It is not generally known that Abraham Lincoln sent a substitute to
the war against the South, but such is a fact. During the earlier days
of the war it seems to have been the desire of all prominent men in
Washington to have a representative in the ranks, and Lincoln was no
exception to the rule. At that time there was a minister named Staples in
Washington, one of whose sons, then aged nineteen, had a desire to go to
the front. Lincoln heard of him, and after a conference selected him as
his representative, and he proved worthy, for he won honor on the field.
He survived the war and finally died in Stroudsburg. The inscription on
the stone over his grave reads as follows: “J. Summerfield Staples, a
private of Company C, One Hundred and Seventy-sixth Regiment, P. V. Also
a member of the Second regiment, D. C. Vols., as a substitute for Abraham
Lincoln.”--Philadelphia Record.