The Cracked Acorn: The Beard

It was close to noon on a summer day in 1860, the train had stopped for water at Westfield, New York. A tall gangly man stepped off at the far side of the train and made his way across the field to a small farmhouse. There he knocked, the screen door opened and Abraham Lincoln entered to visit with Grace Bedell. She was eleven and had written President Lincoln and suggested that he would get more votes if he grew a beard. He grew a beard and was elected. The beard may have turned his failures for office into a successful one; history leaves us with that possible conclusion. Lincoln stayed for about half an hour and walked back to the train and into our hearts as one of our most beloved presidents.

The above is the movie version. Lincoln was advised by delegates of his own party to grow a beard, thinking that it would help him to win the 1860 election. It has been thought that President Lincoln was encouraged by a letter from young Grace to stop shaving. She mentioned that she was sure that all of her four brothers would vote for him if he grew a beard. “My father is going to vote for you and if I was a man I would vote for you too but I will try to get everyone to vote for you.” After the election, Lincoln passed through Westfield and spoke from the train. He saw Grace in the crowd and invited her onto the platform, obviously to show her his beard and give her a kiss on the cheek. Many say that this was the last time that a politician actively used a suggestion from the public.

Note: It is believed that some early tribal, nomad people were very hairy and took pride in a well-trimmed beard. A king of that era would certainly have the finest sculptured beard. It was the symbol of his terrible power. Roman soldiers were the first to abandon long facial hair. In close quarters of combat, it was thought that grabbing the beard might give your enemy the advantage.

The Scriptures make mention of beards. In Leviticus 19:27 – “You shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.” This was a commandment to the Hebrew people. In II Samuel 1-12, King David attacked and conquered the country of Ammon because they had shaved off half of the beards of David’s envoys. The theme of Psalm 133 is unity – “Behold, how good, and how pleasant it is for the brethren to dwell in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;” The beard was a prized possession of the Bible for in Isaiah 50:6 – “I gave my back to the smiters and my cheeks to them that plucked off my hair. I hid my face from shame and spitting.”

The Gospels tell us that Christ was treated as a criminal. Matthew 26:67- “Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him, and others smote him with the palms of their hands.” Mark 14:65 – “And some began to spit on him and to cover his face, and to buffet him,” Luke 22:64-65 – “And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy to him. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe. And said, Hail, King of the Jews!and they smote him with their hands. Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe!”