What did Abraham Lincoln's voice sound like?

Answer 1

Abraham Lincoln's voice was never recorded, since he lived before such technology existed, however historical records from the time indicate that his voice was relatively high pitched. This is in contrary to the way he is usually depicted in dramatic presentations. In any event, we will never know exactly what he sounded like. Here are some excerpts from newspapers describing how they thought he sounded:

Lincoln's voice was, when he first began speaking, shrill, squeaking, piping, unpleasant; his general look, his form, his pose, the color of his flesh, wrinkled and dry, his sensitiveness, and his momentary diffidence, everything seemed to be against him, but he soon recovered.
--William H. Herndon letter, July 19, 1887

But whenever he began to talk, his eyes flashed and every facial movement helped express his idea and feeling. Then involuntarily vanished all thought or consciousness of his uncouth appearance, or awkward manner, or even his high keyed, unpleasant voice.
--Abram Bergen in Intimate Memories of Lincoln

The [second] inaugural address was received in most profound silence. Every word was clear and audible as the ringing and somewhat shrill tones of Lincoln's voice sounded over the vast concourse.
--Noah Brooks in Washington in Lincoln's Time


According to Tom Schwartz, the Illinois State Historian TomSchwartz: He had a high pitched voice. His formative years were in Kentucky and Southern Indiana so he was around people with a Southern accent. The Library of Congress has audio tapes of the Southern Indiana accent that both Sam Waterson and Hal Holbrook based their accents upon. http://www.americanpresidents.org/chat062899.asp

Answer 2

I don't believe so, infact, the only camera they had back then was picture, no sounds at all, and I don't think they had tape recorder's back then either, so chances are, no, Abraham Lincoln's voice probably was NEVER recorded, BUT, it might have, we'll have to see more into this question, maybe it is some mystery, like on the American Dad® Television Series, when Steve saw a wierd triangle on peanut butter jars, and found Lincoln's paper when he was assasinated, so I don't know, we'll have to figure it out in the future.

~Evan