'Doc' Temple at 100: Still writing, Lincoln historian is 'a phenomenon'

Charles Maltby was one of the first people Abraham Lincoln met when he moved to the village of New Salem in 1831, explained Wayne C. "Doc" Temple.

Both worked in a general store operated by Denton Offutt, where, according to lore, Lincoln picked up the nickname "Honest Abe." Although the store had a short run, their coming together ignited a lifetime friendship, Temple said.

Later, as president, Lincoln would reward Maltby with a U.S. Mint position in San Francisco, where Maltby had settled.

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Maltby's name might not be familiar, even to Lincoln historians.

"People had lost track of (Maltby)," Temple explained. "(Lincoln's law partner and biographer William) Herndon didn't find him, and some other writers didn't find him. They saw the name, but they never followed through on it."

Temple's intent is to do just that.

Temple, one of the preeminent Lincoln historians, turns 100 on Monday. He will celebrate with a party his fellow Masons and some historians are throwing for him.

A sought-after lecturer, Temple has written more than 20 books, mostly on Lincoln covering everything from his military service to his religious beliefs. Pulitzer Prize-winning Lincoln biographer, the late David Herbert Donald, called Temple's "Abraham Lincoln: From Skeptic to Prophet" the "best book ever written about Lincoln's religious views."

Now the script is about to be flipped.

Temple confirmed Indiana-based writer Alan E. Hunter is working on his biography. Hunter wrote a 2020 book on the Petersen House, where Lincoln died the day after he was assassinated at Ford's Theatre.

Temple's scholarship hasn't abated. He wants to turn the Maltby piece into a pamphlet or longer article.

On Feb. 12, Harold Holzer's new book, "Brought Forth on This Continent:Abraham Lincoln and American Immigration," will be released. Holzer turned to Temple for advice during the book's early stages.

"He not only read the first few chapters, but he also made editorial notes in pencil, he made suggestions, he complained about mistakes I made, he corrected them and he gave me new information I never knew," Holzer said, from his home in New York City. "And he was 98 at the time.

"I talk about him in my acknowledgments with great reverence and appreciation. He's a phenomenon. He's a generous, generous phenomenon, too."

To that, historian Tom Emery, whose 10th book on Lincoln is being released in the fall, said he can attest.

"He's so accessible, so willing to help," said Emery, who lives in Carlinville. "He proofreads all my Lincoln manuscripts. He's been a tremendous mentor to me. I just think the world of him."

That Temple still does original scholarship on the eve of being 100 "still floors me," Emery said.

"I've always said this, and Doc (will say it, too): there's so much to be learned about Lincoln," he added. "The people who say everything's been written about Lincoln really don't know what they're talking about. There's so much more that needs to be written about Lincoln from so many different angles and Doc is extremely well aware of that and welcomes new, fresh research."

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Temple has made an art of shining a light on lesser-known figures in Lincolniana.

His mentor at the University of Illinois, Lincoln scholar and author James G. Randall, suggested Temple do his doctoral dissertation on Noah Brooks, a close confidant and biographer of Lincoln.

Temple hunted down Brooks' papers and later published a book about him.

Temple admitted one of his proudest moments was getting a plaque placed on the grave of Thomas Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's father, acknowledging his service as an ensign, or second lieutenant, in the Kentucky militia. Thomas Lincoln is buried just south of Charleston, Illinois, near where he lived and farmed.

While Abraham Lincoln had a strained relationship with his father, Temple sought to repair Thomas Lincoln's reputation, proving, among other things, that as a military officer, "his dad could read and write. (He had to because) he had records to keep."

Emery said Temple is probably "the world's expert on Thomas Lincoln. Again, he's the world's expert on a lot of different things. That's nothing new."

A native of Ohio, Temple attended a one-room schoolhouse in Delaware County which is about 25 miles north of Columbus and finished out in Marion County, also in the north-central part of the state.

Temple served during World War II as a junior officer on Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s staff, where he befriended "Ike."

After earning his doctorate in history, Temple taught at Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee before beginning a more-than-five-decade career at the Illinois State Archives in Springfield. He retired at 92 in 2016.

Teena Groves started at the state archives as a clerk in 1984 and typed many of Temple's books.

"He still calls me his secretary," Groves joked.

And, no, Groves isn't surprised Temple is working at 100.

"He's still got it," Groves said. "He tells me that as much as he misses Sandy (his wife of 43 years, who died in 2022), he must still have work to do. That's what I told him, As long as people keep asking you for help and you keep helping, yes, you still have work to do."

Holzer, the New York author, turns 75 on Monday. He corresponded with Temple as a teenager about Lincoln.

"So he gets the blame for everything I've done wrong since," Holzer joked.

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Temple, Holzer added, has "always been a willing participant in the formative process (of writing). He'll talk to you cogently, usefully, inspiringly about any subject. That's his nature and that's his spirit."

As for the Maltby story, "It'll take me a while to do it because I work slowly now," Temple said. "I don't do computers, so I depend on other people to help me with research. I'm just lucky my mind is still working."

Temple can point to some good genes for his longevity. His mother died at 89 and his father farmed until he died at 85.

"I've seen the world rotate a good many times," Temple said. "I've had so many great friends. I couldn't stay living alone without such good friends. I've been such a fortunate man."

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Wayne Temple a preeminent Lincoln scholar turns 100 years old