CritterBlog

Fido, Abraham Lincoln’s Dog

March 30, 2008 – 5:07 pm by R. Gilbert

Once a common name for dogs, “Fido” comes from the Latin word fidelis, meaning “faithful.” Abraham Lincoln’s dog Fido was a yellowish brown mongrel, thought to have been born in 1855. It is said that Fido loved attention, and was known to enjoy chasing his own tail. He is the first President’s dog known to have been photographed.

When Mr. Lincoln left Springfield, Illinois, his home of 17 years, on the brink of civil war, to take office in the nation’s capital, he said, “I now leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington.” However, Fido was frightened by the fireworks and cannon fire that announced the victory of Abraham Lincoln in the presidential election of 1860. Mr. Lincoln made the decision to leave the dog with two boys from the neighborhood, John and Frank, the sons of a carpenter named John Eddy Roll.

The Rolls were made to promise that Fido would be let into the house whenever he scratched at the front door. They were asked to never scold Fido for having muddy paws. Fido was to be allowed in the dining room at mealtime, where he was used to being fed scraps from the table.

So that Fido would feel more at home, the Lincolns left their horsehair sofa with the Roll family.

When President Lincoln was murdered by an assassin in 1865, his horse, Old Bob, was the rider-less horse with a pair of boots turned backward in the stirrups in the funeral procession in Springfield. Fido stood and watched as they went by.

Fido died a year later. He was stabbed to death by a drunk.

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Further Information
Abraham Lincoln, Pets and Children (Abraham Lincoln’s Classroom)
First Dogs (Senator Kit Bond’s Kids Page)
Lincoln Pets (National Park Service)
Fido-The Lincolns’ Dog (Abraham Lincoln Research Site)