973.7L63 M3338 C2M22L cop. 3 McMurtry, R. Gerald The Lincolns in Elizabethtown Kentucky LINCOLN ROOM UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY presented by PT?ATT HOLL-^TTON McMURTRY, R. GERALD THE LINCOLNS in ELIZABETHTOWN KENTUCKY Lincolniana Publishers Fort Wayne, Indiana Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign http://archive.org/details/lincolnsinelizabOOilmcmu cop 3 Lincoln he The Lincolns in Elizabeth to wn, Ken tucky By R. GERALD McMURTRY (Native of Elizabeth town) Librarian LINCOLN NATIONAL LIFE FOUNDATION (First Thousand) COPYRIGHT Lincolniana Publishers FORT WAYNE, INDIANA 1932 COPYRIGHT, 1932 LINCOLNIANA PUBLISHERS The Lincolns in Elizabethtown, Kentucky R. GERALD McMURTRY ELIZABETHTOWN— 1793 Elizabethtown is closely associated with the Lincoln family. It is the county seat of Hardin County, and is located in Severn's Valley. The set- tlement was named for an early pioneer, John Severn, who was the first to discover the valley 1 . Elizabethtown is situated approximately fifty miles south of Louisville on the Dixie Highway U. S. 3lW. In 1793 Colonel Andrew Hynes 2 had the settlement surveyed and laid off into lots and streets, but the town was not regularly established until the July term of Court in 1797 3 . The early settlement consisted originally of three forts situated on sites suitable for resisting Indian attacks. These forts formed a triangle, each point a mile apart 4 . The forts were built of logs and probably were stockaded. They also served as homes, and they were occupied by the Helm, Haycraft, and Hynes families. These forts were frequently attacked by the Indians, and the early history of Elizabethtown has some vivid stories of these encount- ers 5 . The town was named Elizabethtown for the wife of Andrew Hynes, who had foreseen the possibilities of a permanent settlement in this place 6 . The early settlement in a few years took on the aspect of a village, and tradesmen, professional men, and others came to reside there. Social life was developed to a high degree and schools were established, provided in most cases with excellent teachers. Even at this early date the town could occasionally boast of theatricals, and a dancing master lived within its limits as early as 1800 7 . The village was not an unattractive 8 settlement inhabited by poor and miserable people, but was a village composed of good families from Penn- 1. Haycraft's History of Elizabethtown, Ky., page 11. 2. Haycraft's History of Elizabethtown, Ky., page 24. 3. Haycraft's History of Elizabethtown, Ky., page 27. 4. Haycraft's History of Elizabethtown, Ky., page 12. 5. Haycraft's History of Elizabethtown, Ky., pages 12-13. 6. Haycraft's History of Elizabethtown, Ky., page 24. 7. Haycraft's History of Elizabethtown, Ky., page 74. 8. Beveridge, Abraham Lincoln, page 22. sylvania, Virginia, and numerous other states and countries — families who, feeling the pioneer spirit, had come to a new settlement to make their homes, which was at that time the far west. Such was the town when Thomas Lincoln arrived there possibly for the first time in the year 1796 9 . THOMAS LINCOLN IN ELIZABETHTOWN The Lincoln family was living in Jefferson County, an adjoining county of Hardin, when the early settlement of Elizabethtown was started. A tragedy 10 was to occur in the Lincoln household before Thomas Lincoln became interested in the little settlement to the south of Jefferson County. Captain Abraham Lincoln, grandfather of the President, migrated 11 from Virginia to Kentucky with his family in 1782, and in 1786 when Thomas Lincoln, father of the President, was ten years old, his father was massacred by a Wabash Indian who was with a raiding party of Indians engaged in an attack against the white settlements near Louisville. The widow and her five children moved to Washington County 1 ' 2 after the death of the father, and the first record of Thomas Lincoln, the youngest son, in Elizabethtown is July 13, 1796, when he received $9.56 from Samuel Haycraft, 13 probably for services while employed by the latter. On August 27, 1797, Thomas Lincoln is listed on the Hardin County tax list as twenty-one years old or over, 14 which indicates that he was still a resident of Hardin County, and as he received pay from Samuel Haycraft for work done on a mill and mill race, located just over the limits of Elizabethtown on Severn's Valley Creek, one would infer that he was probably a temporary resident of Elizabethtown the latter part of the year 1797. 15 The mill and mill race is shown on an early map of Elizabethtown dated August 19, 1816. This race was located on an unimproved plot of ground between Cross Street (Dixie Avenue) on the south, and Poplar Street on the north. Race Street, the street nearest the mill race, was located to the west, and Mill and Water Streets were located to the east. The boundary of the Elizabethtown limits to the east was the Haycraft Line, which was in close proximity to the center of the town. The prop- erty to the east of the line was the property of Samuel Haycraft. During Thomas Lincoln's residence in Elizabethtown he was employed to construct a saw mill for Denton Geoghegan; after he had completed 9. Lincoln Lore No. 44. 10. Lincoln Lore No. 171. 11. Beveridge, Abraham Lincoln, page 9. 12. Lincoln Lore No. 44. 13. Lincoln Lore No. 44. 14. Lincoln Lore No. 44. 15. Lincoln Lore No. 44. the work there was a disagreement between Lincoln and Geoghegan in regard to wages, and a suit was taken to court. In a magistrate's court on March 25, 1807, Lincoln 16 received judgment for the amount due and costs. Geoghegan appealed the case but the magistrate's decision was confirmed. The tradition is current that Thomas Lincoln was an expert carpenter and cabinet maker, and that many houses in the town were partly con- structed by him. 17 There is a possibility that some of these houses may be standing today. Many pieces of furniture are also treasured by Eliza- bethtown residents as being the work of Thomas Lincoln. There are also records where Lincoln was employed as a guard 18 of prisoners in Hardin County, and he served on juries 19 on numerous occasions. Documentary evidence through court records and early manuscripts shows that Thomas Lincoln resided permanently in Elizabethtown from 1803 to 1808. 20 Many itemized accounts during this period establish the fact that Thomas Lincoln had excellent credit 21 with the early merchants, as many of his accounts amount to as high as one hundred dollars, and in some cases more. These accounts also show where payments were made and the accounts squared. These account books readily prove that the father of the President was reliable and dependable in financial obligations, and that he was also a respectable pioneer citizen of the community. On June 12, 1806, Thomas Lincoln journeyed to Washington County and married 22 Nancy Hanks. With his bride he immediately returned to Elizabethtown to reside, and in February of the following year the couple's first child, Sarah, was born. In the fall of the year 1808 the Lincoln family moved 23 to the South Fork farm which was destined to be the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln, however, did not sever his connections with Elizabethtown, which was the nearest town of any consequence to his farm. Since the town was the county seat, it was necessary for him to come there occa- sionally in order to transact his business affairs and to pay his taxes. Then, too, he was frequently engaged in work for the county which necessitated visiting Elizabethtown. Little Abraham, who was born on the South Fork farm, February 12, 1809, very probably came to the county seat with his father on county 16. Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, pagre 161. 17. Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, page 159. 18. Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, page 181. 19. Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, page 182. 20. Lincoln Lore No. 44. 21. Lincoln Lore No. 44. 22. Lincoln Lore No. 44. 23. Lincoln Lore No. 44. court days, and up to the time of the migration from Kentucky, Eliza- bethtown was the largest settlement he had ever seen. A story told by the Hon. John B. Helm, 24 one time a resident of Hannibal, Missouri, relates that when Helm was employed as a clerk in an Elizabethtown store he occasionally saw young Abe. Helm states further that when Lincoln was a candidate for the Presidency in I860, he visited Helm in Hannibal and said to the men who had accompanied him to see his friend : "Gentlemen, here is the first man I ever saw that wore store clothes all the week, and this is the same man who fed me sugar as I sat upon a keg in the store." This story is purely traditional and it is thought that Mr. Helm has confused Lincoln with a step-brother, John D. Johnston, 25 a son of Sarah Bush Johnston, who, as Samuel Haycraft says, helped to carry bundles for his mother. It must be remembered that Lincoln was only seven years old when he left Kentucky. Sufficient documentary evidence has been established to show that Abraham Lincoln passed through Elizabethtown 26 when the Lincoln fam- ily migrated to Indiana in the year 1816. After the migration of the Lincolns to Indiana in 1816, nothing is heard of them in Elizabethtown until 1818 when Thomas Lincoln, after the death of his wife, Nancy Hanks, returned and married Sarah Bush Johnston. 27 The couple returned immediately to Indiana. An appropriate bronze tablet 28 has been erected in the Elizabethtown Court House yard commemorating the fact that Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks were once residents of the town. The stone base for the tablet was secured from the farm on Mill Creek owned by Thomas Lincoln. The inscription is as follows: Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks Lincoln The Parents of Abraham Lincoln Lived in Elizabethtown from the time of their marriage, June 12, 1806, until their re- moval, in the fall of 1808, to the farm near Hodgenville where Abraham Lincoln was born. Sarah, their first child, was born here. A year after the death of Nancy Hanks Lincoln in Indiana, Thomas Lincoln returned 24. Haycraft's History of Elizabethtown, Ky., page 113. 25. Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, page 153. 26. Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, page 290. 27. Elizabethtown Woman's Club— Elizabethtown 0.480. 28. Ibid. and on December 2, 1819, married here Mrs. Sally Bush Johnston, a resident of Elizabethtown, who became the beloved Foster mother of Abraham Lincoln. 29 THE ELIZABETHTOWN-LINCOLN CABIN That Thomas Lincoln lived in Elizabethtown is a fact beyond doubt, but as to the location of his home, and the town lots that he paid taxes 30 on, they have yet to be discovered. It is most likely that a cabin was built by Thomas Lincoln before his marriage to Nancy Hanks in 1806, and it resembled the cabin located on the South Fork farm. Thomas and Nancy probably moved into this home immediately upon their arrival at Elizabethtown from Washington County. In 1793 when the town was laid off into streets and alleys by Andrew Hynes on his land, fifty-one lots were surveyed, each containing one-half acre, with the exception of the corner lots on the public square, which contained one-quarter of an acre. Several sales were conducted by the town trustees, and the most desirable properties sold for as much as three pounds ten shillings, and others went lower. Samuel Haycraft, Jr., in his History of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, written in 1869, says that Thomas Lincoln erected a dwelling in Elizabeth- town which was then still standing. 31 It is very likely that Haycraft has confused the Sarah Bush Johnston cabin, which was standing in 1869, with the cabin of Thomas Lincoln. It is doubtful if the Thomas Lincoln cabin was standing in Elizabethtown in 1869. There is a tradition that Thomas Lincoln built a cabin 32 just over the Haycraft Line outside the city limits, on a lot originally owned by Hay- craft, but then most likely owned by Robert Houston. The site is 300 feet north of the Dixie Highway over Severn's Valley Creek, near the L. & N. railroad bridge, which is situated near the depot. An old poplar tree stood near the site until a few years ago. Under the date of the September Term of Court in the year 1812, 33 Samuel Haycraft writes of a doggery (groggery) in the present Jones House above the Eagle House (Smith Hotel site) as the only log house of an ancient date (probably referring to construction) standing, except the old cabin that the father of the President lived in. This cabin un- doubtedly was not within the city limits of the original town, but across the Haycraft Line, and was probably the Sarah Bush Johnston cabin which has been confused in so many instances with the home of Thomas Lincoln. 29. Warren, 0.1457. A Day's Tour in Old Kentucky. 30. Lincoln Lore No. 44. 31. Haycraft's History of Elizabethtown, Ky. f page 62. 32. Warren, 0.1457. A Day's Tour in Old Kentucky, page 38. 33. Haycraft's History of Elizabethtown, Ky., page 62. MAP OF ELIZABETHTOWN, KENTUCKY Legend A. Elizabethtown Court House Square. B. Site where the Sarah Bush Johnston cabin stood, after being moved from lot G. C. Site of mill which Thomas Lincoln helped to construct in 1797. D. Site of the old Severn's Valley Baptist Church, the oldest organiza- tion of that faith extant west of the Allegheny Mountains. E. Home of Benjamin Ogden, the first Methodist preacher in the western country. F. An early Elizabethtown tannery. G. The lot on which the Sarah Bush Johnston cabin was originally erected, containing one and one-quarter acres of ground, the property of Sarah Bush Johnston. Deed Book G, page 213 — Deed Book L, page 219. Lot 25, The lot on which the Samuel Patton house stood, where Thomas Lincoln and Sarah Bush Johnston were married. Lot 1, The lot on which Benjamin Helm constructed in 1802 one of the first brick houses in the western country. (Skaggs Building.) Note: All of the lots to the west of the Haycraft Line were orig- inally the property of Andrew Hynes, while all of the property east of the Haycraft Line was originally the property of Samuel Haycraft, Sr. On the north side of (Severn's) Valley Creek is shown the mill race that Thomas Lincoln was employed to construct by Samuel Haycraft, Sr. ELIZABETHTOWN Lot Owners 1797 (Year town was regularly established) 1. James Crutcher 18. James Crutcher 35. Samuel Bush 2. Ichabod Radley 19. Benjamin Helm 36. George Helm 3 20. William Muller 37. Samuel Bush 4. Joseph Chaflin 21. Morris Miles 38. Isaac Bush 5. James Crutcher 22. James Crutcher 39. James Crutcher 6. Charles Helm 23. Edward Rawlings 40. James Crutcher 7. Benjamin Helm 24. Morris Miles 41. Benjamin Helm 8. Benjamin Helm 25. Aaron Rawlings 42. Benjamin Helm 9. Asa Coombs 26. Aaron Rawlings 43. Bleakly & Montgomery 10. Andrew Hynes 27. Aaron Rawlings 44. Bleakly & Montgomery 11. George Helm 28. Christopher Bush 45. Benjamin Helm 12 29- Andrew Hynes 46. Bleakly & Montgomery 13. David Vance 30. James Perciful 47. Bleakly & Montgomery 14. George Helm 31. Christopher Bush 48. James Crutcher 15. Samuel Bush 32. Andrew Hynes 49 16. Daniel Wade 33. Christopher Bush 50 17 34. Garrard Bowling 51 In the year 1808 Thomas Lincoln listed for taxes two lots 34 in Eliza- bethtown, originally owned by Hynes. The taxes were paid on an assessed valuation of $40.00. This valuation of the property indicates that a cabin was probably located on one of the lots. Haycraft, in describing the town in 1801, states that buildings were erected by George Berry, Jacob Bruner, Samuel Patton, Mrs. Jane Ewin, Mrs. Boling, Mrs. Llewellyn, Thomas Lincoln (father of the President), James Crutcher, Asa Coombs, Thomas Davis, Henry Ewin, James Love and David Vance. In describing these buildings Haycraft says that hewed log houses were gradually replacing round log houses, and that these buildings had shingled roofs fastened with poplar pegs, plank floors and windows with sash and glass or greased paper instead of glass. From this description it is evident that the cabin homes in Elizabethtown were comfortable and suitable .to pioneer needs. The alley on which the traditional Lincoln cabin stood was not up to the year 1820 within the town limits and was not subject to town tax. The eastern boundary of the town was the Haycraft Line separating Haycraft's land from that of Hynes. The cabin mentioned by early biog- raphers stood on Haycraft's land, while the tax list shows Lincoln's holding to have been on land originally owned by Hynes within the town limits. A cabin of which a picture has been published by G. A. Carpenter, once a resident of Elizabethtown, and copyrighted by S. W. Hayward in 1908 as the early home of Abraham Lincoln, and thought by some to be the Elizabethtown Lincoln cabin, have confused the Sarah Bush John- ston cabin for that of the cabin of Thomas Lincoln. The Sarah Bush Johnston cabin was located just out of the city limits as it was over the Haycraft Line. It is probable that Thomas Lincoln constructed more than one cabin in Elizabethtown which has caused so many conflicting statements to be made as to the location of his home. However, it is likely that Lincoln lived in only one cabin in Elizabethtown, and the cabin belonging to Sarah Bush Johnston had no connection with the Lincoln family until the year 1819 when Thomas Lincoln married 35 Mrs. Johnston. The picture of the Elizabethtown cabin should never be confused with the Thomas Lincoln cabin, and it is hoped that when the picture is hereafter used it will be correctly called the home of Abraham Lincoln's step-mother. There is a possibility that the undiscovered Lincoln lots will some day be known. Numerous court records and early manuscripts have as yet failed to reveal their location, but it is hoped that research will continue until they are discovered. The discovery of these lots would be quite an asset to historic Elizabethtown. SARAH BUSH JOHNSTON Sarah Bush Johnston was the daughter of Christopher Bush, 36 who settled in Elizabethtown at an early period. He was of German descent, and was a very industrious and influential citizen. His family was un- 34. Lincoln Lore No. 44. 35. Elizabethtown Woman's Club. Warren 0.480. 36. Haycraft's History of Elizabethtown, Ky., pp. 16, 17. usually large. Most of the Bush family eventually left Kentucky, but Sarah Bush remained as she had married Daniel Johnston, 37 a jailor of Hardin County. Daniel Johnston died about 1816, leaving her with three children. She continued to reside in Elizabethtown. As Thomas Lincoln's wife, Nancy Hanks, had died in October, 1818, while living in Indiana, he decided to visit Elizabethtown again, and while there to call upon his former sweetheart. He was a very successful suitor and on December 2, 1819, he was married to the widow of Daniel Johnston by Rev. George L. Rogers, 38 who was a minister in the Meth- odist Episcopal church. Sarah Bush Johnston in 1818 purchased from Samuel Haycraft a small plot of land containing one and one-quarter acres located just over the Haycraft Line and just outside the city limits. The lot containing one and one-quarter acres is recorded in Deed Book G, page 213. The price paid for the tract was $25.00. This lot belonging to Sarah Bush Johnston had a small cabirij built on it, in which she lived. This cabin was located in the rear of the lot on Main Street between Poplar Street and Cross Street. This cabin of which there is a picture extant has often been confused with the unknown home of Thomas Lincoln and has often been erroneously attributed to be the home of Abraham Lincoln. On December 2, 1819, when Thomas Lincoln and Sarah Bush John- ston were married, the wedding was held in a larger house that adjoined the property of Mrs. Johnston. This log house was built by Samuel Patton 39 on Main Street and was directly in front of the small cabin. The larger house was better suited for the large crowd which was probably present at this ceremony. The house in the year 1819 belonged to Hon. Benjamin Chapeze, a distinguished lawyer, who most likely was living there at that time. The Chapeze family resided in the Patton house until the 14th of April, 1828, when they sold the property to Thomas J. Walker. 40 The building in which the wedding was held was demolished in 1922 and a large brick garage building was erected upon the site. On Feb- ruary 12, 1927, the Elizabethtown Woman's Club appropriately marked the site by placing a bronze marker on the new building. The tablet contains the following words: In a House Which Stood Upon This Lot Were Married on December 2, 1819 Thomas Lincoln The Father and Sarah Bush Johnston The Foster-Mother of Abraham Lincoln. Elizabethtown Woman's Club Feb. 12, 1927 37. Elizabethtown Woman's Club, 0.480, Warren. 38. Elizabethtown Woman's Club, 0.480, Warren. 39. Elizabethtown Woman's Club, 0.480, Warren. 40. Haycraft's History of Elizabethtown, Ky., page 138. Immediately after the wedding Thomas Lincoln and his wife, with her three children, left for the Lincoln home in Indiana where Sarah Bush Johnston was to become the most noble step-mother of all history. The Sarah Bush Johnston property was not sold on her removal, and she retained possession of it until 1829 when the property was sold by her to a -Mr. Wathen (Deed Book L, Page 219) for the sum of $125.00. Thomas Lincoln's name according to law appeared with that of his wife on the deed, and the selling of this property was to be his last connection with Elizabethtown with which he had been closely associated from the year 1796. ELIZABETHTOWN— MARRIAGE CONTACTS It is a singular fact that Abraham Lincoln's marriage to Mary Todd would indirectly connect him with three prominent Elizabethtown charac- ters, two of whom were connected with the town's early history, and possibly one, an acquaintance of his father, and the other to be his friend, a leader in a cause which he had to wage a determined fight to subdue. Todd-Helm Connection Ben Hardin Helm, a native of Elizabethtown and a son of the Gov- ernor of Kentucky, John L. Helm (1850-52, '67), married Emilie Todd, 41 a half-sister of Mrs. Abraham Lincoln. Emilie Todd was a favorite sister of Mary Todd, and she and her husband connected Lincoln indirectly with his early home in Kentucky. Lincoln and Helm were not acquainted at the time of Helm's marriage, but in 1857 Ben Hardin Helm had occasion to go to Springfield, Illinois, 42 on a law case and while there he visited with the Lincolns a week, and he and Lincoln became great friends, although their political ideas were very different. Lincoln and Helm had much in common as they were both from the same community in Kentucky, having been born about fourteen miles apart, and Lincoln made many inquiries about Elizabethtown and Hardin County. As a result of this close friendship, at the outbreak of the war, Lincoln, in April, 1861, offered Helm, who was a West Point graduate, the office of paymaster 43 with the rank of major in the Union Army. This office was a very coveted one, and Mrs. Lincoln was very anxious to have her sister live with her in the White House, but Helm after considering the matter chose to cast his lot with the Confederacy, and on September 20, 1863, Gen. Ben Hardin Helm, Commander of the Orphan Brigade, gave his life for the South on the Battlefield at Chickamauga. 44 The remains of Gen. Ben Hardin Helm are today interred in the Helm Cemetery one mile north of Elizabethtown on the Dixie Highway U. S. 31 W. 41. Katherine Helm — Mary, Wife of Lincoln, page 15. 42. Katherine Helm — Mary, Wife of Lincoln, page 15. 43. Katherine Helm — Mary, Wife of Lincoln, page 183. 44. Katherine Helm — Mary, Wife of Lincoln, page 216. Helm-Edwards Connection Major Benjamin Helm, a resident of Elizabethtown, married the daughter of Hon. Benjamin Edwards. 45 His wife, Mary Edwards, was a sister of Governor Ninian Edwards of Illinois. The son of Governor Edwards, Ninian Wirt Edwards, 46 while a student of Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, married Elizabeth Todd, a sister of Mary Todd. It was in the home of Ninan Wist Edwards that Abraham Lincoln was married to Mary Todd, and it was in this house that Mary Lincoln died 47 in 1882. It is an interesting fact that Major Benjamin Helm erected a brick building 48 in Elizabethtown in 1802 which is standing today (Skaggs property). This building was one of the first brick structures to be erected in the middle west, and it is an odd circumstance that the building was erected across from the alley and within twenty-five feet of the Samuel Patton house in which Thomas Lincoln married Sarah Bush Johnston in 1819. Green-Edwards Connection General Duff Green, an early Elizabethtown merchant and school teacher, married Lucretia Edwards, 49 a daughter of Hon. Benjamin Ed- wards and a sister of Governor Ninian Edwards of Illinois. General Green was a very prominent character who became influential in national politics, as he was a close friend of President Andrew Jackson and a member of his "Kitchen Cabinet", 50 a group of men who more or less controlled the destinies of the nation. Even during Lincoln's admin- istration he was confronted with the tremendous power and influence of Duff Green, a southern political leader. General Green resided in the old Patton House in Elizabethtown which he bought in February, 1814, and he lived there until 1817. 51 The old Patton house was the house in which Thomas Lincoln and Sarah Bush Johnston were married December 2, 1819. LINCOLN-HAYCRAFT LETTERS Samuel Haycraft (Junior), a resident of Elizabethtown, received five letters from Abraham Lincoln. Four of these letters were written while Lincoln was a presidential candidate, and one was written seven days after his election. Three of the letters are of a political nature, and the remaining two concern Lincoln's parentage and his seven-year residence in Kentucky. Exhibit One. Springfield, Illinois, May 28, 1860. Hon. Samuel Haycraft, Elizabethtown, Ky. Dear Sir : Your recent letter without date is received. Also a copy of your speech on the contemplated Daniel Boone Monument, which I have not yet had time to read. In the main you are right about my history. My father was Thomas Lincoln, and Mrs. Sally Johnston was his second wife. You are mistaken about my mother. Her maiden name was Nancy Hanks. I was born February 12, 1809, near where Hog- ginsville (Hodgenville) now is, then in Hardin County. I do not think I ever saw 45. Haycraft's History of Elizabethtown, Ky., page 60. 46. Katherine Helm — Mary, Wife of Lincoln, page 17. 47. Katherine Helm — Mary, Wife of Lincoln, page 299. 48. Haycraft's History of Elizabethtown, Ky., page 75. 49. Haycraft's History of Elizabethtown, Ky., page 111. 50. Haycraft's History of Elizabethtown, Ky., page 111. 51. Haycraft's History of Elizabethtown, Ky., page 138. you, though I very well know who you are — so well that I recognized your hand- writing, on opening your letter, before I saw the signature. My recollection is that Ben Helm was the first clerk, that you succeeded him, that Jack Thomas and William Farleigh graduated in the same office, and that your handwritings were all very similar. Am I right ? My father has been dead near ten years; but my step-mother (Mrs. Johnston) is still living. I am really very glad of your letter, and shall be pleased to receive another at any time. 52 ., , Yours very truly, A x J J ' A. Lincoln. Major Ben Helm was appointed clerk pro tempore during the June term of court, 1799- He gave bond for $3,000 with John Rowan and Felix Grundy as sureties. 53 Jack Thomas worked as a deputy clerk of the Hardin County court in 1807-1808. In May, 1810, he was appointed clerk of the Grayson Circuit court and during the same year he received the appointment of clerk of the Grayson County court. His father, Hardin Thomas, resided in a house in Elizabethtown, in which the joiner's work was constructed by Thomas Lincoln. 54 William Farleigh was sworn in as Deputy Court Clerk of the Hardin County court, January 20, 1817. 55 Exhibit Two. (Private) Springfield, Illinois, June 4, 1860. Hon. Samuel Haycraft, Elizabethtown, Ky. Dear Sir: Your second letter, dated May 31st, is received. You suggest that a visit to the place of my nativity might be pleasant to me. Indeed it would. But would it be safe ? Would not the people lynch me ? The place on Knob Creek, mentioned by Mr. Read, I remember very well ; but I was not born there. As my parents have told me, I was born on Nolin, very much nearer Hodgen's Mill than the Knob Creek place is. My earliest recollection, how- ever, is of the Knob Creek place. Like you, I belonged to the Whig party from its origin to its close. I never belonged to the American party organization ; nor even to a party called a Union party, though I hope I neither am, nor ever have been, less devoted to the Union than yourself or any other patriotic man. It may be altogether without interest to let you know that my wife is a daughter of the late Robert S. Todd, of Lexington, Ky., and that a half-sister of hers is the wife of Ben Hardin Helm, born and raised at your town, but residing at Louisville now, as I believe. 56 , r , Yours very truly, A Lmc0LN Abraham Lincoln was born on the South Fork of Nolin River. This river has more bends and turns than any river in the United States accord- ing to a report issued by the United States Geological Survey in March, 1932. The river winds twenty miles to the air line distance of six miles. There is a tradition that an early pioneer named Linn disappeared while in the vicinity of the river; probably he was drowned or killed by the Indians, and as the searchers reported "No Linn" the name Nolin was given to the river. Exhibit Three. Springfield, 111., Aug. 16, 1860. Hon. Samuel Haycraft, Elizabethtown, Ky. My Dear Sir: A correspondent of the New York Herald, who was here a week writing to that paper, represents me as saying I have been invited to visit Kentucky, but that I 52. Nicolay & Hay. Complete Works of A. L. Vol. 6, p. 21. 53. Haycraft's History of Elizabethtown, Ky., page 45. 54. Haycraft's History of Elizabethtown, Ky., page 55. 55. Haycraft's History of Elizabethtown, Ky., page 66. 56. Nicolay & Hay, Complete Works of A. L. Vol. 6, page 39. suspected it was a trap to inveigle me into Kentucky in order to do violence to me. This is wholly a mistake. I said no such thing. I do not remember, but I did possibly mention my correspondence with you, but very certainly I was not guilty of stating or intimating a suspicion of any intended violence, deception, or other wrong against me by you or any other Kentuckian. Thinking this Herald correspondence must reach you, I think it due to myself to enter my protest against this part of it. I scarcely think the correspondent was malicious, but rather that he misused what was said. 57 Yours very truly, A. Lincoln. Exhibit Four. Springfield, Illinois, August 23, 1860. Hon. Samuel Haycraft, Elizabethtown, Ky. My Dear Sir: Yours of the 19th just received. I now fear I may have given you some uneasi- ness by my last letter. I did not mean to intimate that I had, to any extent, been involved or embarrassed by you ; nor yet to draw from you anything to relieve myself from difficulty. My only object was to assure you that I had not, as represented by the Herald correspondent, charged you with an attempt to inveigle me into Kentucky to do me violence. I believe no such thing of you or of Kentuckians generally ; and I dislike to be represented to them as slandering them in any way. 58 Yours very truly, A. Lincoln. Immediately after Lincoln's election Samuel Haycraft, Jr., no doubt wrote to Lincoln asking him to use his influence in securing the position of postmaster of Elizabethtown for D. C. S. Wintersmith. R. L. Wintersmith, Sr., voted for Lincoln in his first campaign for the presidency, and he was the only man living in Elizabethtown to cast his vote for Lincoln. Immediately after Lincoln's election, he went to Washington and called upon the President, and while there he secured the appointment of his son, D. C. S. Wintersmith, to the office of post- master of Elizabethtown. 59 Exhibit Five. Springfield, 111., Nov. 13, 1860. Hon. Samuel Haycraft, Elizabethtown, Ky. My Dear Sir : Yours of the 19th is just received. I can only answer briefly. Rest assured fully that the good people of the South, who will put themselves in the same temper and mood towards me which you do, will find no cause to complain of me. While I cannot, as yet, make any committal as to offices, I sincerely hope I may find it in my power to oblige the friends of Mr. Wintersmith. 60 Yours very truly, A. Lincoln. SUMMARY OF LINCOLN-ELIZABETHTOWN CONTACTS The Hardin county court house located in Elizabethtown is one of the chief documentary sources of Lincolniana in Kentucky. 61 In 1797 Thomas Lincoln was employed by Samuel Haycraft, Sr., to work on a mill race just outside the limits of Elizabethtown. 62 Thomas Lincoln owned, and paid taxes on, two lots within the city 57. Nicolay & Hay, Complete Works of A. L. Vol. 6, page 51. 58. Nicolay & Hay, Complete Works of A. L. Vol. 6, page 53. 59. Sommer's History of Elizabethtown, Ky., Chapter IX. 60. Nicolay & Hay, Complete Works of A. L., Vol. 6, page 69. 61. Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, opposite page 112. 62. Lincoln Lore No. 44. limits of Elizabethtown. 63 He worked as a laborer, carpenter and cabinet maker while living in Elizabethtown. 64 Immediately after their marriage on June 12, 1806, Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks made their first home in Elizabethtown. 65 Sarah Lincoln, an older sister of Abraham Lincoln, was born in Eliza- bethtown, February 10, 1807. 66 Of the total value of property listed in 1814 in which there are ninety-eight persons listed, only fifteen show a greater property value than that of Thomas Lincoln. 67 Abraham Lincoln in the year 1816 passed through Elizabethtown on the way to Indiana. 68 Thomas Lincoln and Christopher Bush signed the Lincoln-Johnston marriage bond in Elizabethtown, December 2, 1819. 69 Thomas Lincoln married his second wife, Sarah Bush Johnston, in Elizabethtown, December 2, 1819. 70 Rev. George L. Rogers, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, performed the marriage ceremony for Thomas Lincoln and Sarah Bush Johnston. 71 . Peter Cartright, the noted pioneer Methodist preacher, and an oppo- nent of Abraham Lincoln in 1846 for Congress, voted in an Elizabethtown election in 1822. 72 Thomas Lincoln and Sarah Bush Johnston sold their real estate in Elizabethtown to a man named Wathen in 1829 for $125.00. 73 The nephew of Mrs. Benjamin Helm 74 and Mrs. Duff Green, 75 resi- dents of Elizabethtown, married the sister of Mrs. Abraham Lincoln. 76 Abraham Lincoln, while a candidate and president-elect in I860, wrote five letters to Samuel Haycraft, a resident of Elizabethtown. 77 Major Ben Hardin Helm, a native of Elizabethtown, and a brother- in-law of Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, is buried in the Helm cemetery a mile north of the Elizabethtown court house. 78 Robert L. Wintersmith, Sr., was the only man in Elizabethtown who voted for Lincoln in I860. 79 General Duff Green, who married Lucretia Edwards, an aunt of Ninan Wirt Edwards, who was a brother-in-law of Abraham Lincoln, lived in the same house in Elizabethtown in which Thomas Lincoln was married to Sarah Bush Johnston. 80 In 1864 Abraham Lincoln received in Elizabethtown thirty votes for the presidency. 81 63. Lincoln Lore No. 44. 64. Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, page 159. 65. Lincoln Lore No. 24. 66. Lincoln Lore No. 24. 67. Compilation of Hardin County Court Record. 68. Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, page 290. 69. Elizabethtown Woman's Club, Sarah Bush Lincoln, 0.480. 70. Elizabethtown Woman's Club, Sarah Bush Lincoln, 0.480. 71. Elizabethtown Woman's Club, Sarah Bush Lincoln, 0.480. 72. Hardin County Court Record. 73. Hardin County Court Record. 74. Haycraft's History of Elizabethtown, Ky., page 60. 75. Haycraft's History of Elizabethtown, Ky., page 111. 76. Katherine Helm— Mary, Wife of Lincoln, page 17. 77. Nicolay & Hay, Complete Works of A. L., Vol. 6, pp. 21, 39, 51, 53, 69. 78. Thompson, The History of the Orphan Brigade. 79. Sommer's History of Elizabethtown, Ky., Chapter IX. 80. Haycraft's History of Elizabethtown, Ky., page 138. 81. Louisville Daily Journal, Nov. 9, 1864. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 973 7L63C2M22L C003 THE LINCOLNS IN ELIZABETHTOWN, KENTUCKY 3 0112 031802702