Ancestors, family and early life Joshua Fry Speed was born at
Farmington, Louisville, Kentucky, to Judge
John Speed and Lucy Gilmer Speed (née Fry) on November 14, 1814. On his father's side, Speed's ancestry can be traced back to 17th-century cartographer and historian
John Speed. John Speed's great-grandfather (James Speed) emigrated to Virginia in 1695. James Speed's grandson, Captain James Speed, fought in the
American Revolution and was seriously wounded in 1781, resulting in the Continental Congress awarding him 7,500 acres in the territory of Kentucky. He settled there in 1782 and became a judge and land speculator, eventually accumulating 45,000 acres in central Kentucky and joining the territorial conventions by which Kentucky became separated from Virginia. One of Captain Speed's six children, John Speed, owned a store in the 1790s and operated a salt works using leased slaves. In the 1800s, his father gave him a large tract on which to begin farming. He grew staples and the labor-intensive cash crop of hemp. He would acquire other businesses as well, including a smithery. By his death in 1840, he had become one of Kentucky's largest slave-owners with 54. In 1808, following the death of his first wife, John Speed married Lucy Gilmer Fry. She had come from Virginia, where her family was close to
Thomas Jefferson. Her father had inherited considerable wealth in land and slaves in Virginia, but left for Kentucky in 1788 or 1789. There, he opened a school in his home, where he taught a number of boys who later became prominent. Joshua Speed was the fifth of 11 children from the marriage; one of his siblings died in infancy the year Joshua was born. Joshua remained close to his mother until her death, but he seems to have had a strained relationship with his father, who complained of "all your abuse of me" when Joshua was 15. Depression seems to have run in the family, with evidence in his father, two of his brothers—James Speed showed signs of clinical depression—and Joshua himself. Lincoln even observed this in Joshua, remarking, "You are 'naturally of a nervous temperament.
Education and clerkship Despite having had little formal education himself, Joshua's father wanted his children to have that advantage. Joshua was tutored by his maternal grandfather, Joshua Fry, and attended
St. Joseph's College near
Bardstown. Before completing college, however, he fell ill. He returned home and, despite his father's opposition, argued that he was ready to begin a career. He spent two to three years as a clerk in the largest wholesale establishment in
Louisville. He then moved to
Springfield, Illinois.
Career Speed decided to try his fortune in the
Midwest; in 1835 he set out for Springfield, Illinois. At the time, Springfield had a population of fewer than 1,500 people. Almost immediately upon arriving there, Speed engaged in
merchandising and assisted in editing a local newspaper.
Speed and Lincoln Speed had heard young Abraham Lincoln deliver a speech on a stump when Lincoln was running for election to the Illinois legislature. On April 15, 1837, Lincoln arrived at Springfield, the new state capital, to seek his fortune as a young lawyer, whereupon he met Joshua Speed at the general store Speed ran. Lincoln sublet Joshua's apartment above Speed's store, becoming his roommate, sharing a bed with him for four years, and becoming his lifelong best friend. Although bed-sharing between same sexes was a reasonably common practice in this period, this has led to speculation, including by Professor
Thomas Balcerski, regarding Lincoln's sexuality. On March 30, 1840, Judge John Speed died. Joshua announced plans to sell his store and return to his parents' large
plantation house,
Farmington, near
Louisville, Kentucky. Lincoln, though notoriously awkward and shy around women, was then engaged to
Mary Todd, a vivacious young society woman also from Kentucky. As the dates approached for both Speed's departure and Lincoln's marriage, Lincoln broke the engagement on the planned day of the wedding, January 1, 1841. Speed departed as planned, leaving Lincoln mired in depression and
guilt. Seven months later, in July 1841, Lincoln, still depressed, decided to visit Speed in Kentucky. Speed welcomed Lincoln to his paternal house, where the latter spent a month regaining his mental health. During his stay at Farmington, Lincoln rode into Louisville almost daily to discuss legal matters of the day with Attorney
James Speed, Joshua's older brother. James Speed lent Lincoln books from his law library. Joshua Speed and Lincoln disagreed over slavery, especially Speed's argument that Northerners should not care. In 1855, Lincoln wrote to Speed: During Lincoln's presidential administration (March 4, 1861 – April 15, 1865), he offered Speed several government appointments. Speed refused each time, choosing to help in other ways. Speed disagreed with Lincoln on the
slavery question but remained loyal, and coordinated
Union activities in Kentucky during the
American Civil War. His brother,
James Speed, served as Lincoln's
Attorney General beginning in November 1864, after the resignation of
Edward Bates. In explaining the nomination to Congress, Lincoln acknowledged that he did not know James as well as he knew Joshua.
Later activities After the
assassination of Lincoln by
John Wilkes Booth, Speed organized a memorial service in Louisville for the departed leader. He also pledged his support to the new President
Andrew Johnson administration (April 15, 1865, to March 3, 1869). Sixty members of the Speed family gave money for a monument to honor Lincoln in Springfield. Joshua Speed also wrote lengthy letters to
William Herndon, a former law partner of Lincoln who had set about to write a biography of Lincoln. ==Death and legacy==