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Best-selling author to shed insight on Edwin M. Stanton in new book — ‘Stanton: Lincoln’s War Secretary’

TRIBUTE TO NATIVE SON — The statue of Edwin McMasters Stanton, who served as Abraham Lincolnn’s secretary of war, is located near the Jefferson County Courthouse in downtown Steubenville and is a tribute to Steubenville’s native son. Author Walter Stahr will discuss his new biography, “Stanton: Lincoln’s War Secretary,” during local visits this week, including at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Schiappa branch of the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County and at noon Thursday at the Ohio County Library in Wheeling. -- Mark Law

STEUBENVILLE — Historic Fort Steuben and the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County will present New York Times best-selling author Walter Stahr at the Schiappa branch library at 6 p.m. Wednesday to discuss his new book, “Stanton: Lincoln’s War Secretary.”

Stahr tells the story of Abraham Lincoln’s indispensable secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, the man the president entrusted with raising the army that preserved the Union.

Born in 1814 in Steubenville, Edwin McMasters Stanton attended Kenyon College for two years, until he was forced to drop out for lack of funds. After studying with a local lawyer, he embarked on a meteoric rise in the law, practicing in Ohio, Pittsburgh and Washington while enduring the tragic deaths of his wife and child.

By the eve of the Civil War, Stanton was one of the nation’s top lawyers, famed for his trial work, including his successful defense of a congressman accused of murder, and for his work in the Supreme Court.

Of the crucial men close to Lincoln, Stanton was the most powerful and controversial. Stanton raised, armed and supervised the army of a million men who won the Civil War. He organized the war effort. He directed military movements from his telegraph office, where Lincoln literally hung out with him. He arrested and imprisoned thousands for “war crimes,” such as resisting the draft or calling for an armistice.

Stanton was so controversial that some accused him at that time of complicity in Lincoln’s assassination, according to a news release from the library. He was a stubborn genius who was reviled and revered in his time.

Stanton is remembered in Steubenville with a statue unveiled at the Jefferson County Courthouse, along with Stanton Park, Stanton School, Stanton Boulevard and Camp Stanton — all named in his honor, as well as a mural in which he is featured.

Stahr will focus on Stanton’s deep, life-long relations with the city.

A graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School, Stahr practiced law for 25 years, including seven years in Hong Kong. He is the author of “John Jay: Founding Father” and the New York Times Bestseller “Seward: Lincoln’s Indispensable Man.” Regarding “Stanton: Lincoln’s War Secretary,” New York Times reviewer Thomas Mallon commends Stahr for producing “a judiciously sympathetic treatment that tries to calm a still-uncalmable subject.”

Copies of the book can be purchased in advance at the Steubenville Visitors Center and at the library the evening of the program.

Those interested in attending the Wednesday program should call the library at (740) 264-6166 to make a reservation.

In his Nov. 5 Herald-Star column, Alan Hall, director of the library system, wrote, “We are excited to be included in his author tour related to his new Stanton book and honored to have him visit the Steubenville area. He used our library system for research in the production of his book and used materials and photos in the book acquired from our library system.”

Hall also wrote, “The author’s beautiful writing style allows the reader a better appreciation of our area at the time that Stanton lived here and an appreciation of his early years that formed his career in America.

“Stahr unwraps the complexity of Edwin M. Stanton as he moves through his legal career and into politics during the Civil War.

“History has painted Stanton with many brushes, but I believe that this author has performed such a wealth of research so as to present Stanton in an open field of information,” Hall wrote.

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