Hannah ArmstrongI wrote him a letter asking him for old times’ sakeTo discharge my sick boy from the army;But maybe he couldn’t read it.Then I went to town and had James Garber,Who wrote beautifully, write him a letter.But maybe that was lost in the mails.So I traveled all the way to Washington.I was more than an hour finding the White House.And when I found it they turned me away,Hiding their smiles.Then I thought: “Oh, well, he ain’t the same as when I boarded himAnd he and my husband worked togetherAnd all of us called him Abe, there in Menard.”As a last attempt I turned to a guard and said:“Please say it’s old Aunt Hannah ArmstrongFrom Illinois, come to see him about her sick boyIn the army.”Well, just in a moment they let me in!And when he saw me he broke in a laugh,And dropped his business as president,And wrote in his own hand Doug’s discharge,Talking the while of the early days,And telling stories.
I wrote him a letter asking him for old times’ sakeTo discharge my sick boy from the army;But maybe he couldn’t read it.Then I went to town and had James Garber,Who wrote beautifully, write him a letter.But maybe that was lost in the mails.So I traveled all the way to Washington.I was more than an hour finding the White House.And when I found it they turned me away,Hiding their smiles.Then I thought: “Oh, well, he ain’t the same as when I boarded himAnd he and my husband worked togetherAnd all of us called him Abe, there in Menard.”As a last attempt I turned to a guard and said:“Please say it’s old Aunt Hannah ArmstrongFrom Illinois, come to see him about her sick boyIn the army.”Well, just in a moment they let me in!And when he saw me he broke in a laugh,And dropped his business as president,And wrote in his own hand Doug’s discharge,Talking the while of the early days,And telling stories.