* American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> ADSGarson O'Toole <00001aa1be50b751-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, February 11, 2026 2:43 PM
> *To:* ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> *Subject:* Re: Lincoln belonged to the ages or the angels?
>
> Interesting topic, Stephen. Barry Popik created a germane webpage back in
> 2014:
>
> "Now he belongs to the ages" (at Abraham Lincoln’s death)
> https://barrypopik.com/blog/now_he_belongs_to_the_ages
>
> Off-list, Fred Shapiro pointed to a pertinent 2007 article in "The New
> Yorker".
>
> Date: May 21, 2007
> Periodical: The New Yorker
> Article: Angels and Ages
> Author: Adam Gopnik
> https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/05/28/angels-and-ages
>
> Garson
>
> On Tue, Feb 10, 2026 at 9:15 AM Stephen Goranson
> <00001dd3d6fc15d3-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
> >
> > Having asked about important etymologies, and now spurred by Garson and
> Fred on the "fool some of the people" quote, my related comment here is
> mere opinion without sufficient evidence, even perhaps against evidence.
> Recall the much-discussed important saying:
> > Did Secretary of War Stanton say, after Lincoln died on April 15, 1865,
> now he belongs to the ages, or to the angels, or neither?
> >
> > Several later texts have ages. But.
> > Stanton was a hard-case guy, with no shortage of enemies; he had Quaker
> and Methodist ancestors, and in 1831 he converted to the Episcopalian
> church.
> >
> > Whenever was a time for Stanton to be religious and pray, surely such an
> occasion was witnessing the death of Lincoln.  I think he said angels. Now
> may they take him.
> >
> > Much later, considering his place in history, with constructed
> past—invented tradition a-la-Hobsbawm—memory of many went with ages.
> > .
> > Stephen
> > https://people.duke.edu/~goranson/
> >
> >
> >
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