•:■■ 
 
 gft» 
 
 IN 
 
 DEFENSE OF THE 
 LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 JOHN HERR 
 
 1m 
 
 wm 
 
 HH 
 
In Defense of the 
 Lincoln Family 
 
 This book, as the author has 
 said in his foreword, was not writ- 
 ten for publication which makes it 
 interesting. The author, Mr. John 
 Herr, of Lebanon, Indiana, has 
 made a lifetime study of the Lin- 
 coln family and the Lincoln coun- 
 try. He has traveled and studied 
 the Lincoln country so thoroughly 
 that his maps are drawn from 
 memory. The Lincoln family has 
 been his hobby. His conclusions 
 and reactions to what others have 
 written on the Lincoln family 
 were written by him just as if 
 he were frankly expressing him- 
 self in conversation, sometimes 
 most emphatically, to a sympa- 
 thetic listener. Consequently, 
 there is no attempt made to hold 
 his punches or to polish his criti- 
 cisms of or his objections to what 
 the historians have written. He 
 says what he thinks, and tells 
 why he thinks as he does. Had 
 Mr. Herr been writing for publi- 
 cation he might have been more 
 cautious, but he would have been 
 much less interesting. 
 
 The over-all idea in, the book is 
 the defense of the Lincoln family; 
 a vindication of the villifications 
 made by writers and biographers 
 who are quoted. Thomas Lincoln 
 has been made the central figure 
 and it is the purpose of the au- 
 thor to show that while in the 
 prime of his life — especially while 
 he lived in Kentucky, where the 
 darkest stories seemed to be fas- 
 tened on him and his family — that 
 these writers, in the light of mod- 
 ern knowledge, were woefully ig- 
 norant of the facts about Thomas 
 Lincoln. 
 
 THE UOBSON PRESS 
 
 Incorporated 
 
 CINCINNATI, OHIO 
 15 WEST SIXTH STREET 
 
 Post paid $3.00 
 
LINCOLN ROOM 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 LIBRARY 
 
 MEMORIAL 
 
 the Class of 1901 
 
 founded by 
 
 HARLAN HOYT HORNER 
 
 and 
 
 HENRIETTA CALHOUN HORNER 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 http://archive.org/details/indefenseoflincoOOherr 
 
"Surely Each Man Has 
 As Strong A Motive Now 
 To Preserve Our Liberties 
 
 As Each Had Then To 
 Establish Them" 
 
 (Message to Congress July 4, I860 
 
IN 
 DEFENSE OF THE 
 LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN HERR 
 
 THE HOBSON PRESS, CINCINNATI, OHIO 
 Incorporated 
 
 15 WEST SIXTH STREET 
 IMS 
 
Copyrighted 1943 
 
 By 
 
 JOHN HERR 
 
 Made In U. S. A. 
 
7 11.7 n*$ 
 
 To 
 
 OUR PROTECTOR 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 The pages of this work were never written 
 for publication. The original manuscript, how- 
 ever, fell into the hands of a friend who said, 
 "Have it published — we'll take the criticism if 
 you'll give us the praise." 
 
 So, remember, Mr. Critic, say what you please, 
 the author is protected. 
 
 John Herr 
 Lebanon, Indiana 
 August 1, 1943 
 
 VII 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER ONE i 
 
 Lincoln Country in Washington County, Kentucky 
 
 CHAPTER TWO 13 
 
 Lincoln's Mother in Her Childhood Days 
 
 CHAPTER THREE 26 
 
 The Charge Against Lucy (Shipley) Hanks 
 
 CHAPTER FOUR 40 
 
 The Birthplace of Abraham Lincoln 
 
 CHAPTER FIVE 53 
 
 The Birthplace of Ahsaiham Lincoln (Continued) 
 
 CHAPTER SIX 71 
 
 The Indiana Home 
 
 CHAPTER SEVEN 92 
 
 Life in Indiana 
 
 CHAPTER EIGHT Ill 
 
 The Move to Illinois 
 
 CHAPTER NINE 119 
 
 The Lincoln Country in Illinois 
 
 CHAPTER TEN 134 
 
 'Hie Lincoln Relics 
 
 CHAPTER ELEVEN 157 
 
 The New Orleans Trip 
 
 CHAPTER TWELVE 172 
 
 Life in New Salem 
 
 CHAPTER THIRTEEN 192 
 
 Life in New Salem (Continued) 
 
 CHAPTER FOURTEEN 214 
 
 Lincoln in Law 
 
 CHAPTER FIFTEEN 231 
 
 The President Abraham Lincoln 
 
PHOTOGRAPHS 
 
 Old home of Frank Berry in Washington County, Kentucky, where 
 Nancy Hanks made her home after her aunt died, and where it is 
 now thought she and Thomas Lincoln were married. House was 
 built in 1797. 
 
 Well on Josiah Crawford's farm which Lincoln helped dig and wall. 
 
 Trees on site of old cabin. 
 
 Page .:.„. 60 
 
 Pigeon Creek Church in Spencer County where Lincoln's sister, Sarah 
 Lincoln Grigsby, was buried. Old Grigsby monument on right by 
 new stone. 
 
 The John J. Hall place, part of Thomas Lincoln farm. Present home 
 
 of Nancy A. Hall and "Abe the Second." 
 
 Page 96 
 
 Nancy A. Hall and son, "Abe the Second," taken at the first Thomas 
 Lincoln monument at Shiloh Church in Illinois. 
 
 Musket used by Abraham Lincoln in Black Hawk War, 1832. 
 
 Page 130 
 
 MAPS 
 
 Lincoln Country, Washington County, Kentucky. 
 Page 40 
 
 Homes of Thomas Lincoln in Kentucky 
 Page 80 
 
 Thomas Lincoln In Illinois 
 Page 140 
 
Chapter One 
 
 THE LINCOLN COUNTRY IN WASHINGTON 
 COUNTY, KENTUCKY 
 
 On a bronze tablet at the old home of Abraham 
 Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois, is this in- 
 scription: 
 
 "Abraham Lincoln walks the streets 
 of Springfield at midnight." 
 
 The sentiment expressed in these words is 
 felt by not only the author of them, but by 
 thousands of admirers who visit this Lincoln 
 home annually from the world over. 
 
 Recently, in this year, 1942, we have made 
 numerous trips into Kentucky; Spencer County, 
 Indiana; Coles County, New Salem, and Spring- 
 field, Illinois; followed the Lincoln trails 
 between these localities from one to the other, 
 and at no time or place in any of them would 
 the sentiment, "Lincoln walks here at midnight, " 
 be out of place. 
 
 Even in Washington County, Kentucky — the 
 last home of the grandfather of Lincoln, and the 
 boyhood home of his father, Thomas Lincoln — the 
 feeling is forever present that the ghost of 
 Lincoln keeps searching over the land, into the 
 archives and the old log homes still existing 
 which were one time familiar places to his fa- 
 ther and mother for the facts he never knew, 
 
 [l] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 and which would have lifted a great load of 
 sadness he carried to the grave. 
 
 In the above named county the records show 
 that only one vote was cast for Lincoln and 
 Hamlin in the Presidential Election in 1860; 
 but, due to increased popularity in passing 
 years one local authority has said that no less 
 than one hundred men have come forward to claim 
 the honor of casting that one vote. 
 
 In our three separate trips to the Kentucky 
 Lincoln country it was gratifying to note the 
 great change that must have taken place from 
 1860 to the present time. Every citizen met in 
 each of the trips now seems to be proud to re- 
 cite Lincoln lore and make claims, tardy as they 
 may be, which reflect credit to them and to 
 their interesting country. 
 
 They now say regretfully that their county 
 officials were dilatory and slept on their 
 rights while adjoining counties took over fame 
 and glory which they now claim rightfully be- 
 longs to Washington County. The first home of 
 Thomas Lincoln and his wife Nancy, removed to 
 Harrodsburg and now exhibited as the Marriage 
 Shrine in that town, once believed to be the 
 cabin in which they were married, was one of 
 the losses sustained by Washington County for 
 the lack of civic foresight. 
 
 All that is left of this historic spot is 
 the site itself with a fine spring of water 
 which is still the only source of supply for 
 the family now living in a comparatively modern 
 bungalow near the old cabin site. 
 
 To trail the steps of Lincoln from his birth- 
 place in Kentucky to his boyhood home in Indi- 
 ana, to his home in Illinois, to New Salem, to 
 
 L2] 
 
LINCOLN COUNTRY IN KENTUCKY 
 
 Springfield, to the White House, to Gettysburg, 
 to the Ford Theater and across the little street 
 to a room where his life merged into the realm 
 of the "ages" and then to the tomb in Spring- 
 field; in all this life's journey of fifty-six 
 years, there is no part of it that one could 
 say that Lincoln did not "walk at midnight." 
 
 Who but the ghost of Abraham Lincoln led R. 
 M. Thompson, a living relative of Lincoln's 
 mother to the dusty archives in the ancient 
 courthouse in Springfield, Kentucky, where he 
 found and brought to light the marriage record 
 of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks in 1882, with 
 the certificates of marriage performed by the 
 minister who married them, Jesse Head? Sworn 
 affidavits are in existence which were made by 
 Washington County residents, too late for Lin- 
 coln to ever know, to the effect that Thomas 
 Lincoln and Nancy Hanks were not only married 
 in that County, but that three children were 
 born to them there, including Abraham Lincoln, 
 the President. 
 
 This alleged Washington County birthplace of 
 Lincoln was visited by us in the fall of this 
 year of 1942. In a comparatively new house 
 within a hundred feet of the exact location of 
 the old cabin lives a Mr. Pinkston, his wife 
 and two young daughters. Pinkston is a life- 
 time resident in that locality, his father hav- 
 ing owned the place on which he lives while he 
 was yet a mere boy. He not only was familiar 
 with the old cabin, but was also well inforrred 
 as to its history and the stories and legends 
 surrounding it from its beginning. Since his 
 narration we have checked his story with local 
 history, both written and by interviews with 
 
 [3] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 some Springfield residents, one of whom, Mr. 
 Joseph Polin, an attorney, is considered author- 
 ity on local Lincoln lore. Pinkston's story was 
 found to be exactly as we found the facts from 
 other sources, and we have no hesitancy in giv- 
 ing his version. 
 
 This cabin sight is strictly in the pioneer 
 Lincoln country and is situated about one-quar- 
 ter mile northwest of a string-like cluster of 
 small houses now called Poortown; but we be- 
 lieve formerly, Beechland. A guess might put 
 the number of inhabitants at fifty, but if old 
 unoccupied houses are considered, there mayhave 
 been at one time in its history one hundred 
 people living there. It is in the neighborhood 
 of seven miles northeast of Springfield, and 
 can be found by searching the hills on a very 
 winding road which in places would still be 
 difficult for horseback riders to follow, to 
 say nothing of wagons or automobiles. 
 
 The string-like shape of the village is due 
 to the fact that the houses are built along the 
 north and west shore of a stream which varies 
 in width from a mere trickle in a dry time to a 
 torrent possibly seventy-five or a hundred feet 
 wide in a rainy season. It is called Beech 
 Fork, and empties into Salt River some place 
 north among the hills. 
 
 Evidently, the town in its greatest period 
 of prosperity depended on the old grist mill; 
 which now in its very dilapidated condition 
 houses tobacco, a lot of old grain spouts, el- 
 evators, shafts, cog wheels of wooden construc- 
 tion, bins, and rats. It was a two-story build- 
 ing in its later days and run by steam power 
 when Pinkston's father operated it, but in his 
 
 W 
 
LINCOLN COUNTRY IN KENTUCKY 
 
 memory the mill was run by water power. Five 
 different dam sites can yet be located up the 
 creek from the old mill; his father constructed 
 the last of concrete at a cost of fifteen hun- 
 dred dollars, but hardly finished it before a 
 freshet washed around the end which required 
 almost complete reconstruction. 
 
 While Pinkston's father owned the mill, the 
 bridge over the mill race which is near the 
 mill washed out. Pinkston's father appealed to 
 the county commissioners to rebuild the bridge, 
 since it was the only way the public could pos- 
 sibly cross over to the mill. The commission- 
 ers told him if he wanted a new bridge, to 
 build it himself; that when the race was dug 
 the mill owners no doubt had to build the 
 bridge over it. The controversy ended in a law 
 suit. The records were searched with the resul t 
 that in 1802, the oldest record to be found, 
 stated there was at that time a mill race and a 
 bridge over it. The commissioners considered 
 themselves licked; consequently, built the new 
 bridge. It is doubtful if the bridge is ten 
 feet wide and the boards are probably twelve 
 feet long. It has no banisters at all. In a 
 vasue way we have an opinion that a mill of 
 some description was in operation on the site 
 of this old standing mill as early as 1785 or 
 1790, more than a hundred years before Pinks- 
 ton's father had his law suit with the Washing- 
 ton County commissioners. 
 
 The old mill is at the extreme north end of 
 the row of houses, all of which are on the in- 
 ner side of the right angle; bluffs too abrupt 
 for houses form the bank on the opposite side 
 of the creek; however, a ford crosses to the 
 
 [5] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 bluff side of the branch, which natives might 
 dare use, but no tenderfoot is likely to be at- 
 tracted to the opposite side. A steep climb on 
 the south bank over the bluff was as far as we 
 could see. It might have been a road. 
 
 This is the little place where the Berrys, 
 the Brumfields, and the Lincolns — the three 
 pioneer families which moved out of Virginia in 
 1782 — all came to the mill; not once dreaming 
 that what they did, where or when they did it 
 would ever be of the least interest to any oth- 
 er than their own immediate relatives for more 
 than one generation at most. 
 
 The Lincoln cabin site, less than one-quar- 
 ter mile northwest of this ancient hamlet is on 
 the east side of the road, up a slight rise and 
 about seventy-five feet back from the road. The 
 land around the site is cleared to the extent 
 of forty or fifty acres, with the exception of 
 an occasional tree and considerable young erowth 
 of recent years, but there is plenty of evi- 
 dence that the pioneer used all the near-by 
 land for cultivation in earlier times. 
 
 The old road which leads to this Lincoln 
 country leaves Springfield from the west side 
 of the courthouse, bears a little to the east 
 and in pioneer days was the direct route to 
 Frankfort. The road with deep cuts over the 
 sharp little hills is still unimproved, and 
 bears evidence of having been traveled long. 
 
 About five miles out from Springfield this 
 historic pioneer trail intersects a very simi- 
 lar road which runs in a general east and west 
 direction. At this intersection the road run- 
 ning west is now improved and leads out to road 
 55 which connects Springfield to Bloomfield 
 
 [6] 
 
LINCOLN COUNTRY IN KENTUCKY 
 
 northwest. East from the intersection the road 
 is still unimproved, and about one mile farther 
 it turns southeast, finally loses all semblance 
 of refinment, takes on the appearance of a 
 path among the hills and follows a course simi- 
 lar to what a loose reined horse would take 
 for a path of least resistance. 
 
 Three-fourths of a mile after making the 
 turn southeast, the cabin already spoken of is 
 passed, rather, the place where the cabin once 
 stood. Then the road turns more directly south 
 for a quarter mile between the site and Beech 
 Fork Creek, follows the creek east and makes a 
 U turn following the left bank of the stream 
 between the string of cottages as far as the 
 old mill at the north edge of the village, where 
 the road crosses over the mill race, turns west 
 again for a distance of about one-eighth of a 
 mile, then due north the same distance, then 
 due east and finally northeast. This is as far 
 as we tried to go, as this is where Thomas Lin- 
 coln turned his horse through the gate which 
 led up to the old Frank Berry two-story log 
 house through the field about a quarter mile 
 west where the maiden Nancy lived. 
 
 Going back to the site of the cabin by the 
 spring near the road before coming to the lit- 
 tle village of Poortown, we may say that Mr. 
 Pinkston, who is about forty-five years old, in 
 his recital, told of playing in the old log 
 house about 1900, eleven years before its re- 
 rr.oval to Harrodsburg. He related that when his 
 father purchased the farm, now reduced to fif- 
 ty-four acres, the former owner reserved the 
 cabin. He left it intact for some time, then 
 he tore it down and the logs were piled by the 
 
 [7] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 side of the road where they remained until they 
 were sold to the Pioneer Park Association at 
 Harrodsburg, to which place they were hauled in 
 1911. The owner received three hundred dollars 
 for them, while Washington County lost a valua- 
 ble pioneer relic. In our opinion, the cabin 
 became far less valuable as a relic by the mere 
 fact of its removal to another location, far 
 less valuable for the very purpose it was in- 
 tended to serve. 
 
 Asked why this memorable cabin was allowed 
 to be taken and irretrievably lost to Washing- 
 ton, Mr. Pinkston replied that at the time of 
 its removal it was not regarded of any historic 
 value. While he himself had always been a great 
 Lincoln admirer, the attitude toward Lincoln 
 in Washington County was the reverse of admira- 
 tion; the citizens still remaining too much in 
 the same frame of mind as in Civil War times, 
 when Lincoln's popularity could be calculated 
 by the one lone vote cast for him for the Pres- 
 idency in 1860. The removal of this cabin, how- 
 ever, may have been the thunderbolt which did 
 much to jar them from their deep rooted erron- 
 eous judgment of this great man. Now, too late 
 of course, there is a substantiated opinion 
 among authorities of Lincoln lore in this county 
 that the birth of Lincoln occurred in this iden- 
 tical cabin. This great honor, now also claimed 
 by Larue County, in our opinion is much better 
 supported by facts, affidavits, and traditions 
 in Washington County than in the county now 
 possessing the great Memorial building. 
 
 The story of the origin of this cabin is 
 fairly authentic, being supported by both doc- 
 umentary evidence as to the period of its con- 
 
 L8j 
 
LINCOLN COUNTRY IN KENTUCKY 
 
 struction, and family tradition as to the man- 
 ner in which it came into existence. It was in 
 the year of 1782 that the three families came 
 to make their homes in Kentucky; although it is 
 known that Abraham Lincoln, grandfather of the 
 President entered land some two years previous 
 to actually moving out of Virginia to occupy 
 his new possessions. Through the Shipley fami- 
 ly, descendants of Rachel Shipley Berry, wife 
 of Francis Berry, Sr. , the story is handed down 
 and has been recorded by Orvil W. Baylor, local 
 historian of Washington County, that on arrival 
 of the new emigrants, Francis Berry, Sr. select- 
 ed the cabin site because it had a clear spring 
 of water. The Berry entry included this site 
 and was a tract amounting to four hundred acres 
 originally. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln, Sr. , according to Washington 
 County tradition, and Francis Berry both had 
 married sisters in Virginia and consequently 
 were brothers-in-law. Lincoln with his family 
 was induced to remain with Berry long enough to 
 build the first cabin before going on northward 
 to build one for himself on his own land; but, 
 as family tradition tells it, before the Berry 
 cabin was finished Lincoln had been persuaded 
 by Berry and the women folks to build a house 
 on Berry's land near by for companionship and 
 safety for at that time Indians had become unu- 
 sually hostile to Kentucky settlers. Now it 
 appears from local Washington County history 
 that the Lincolns never moved out of the Berry 
 neighborhood to the land on Floyd Creek farther 
 north which Lincoln had entered a year or so 
 before their migration into Kentucky. 
 
 This first Berry cabin (yet to be seen in 
 
 [9] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 the ""viarriage Temple" in Harrodsburg) is a sin- 
 gle room, hewed and nine logs high, rock and 
 mud chinked, puncheon floor with a roof of clap- 
 boards held down with wooden pegs through poles 
 across the roof. Native stones were used to 
 build the fireplace with sticks and mud to fin- 
 ish the low chimney. Mr. Pinkston now uses a 
 broad flat stone about three by four feet which 
 he has every reason to believe was the original 
 hearthstone. It bears evidence of having been 
 exposed to heat at some time in its history, is 
 very smooth on the upper side, and could easily 
 have answered that purpose. As the house had 
 in its later years been used for other than 
 living quarters the floor and hearth had been 
 removed. The supposed hearthstone remained on 
 the premises after the cabin had been torn down 
 and removed. When Pinkston himself became the 
 owner of the place he walled up the spring about 
 a foot above the level of the ground and placed 
 the stone on top for a cover. There are sever- 
 al letters carved on the top of the rock, but 
 not plain enough now to make into a word. 
 
 It is not known just how long the Berrys oc- 
 cupied this cabin as a residence, and it is not 
 known by the writer how far away from it the 
 Lincolns built their home; but it is known def- 
 initely that the Berrys built a more preten- 
 tious home about a mile or less northwest, and 
 the Lincolns about three-quarters of a mile 
 still farther west on the same road (the old 
 Springfield and Frankfort road) each of which 
 is now known as the Lincoln or Berry pioneer 
 homes. 
 
 A replica of the Lincoln cabin stands where 
 the original one stood. A branch crosses the 
 
 [10] 
 
LINCOLN COUNTRY IN KENTUCKY 
 
 road about three hundred feet west and runs di- 
 agonally northeast, leaving the cabin sitting 
 in a triangular strip of ground of some three 
 or four acres, the east side bounded by a sort 
 of wet weather cut or branch which flows into 
 the branch mentioned, the branch going by the 
 name of Lincoln's Run since pioneer days. The 
 State of Kentucky has now taken over thirty- 
 seven acres of the surrounding land and con- 
 verted it into a State park, gratifying evi- 
 dence that no more sleeping at the switch is to 
 be tolerated. What a wonderful historic layout 
 exists here in a few miles for Washington Coun- 
 ty to develop and bring back to her some of the 
 lost glory that is hers. With the Berrys, his 
 grandparents, and his father and mother, Thomas 
 and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, certainly the great 
 Lincoln "Walks here at midnight." 
 
 A few rods below the junction of the Lin- 
 coln's Run branch and the small dry branch men- 
 tioned is the place pointed out near which 
 Abraham Lincoln, Sr. was killed by Indians. The 
 location was established satisfactorily for 
 Washington County citizens through the Litsey 
 family from father to son. Uriah Litsey became 
 the second owner of the Francis Berry, Sr. farm. 
 His son, Judge Berry Litsey, was the father of 
 David Litsey who was taken over the Lincoln 
 country by his father when a young boy and his 
 memory is the basis for the location of the 
 sites around which the stories and traditions of 
 pioneers in this interesting country are told. 
 
 About half way from the Lincoln homestead to 
 that of the senior Berry farm and about a quar- 
 ter mile south is Beech Fork which runs almost 
 parallel with the old Frankfort road. On a 
 
 [ll] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 rounding bluff on the north side of the creek 
 is the remains of an old pioneer cemetery. At 
 this place the pioneer Litsey pointed out to 
 his son the grave of Abraham Lincoln, Sr. killed 
 in 1788. This story is probably the most direct 
 and authentic of any story extant regarding the 
 burial place of the senior Lincoln. 
 
 [12] 
 
Chapter Two 
 LINCOLN'S MOTHER IN HER CHILDHOOD DAYS 
 
 At the junction of the Frankfort road and 
 the Lincoln's Run and Beech Fork roads adjacent 
 to the Lincoln pioneer cabin is the site of the 
 schoolhouse where Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks 
 met as school children. As it is said that 
 Nancy came to live with her uncle and aunt, 
 Francis and Rachel Berry, at the age of eleven 
 years, their respective ages at first meeting 
 were not less than eleven and seventeen, pro- 
 viding they had never met before Nancy came to 
 her relatives from Harrodsburg where there 
 seems to be records in court concerning Nancy's 
 mother, Lucy (Shipley) Hanks, from which the 
 presumption is gained that that town was her 
 former home. 
 
 Washington County Lincoln lore authorities 
 contend that Thomas Lincoln's mother was a 
 Shipley, and a sister of Lucy Shipley, the moth- 
 er of Nancy Hanks. If that contention is cor- 
 rect, then Thomas Lincoln and his wife Nancy 
 were first cousins. If they were cousins, then 
 it is not at ail unlikely that their first ac- 
 quaintance began much farther back than their 
 school days at Lincoln's Run school at the ages 
 of eleven and seventeen. 
 
 Robert Shipley, of Virginia, it is recorded 
 had five daughters, as follows: Mary, married 
 
 [13] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 Abraham Lincoln, Sr. in 1770, and died when her 
 fourth child, Thomas, was born in 1776; buried 
 in Virginia — Rachel, married Richard Berry, Sr. , 
 the uncle to wham Nancy came to make her home 
 at the age of eleven — Ann , married David McCord; 
 no further record — Naomi, married Robert Mit- 
 chel, mother of a daughter captured by the In- 
 dians; who having been recaptured after several 
 years came to the Berrys to make her home and 
 was closely associated with her cousin Nancy 
 while they both made their home there. The 
 pioneer Mitchel Indian story is complete and 
 one of the most interesting of all the Kentucky 
 tragedies in its early settlement — Lucy, moth- 
 er of Nancy Hanks, whose father is said to be a 
 James Hanks. More will be said of this marriage 
 later. 
 
 While the Hanks genealogy so far as it goes 
 above seems well authenticated in Washington 
 County, William H. Herndon in his life of Lin- 
 coln (p. 9) states that the first representa- 
 tive of the Hanks family coming to this country 
 was Thomas Hanks who entered a hundred acres of 
 land in Lancaster County, Virginia, early in 
 1653; and in a generation moved across the Rap- 
 pahannock River where Lincoln's ancestors re- 
 mained for more than a hundred years. Joseph 
 Hanks, a great-grandson of the original Thomas 
 and the maternal great-grandfather of Abraham 
 Lincoln, at the age of fifty-nine mortgaged his 
 farm in Hampshire County, in Virginia in 1784 
 (two years after the Lincoln-Berry-Brumf ield ex- 
 odus) and set out for Kentucky. Then he says, 
 "Among the eight children who, with his wife, 
 accompanied him was a daughter named Lucy, the 
 unmarried mother of Nancy Hanks who in 1806 be- 
 
 [14 j 
 
LINCOLN'S MOTHER 
 
 came the wife of Thomas Lincoln." Here Herndon 
 makes a positive statement which should at 
 least have been made with caution; but it does 
 indicate as well as is now known about the cor- 
 rect age of Nancy Hanks, which, if she was born 
 in Virginia, was a babe in arms of less than a 
 year old when she was brought to Kentucky, if 
 her age at marriage in her twenty-third year is 
 correct. 
 
 Now, by the statement of Herndon, Nancy's 
 mother was a Hanks by birth which is contrary 
 to our informant in Washington County, Mr. Joseph 
 Polin, who tells us that she was a Shipley. In 
 our judgment Mr. Polin is much nearer correct 
 than Herndon. 
 
 In pursuing this phase of the President's 
 ancestors on his mother's side we may set out 
 some facts which to us seem consistent with the 
 records at this time, viz: Nancy Hanks was 
 Lincoln's mother; Lucy Shipley was the maiden 
 name of Nancy's mother; Lucy was the daughter 
 of Robert Shipley, Jr. as above; the Shipleys 
 came to Kentucky about the same time Joseph 
 Hanks came, and possibly they came together. 
 
 Herndon was correct as to the number of 
 children Joseph Hanks had as a probated will in 
 Nelson County, Kentucky, made on the eighth day 
 of January, 1793, and probated on the fourteenth 
 day of May of the same year names the following 
 five sons and three daughters: Thomas, Joshua, 
 William, Charles, Joseph, Elizabeth, Polly, and 
 Nancy. This latter name, the daughter Nancy 
 seems to be the source of endless confusion in 
 this muddled romance of two young emigrant 
 girls who came out of Virginia into Kentucky 
 near the same year, possibly in the same emi- 
 
 [15] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 grant train in about 1784, one named Nancy 
 Hanks; the other a baby girl by the same name, 
 and living not so very far away. 
 
 Only one question remains to be answered: 
 which, if it ever is, will set at rest for all 
 time the dark and ugly background ascribed to 
 the ancestors of Lincoln by his many biograph- 
 ers who have seemed so anxious to magnify one 
 possible misstep into a Hydra-headed monster 
 surpassing any scandal ever before charged to 
 an innocent family, with no cause, apparently, 
 but unjustifiable jealousy because one member 
 of that family had reached undying fame. If 
 there had been proof positive that Lucy Shipley, 
 Nancy Hank's mother, became Lucy Hanks by le- 
 gitimate marriage while still in Virginia there 
 could have been no incentive, possibly, for all 
 the scandalous stories and unwarranted charges 
 of the "putrid pool" type which were piled at 
 the cabin door of Thomas Lincoln. 
 
 There are three children of Joseph Hanks and 
 two grandchildren who come into the complicated 
 Lincoln history: one, the supposed father of 
 Lincoln's mother; two daughters, Elizabeth and 
 Nancy; the grandsons Dennis F. and John, cous- 
 ins, the latter preceding the Lincolns to Illi- 
 nois by two years, and Dennis moving with them 
 in 1830. Nancy, the unmarried mother of Dennis, 
 who later married Levi Hail, will be mentioned 
 quite often later in these writings. Elizabeth 
 with her husband, Thomas Sparrow, followed the 
 Lincolns to Indiana. Both died the same year 
 and about one week before Lincoln's mother, who 
 died October 5, 1818. 
 
 Now it can be seen by the above facts that 
 
 [16] 
 
LINCOLN'S MOTHER 
 
 John and Dennis Hanks were full cousins; and 
 that Elizabeth Sparrow was a full aunt of both 
 of them. From here on a little surmising must 
 take place, not because of known facts, but of 
 certain family traditions which have come along 
 with the families of Hanks, Halls, and Lincolns 
 for four or five generations, but which we re- 
 gard almost as dependable as authentic records. 
 
 Both John and Dennis Hanks said that they 
 were cousins to Lincoln's mother as well as to 
 one another; in which case Nancy, the mother of 
 Dennis would also be the aunt of the Nancy whom 
 Thomas Lincoln married. This would clear up 
 the mystery of two Nancy Hanks in the Lincoln 
 family. Tradition also has it that Elizabeth 
 Sparrow was an aunt to Nancy Lincoln, which of 
 course would make John Hank's father an uncle, 
 and Dennis Hank's mother, who married Levi Hall, 
 an aunt to her. 
 
 Now the question, how was Nancy Lincoln a 
 cousin to John and Dennis Hanks? There is but 
 one way for this relationship to exist, and 
 that would be for one of Joseph Hank's sons to 
 have been Nancy's father. But Thomas, Joshua, 
 William, Charles, and Joseph were all that were 
 named in their father's will except the three 
 daughters, and none of these five sons married 
 Nancy's mother. How did their cousin relation- 
 ship come about? Since we believe cousin re- 
 lationship existed between them, a theory, at 
 least should be produced. 
 
 It was about nine years after Joseph Hanks 
 and his family came to Kentucky before he made 
 his will, in Nelson County on January 8, 1793, 
 nine years after Lucy Shipley Hanks and her 
 daughter Nancy came. In this case* possibly 
 
 [17] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 rare, it is not unreasonable to believe that an 
 older son of Joseph Hanks remained in Virginia, 
 and this son was the father of Nancy, the moth- 
 er of Lincoln. Some biographers have made the 
 statement that Lucy ' s husband was a James Hanks. 
 This may or may not be true, but if true James 
 Hanks was not mentioned in Joseph Hanks' will, 
 and the will specifically says that after his 
 wife's death his property is "to be equally di- 
 vided between all my children." Our theory 
 here would be a little stronger if this quota- 
 tion from the will read "to be equally divided 
 between all my living children," which would 
 indicate that some, at least one of his chil- 
 dren, were not living at the time he made his 
 will in 1793. 
 
 But if this elder son was not living, and he 
 was the father of the child Nancy, a grand- 
 daughter of Joseph Hanks, he also failed to 
 mention her in his will as an heir. We believe 
 there are some significant happenings about 
 this time in Lucy Shipley Hanks' life which 
 might explain the reason for the fact that nei- 
 ther Nancy nor her father was named in the will. 
 
 On November 24, 1789, a grand-jury report 
 charged Lucy Hanks with fornication in Harrods- 
 burg, Kentucky. Since she failed to appear in 
 court, the charge was dismissed on May 25, 1790; 
 at which time, the records show she had become 
 the wife of Henry Sparrow on April 30, 1790. 
 This would indicate that her marriage might 
 have been the excuse for the dismissal of the 
 charge against her. In all these records she 
 is known as Lucy Hanks and not Lucy Shipley. 
 Her name is signed neither as Miss nor Mrs. 
 
 In 1796 Thomas Sparrow, a brother of Henry 
 
 [18] 
 
LINCOLN'S MOTHER 
 
 who married Lucy Hanks , married Elizabeth Hanks, 
 and Herndon states that Nancy, "when quite 
 young, was taken from her mother and sent to 
 live with her uncle and aunt, Thomas and Eliza- 
 beth Sparrow." Washington County authorities 
 say Nancy was taken to live with her uncle and 
 aunt, Richard and Rachel Berry, at the age of 
 eleven. 
 
 As Nancy's aunt Elizabeth was not married to 
 Thomas Sparrow until 1796, she would have been 
 about twelve years old if taken to their home 
 at their marriage date, and could not have 
 lived with them at all if she had been taken to 
 the Berrys to live. This latter move to the 
 Berrys would have been about 1795, which corre- 
 sponds with Washington County tradition fairly 
 well . 
 
 Frances Berry signed the marriage license of 
 Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks as guardian. We 
 know of no record of the date of Berry's ap- 
 pointment as her guardian; but, then as now, it 
 is not at all likely that Nancy would have 
 needed a guardian if she did not have property 
 of some description which she had heired some 
 time before she would become of age. Since her 
 mother was still living at the time of her mar- 
 riage, there seems no probable way for her to 
 come in possession of property except through 
 her father; who, so far as we have knowledge, 
 did not come to Kentucky with Lucy and her baby 
 Nancy. 
 
 At this stage of Nancy's life there are two 
 or three interesting questions: Where was the 
 child Nancy up to the time she was "taken from 
 her mother and sent to live with her aunt Eliz- 
 abeth Sparrow"? Whom did she heir property 
 
 L19J 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 from, and at what time in her life did she come 
 in possession of it? If her father did not 
 come to Kentucky with Nancy and her mother, why 
 did he not? And, just what person or persons 
 were interested in bringing charges against 
 Lucy before the Grand Jury, and for what purpose? 
 
 Existing records of Lucy Hanks all seem to 
 be in the courthouse in Harrodsburg, Mercer 
 County, where the charge of fornication was 
 brought against her, which is proof sufficient 
 that this was her home. Unless we doubt the 
 statement of Herndon that "the child Nancy was 
 taken from her mother, ete." we must conclude 
 that the child was living with her mother in 
 Harrodsburg also. Under the circumstances in 
 which Lucy was placed when the charge of forni- 
 cation was placed against her, it seems reason- 
 able to believe that this would be the time her 
 child might be taken from her, or about Novem- 
 ber 24, 1789; in which case the child Nancy 
 would have been about five years old. This 
 would have been about seven years before Thomas 
 Sparrow married Nancy's aunt, Elizabeth Hanks, 
 to whose home Herndon says she was taken; or 
 six years before she went to her aunt and un- 
 cle, Richard Berry's home to live, as Washington 
 County authorities say. With no better author- 
 ity to say than a mere guess, it is our opinion 
 that Nancy's aunt, Elizabeth Hanks, took Nancy 
 to her home while she was still living at her 
 own father's (Joseph Hanks) in Nelson County 
 near Bardstown. Here Nancy made her home until 
 Elizabeth married Thomas Sparrow in 1796, when 
 she then went to the Berrys'. 
 
 Now, since we believe the child Nancy went 
 to her grandfather's home when she was taken 
 
 [20] 
 
LINCOLN'S MOTHER 
 
 from her mother in 1789 and was under the cara 
 of her then unmarried aunt Elizabeth, she was a 
 grandchild in her grandfather Joseph Hanks' 
 home at the time he made his will in January, 
 1793. Since Nancy's father was not mentioned 
 in her grandfather's will, it is certainly rea- 
 sonable to believe he was dead, and it seems 
 just as reasonable to believe the granddaughter 
 might be left out to avoid certain complications 
 common in the settlement of some estates where 
 quarrels or friction might exist and efforts 
 are made to set the will aside. In this case 
 Nancy would have been a child of about nine 
 years in the grandfather's home when he was di- 
 viding; his property, and a direct settlement 
 rr.ade to the child would ward against any possi- 
 ble anticipated trouble in final settlement of 
 his estate. 
 
 Consequently, Nancy became a property holder 
 at about nine years of age and a guardian would 
 naturally be appointed for her. It is of rec- 
 ord that Richard Berry was her guardian, and 
 remained so until her marriage in June of 1806, 
 when she was married to Thomas Lincoln. Just 
 why Richard Berry was chosen as her guardian 
 can only be a surmise, but there seems no doubt 
 that he was well qualified as he is mentioned 
 as a "leader in many pioneer enterprises." At 
 a sale in Washington County he is listed as the 
 purchaser of a book, and at his own sale after 
 his death the appraisers listed "6 bedsteads, 
 2 flax wheels, 1 book case, 2 bureaus, 3 tables, 
 10 chairs and 1 yanky clock." Also listed for 
 sale (possibly August, 1829) were: 9 slaves, 
 14 head of cattle, 2 yoke of oxen, 18 head of 
 sheep, 22 head of hogs, 6 head of horses and a 
 
 [21] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 mule. Beside his evident qualifications, he 
 was also a cousin of the girl Nancy and no 
 doubt found the home for her at his father's, 
 Richard Berry, Sr. , when she went there at "the 
 age of eleven." 
 
 John Berry — an older brother or possibly an 
 uncle of Richard Berry, the guardian of Nancy — 
 served on the Grand Jury which placed the charge 
 against Lucy Hanks in Mercer County in November 
 of 1789, and again signed her certificate of 
 age when she married Henry Sparrow the next 
 April. If John Berry was a brother of Richard 
 Berry, Jr., then he was a nephew to Lucy Hanks, 
 as John's mother was a sister to Lucy. If so, 
 we have the unusual circumstance of a nephew 
 placing a charge of fornication against his own 
 aunt, and in five months he was signing a cer- 
 tificate as to her age for her marriage, which 
 no doubt gave the court an excuse for the dis- 
 missal of the charge. 
 
 Now, whether by design or otherwise, the 
 Grand Jury of which John Berry was a member suc- 
 ceeded in bringing an indictment against Lucy 
 Hanks which resulted in the action, with scarce- 
 ly a doubt, of taking Lucy's daughter Nancy 
 away from her and placing her in the home of 
 her grandfather, Joseph Hanks, and under the 
 care of her aunt, Elizabeth. 
 
 We have now the following questions: Was 
 Lucy Hanks ever married? If so, who was her 
 husband? What became of him? Our theory is 
 that Washington County authorities are right in 
 their contention that Lucy Hanks' maiden name 
 was Lucy Shipley, and we can see no other rea- 
 son but to believe her husband was a son of 
 Joseph Hanks, Sr. Under the circumstances as 
 
 [22] 
 
LINCOLN'S MOTHER 
 
 they appear from records, tradition, and rea- 
 soning, we have come to the conclusion that 
 Lucy Hanks' husband married her in Virginia for 
 one reason only, as is common today, to give 
 their unborn child a father's name. He proba- 
 bly never came to Kentucky at any time of his 
 life. He was undoubtedly dead when his father 
 Joseph Hanks made his will in January, 1793, 
 for he was not mentioned in it, as we have said 
 before. 
 
 Here it might be said that Dennis and John 
 Hanks, both Nancy's cousins, always contended 
 that Nancy's father was a Sparrow; that to call 
 her Hanks made her base born, which they also 
 contended she was not. Any statement from ei- 
 ther one of these men, or both of them together 
 concerning happenings before they were born 
 could, in our opinion, be given but little 
 weight. Neither Dennis nor John have displayed 
 any great intelligence in any of their inter- 
 views; besides, Dennis Hanks was born when Nancy, 
 his cousin, was fifteen or sixteen years of 
 age, and John was seventeen years younger than 
 Nancy. 
 
 When they became old enough to understand 
 all the happenings which we have just related 
 about Nancy and her mother, the circumstances 
 had grown old in their respective homes, for 
 they were then twenty or more years in the past. 
 Neither of them could possibly have known Nancy 
 Hanks except as the wife of Thomas Lincoln. 
 Nancy's mother was still living, but her name 
 from their earliest recollection had been Spar- 
 row, and they grew to manhood in that belief. 
 
 Not until Abraham Lincoln became President 
 were they ever called upon to recite the hap- 
 
 [23] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 penings which had taken place before they were 
 born. Naturally a little dull, and a period of 
 seventy or seventy-five years intervening back 
 to the childhood of Nancy Hanks, with all their 
 relatives dead who once knew all the facts, they 
 found themselves smothered in their own igno- 
 rance; and, in the case of Dennis, contradictory 
 and unbelieved. 
 
 Before dismissing this phase of the Lincoln 
 family lore we wish to quote from an old resi- 
 dent from Washington County, Squire Mitchell 
 Thompson, who was a grandson of Naomi Shipley 
 Mitchell, another sister of Lucy Shipley Hanks. 
 In 1895 he said: "In the Richard and Rachel 
 Shipley Berry home, room was made for Lucy Hanks 
 — she married a man whose name she took while 
 in Virginia and Nancy Hanks the mother of Pres- 
 ident Lincoln was the offspring." 
 
 There seems nothing in this quotation that 
 is inconsistent with our views as stated above, 
 with the possible exception that Lucy and her 
 babe may have made their home with her brother- 
 in-law, Richard Berry, for a while before taking 
 up a home in Harrodsburg, on her arrival from 
 Virginia, which certainly would be a natural 
 thing to do. 
 
 At this period in the narrative of the Lin- 
 coln family it seems proper to call attention 
 to the fact that these members of the family, 
 their relatives and their friends are the char- 
 acters and actors who played in the great drama 
 which is now the background from which came the 
 greatest man of our time; a background attacked 
 after this great man's assassination by a vile, 
 cold-blooded, uncharitable mob of biographers 
 with baseless accusations, vilifications and 
 
 [24] 
 
LINCOLN'S MOTHER 
 
 scandal with no better excuse — to be charitable 
 in the extreme — than jealousy and ignorance; 
 jealous of his magnificent simple greatness, 
 and ignorant of the character of the defense- 
 less family they sought to degrade for the Sa- 
 tanic satisfaction it seemed to bring to them. 
 
 125] 
 
Chapter Three 
 THE CHARGE AGAINST LUCY (SHIPLEY) HANKS 
 
 Not only should the characters we have men- 
 tioned be appraised, but the central figure in 
 the pages following should be closely scruti- 
 nized for one single justifiable accusation 
 coming from this mob of character detractors 
 which will be charged against the authors lat- 
 er. This new central figure is Thomas Lincoln. 
 
 Weighing all the evidence in the scales of 
 reason, we believe that the version of the 
 Washington County authorities is more likely to 
 be correct than any other extant when we con- 
 sider the early ancestors of Abraham Lincoln, 
 for the very good reason that the basis for 
 their belief is substantiated by records found 
 in the courthouse in Springfield. It is said 
 and not disputed, to our knowledge, that Lincoln 
 died believing that the record of his father 
 and mother's marriage license should be found 
 in Hardin, later Larue County, Kentucky. He 
 actually wrote there for them, but was disap- 
 pointed and thereby believed that none existed. 
 
 It is difficult to understand why Lincoln 
 knew no more of the early life of his parents 
 and ancestors than appears from the many contra- 
 dictory statements and claims of his biogra- 
 phers. Strange that in his constant companion- 
 ship with his father at home until he became of 
 
 [26] 
 
LUCY (SHIPLEY) HANKS 
 
 age he failed to learn that his father and 
 mother lived their early lives in Washington 
 County, and not in Hardin or Larue as later 
 found records prove. Strange that his own moth- 
 er and her own first cousins, John and Dennis 
 Hanks, her Uncle, Levi Hall by marriage to her 
 Aunt Nancy, the Sparrows, Thomas and Elizabeth, 
 and his affectionate step-mother, Sarah Bush 
 Johnson, all born in Kentucky and all having 
 knowledge of his relatives five to twenty-five 
 years before his birth should leave him sadly 
 ignorant of the legitimate marriage of his 
 father and mother on June 12, 1806; ignorant of 
 the fact that his mother's cousin, Richard 
 Berry, Jr. had been her guardian and had signed 
 her marriage bond; ignorant of the fact that a 
 respected Methodist minister, Jesse Head, had 
 performed the marriage in the home of another 
 cousin, Frank Berry, where she had lived for 
 some years; and ignorant of the fact that all 
 this was and is recorded in the archives of the 
 Washington County Clerk's office in Springfield, 
 Kentucky. 
 
 Lincoln was a great and able lawyer from 
 1837 to the time of his death in 1865, perfectly 
 able to take depositions from any one possessing 
 a knowledge of facts on any accusation or charge, 
 and such depositions would have gone a long way 
 toward settling much if not all baseless impu- 
 tations of scandal which seemed to bear him 
 down and sadden his life. 
 
 Thomas Lincoln, his father, lived until 1851. 
 At that time Lincoln had been riding the cir- 
 cuit for fourteen years, and Charleston, Illi- 
 nois, was one of the cities on his circuit. 
 Thomas Lincoln's home was eight miles from 
 
 [27] 
 
DEFENSE OP LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 Charleston and Lincoln, the Lawyer, made many 
 trips to see his father and step-mother during 
 those years. Can it be imagined that his fa- 
 ther, having no reason for shame would hesitate 
 to inform his own son that his was a legal 
 marriage, giving bondsmen, the date, the place, 
 the name of the minister, and above all, the 
 county in which it occurred in Kentucky? 
 
 It may be contended that not until Lincoln 
 became President in 1860 did public clamor de- 
 mand the unknown facts surrounding himself and 
 family, even though he had become prominent in 
 his own state before it was too late to get un- 
 impeachable evidence. Having been elected to 
 the Legislature four different times in Illi- 
 nois, and once to the Congress in 1848 may not 
 have been sufficient reason to arouse the pub- 
 lic curiosity which came with the national 
 election in 1860 when intense interest support- 
 ed by personal hatred spawned by the slavery 
 question brought on an avalanche of scandalous 
 accusations which were too much to combat. It 
 is quite understandable when we realize that 
 the entire South and all Lincoln's enemies in 
 the North after his election would gladly pro- 
 mote exaggerated personal attacks on his own 
 character and those of his ancestors, but the 
 strangeness begins when we find no statements 
 or denials supported by depositions from friends 
 who should then have known the facts which 
 have since been discovered in the records that 
 would have set some, if not all, these scanda- 
 lous detractions at rest. 
 
 Dennis Hanks, born in 1799, was seven years 
 old when Thomas Lincoln was married to Nancy 
 Hanks and it is hard to believe he was ignorant 
 
 [28] 
 
LUCY (SHIPLEY) HANKS 
 
 of the county in Kentucky in which they were 
 married. He lived through it all and no doubt 
 lived until 1893 with the very best opportunity 
 to clear them up by merely indicating where the 
 facts existed. He was the most intimate rela- 
 tive of Lincoln until the latter was twenty-one 
 or twenty-two years old. Could it be that Lin- 
 coln himself half believed that his father and 
 mother were never legally married, and that 
 Dennis Hanks was content to let the scandal 
 stand? 
 
 We have a page of a letter written by a rel- 
 ative of Dennis Hanks, dated January 17, 1930, 
 from Janesville, Illinois, a grandniece of Den- 
 nis Hanks. The letter gives some light on the 
 character of Hanks, but we quote it in full be- 
 cause, in the light of the above unanswered 
 questions, there are a few lines which may be 
 significant. 
 
 "Dennis F. Hanks, one of the well known and 
 familiar names of Coles County, is noted like 
 many other men are and have been on account of 
 his connections with the noblest character of 
 his generation, Abraham Lincoln. The two passed 
 their boyhood together, sleeping in the same 
 bed and engaging in the same labors and sport. 
 One arose from the humble position in which 
 they both lived to the most exalted station in 
 the nation, while the other grew up only to be 
 a respected farmer in the community in which he 
 has lived for half a century, and to admire his 
 companion and to know that any trust reposed in 
 him would never be betrayed (the Hanks and Lin- 
 colns were considerably mixed up in their fami- 
 ly relations). They came from Indiana togeth- 
 er, lived in the same house and Dennis Hanks 
 
 [2Sj 
 
 e 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 married the daughter, Sally Johnston, of the 
 second wife of Thomas Lincoln. Dennis Hanks 
 was born in Kentucky and lived prior to his re- 
 moval to Indiana in Hardin County, Kentucky. In 
 speaking of his removal to the latter named 
 state, he says, at that time Indiana was a des- 
 perately sickly place. Miasma poisoned, the at- 
 mosphere. There was no doctor near. We were 
 there in the year 1825 when Jackson and Adams 
 ran for President. I was then but nineteen 
 years of age, yet I acted as clerk of election 
 and actually voted for Jackson therefore I have 
 voted for him three times." 
 
 To say nothing of Dennis's boastful admis- 
 sion of violation of the election laws, we re- 
 fer to the writer's words more particularly — 
 "and to admire his companion and to know that 
 any trust reposed in him would never be be- 
 trayed," etc. Then followed, "the Hanks and 
 Lincolns were considerably mixed up" seems to 
 signify a skeleton somewhere that Dennis did 
 not wish disturbed. The Washington County rec- 
 ords are now indisputable proof that Lincoln's 
 father and mother were truly married according 
 to law; it doesn't seem now, although at one 
 time it probably was believed, that the Lincolns 
 and Hankses were badly mixed. There is now 
 absolutely no proof of any "illegitimate mixup" 
 in the Lincoln and Hanks families. There is 
 proof that Dennis Hanks was an illegitimate 
 child of Nancy Hanks, and was given the middle 
 name "triend" which was the surname of his fa- 
 ther. His mother afterward married Levi Hall, 
 whom we have before mentioned. 
 
 In the light of now known records which have 
 cleared many of the former misconceptions of 
 
 [30] 
 
LUCY (SHIPLEY) HANKS 
 
 the ancestors of the Lincoln family, the im- 
 pression grows continually stronger, when we 
 judge the character of Dennis Hanks by his let- 
 ters, interviews, and family traditions that 
 he, because of selfish jealousy and envy — born 
 of his own conscious inferiority to Lincoln, a 
 mysterious man who grew up beside him — was the 
 star witness in the great fabrication of dark 
 insinuations leveled against the Lincoln back- 
 ground. Conscious of his own origin, he knew 
 no better than to believe he could weave him- 
 self a halo by darkening the glow of others. 
 Therefore, when defamatory charges were direct- 
 ed toward the Lincolns, he rejoiced rather than 
 lamented the fact. Though an ignorant and un- 
 accountable miscreant he was innocent compared 
 to the biographers who came along and took up 
 his evidence as though it were unimpeachable. 
 
 In spite of the small praise given Dennis 
 Hanks by the author of the above quoted letter, 
 he fails to merit it by some authorities. He 
 is rated as a liar by some and even a thief if 
 the story told us by his own grandniece, Mrs. 
 Nancy A. Hall Thomas is true. Her testimony is: 
 "Uncle Dennis stayed at our house lots before 
 he died, and I had to wait on him. He'd lay in 
 bed till nearly dinnertime, then he'd get up 
 and set around and let pap do all the work, 
 then he'd search around in the drawers for let- 
 ters of Lincoln's that grandmother Lincoln had 
 saved and he'd take'em to Chicago and sell 'em 
 to Herndon. He was lazy and liked to dress up 
 and act big. We didn't have no screens then, 
 and Uncle Dennis would fix two little boards, 
 one for each hand, then he'd put sugar on them 
 
 [31j 
 
DEFENSE OP LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 to bait flies and set in the kitchen and catch 
 and kill them." 
 
 After Dennis Hanks' own grandniece gave us 
 her estimate of her Uncle Dennis as a purloiner 
 of letters, "lazy and liked to dress up and 
 act big" we began to realize that she was not 
 the only member of the Hanks family who had 
 very similar views. There were older nephews 
 who had lived all their lives in close rela- 
 tionship with him. Two of these living wit- 
 nesses were Nancy's father and uncle, John J. 
 and William Hall. We quote a conversation be- 
 tween these two brothers from Mrs. Gridley's 
 book, (p. 167), which leads up to their estima- 
 tion of their Uncle Dennis: "Immediately, Un- 
 cle John Hall, in order to illustrate the habit 
 'fur thinking 1 that Mr. Lincoln possessed, told 
 the following little incident: T 'Twas during 
 the summer of 1846 or '47 T said Mr. Hall, f that 
 Uncle Abe come up to the old log cabin and 
 stayed almost a month, 'twas two weeks anyhow, 
 and the reason he stayed so long was because he 
 wanted to study something out about law. Uncle 
 Abe had walked all the way from Springfield, 
 about a hundred miles, and seemed kinder tired 
 fur the first two or three days, and so he 
 said, "I'll just lay around and think." Wall 
 the days went along and Uncle Abe kept doin' 
 jest the same kind of studying, a laying and a 
 thinking, till after a while he said, "I've 
 done enough studying and I reckon I'd better go 
 back to Mary. " 
 
 "Uncle John Hall now addressed his brother 
 and said to him: f Don't ye remember we hev 
 talked to Uncle Dennis Hanks sence Uncle Abe's 
 death about his doin' his studyin' in sech 
 
 [32j 
 
LUCY (SHIPLEY) HANKS 
 
 a curous way, and Uncle Dennis said "it wus more 
 laziness than studyin' or thinkin' either. "' 
 
 "Wondering why Dennis Hanks should speak so 
 disparagingly of Mr. Lincoln I asked for the 
 reason. It was a mystery to both of the 
 brothers, who declared that Uncle Abe had always 
 been extremely cordial to his cousin, but agreed 
 that there was one thing that Uncle Abe had not 
 done for his relative, and that was, he had 
 failed to bestow upon Uncle Dennis an official 
 position. 
 
 "We fell into a speculative turn of thought, 
 and tried to make up our minds what position 
 Dennis Hanks would have asked for. Uncle John 
 Hall settled the matter by saying that 'Uncle 
 Dennis and Uncle Abe both had the Hanks ambi- 
 tion, and that nothin' would hev suited either 
 of them but the Presidency of the United States. ' 
 Therefore, we all concluded that it was genuine 
 jealousy and envy that possessed the soul of 
 Dennis Hanks." 
 
 This seems a fair estimate of the character 
 of Dennis Hanks by those who ought to know him 
 best; and can be summed up by the words, "igno- 
 rant," "disappointed, " "envious, " "proud," "ego- 
 tistic," "self important," "a liar" by Herndon, 
 and "a thief" by Nancy A. Hall. And he is the 
 illustrious star witness most quoted by biogra- 
 phers who have so glibly painted the dark 
 background for Lincoln, the Immortal. 
 
 When Lincoln became President of the United 
 States an avalanche of questions sprang up over- 
 night. They circled over the heads of the 
 people for a place to light. Dennis Hanks soon 
 was singled out as the king bee. He was illit- 
 erate and unprepared for such distinction. He 
 
 [33] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 was about sixty years old and his memory was 
 the only authority he could quote from. Ques- 
 tions became spicy and embarrassing, but he was 
 proud and loved the new limelight. He became 
 envious of Lincoln and said the wrong thing at 
 times for the purpose of converging more of his 
 greatness to himself. When he was asked how he 
 was related to Lincoln and who his own father 
 and mother were, his answers were contradictory. 
 His contradictions soon branded him a liar, so 
 he floundered along to the end of his days as a 
 discredited old man, envious to the last of his 
 great and kind cousin, Lincoln. Had he always 
 told the truth to the best of his ability and 
 actual knowledge, his name would have passed 
 into history with love and respect. But his 
 infamy hurt only himself, it was the unjustifi- 
 able importance given to his feeble evidence by 
 biographers who made use of it for sinister 
 purposes afterward which produced the irrepar- 
 able slander to the innocent dead. 
 
 Returning to the Lincoln neighborhood in 
 Washington County, Kentucky, we find the fol- 
 lowing as local history: "Nancy continued to 
 live in the Berry home until after the deaths 
 of her uncle and aunt, the latter dying in 1804. 
 Then she went to live with her cousin, Francis 
 Berry, in a large two-story log house which 
 stood on a knoll overlooking the Little Beech, 
 about a quarter of a mile north of the little 
 hamlet of Poortown. There, on June 12, 1806, 
 she and Thomas Lincoln were married. By that 
 time, Thomas Lincoln's sisters, Mary and Ann, 
 had married and moved to Hardin County. Their 
 mother had gone to make her home in the same 
 
 [34] 
 
LUCY (SHIPLEY) HANKS 
 
 neighborhood, living in a cabin which Thomas 
 built for her. 
 
 The latter part of the above paragraph will 
 be important to remember, when, as will follow 
 later, Washington County claims will be pre- 
 sented to at least question the claims as to 
 the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln which now go 
 to Larue County, near Hodgenville. Also it may 
 be well to say at this time that Thomas's sis- 
 ter Mary is the one who married Ralph Crume, and 
 is the brother-in-law who helped when he fur- 
 nished the horses to move Lincoln to Indiana in 
 1816, and possibly when Lincoln moved the goods 
 belonging to his wife, Sarah Bush Johnston, in 
 1819. 
 
 Some confusion has been caused in the minds 
 of the people in relation of the Lincolns and 
 Berrys to Washington County by the change at 
 times in the boundaries. To understand this 
 better we quote a letter in full which we have 
 received from Mr. Polin, in Springfield. The 
 letter is dated September 8, 1942, and says: "In 
 October, 1776, the Legislature of Virginia cre- 
 ated the county of Kentucky, which embraced all 
 of the eastern and central portion of the state 
 of Kentucky. In May, 1780, Kentucky was divided 
 into three counties: Jefferson, Lincoln, and 
 Fayette. Jefferson included what is now Wash- 
 ington County. In October, 1784, the Legisla- 
 ture of Virginia divided Jefferson into two 
 counties, Jefferson and Nelson. Shortly after 
 Kentucky became a state, the Legislature divid- 
 ed Nelson into Nelson and Washington Counties. 
 For this historical data, I refer you to Volume 
 I, page 626 of Little's Laws of Kentucky. This 
 volume is rare, but can be located." 
 
 [35] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 Mr. Polin adds the following as proof that 
 the elder Abraham Lincoln was a resident of 
 Washington County at the time he was killed by 
 the Indians. He says: "In Bardstown, in Nelson 
 County, Kentucky, the record of the year 1789, 
 is the appraisment of the property of Abraham 
 Lincoln, the grandfather of the President. The 
 appraisers were, Peter Sibert, Christopher Bar- 
 low, and John Alvey. All of these men were land 
 owners in the vicinity of the Lincoln Park on 
 the site of the pioneer home. This evidence 
 proves the President's grandfather was killed 
 in Washington County, Kentucky. I heard my fa- 
 ther and other elderly residents of this county 
 speak of seeing; the powder horn, with the name 
 of A. Lincoln upon it which was said to have 
 been suspended around the neck of Abraham Lin- 
 coln when he was killed by the Indians. This 
 powder horn was loaned to the Louisville Poly- 
 technic Association, and we are unable to lo- 
 cate it at the present time." 
 
 In answer to a question Mr. Polin states 
 that there is no record of Dennis Hanks in Wash- 
 ington County, but thinks probably there is in 
 the adjoining county of Nelson. We made the 
 statement earlier in this writing that the f air- 
 ily of Joseph Hanks settled in Nelson County, 
 and John Hanks, in a statement of Herndon in 
 1865 says he "was born about twelve miles of 
 Bardstown," which indicates that Joseph, Jr.-- 
 John's father--was still in that county in 18C1 
 when John was born, which would have been about 
 eight years after the elder Joseph Hanks died* 
 Dennis was born in May of 1799. If Mr. Poli n 
 is correct in his belief that there is a record 
 of Dennis in Kelson County, it is possible Den- 
 
 [301 
 
LUCY (SHIPLEY) HANKS 
 
 nis is mistaken in the place of his birth, as 
 his mother, Nancy Hanks, a sister of John's fa- 
 ther, was still unmarried and living in some- 
 body's home when Dennis was born. Dennis 
 claimed he was born a short distance from the 
 Thomas Lincoln home. 
 
 To confirm our earlier statement that Lucy 
 Shipley was a sister to Thomas Lincoln's moth- 
 er, which made Thomas an own cousin to his wife 
 Nancy Hanks, we quote Mr. Polin again: "Nancy 
 Hank's mother was a Shipley, her sister, Rachel, 
 married the elder Richard Berry (the pioneer). 
 Nancy lived with her aunt Rachel Berry until 
 the death of Richard and Rachel. They were 
 buried in the garden, where the large house is, 
 on the pike, and which you saw when you were 
 here." Somewhere we have read that Thomas Lin- 
 coln's mother, a Shipley, died when he was born. 
 In which case, if it be true, Abraham Lincoln, 
 Sr. migrated from Virginia with his second wife, 
 known as Bersheba Lincoln; her maiden name is 
 not known to us. She could only have been 
 Thomas Lincoln's step-mother. 
 
 And now, in support of our own last state- 
 ment, which we have made with a little reserve, 
 we wish to copy in full a paragraph from page 
 123 in EARLY TIMES IN WASHINGTON COUNTY, KEN- 
 TUCKY, written by Orvil W. Baylor, first print- 
 ing in June, 1942. In speaking of "The original 
 Lincoln family" he says: "The first wife of 
 Abraham Lincoln, Sr. , was Mary Shipley, a daugh- 
 ter of Robert Shipley, Jr., of Virginia. They 
 were married in 1770. She died in 1776, when 
 Thomas Lincoln, father of Fresident Lincoln was 
 born. She was a sister of Rachel Shipley, who 
 narried Richard Berry, Sr. ; Ann Shipley, who 
 
 137] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 married David McCord; Naoma Shipley, who married 
 Robert Mitchel; and Lucy Shipley, who married 
 James Hanks, and became the mother of Nancy 
 Hanks, the mother of President Lincoln." 
 
 Just how Mr. Baylor obtained his facts for 
 these statements, he does not say, but since he 
 seems to be our latest informer, and nothing he 
 has said seems inconsistent as to dates of emi- 
 grations, or marriages, especially the marriage 
 of Lucy Shipley, the President's grandmother to 
 a Hanks, we are pleased to accept what he says 
 as true. 
 
 Mr. Baylor in speaking of the Lincoln emi- 
 gration into Kentucky in 1782 gives the names 
 of the members of the senior Lincoln's family 
 as follows: Abraham the father; Bersheba the 
 mother, whom he married in 1779, his second 
 wife; three sons, Mordicai, Josiah, and Thomas; 
 and two daughters, Mary and Ann. All of these 
 children were from Mary Shipley Lincoln, except 
 Ann, who was the daughter of Bersheba (?) Lin- 
 coln, and only a half-sister to the older chil- 
 dren. 
 
 In defense of the Lincolns we take these 
 items from Mr. Baylor's book which we feel 
 should be better known by all who believe in 
 fair play: Abraham, Sr. served as captain of 
 a militia company in Rockingham County. He al- 
 so served as Judge advocate of the Rockingham 
 County Court from 1776 to 1778. In 1780, he 
 entered 800 acres of land on Green River Lick; 
 also 400 acres on Floyd's Fork in Jefferson 
 County, Kentucky. In 1781, he visited Kentucky, 
 and in August, 1782, while he was on his way 
 back to Virginia to move his family to Kentucky, 
 he was captured by the Indians near Danville. 
 
 [38J 
 
LUCY (SHIPLEY) RANKS 
 
 He was made to run the gauntlet, and then re- 
 leased. Thomas Lincoln certainly inherited 
 nothing from his own background which would 
 have a tendency to reduce him to "lower than 
 the white trash." 
 
 Had some of our envious biographers of Lin- 
 coln been a little more cautious about the gen- 
 uineness of their material used in vilifica- 
 tions of the ancestors of Lincoln, and had been 
 content to wait for authentic verification of 
 facts as are gradually coming to light, half 
 the books on Lincoln's life would probably not 
 have been written, and half the pages in the 
 other half would have been blank. As, for in- 
 stance, half the wind was taken out of their 
 sails when the record of Thomas Lincoln's mar- 
 riage license was discovered in the files in 
 Washington County seventeen years after Abraham 
 Lincoln's death. Can any one guess with any 
 degree of accuracy of the thousands of pages of 
 ugly defamatory allegations written, charged 
 against President Lincoln's father and mother, 
 not because their marriage license was not in 
 existence, but simply because it was not found? 
 Seventeen years certainly produced thousands of 
 pages, and the momentum gained in that period 
 of time has carried the baseless villainy far 
 beyond four times that. 
 
 L39j 
 
Chapter Four 
 THE BIRTHPLACE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 The original pioneer home of the Lincoins 
 seems now to be well established as in Washing- 
 ton County by the subdivisions of Jefferson 
 County into Jefferson and Nelson, and finally 
 Nelson into Nelson and Washington. Biographers 
 first had the Lincoins in Jefferson, then in 
 Nelson and finally in Washington. The fact was, 
 according to Mr. Polin's explanation, the coun- 
 ty lines did the moving, and not the Lincoins. 
 
 Not quarreling with either Washington or La- 
 rue counties as to their respective rights to 
 the honor of being the birthplace of Abraham 
 Lincoln, it seems that the possessor in this 
 case should be entitled to the advantage of the 
 rule of nine points at law, if, and when the 
 question comes up again for final settlement. 
 To be an unbiased inquisitor one would have to 
 say at the start that both counties were in 
 possession of very old log cabins very much 
 alike and similar to those inhabited by early, 
 pioneers, each of which had springs near them. 
 In that respect, points are evenly balanced. 
 
 Both cabins have been removed from their 
 original sites: the cabin in Washington County 
 still remaining at Harrodsburg and now exhibit- 
 ed as the Lincoln Marriage Shrine, while the 
 cabin in Larue County, after much ado was brought 
 
 [40] 
 

 ^c^n. .5; -5L ^: "'^ 
 
 ^ss H 
 
 
LINCOLN'S BIRTHPLACE 
 
 back to its former location for a last resting 
 place. As to authenticity of age and the orig- 
 inal builders of the cabins it appears that the 
 claims of authorities in Washington County have 
 a much more substantial basis than those of La- 
 rue County, even though the latter retains pos- 
 session of the national Memorial Monument. 
 
 While the history of both cabins is more or 
 less traditional, certainly that in Larue Coun- 
 ty is far more vague. It would appear that the 
 most reliable information regarding the history 
 of the cabin in the National Memorial Building 
 would be found in the Abraham Lincoln National 
 Park folder, from which we take the following: 
 
 "From 1861 to the present time the history 
 of the log cabin which is now displayed within 
 the Memorial Building is fairly clear. Its 
 history prior to 1861 is a matter of controver- 
 sy and doubt." "Nor is there conclusive evi- 
 dence concerning the specific location of the 
 original cabin." 
 
 In Washington County the history of the Lin- 
 coln Birthplace Cabin is not questioned either 
 in records or tradition. In fact, its whole 
 history is told and regarded by citizens of 
 that county as a well established fact. We may 
 cite here the fact that when Mercer County ob- 
 tained the cabin for exposition as the Lincoln 
 Marriage Shrine they certainly subscribed to 
 all the facts claimed for it. As will be re- 
 membered, in the earlier part of these writings 
 we gave the early history of the cabin as being 
 built by the pioneer Richard Berry, Sr. with the 
 assistance of Abraham Lincoln, Sr. and his three 
 boys, Mordicai, Josiah, and Thomas on their ar- 
 rival from Virginia in 1782. 
 
 141] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 We should say here that the Washington Coun- 
 ty claimants for the lost honor of the birth- 
 place of Lincoln should be credited by rights 
 with at least some assistance in establishing 
 the time of construction of the Larue County 
 cabin. 
 
 The following is from a booklet entitled, 
 "Lincoln Parents Home County," and reads: "Aft- 
 er the birth of Abraham Lincoln in 1809, Thomas 
 Lincoln left his family in the care of their 
 neighbors in the Original Lincoln Country while 
 he went to build a home in Hardin County, on 
 Nolin Creek. After an absence of several months 
 he returned and took his family to the new home." 
 
 This Washington County information, if ac- 
 ceptable to Larue County historians, might be 
 of some importance in establishing the a^e of 
 the Lincoln Memorial Cabin, providing they can 
 agree that Thomas Lincoln built it "after Abra- 
 ham Lincoln's birth in 1809." 
 
 In this effort IN DEFENSE OF THE LINCOLN 
 FAMILY against its many traducers of character 
 from biographers it should make but little dif- 
 ference in which county in Kentucky Abraham 
 Lincoln was born, or what particular log cabin 
 might have been his place of birth; but, if we 
 can present some of the arguments advanced by 
 the two counties in support of their respective 
 claims for the honor, we are sure the effort 
 will be worth while for: since it was in Ken- 
 tucky that the many dark and shady rumors 
 emerged with which so many writers seemed so 
 eager to stain the character of Thomas Lincoln, 
 and to bring the cabin controversies into the 
 discussion, Thomas Lincoln's activities will 
 
 [42] 
 
LINCOLN'S BIRTHPLACE 
 
 have to be followed. Doing this we learn the 
 character of his occupation, which is important. 
 
 A preview of some of Thomas Lincoln's acti- 
 vities while he remained in Kentucky may not be 
 amiss: 
 
 Born in Virginia in 1776. 
 
 His father killed in Washington County, 
 Kentucky, 1786. 
 
 Grew up in Lincoln Run cabin until 1795. 
 
 Record shows he joined the militia, 1795. 
 
 1796, worked on a mill site in Hardin County, 
 3 shillings per day. 
 
 1798-9, worked on his uncle Isaac's farm in 
 Tennessee, and it is believed he made a trip to 
 Missouri with Daniel Boone. 
 
 1801, entered land in Cumberland County, 
 Kentucky, and in 1802 was appointed constable 
 in that county; also listed for taxes in 
 Washington County the same year. 
 
 1803, bought 238 acres on Mill Creek, Hardin 
 County, for 118 pounds cash. Had learned the 
 carpenter trade in 1797 and built a cabin on 
 this farm and brought his step-mother and half- 
 sister Ann to this farm. 
 
 1804, petitioned for a road to be built by 
 his farm on Mill Creek. 
 
 1805, patrol policeman, guarding against 
 runaway slaves. 
 
 1806, married to Nancy Hanks, June 12, near 
 Poortown, Washingtown County, at home of Francis 
 Berry, her cousin. 
 
 1807, Sarah Lincoln born. Bible record. 
 
 1807, built saw mill in Elizabethtown, com- 
 pelled to bring suit for collection of wages. 
 
 1808, bought 348J- acres on Nolin Creek. 
 
 1809, Abraham Lincoln born. 
 
 [43] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 1810, paid taxes in Washington County. Name 
 of Thomas Lincoln, wife, one son Abraham, one 
 daughter Sarah appeared on United State Census. 
 Census record in Hardin County. 
 
 Systematic research by this time has brought 
 the activities of Thomas Lincoln's life while 
 he lived in Kentucky to almost diary certainty. 
 In the "Lincoln Kinsman" No. 9, of March, 1939, 
 as many as 175 items of interest concerning his 
 moves, land purchases, appointments, jury serv- 
 ice, etc., ranging from the purchase of 2 and 
 300 acre farms to a twist of tobacco or a skein 
 of thread. For instance, on June 12, he was 
 married to Nancy Hanks at Beechland, Washington 
 County. On June 14, he was back in Elizabeth- 
 town and bought a half set of knives and forks 
 at five shillings and three skeins of silk for 
 which he paid three pence. This was at Blakeley 
 and Montgomery's store. On March 25, 1807, 
 Lincoln brought suit against Denton Geoghegan 
 for collection on contract price on hewing. On 
 April 23, of the same year Lincoln was accorded 
 judgment in Geoghegan suit for four pounds, 
 nine shillings debt, and seventy-five cents 
 cost. But, not to withhold a tip to his enemy 
 biographers, we must admit that on October 21, 
 1806, only four months after he had become a 
 married man, he purchased a combination of 
 needles and whiskey which totaled one shilling 
 and one-half pence, and a quarter bushel of salt 
 at four shillings and six pence. Had this item 
 of whiskey been known to some of Thomas Lin- 
 coln's biographers fifty or sixty years after- 
 ward, no doubt he would now be lying under an 
 additional charge of inebriety. 
 
 M4l 
 
LINCOLN'S BIRTHPLACE 
 
 The following dated items are from the 
 "Lincoln Kinsman" mentioned above: 
 
 1811, found a stray horse on Knob Creek and 
 advertised it. Served on a jury in Handley 
 versus Stewart case at Eliisabethtown, Kentucky. 
 
 1812, served on jury in Kirkpatrick versus 
 Cesance case in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. 
 
 Third son, Thomas, born some time this year. 
 
 1813, Mather brought suit against Lincoln 
 for title to South Fork farm. Lincoln filed 
 answer in six days. Thomas Lincoln, special 
 bail for Cosbie Scott sued for debt, delivers 
 Scott to the court. 
 
 1814, called for Mill Creek deed at Hardin 
 County Courthouse. Appointed an appraiser for 
 Jonathan Joseph estate. Bought a child's play 
 wagon at a sale for eight and a quarter cents. 
 Signed an amended answer in Mather's suit. 
 Bought a heifer for nine dollars and forty-two 
 cents and a curry comb for sixty-three cents. 
 Joins with wife in sale of Mill Creek farm to 
 Charles Melton for consideration of one hundred 
 pounds in hand paid. 
 
 1815, entered two hundred thirty acres of 
 land on Knob Creek and four horses for taxation. 
 
 1816, signs as a bondsman on marriage bond 
 of Caleb Hazel and Mary Stevens. 
 
 1816, filed bill against Isaac Bush in at- 
 tempt to collect two hundred dollars due court 
 order and paid attorney three dollars and a half 
 to be given printer for publishing notices. 
 Entered four horses for taxation. Moved from 
 Knob Creek farm in Kentucky to new home in 
 Indiana. 
 
 Whatever we might make from the above dated 
 and authentic records, which are only a few of 
 
 [451 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 all the known activities of Thorr.as Lincoln while 
 he lived in Kentucky ; moving to Indiana at about 
 the age of forty, it does not seem that he could 
 be justly accused of being "inactive," "shift- 
 less" or "lazy." And, too, isn't it a little 
 remarkable that in all this data, when we remem- 
 ber the dark cloud spread over his Kentucky life 
 by the biographers of his illustrious son in 
 years after, that not one charge of a criminal 
 nature has yet been found; not an arrest for 
 drunkenness, debt, swindling or fighting? What 
 is the answer to that? 
 
 We have spoken of the contention of Washing- 
 ton County for the honor of being the birth- 
 place of Abraham Lincoln, Considering the firm 
 belief of the public that Lincoln's birthplace 
 is established in Larue County near Hodgenville, 
 as evidenced by the great Memorial built by 
 contributions and now Government managed, we 
 are confident no overnight action will ever be 
 taken to relocate the birthplace to Washington 
 County, or any other county in Kentucky — with- 
 out a lot of proof now unknown. But, suppose 
 it was discovered, as the marriage license of 
 Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks was discovered 
 (without the discovery of that marriage license 
 Larue County would now be claiming the marriage 
 of Thomas Lincoln as having taken place in 
 Elisabethtown as once believed as firmly as it 
 believes now that Lincoln was born there). 
 
 In the "Lincoln Kinsman" referred to above 
 there is one item it quotes, which, if true as 
 stated would settle the birthplace question be- 
 yond a reasonable doubt in favor of its present 
 place, barring the possibility of the discovery 
 
 r46l 
 
LINCOLN'S BIRTHPLACE 
 
 of a birth record in Washington County for the 
 birth of Lincoln. 
 
 The item corr.es under the year of 1807, and 
 reads: "February 10th., Sarah Lincoln was born 
 at Elizabethtown, the first child of Thomas and 
 Nancy Lincoln." That would seem to establish 
 the home of Thomas Lincoln in Elizabethtown on 
 that date, and if Abraham Lincoln was really 
 born in Washington County near Poortown, Thomas 
 would have had to move some time between Febru- 
 ary 10, 1807, and February 12, 1809, back to 
 that place. So, if we take sides with Washing- 
 ton County, we must say we have our doubts that 
 Thomas Lincoln ever lived in Elizabethtown aft- 
 er he was married in 1806, and did not move 
 from Poortown to Hardin County until about 1810. 
 
 Washington County authorities say that Thomas 
 Lincoln paid taxes in that county in 1810. To 
 our knowledge he never owned real estate in 
 Washington County; so, if there is a tax record 
 there, he surely was paying on personal proper- 
 ty, which certainly would be household goods. 
 How do Hardin County claimants account for Thomas 
 Lincoln's taxes due in Washington County the 
 year after Abraham Lincoln was born than by tax 
 on personal property: a cow, hogs, chickens 
 and a few house goods? 
 
 But Hardin County says that Thomas Lincoln 
 was in Elizabethtown two days after he was mar- 
 ried and bought some knives and forks and three 
 skeins of silk. Washington County admits that 
 Thomas Lincoln continued to go back and forth 
 to work after he was married just as he had 
 been doing before. His work had been at and 
 about Elizabethtown most of the time after re- 
 turning from his Uncle Isaac ' s farm in Tennessee. 
 
 ur 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 This going back and forth to work from his home 
 in Beechland to Elizabethtown continued, ac- 
 cording to Washington County Lincoln lore until 
 some months after the son Abraham was born. 
 
 Apparently, Thomas Lincoln was a regular 
 customer at the Blakely and Montgomery store in 
 Elizabethtown, beginning in July, 1804, and 
 lasting until some time in 1808. No purchases 
 were made after May 13, 1808. If Thomas Lincoln 
 was living in Hardin County why did he not con- 
 tinue trading in Elizabethtown as he had been 
 doing? And why, if he was a resident there from 
 the time he was married did not his wife's 
 name, Nancy, appear on the store ledger on 
 Thomas Lincoln's account? A few others bought 
 on his account, but Nancy's name is not to be 
 found on it. Was it because she was at home in 
 Beechland, Washington County? Surely in two or 
 three years residence close to Blakely and Mont- 
 gomery she would need something when her hus- 
 band was away — if her home was in Elizabethtown. 
 An item of May 24, 1806, says that Mrs. Ogden, 
 wife of Benjamin Ogden, the Methodist preacher, 
 secured some silk at Blakely and Montgomery 
 store by order of Thomas Lincoln and paid twelve 
 shillings for it. An item, August 6, 1806, 
 notes that Richard Brumfield, secured goods to 
 the amount of one pound, four shillings, which 
 were charged to Thomas Lincoln's account. Nan- 
 cy's name never appears either by order or in 
 person. 
 
 The "Lincoln Kinsman" says that on February 
 10, 1807, Sarah Lincoln was born in Elizabeth- 
 town (seven months and twenty-six days after 
 Thomas and Nancy were married). Is it likely 
 that Thomas would care to bring his new wife to 
 
 L48] 
 
LINCOLN'S BIRTHPLACE 
 
 a new home in Elizabethtown under the circum- 
 stances existing so soon as two days after their 
 marriage? Would Nancy wish to hurry to a new 
 home among strangers or prefer to stay awhile 
 among her friends and relatives? 
 
 Thomas bought sundries at Blakeley and Mont- 
 gomery store twenty days before Sarah Lincoln 
 was born, and did not appear at the store again 
 for twentv-seven days after she was born. Where 
 was he? If Sarah was born in Elizabethtown, 
 wouldn't that have been a time for almost daily 
 trips to the store? Surely there must have been 
 something at the Blakely and Montgomery store 
 at that important time that Thomas Lincoln 
 should need; he was still trading there and 
 continued doing so for more than a year after- 
 ward. Could it be that Thomas was at that time 
 more than forty miles from Elizabethtown at his 
 home in the Beechland neighborhood close to 
 Nancy's folks, the Berrys? Traditions in Wash- 
 ington County say he was. Deductions substan- 
 tiate them. 
 
 Blakely and Montgomery charged nothing to 
 Thomas Lincoln's account for twenty-seven days 
 after Sarah's birth; not a yard of cloth, not a 
 bit of tea, not a pound of coffee or sugar. His 
 absence from his favorite store at this partic- 
 ular and important time certainly speaks volumes 
 for Washington County's argument that Lincoln 
 continued to live in the cabin near Beechland 
 after his marriage to Nancy Hanks. 
 
 We have found that Thomas Lincoln had charged 
 to his account as many as eighty-eight differ- 
 ent items or purchases during the time he trad- 
 ed at the Blakely and Montgomery store in 
 Elizabethtown. Not a single article was furni- 
 
 [49] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 ture for setting up housekeeping. No beds, no 
 chairs, no tables, bureaus or clocks, blankets 
 or bed clothing, and, what would be most sig- 
 nificant, not a pound of anything to eat. No 
 bacon, sugar, coffee, tea, molasses, hominy or 
 rice; nothing in the grocery line whatever, not 
 even crackers or cheese. Some of the articles 
 he did buy indicated it was a general store. 
 Tobacco was often an item of purchase; calomel, 
 jalap, and salt, which indicated groceries were 
 in the store. 
 
 Once he bought a quarter bushel of salt, no 
 doubt for his horse; which, of course, he kept 
 with him for his weekly and sometimes monthly 
 trips back to his home in Washington County. 
 The salt possibly weighed as much as fifteen 
 pounds, which, judging by the items on the 
 ledger was the weightiest article he ever 
 purchased, indicating that nothing too heavy or 
 too bulky to carry on horseback was ever pur- 
 chased in Elizabethtown. If the salt was for 
 his horse it probably remained in Elizabethtown 
 for his use there. 
 
 Before leaving this interesting list of side 
 lights as they appear on the ledger of the old 
 Blakeley and Montgomery store which the "Lincoln 
 Kinsman" has given to the public, we wish to 
 call attention to two items appearing on the 
 book a few days before Thomas Lincoln was 
 married. On June 2, 1806, Thomas purchased a 
 "tipt" bridle for his horse and paid thirteen 
 shillings and six pence for it. Then, on June 
 4, 1806, he purchased for Mrs. Sarah Bush John- 
 ston, his future second wife, items to the 
 amount of seven shillings and six pence. The 
 bridle was bought ten days before he was mar- 
 
 [50] 
 
LINCOLN'S BIRTHPLACE 
 
 ried; and, as it was "tipt" we suppose it was a 
 little unusually decorated for Nancy's pleasure 
 as he headed his horse through the gate and up 
 to the stile in front of the two-story log 
 mansion of Frank Berry's to meet the girl of 
 his choice, Nancy Hanks. 
 
 Thomas Lincoln had made a trip to New Orleans, 
 starting about the first few days of March with 
 Isaac Bush, a brother to Sarah Bush (Thomas' 
 second wife)* This was for Blakely and Mont- 
 gomery and when they returned Sarah Bush had 
 become the wife of Daniel Johnston. Presumably, 
 the above charge to Thomas Lincoln's account is 
 for a present to her from Lincoln. Thirteen 
 years afterward Mrs. Sarah Bush Johnston became 
 the wife of Thomas Lincoln. 
 
 Now, if Washington County is correct as to 
 the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, and, of 
 course, his sister Sarah, as the deductions from 
 the old ledger tend to prove; what year is 
 Washington County willing to admit that Thomas 
 Lincoln did move to Hardin County and take his 
 family to live? There are two fairly good 
 reasons to believe that it was sometime in the 
 year of 1810, and that it was most likely in the 
 spring of that year, not later than the first 
 of June. According to records of the "Lincoln 
 Kinsman" we find: that Thomas Lincoln entered 
 two hundred acres of land on Mill Creek and two 
 horses for taxation that year; and that the name 
 of Thomas Lincoln appeared on the United States 
 Census for Hardin County as a male between 
 twenty-six and forty-five, a boy (Abraham) under 
 ten and a girl (Sarah)under ten. Census-taking 
 by the Government begins the first of June, so 
 we believe that Washington County would not 
 
 [51] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 contend that Thomas Lincoln and his family were 
 not settled in Hardin County by that date. In 
 this conclusion it should not be forgotten that 
 Washington County tells us that Thomas Lincoln 
 paid taxes in that county in 1810 also. Since 
 he was never known to own real estate there, the 
 taxes must have been levied on personal prop- 
 erty, as before stated. 
 
 But there is a traditional claim, although 
 not important so far as establishing the true 
 birthplace of Lincoln, made by Washington County 
 claimants which would require the setting back 
 of the birth of the Baby Thomas Lincoln, as it 
 also would Sarah and Abraham about two years. 
 In the "Lincoln Kinsman" we find that the date 
 of this child's birth is in 1812, about two 
 years after Thomas moved from Washington County 
 to Hardin, if we take the former county's view. 
 The "Lincoln Kinsman" fails to give the day or 
 month of this baby's birth, or where his grave 
 is located. Washington County tradition locates 
 the grave and approximates the year of birth as 
 about 1810, as we will try to explain later. 
 
 [52] 
 
Chapter Five 
 THE BIRTHPLACE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN (CONTINUED) 
 
 Staying overnight in Springfield the writer 
 had occasion to meet and talk to a lady living 
 there, Mrs, Dr. Mudd, who, in early life lived 
 north of town in the Lincoln-Berry neighborhood. 
 She stated, in our conversation relating to 
 Lincoln's birthplace, that from her earliest 
 recollection the old log cabin which stood near 
 Poortown and later torn down and taken to 
 Harrodsburg was always known and pointed out to 
 her as the birthplace of President Lincoln. 
 She further stated that it was common knowledge 
 in that locality as to the relationship of 
 Nancy Hanks to the Berrys and the two homes 
 they had given her before her marriage to Thomas 
 Lincoln. Even the records found in the Spring- 
 field courthouse substantiating the facts were 
 no more convincing to her than the traditional 
 stories handed down through the families to the 
 present time. 
 
 Asked to account for the great Memorial 
 Building at the alleged site of Lincoln's birth- 
 place at Hodgenville, she gave the same answer 
 that Mr. Polin and Mr. Pinkston gave: that the 
 Washington County people were surprised and 
 caught napping, never dreaming any other county 
 in Kentucky had any right to claim the honor now 
 lost to them. But we have a faint idea that Mr. 
 
 £53] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 Pinkston stated the facts rr.ore correctly when 
 he said in regard to their "lost honor," that 
 the authorities in Washington County saw no 
 honor lost until it began to come to Larue 
 County; then it was too late. 
 
 In our opinion, regardless of blame or on 
 whom it may rest, should the public (the na- 
 tional public) become convinced that a great 
 error had been made when the Memorial to the 
 birthplace of Lincoln was located in Larue 
 County, there would be no public rest until it 
 was relocated by the little pioneer village of 
 Poortown, Washington County, Kentucky. As it 
 is, in the light of discoveries constantly being 
 made regarding Lincoln's ancestors in Kentucky 
 and the certain growing realization of his 
 immortal greatness in that state, in the nation, 
 and in the world, it is not difficult to visual- 
 ize a violent tempest of clamorous protests 
 against its present location. The constant 
 sting of unjust loss to Washington County may 
 start the whirlwind that may bring the national 
 storm of protest to the dimensions necessary 
 for its removal to what that county believes is 
 its rightful place. Washington County will win. 
 
 In Lincoln's autobiography written in the 
 third person, he said: "Abraham Lincoln was 
 born February 12, 1809, then in Hardin, now in 
 the more recently formed county of Larue, 
 Kentucky." On the basis of those two lines 
 taken from Lincoln' s own autobiography, no doubt 
 the prized Memorial Building was located in 
 Larue County with but little investigation to 
 verify the truth. If an error was committed, it 
 seems to be a natural one, for most people are 
 
 [54] 
 
LINCOLN'S BIRTHPLACE 
 
 presumed to know their birthplace without ques- 
 tion. 
 
 But, in two places in this same autobiography 
 he was mistaken. And, since he evidently relied 
 on the same source, family tradition in making 
 the errors, his statement in which he gave his 
 place of birth is weakened in consequence. He 
 also makes the statement that "The family were 
 originally Quakers." A footnote at the bottom 
 of the page says: "In this he was mistaken." 
 On the same page Lincoln says in speaking of his 
 Uncle Josiah: "He moved to Indiana and settled 
 on Blue River in Hancock County." Had he not 
 been mistaken he would have said, Harrison 
 County, Indiana. 
 
 Lincoln historians in Washington County say 
 bluntly that he was mistaken in his belief about 
 his birthplace, as this quotation which follows, 
 verifies: "Abraham Lincoln knew very little 
 about the early life of his parents and less 
 about the history of his forebears. He believed 
 that his mother and father had always lived in 
 Hardin County, Kentucky; that they were married 
 there and that his sister and he were born 
 in Hardin County. Consequently in 1858, when his 
 political enemies were circulating the sordid 
 tale that he was an illegitimate and that his 
 parents had never legally married, Lincoln 
 turned to the archives of Hardin County for a 
 copy of his parents' marriage record. The 
 record of course was not to be found. It was in 
 the archives of near-by Washington County where 
 his parents were raised, where they were mar- 
 ried, and where they lived several years after 
 their marriage. But Lincoln knew nothing about 
 all this. He went to his grave sadly disap- 
 
 [55] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 pointed, it is said, because he had failed to 
 find a record of the marriage of his parents, 
 and believing that they were never legally mar- 
 ried." 
 
 Since the marriage record of Lincoln's par- 
 ents was not found until 1882, seventeen years 
 after Lincoln's death, but little of the above 
 contention of Washington County authorities can 
 be disputed. However, because of his close as- 
 sociation with older people, his father espe- 
 cially, until he was twenty-one and older, he 
 may have firmly believed that his father and 
 mother were legally married, but was sadly dis- 
 appointed because his agents failed to find the 
 marriage certificate. 
 
 It should be taken into consideration that 
 when Lincoln was still living and instituted 
 the unsuccessful search for such papers in La- 
 rue County, it is doubtful if he could find a 
 single loyal supporter in that whole country 
 with influence enough to be able to make any 
 sort of systematic search for any record that 
 would be to the credit of the President. It 
 should be remembered that Washington County 
 gave Lincoln and Hamlin one single vote in the 
 election in 1860, and only six were cast for 
 them in Hardin County. It is not likely that 
 the one vote or one of the six supporters in 
 the two counties, or even one of the one hun- 
 dred who afterwards claimed to have cast the 
 "one" vote in Washington County ever dared to 
 seriously look for Thomas Lincoln's marriage 
 record before the President's assassination in 
 1865. 
 
 Since it is an established fact that Lincoln 
 himself did not know the truth about the place 
 
 [56] 
 
LINCOLN'S BIRTHPLACE 
 
 of his father's marriage, who, of all the wit- 
 nesses that might give aid and enlightenment of 
 events which took place in the period of time 
 from the date of Thomas Lincoln's marriage, now 
 definitely known to be June 12, 1806, at the 
 little place of Beechland in Washington County; 
 who, of all who in the past have given testimo- 
 ny, can we trust and expect the truth from that 
 date to the time Thomas Lincoln actually moved 
 into Hardin County? There were three people 
 who grew up with Lincoln from childhood, and 
 all of them were living at the time of Lincoln's 
 assassination; at a time when the absolute truth 
 as they might know it would certainly be told 
 if ever it was, each was interviewed and cross- 
 questioned many times, and after it was all over 
 not one of them seemed to know the facts better 
 than the President himself. Neither of the 
 Hankses, John or Dennis, seemed to have any 
 clear recollection of any happenings back of 
 Lincoln's birth, although both of them were old. 
 enough to have knowledge of Thomas Lincoln's 
 marriage. y John was five years old, and Dennis 
 seven. Whatever either of them said of events 
 happening in Kentucky can hardly be relied upon 
 as authentic, and their memory seemed to serve 
 them poorly in all their narratives of later 
 years. What biographer today would seriously 
 repeat the story of Dennis Hanks running to see 
 the new baby at Thomas Lincoln's home two miles 
 away ahead of his mother? And if he did, what 
 would be his reason for doing so? Dennis said 
 he himself was born in Hardin County. Would the 
 historian repeat the baby story for the purpose 
 of establishing the place of Abraham Lincoln's 
 birthplace? Would he, if it were left to him, 
 
 [57] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 establish a great memorial monument to Lincoln's 
 birthplace on the strength of the Dennis Hank's 
 baby story? If it were true, it would be suf- 
 ficient for Dennis was old enough to make the 
 run he told about when Lincoln was born. Also, 
 Dennis was old enough to have saved the boy 
 Abraham from drowning as he related. Is that 
 story believed now with any degree of confi- 
 dence? If we cannot believe these stories, then 
 any other thing he may say about the place of 
 Abraham Lincoln's birth should be placed beside 
 those boastful and innocent little lies. 
 
 John Hanks, three years younger than his 
 cousin Dennis, seemed truthful to the best of 
 his ability. He had no ambition to embellish 
 his hazy memory of a fifty-year old period with 
 unreasonable stories for effect. Therefore John 
 Hanks made no effort to say when or where Thomas 
 Lincoln was married or where his children were 
 born. He probably knew actually less than 
 Abraham Lincoln did about events between 1806 
 and 1810. There was nothing from John to es- 
 tablish Lincoln' s birth as taking place in Hardin 
 County. 
 
 Sarah Bush Lincoln could have been a good 
 and reliable witness as to Lincoln's birthplace 
 had the question ever occurred to anyone to 
 ask it. As will be recalled, she was a resident 
 of Elizabethtown and had married Daniel Johnston 
 only a few weeks before Thomas Lincoln returned 
 from a trip to New Orleans with a cargo for the 
 Blakely and Montgomery store with her brother 
 Isaac Bush. Thomas had started on the New 
 Orleans trip about the first of March, 1806; 
 Sarah was married in about a week after the 
 start. Thomas Lincoln and her brother returned 
 
 [58 j 
 
LINCOLN'S BIRTHPLACE 
 
 about the first of May, and immediately Lincoln 
 besan to prepare for his own wedding; which took 
 place in a little over four weeks — the 12th of 
 June. Both Thomas and her brother gave her wed- 
 ding presents according to the "Lincoln Kinsman" 
 when they came home and found her married to 
 Johnston. Was the cause of Thomas Lincoln's 
 apparent hurry to get married when he returned 
 from New Orleans the disappointment in finding 
 Sarah Bush already married or a gentle hint 
 from Nancy Hanks over in the old neighborhood 
 at Beechland that a little hurry might be bet- 
 ter than a little delay? Whichever it was, if 
 either, there can be no doubt whatever that 
 Sarah Bush Lincoln knew when and where all of 
 Thomas Lincoln's children were born. She lived 
 until 1869. Why, during her long life, did she 
 not tell what she knew? She surely would have 
 been believed. In our opinion, it was because 
 while she lived (possibly up to the time the 
 marriage records were discovered in 1SS2) the 
 public rested in the belief that the Lincolns 
 had always lived in Hardin County, married there 
 and of course Thomas's children born there as 
 Abraham Lincoln himself thought and said in his 
 autobiography. In that case, no one thought to 
 ask the question. When there was a question 
 all parties were dead who could be believed. 
 Dennis Hanks still lived, but was an incompe- 
 tent witness. Washington County knew the true 
 history of the Lincolns, the Berrys, Nancy Hanks 
 and her marriage with Thomas Lincoln . The birth 
 of their children was all kept in the archives 
 of family traditions. 
 
 It rray be asked, what difference does it make 
 where Abraham Lincoln was born? The question 
 
 [59] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 rray be answered by asking another: What differ- 
 ence did it make whether his father and mother's 
 marriage license was found or not? Ordinarily, 
 for the public to be ignorant of the birthplace 
 or marriage record of the average individual, 
 would be of little interest. The importance of 
 the fact lies altogether with the importance of 
 the person, and the degree of honor and respect 
 the living may have for the man. As for Lin- 
 coln: The importance of his true place of birth 
 is becoming greater as his greatness grows, and 
 in the exact proportion. The importance may be 
 judged by our own individual selves when we re- 
 alize the satisfaction of viewing the real, 
 rather than the counterfeit. 
 
 It is not of recent years that the question 
 between the counties of Washington and Larue 
 over the birthplace of President Lincoln began. 
 Thirteen years before the movement began which 
 led to the erection of the Memorial in Larue 
 County on the Nolin Creek farm, R. M. Thompson, 
 of Springfield, Kentucky, made an affidavit to 
 the effect that all of Thomas Lincoln'-s children 
 were born in the Beechland cabin. Mr. Thompson 
 was the man who in 1882 caused the search for 
 the marriage license of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy 
 Hanks in the archives of the courthouse in 
 Springfield. He was a distant cousin of Nancy 
 Hanks, and resented the insinuations circulat- 
 ing at the time that she and Thomas Lincoln 
 were not legally married. 
 
 Thompson was seventy years old in 1882 when 
 the search was instituted, and based his belief 
 altogether on what older people told him who 
 lived contemporaneous with the principals of 
 the time. Two of the men his affidavit refers 
 
 [60] 
 
Old home of Frank Berry in Washington County, Kentucky, where 
 Nancy Hanks made her home after her aunt died, and where it is 
 now thought she and Thomas Lincoln were married. House was 
 built in 1797. 
 
 Well on Josiah Crawford's farm which Lincoln helped dig and wall. 
 Trees on site of old cabin. 
 
LINCOLN'S BIRTHPLACE 
 
 to were Richard Berry, Jr., and William Hardes- 
 ty. Berry was the grandson of Francis Berry, 
 Sr., the pioneer. Francis Berry, Sr. and his 
 brother-in-law, Abraham Lincoln, Sr., both mar- 
 ried Shipleys (sisters to Lucy Shipley Hanks 
 who was the mother of Nancy, the President's 
 mother) . 
 
 Thompson quotes Francis Berry, Jr. as saying 
 that about the close of the Civil War, President 
 Abraham Lincoln was born in the said cabin in 
 Washington County. As Francis, Jr. was the son 
 of Frank Berry with whom Nancy Hanks made her 
 home from 1804 to 1806, and in whose house it 
 is now claimed by Washington County Lincoln 
 lore authorities that she was married; it is 
 certainly not difficult to believe that the 
 younger Berry would be the very best authority. 
 In the Francis Berry home at the time Nancy went 
 there to make her home in 1804, there is said 
 to have been three children: Richard, a four- 
 year-old boy, who became the father of the man 
 whom Mr. Thompson quotes; Mary H. , a three-year- 
 olrd girl; and Rachel, one year old. 
 
 As described before in former pages, the 
 cabin purported to be the birthplace of the 
 President stood one-half mile southwest of the 
 Frank Berry home where the wedding took place. 
 After the wedding, Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks 
 set up housekeeping in this cabin; which, as 
 will be again remembered, was the identical 
 house Thomas helped his father and uncle build 
 twenty-four years earlier when they all arrived 
 from Virginia. 
 
 And this is the home Thomas maintained while 
 he still went back and forth to Elizabethtown 
 to his work; as, we believe, his record of pur- 
 
 [61] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 chases in the Blakely and Montgomery store in 
 Eli zabethtown confirms rather than disproves. 
 And here is where all of Thomas Lincoln's chil- 
 dren were born, not excepting Thomas, Jr., the 
 baby, whose date of birth seems to have been 
 lost to all authorities definitely, but said by 
 some to have been .in 1812. But, if Washington 
 County claimants are correct, his birth must 
 necessarily have been in the first six months 
 of 1810. 
 
 To consider Mr. Thompson' s affidavit closely, 
 it seems doubtful if he could have quoted an- 
 other witness who would be more reliable so far 
 as having access to the facts he wished to es- 
 tablish. Berry was not so old as to be forget- 
 ful (probably, between fifty and sixty years of 
 age). Unless he was the man who cast the lone 
 vote in Washington County for Lincoln in 1860 
 he was certainly not prejudiced in Lincoln's 
 favor; for, "at about the time of the close of 
 the Civil War" he would more likely' have consid- 
 ered the place of Lincoln's birth discreditable 
 for his county rather than otherwise. At any 
 rate it is not supposed that he would rate the 
 claim for Lincoln's birthplace high enough to 
 lie about it. He, without doubt told Mr. Thomp- 
 son what he did for no reason except to tell 
 the truth. 
 
 The testimony of Mr. William Hardesty, which 
 Mr. Thompson includes in his affidavit eoes a 
 little farther back and states that he, Mr. 
 Hardesty, actually witnessed the marriage of 
 Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks which was per- 
 formed by the Reverend Jesse Head. Mr. Thomp- 
 son's affidavit was taken April 13, 1891, by 
 
 [62J 
 
LINCOLN'S BIRTHPLACE 
 
 the clerk of the Washington County Circuit 
 Court, J. L. Wharton. 
 
 The son of the above Mr. Hardesty on November 
 7, 1919, made affidavit in the office of £olin 
 and Folin, in Springfield, Kentucky. This 
 elaborates on the testimony of his father given 
 to Mr. Thompson in 1891. The son's name was 
 William T. Hardesty and as he remembers the 
 story, his father slipped away from home and 
 went to the Lincoln wedding in 1806. His story 
 varies from present belief to the extent that 
 he said his father spoke of the marriage taking 
 place in the small cabin, the same in which they 
 went to housekeeping, "shortly after they were 
 married . " 
 
 The affidavit of Hardesty further states, 
 "They afterwards lived in this cabin and it was 
 there that Abraham Lincoln, President of the 
 United States, was born. The spring near the 
 roadside has been called the Lincoln Spring 
 since my earliest recollection." "My father 
 was always quite positive of the fact that the 
 President was born in this county." 
 
 Mr. Hardesty also adds some conflicting in- 
 formation in his statements when he says; "... 
 that there were two children born to Thomas 
 Lincoln and Nancy Hanks in the cabin now stand- 
 ing, (1891) in this county, the first was a girl, 
 who died in infancy, and the second was a boy; 
 this would bring it up to 1809, the year that 
 Abraham Lincoln was born; and that Thomas Lin- 
 coln moved to Larue, (then Hardin) County when 
 this boy was about 18 months old." 
 
 In the writer's visit to this site in 1942, 
 Mr. Pinkston pointed out the location of a grave 
 which he said was visible in his and his older 
 
 [63] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 brother's (whom he sometimes quoted) boyhood. 
 The small grave, as he remembered, was about 35 or 
 40 feet from the southwest corner of the cabin 
 site. To him the origin of the ^rave was vague, 
 and only came down to the present time as a 
 tradition, but anchored to the occupancy of the 
 cabin by the Lincolns; that the child had been 
 born in the old cabin, and that if it was not a 
 child of the Lincolns' there was no other tra- 
 dition which would account for the grave. 
 
 To substantiate the connection of the grave 
 with the death of a child of Lincolns', it can 
 be said with absolute certainty that in that 
 early day most, if not all pioneer families had 
 on some eminence or knoll a family graveyard. 
 In the garden, a few hundred feet east, of the 
 elder Richard Berry's pioneer home (where Nancy 
 Hanks lived for some years) are the graves of 
 Mr. Berry and his wife. 
 
 Near the old home of Frank Berry on high 
 ground in the old orchard can be seen the graves 
 with native sandstone markers of this Berry and 
 his wife. Ten or fifteen other small flat 
 stones stand up showing the location of as many 
 graves. With the single grave at the Lincoln 
 cabin location there is a total of three grave- 
 yards on the original Berry land entry, all 
 within a triangular distance of about one mile. 
 
 It is possible that this small grave at the 
 Beechland Lincoln cabin is none other than the 
 grave which Lincoln referred to while in a rem- 
 iniscent mood when he said that one of the last 
 things he remembered doing while yet in Kentucky 
 was going with his mother to visit the grave of 
 her youngest child, a son who died in infancy. 
 
 For this surmise to be true, it is quite 
 
 [64] 
 
LINCOLN'S BIRTHPLACE . 
 
 necessary for a correction to be made in regard 
 to some of the statements alleged by Mr. Har- 
 desty. He says that Thomas Lincoln's first 
 child was a girl and died in infancy. He never 
 mentions another daughter, Sarah (two years old- 
 er than Abraham who died at the age of twenty- 
 two in Indiana). Lincoln's impression, if the 
 foregoing reference to his visit with his moth- 
 er to the grave is correct, was that there were 
 three children, the last being an infant broth- 
 er. Mr. Hardesty was under the impression that 
 the first child died and was a girl, when the 
 truth was that the last child died and was a 
 boy. When we consider his statement in connec- 
 tion with the later known facts and the long 
 period of time it was necessary for him to car- 
 ry what at that time were ordinary events in 
 his memory, it is not to be expected that there 
 could be no errors in his statement. On the 
 other hand, it is certainly remarkable and sig- 
 nificant that he named the number and the sex 
 of Thomas Lincoln's children absolutely correct. 
 
 It is a little strange that in the old Lin- 
 coln Bible, the record said to be in Abraham 
 Lincoln's handwriting, there is no mention of 
 either an infant brother or infant sister. 
 
 If a visit to the grave of an infant child 
 at the old home in the Poortown neighborhood 
 was made by Lincoln and his mother just before 
 leaving Kentucky for their new home in Indiana, 
 Lincoln would have been seven years old. As 
 they lived on the Rolling Fork farm in Hardin 
 County at that time, it was necessary for them 
 to make at least a forty-mile trip back to Wash- 
 ington County. Such trips were made by horseback 
 then, and there is no small wonder that the 
 
 [65] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 trip to the grave impressed Lincoln greatly. 
 The trip, if made to their old neighborhood no 
 doubt included a few days visit with the Berry 
 families with whom his mother had long made her 
 home before her marriage. 
 
 As there seems to be grave errors existing 
 as to this third infant child of the Lincoins', 
 its date and place of birth and burial, it is 
 regrettable that Lincoln in telling of his visit 
 to the grave with his mother did not mention 
 some thing that would have been a key to the 
 hidden facts. We hope this added speculation 
 of a horseback visit to the grave by Lincoln 
 and his mother will add no harm. 
 
 On February 2, 1925, John Thomas Haydon, liv- 
 ing in Ralls County, Missouri, made oath to the 
 following; facts: His mother's maiden name was 
 Rebecca McAllister; her mother, Kitty Moody, was 
 a cousin to the Berry boys — Richard, Francis, 
 and Edward (sons of Richard Berry, Sr. ) — and 
 also a cousin to Nancy Hanks. 
 
 In 1865, when it became known that the Pres- 
 ident had been assassinated, Mr.Haydon's grand- 
 mother, the above Kitty Moody, was visiting at 
 his home in Kentucky and made the statement 
 that she had had the pleasure of nursing one 
 President, Abraham Lincoln. She then related 
 in detail how she attended the Lincoln-Hanks 
 marriage and danced at the infare following. 
 She said that some years later, when she was 
 visiting in one of the Berry homes, Thomas and 
 Nancy Lincoln were then living in one of the 
 Berry cabins on the Berry land. When the word 
 came to the Berry house that there was a new 
 baby at the Lincoln cabin, she went across the 
 field to see the new arrival, and was told that 
 
 [66] 
 
LINCOLN'S BIRTHPLACE 
 
 the proud parents had called the child Abraham, 
 after his paternal grandfather who had been 
 killed by the Indians. She then spoke with 
 pride of how she had held the little fellow in 
 her arms. 
 
 It seems that if there is a question as to 
 the birthplace of Lincoln, and that question 
 can be settled by sworn affidavits, the one 
 just quoted certainly leaves little doubt but 
 that Abraham Lincoln was born in Washington 
 County, Kentucky. There is nothing inconsistent 
 about this story. It is clear-cut and from a 
 clear mind. If Haydon's grandmother was at the 
 wedding of the Lincolns, she was probably 18 or 
 20 years of age. At the time she related the 
 story sworn to by her grandson, in 1865, she 
 would be about 72 or 74 years old and, so far 
 as age is concerned , her mind could be as clear 
 as her story indicated. 
 
 To repeat: "Some years later, when she was 
 visiting in one of the Berry homes, Thomas and 
 Nancy were living in one of the Berry cabins on 
 the Berry land;... word came announcing a new 
 baby;... she went across the field to see the 
 new arrival ;.. .they called the baby Abraham"; 
 etc. In this, "some years later," would be ex- 
 actly two years, eight months, and two days from 
 the time of the marriage to the date of Lin- 
 coln's birth, February 12, 1809. "They were 
 living in one of the Berry cabins," which is a 
 true statement, for the Lincoln Spring cabin 
 still stood on the Berry land until 1911, when 
 it was torn down and moved to Harrodsburg. "She 
 went across the field to see the new arrival," 
 which she would have to do if she was visiting 
 the Frank Berry family on whose farm the Lincoln 
 
 [67] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 cabin stood. The distance would have been about 
 one-half mile southwest. "They called the baby 
 Abraham," which leaves no question as to which 
 baby of the Lincolns' she had reference to. 
 
 This affidavit of Haydon is as complete, as 
 free from doubts and rings as true to the point 
 in the establishment of the real birthplace of 
 Abraham Lincoln as can well be inspired. An 
 affirmation sworn to such as the above in sup- 
 port of the contention of Larue County which 
 now possesses the Lincoln Birth Memorial is not 
 in existence so far as the writer has knowledge. 
 Probably if this proof was put up to Larue County 
 authorities it would be answered by them that 
 affidavits can easily be obtained to prove most 
 anything. But, in their case they have not 
 found it so easy; or, while now enjoying the 
 honor, right or wrong, they prefer to ignore 
 all controversies which tend to agitate the 
 question, as they have all to lose and nothing 
 to gain. 
 
 The following narrative, told by a colored 
 minister who lived in Washington County and in 
 the Beechland neighborhood, gives exactly the 
 same substance as the foregoing but in a dif- 
 ferent style. He says: "Many years ago when I 
 went to Beechland to serve the church there, I 
 heard my own people as well as the white folks 
 talk about President Lincoln being born there. 
 I remember one day when I was called to the home 
 of a very old lady who lived near Simpsonville 
 to pray for her when she was sick. She was 
 near one hundred years old. She told me many 
 things about the early days. I distinctly re- 
 member her saying with considerable feeling 
 that when President Lincoln was born in a cabin 
 
 [68J 
 
LINCOLN'S BIRTHPLACE 
 
 near Beech Fork she was sent by her mistress 
 to nurse him. 'Little did I think,' she said, 
 'as I held that scrawny little babe in my arms, 
 that one day he would set me free!" 
 
 Certainly there could be nothing gained 
 which would be to the minister's credit to fab- 
 ricate this story, and just as certain no per- 
 son, colored or white, would create the story 
 without a basic fact some place back in their 
 memory — no matter of how long standing on which 
 to build the particulars. When this old col- 
 ored lady said : "When President Lincoln was born 
 in a cabin near Beech Fork, " she stated a simple 
 fact that is sufficient to settle the question 
 as to the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln for all 
 time. It is proof positive if her narrative can 
 be relied upon, and who can say it can not be? 
 
 Before leaving this old slave's story we wish 
 to add a little surmise of our own which we can 
 almost say we firmly believe. In the authentic 
 and reliable "Lincoln Kinsman" No. 16 of October, 
 1939, on page seven of the eight-page pamphlet 
 we find the following: "The widow of the pio- 
 neer (Richard Berry, Sr. ) survived her husband 
 about six years, and she evidently lived in the 
 old homestead until her death in 1804. When she 
 passed away and her unmarried son Edward came 
 into possession of the place, it is said that 
 Nancy moved into the home of one of her married 
 cousins. 
 
 "Edward, the youngest son, did not marry un- 
 til 1808 when he chose for his bride Mary or 
 Polly Brazelton. Two years before he had list- 
 ed for taxation five slaves which were probably 
 the property of the Widow Berry estate. It is 
 very likely that with slave labor in the home, 
 
 [69J 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 Nancy Hanks had few menial tasks to do while 
 with her aunt and cousin Edward." 
 
 When this minister made his call on the old 
 lady many years ago, she was very old, nearing 
 "one hundred," She had also been a slave and 
 been set free. If she was free, the time of 
 the minister's call was after 1863. Her birth 
 necessarily would have been in about 1765 or 
 1770. At the time of Lincoln's birth she was 
 probably 40 or 45 years old, an experienced 
 slave "mammy" of her time. She lived in the 
 Beech Fork neighborhood when Abraham Lincoln 
 was born. 
 
 Edward Berry lived up the road from the Lin- 
 coln cabin about three-quarters of a mile. 
 Could it possibly be that this old colored lady 
 was not one of Edward Berry's five slaves which 
 he is known to have given for taxation in 1806? 
 Edward, a bachelor while Nancy lived with him 
 and his mother, was married in 1808, one year 
 before the child was born which the slave at- 
 tended. Nancy was a cousin so endeared to the 
 Berrys that to send her assistance at that 
 important time would be the natural thin^todo, 
 and no doubt the slave was as pleased to go to 
 Nancy as the "missus" was to send her. 
 
 The picture comes to mind of a February morn- 
 ing, with blue smoke from the stick and mud 
 chimney curling upward, and a slave "mammy" com- 
 ing down the road from Edward Berry's to enter 
 a cabin and nurse a babe who will later set her 
 free. Was there ever another picture like that? 
 
 What a relief if we could know, in this time 
 of stress and war, of hate and fear, that the 
 Thomas Lincolns and the Nancy Hankses of the 
 future could be the parents of our rulers. 
 
 170] 
 
Chapter Six 
 THE INDIANA HOME 
 
 The rueful picture of Thomas Lincoln while 
 he lived in Kentucky as proclaimed by the biog- 
 raphers of his son Abraham years after Thomas 
 Lincoln's death certainly was as baseless as 
 ever might be painted by his fellowmen. The 
 light of dawn of discovery and research becomes 
 brighter as the generations pass and Thomas 
 Lincoln's life becomes more and more out of the 
 "putrid pool" and "poor white trash of the South" 
 until now it surely stands a peer, if not supe- 
 rior, to early pioneers of his day in Kentucky. 
 
 The period through which we have just fol- 
 lowed Thomas Lincoln, in our opinion, not only 
 rates highest as a just appraisal of his inher- 
 ited worth, but it also demonstrated beyond 
 question his ability to meet with self-reliance 
 the hardships of his time. 
 
 While all of Thomas Lincoln' s life in Kentucky 
 was one which required work and business sagac- 
 ity above the average of his day, we find no 
 act of his which justifies condemnation. He 
 was in court several times to defend his land 
 titles, but in no one of the suits was there 
 any criminal charge. He merely wanted the land 
 he had bought, or his money back when his title 
 was questioned. 
 
 As we are convinced that Thomas Lincoln main- 
 
 [71] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 tained his home in Washington County until some- 
 time in the first half of 1810, we are doubtful 
 if he and his family moved to the Mill Creek 
 farm where the Lincoln memorial is now located. 
 It is to that farm we believe he probably sent 
 his mother and sister when they left Washington 
 County and moved to Hardin. As his sister Ann 
 was married before she moved to Hardin County, 
 Fob. 3, 1801, is it not likely that she and her 
 husband, William Brumfield, took her mother 
 along to live on her brother's farm, "making a 
 home for them, and they for him"? 
 
 One of the arguments used by those who be- 
 lieve that Thomas Lincoln went to Hardin County 
 from Washington to live earlier than 1810 is 
 that he served on numerous juries and received 
 appointments as deputy sheriff, served as guard 
 for prisoners, etc., in Hardin County, which 
 would tend to establish the fact for his resi- 
 dence there. The argument meets with the fact 
 that Jan. 12, 1802, he was appointed constable 
 for the new county of Cumberland, where he had 
 entered land May, 1801, and where there are no 
 records that he had ever lived or intended to 
 live. After serving on many juries and having 
 several appointments in Hardin County, on Aug. 
 13, 1804, he was appointed marshall of Cumber- 
 land County. So the argument cannot hold good 
 in that period of early Kentucky history. 
 
 Referring again to Thomas Lincoln's business 
 sagacity it seems that he used the Blakely and 
 Montgomery store as a sort of clearing house or 
 bank, which fact we consider ingenious and in- 
 structive, as it shows how in pioneer days he 
 carried on a system of practical banking. 
 
 While we have serious doubts that Thomas 
 
 [72 j 
 
THE INDIANA HOME 
 
 Lincoln ever moved to the Mill Creek farm, it 
 is certain that he could not have lived there 
 but a very few months if he moved to Hardin 
 County in 1810 as we believe. Evidence of this 
 is an item of record which is as follows: "May 
 11, 1811, Found stray horse on Knob Creek and 
 advertised it." The Knob Creek farm was the one 
 from which he moved to Indiana in 1816; and, as 
 the horse was found on Knob Creek we would be- 
 lieve he was residing there when it was taken 
 up and advertised. The Mill Creek farm was 
 about seven or eight miles from the Knob Creek. 
 While he seems to have had possession of the 
 deeds to both the Mill Creek and Knob Creek 
 farms until about the time he moved to Indiana, 
 he had contracted for the Mill Creek farm first, 
 paying Isaac Bush , his partner on the New Orleans 
 trip, |200 cash for it on December 12, 1808. 
 Trouble over the title came up and it remained 
 in court until the last month Thomas Lincoln 
 lived in Kentucky, November, 1816, at which time 
 Lincoln filed a bill against Bush for the re- 
 turn of the $200. 
 
 If litigation over the title had begun in 
 two years after he had purchased the farm from 
 Bush, or in 1810, it does not seem likely that 
 he would go to a farm to live over which there 
 was litigation if he could get possession of 
 the Knob Creek farm where he found the horse in 
 1811. 
 
 As the Lincolns left the Knob Creek farm to 
 move to Indiana in November, 1816, then five 
 years is all they lived there at most, or six 
 years if they came directly to it from Washing- 
 ton County, which — in our opinion — was the case. 
 On it Thomas Lincoln did the only farming he 
 
 [73] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 ever did in Kentucky on his own account, and it 
 was the only home in Kentucky the boy Abraham 
 ever remembered. He was probably between one 
 and two years old when they moved to the Knob 
 Creek farm, and six and a half years old when 
 they came to Indiana. 
 
 The present appearance of the Knob Creek 
 cabin site seems very much commercialized. A 
 fine Government Road known as 62 runs northeast 
 and southwest through the valley and a sandwich 
 shop is standing on the supposed site of the 
 old Lincoln cabin. The rush of running water 
 down the rocky bottom of the stream, the rock 
 and tree covered slopes of the steep sides of 
 the mountain sized hills which form the deep 
 valley, are possibly just as Lincoln saw them 
 at the age of seven. The valley contains very 
 little land on the sides of the creek back to 
 the foothills which could be called attractive 
 farm land, and the one of the very few refer- 
 ences to this farm by Lincoln is easily believed 
 when he referred to the rain up in the hills 
 above flooding the creek to overflowing and 
 "washing corn, pumpkin seed and all down the 
 stream." This farm too became involved in the 
 courts due to faulty title from mistakes in 
 early surveying (it is said) as a bill of eject- 
 ment was filed on December 27, 1315, which no 
 doubt had something to do towards his determi- 
 nation to move to Indiana before another year. 
 
 However, there seems to have been more than 
 one impelling force which activated to cause 
 restlessness in the early pioneers. In Thomas 
 Lincoln's move out of Kentucky and into Indiana 
 we can believe that two of them were: First, 
 the disgusting experiences in his land specula- 
 
 [7-1] 
 
 w 
 
THE INDIANA HOME 
 
 tions over faulty titles of Mill Creek and Knob 
 Creek farms he had had in his last few years in 
 Kentucky; second, (not so much a cause for mov- 
 ing as it was more likely the reason for the 
 selection of the spot in Indiana) was the friends 
 or relatives who might have preceded them to a 
 new country. 
 
 In Thomas Lincoln's case, since he apparent- 
 ly seemed compelled to move we believe he fol- 
 lowed the course and settled near one of his 
 wife's uncles in Spencer County, Levi Hall. 
 Earlier in this narrative it will be remembered 
 that this man had married the mother of one 
 Dennis Hanks; that she was a sister to Nancy 
 Hanks Lincoln's father who may never have mi- 
 grated from Virginia; and that she was also a 
 sister to Elizabeth Hanks with whom we believe 
 Nancy Lincoln as a young child went to live. 
 
 We are fairly familiar with both the Knob 
 Creek farm in Kentucky, the farm he was leaving, 
 and also the farm in Indiana to which he moved. 
 Certainly he could see no great difference as 
 to the quality of the two places, soil, or as a 
 desirable place to live; for each of them re- 
 quired the hardest kind of labor to make it fit 
 for cultivation. We have no authority to say 
 that there were any improvements whatever on 
 the Spencer County land, not even a cabin to 
 move into when he landed. 
 
 In what manner Thomas Lincoln moved to Indi- 
 ana we ourselves can not be sure. To follow 
 the stories which relate this trip from Kentucky 
 to Indiana by the Lincoln biographers is so 
 confusing and contradictory as to be of little 
 value. In fact, if we should form our opinion 
 of the Lincolns leaving Kentucky as pictured by 
 
 [75 j 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 most historians, we could not recognize them as 
 the ones we have come to know from actual rec- 
 ords in the archives in Kentucky. For instance: 
 
 We believe it was Herndon who described Lin- 
 coln as building a flatboat at the junction of 
 Knob Creek and the Rolling Fork on which he 
 floated down to and across the Ohio River to 
 the Indiana side where he stored his goods; re- 
 turned for his family; and after desperate hard- 
 ships, finally arrived at his new home. In 
 this description Herndon made it appear that 
 most of his load of farming tools — which we 
 would naturally suppose he would take along — 
 consisted mostly of barrels of whiskey, some of 
 which were lost in an unfortunate upset of his 
 boat. We can hardly believe this was our 
 Thomas Lincoln. 
 
 Then we have this version from the N. Ste- 
 venson biography, which says: "Vagrants, or 
 little better than vagrants, were Thomas Lincoln 
 and his family making their way to Indiana." 
 
 Nicolay and Hay have this version: "His 
 earthly possessions were of the slightest, for 
 the backs of two borrowed horses sufficed for 
 the load." 
 
 W. Lamon, with sadness and pity laments: 
 "Where he got the horses used upon this occa- 
 sion, it is impossible to say." Lamon continues 
 then with all positiveness that "His decision 
 (to move), however, was hastened by certain 
 troubles which culminated in a desperate combat 
 between him and one Abraham Enloe. They fought 
 like savages; but Lincoln obtained a signal and 
 permanent advantage by biting off the nose of 
 his antagonist." 
 
 Now, in view of all the above versions, all 
 
 [76] 
 
THE INDIANA HOME 
 
 positive statements, so positive that each of 
 them surely were eyewitnesses to the scene, we 
 hesitate to even offer a speculation, for we 
 were not there and can not be so positive. 
 Since none of the above biographers, seem to 
 agree in their statements, we would like to ask 
 each of them, "How do you know?" 
 
 We are indeed sorry it is too late to inform 
 Mr. Lamon that Thomas Lincoln possessed four 
 horses of his own at the time he moved to Indi- 
 ana from Kentucky. One more comment: we can 
 find no court record against Thomas Lincoln for 
 "savage" fight. What excuse can the above au- 
 thors offer for their positiveness in these at- 
 tacks on Thomas Lincoln? The fight mentioned 
 seemed to have been written by a ring-side re- 
 porter 
 
 We have followed the trail which Thomas Lin- 
 coln is supposed to have taken when he moved 
 from the Knob Creek farm in Kentucky to the 
 Cabin site in Spencer County, Indiana, where he 
 was to make another home which he occupied for 
 fourteen years. When we crossed the Ohio River 
 near the mouth of Anderson Creek and then fol- 
 lowed the trail northwest as he is said to have 
 done, we were forced to the inevitable conclu- 
 sion that, when considering the obstacles he 
 encountered in a primative country, there was 
 some impelling force in the make-up of most of 
 the early pioneers which caused their constant 
 westward settlements — not understood by us of 
 today. Surely something was in Thomas Lincoln' s 
 mind more than a hunt for better land, for the 
 Knob Creek farm with its meager improvements 
 was equal to or better than the prospect ahead 
 
 [77J 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 (as we saw it) knowing he was to find no meager 
 improvements of any kind. 
 
 We could think of but one possible excuse 
 for the direction he took from Anderson Creek, 
 and that was to find Levi Hall. Our own belief 
 that Levi Hall, the husband of Nancy Lincoln's 
 aunt Nancy Hanks (as we have often mentioned) 
 was somewhere ahead of Thomas Lincoln's caravan 
 is based purely on some incidents which will be 
 mentioned later, and not from any authentic 
 record. V/e may say here, however, that we do 
 have data that Levi Hall did marry Nancy Hanks 
 in Kentucky, and if records exist we believe 
 they might be found in Bardstown, Nelson County. 
 
 After his marriage to the mother of Dennis 
 Hanks, we have found no reference to him until 
 sometime after Thomas Lincoln had settled in 
 Spencer County, and then we are compelled to 
 speak from inference, rather than from positive 
 knowledge. 
 
 Arriving at the cabin site in the Lincoln 
 country from the trail out of Kentucky, it was 
 our good fortune to find one survivor in the 
 immediate Lincoln country who could speak of 
 the old pioneer settlers of Lincoln's time 
 through the channels of family tradition. This 
 man was Harry Crawford, who, as a bachelor, 
 still lives on a part of the Josiah Crawford 
 estate which lies directly south of the Lincoln 
 cabin site about a mile. 
 
 In speaking of the early pioneers in gener- 
 al, Crawford said that most of them were relat- 
 ed in some way, but only in a few cases did he 
 know the exact relation. He said that his own 
 family had endeavored to learn the maiden name 
 of his grandmother, Josiah Crawford's wife, but 
 
 [78" 
 
f HE INDIANA HOME 
 
 no Bible record or even tradition reveals the 
 much hunted inf orrration. It was revealed in 
 the conversation with Crawford, that his knowl- 
 edge of Lincoln lore as is related to Spencer 
 County was mostly traditional, having come to 
 him by word of mouth through his ancestors. As 
 an example, he had no knowledge of Dennis Hanks 
 or of the family of Sparrows with whom biog- 
 raphers generally agree came to Spencer County 
 from Kentucky in about a year after the Lincolns 
 came. The Sparrow name was unknown to him. 
 Tradition had failed to bring either name down 
 to him, and his lack of knowledge of those two 
 names, Hanks or Sparrow, was convincing that 
 what he knew did not come to him from the writ- 
 ten record. 
 
 Crawford gave his age at fifty-four years, 
 had always lived on some part of his ancestor's 
 estate except fourteen years which he spent in 
 the United States Army. Having with us a book 
 which had a likeness of this man's grandfather, 
 we compared the picture of Josiah Crawford to 
 the likeness of the grandson, Harry, and were 
 struck with the similarity of their features. 
 Harry was about 140 pounds in weight; somewhat 
 stooped, with a walk beginning to lose its 
 youthfulness and take the slower step of age; 
 narrow face but not so much as to be pronounced; 
 eyes gray; and a nose thin, so thin and long 
 that it could have been traded with that on the 
 face of his grandfather's picture, and no one 
 would be the wiser. We are sure that if Abraham 
 Lincoln could have seen Harry Crawford the day 
 we met him, he would have said: "How you do 
 resemble your grandfather." 
 
 During the time we were with Crawford we 
 
 [79] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 kept on the alert to learn of any feeling of 
 resentment which might have once existed be- 
 tween the pioneer Lincoln and Crawford fami- 
 lies, due to the supposed stiff price Lincoln 
 was said to have paid for the damage to Weem's 
 LIFE OF WASHINGTON which he had borrowed from 
 Crawford. Crawford volunteered to go with us 
 to the location of the old Josiah Crawford cab- 
 in site where Lincoln and his sister Sarah both 
 worked, he as a farm hand and she as a house 
 maid . 
 
 The site of the cabin was north of'where 
 Harry lived about three-quarters of a mile on 
 an unimproved road, which was too muddy for ma- 
 chine travel, and then back off the road through 
 a field to the east another quarter mile. This 
 trip afforded time for conversation while we 
 walked together, and at no time did Crawford 
 ever indicate the slightest resentment or dis- 
 respect for the Lincolns. On the contrary, he 
 related a story which we regarded the reverse 
 of any grudge. 
 
 We had hardly started to the cabin site un- 
 til he began to tell of the loss of a valued 
 family heirloom which had been in the Crawford 
 family from the time Lincoln had worked for his 
 grandfather. This was a tintype picture of 
 Lincoln as a boy, taken sometime while the Lin- 
 colns lived in Spencer County. Visitors from 
 Kansas City, a distinguished looking man and 
 two well dressed women, had called on his moth- 
 er and asked for material which might be used 
 in a book which the man proposed to write. The 
 tintype picture had always been kept in the 
 Crawford Bible. She let the visitors see the 
 
 [80] 
 
THE INDIANA HOME 
 
 book and the picture. After they had departed 
 the picture was never seen again. 
 
 This tintype likeness of Lincoln, should it 
 ever be recovered from those genteel thieves, 
 would no doubt be one of the most prized of all 
 the pictures of Lincoln now in existence. As 
 contemptible as this theft was, Crawford made 
 no comment on the act he had just related. 
 
 While picking our steps northward over the 
 muddy road, Crawford kept pointing out the home 
 sites of old pioneer families, some of which 
 were familiar, and some entirely new to us. On 
 the west side of the road about a quarter mile 
 north of the Josiah Crawford home site stood 
 the old cabin of Harry's uncle John, or his 
 grandfather's brother. It stood back west off 
 the road probably an eighth of a mile. The old 
 Grigsby place was west about three-quarters of 
 a mile and a little south. The spring at this 
 place is still flowing, but the cabin is only a 
 memory; however, a fairly modern home stands 
 near by, with evidence that this place has never 
 been unoccupied since Lincoln' s time. About due 
 west from where we climbed through a three- 
 barbed wire fence to go back to the site of the 
 old Josiah Crawford cabin, nearly a quarter 
 mile is a small clump of second growth trees, 
 probably fifteen or twenty, where Crawford told 
 us the old log schoolhouse stood when Lincoln 
 and his sister Sarah attended along with the 
 Grigsbys, Crawfords, Durhams and others. Like 
 all the other sites pointed out by Crawford, 
 nothing now remains but the spots on which the 
 little old log rooms stood. Their visualization 
 can only come now from the imagination in the 
 mind of the interested visitor. 
 
 L81J 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY" 
 
 A true picture of this country can scarcely 
 be irr.agined by the visitor as it must have 
 appeared in Lincoln' s boyhood. Crawford pointed 
 out the original pioneer road or trail through 
 the land as far as possible from the points 
 from where they could be seen. The present day 
 roads have long been straightened into due east 
 and west and north and south, while the origi- 
 nal trails wind around by all the old pioneer 
 places and had little in common with directions. 
 They are plainly noticeable by deep cuts where 
 cultivation has not leveled them off, following 
 over high ground and avoiding low and marshy 
 places. 
 
 The old road leading west to the schoolhouse 
 site is a deep depression of a depth of near a 
 foot and a half, indicating that it was a pas- 
 sage way through the woods for many years, no 
 doubt a hundred, before new surveys caused its 
 abandonment. Crawford, in his memory of about 
 fifty years pointed out the cleared fields which 
 he said were untouched forests in his boyhood. 
 From the description he gave of the country as 
 he remembered it fifty years ago there can be 
 little doubt that he saw it very much as Lin- 
 coln saw it in 1830, when he moved away, as no 
 roads had been straightened and but little of 
 the forests cleared. 
 
 After squirming through the barbed wire fence 
 with considerable difficulty, we proceeded to- 
 ward a small clump of second and third growth 
 of trees a little northeast and a little past 
 center of about a thirty-acre field. No divi- 
 sion fence is present at this time although 
 there are indications that the field, now a pas- 
 ture, has at various times in the past been 
 
 [82] 
 
THE INDIANA HOME 
 
 divided into several different lots. A depres- 
 sion was crossed which ran northwest and south- 
 east about four or five hundred feet west of 
 the clump of trees which carries swift streams 
 of water in a rainy time, but was dry when we 
 crossed it. 
 
 Crawford said that his grandfather's cabin 
 stood right in the center of the growth of 
 trees, the oldest of which we would guess was 
 about forty or fifty years old. A slight mound, 
 where the cabin stood, retains the appearance 
 of an ash bank and verifies the statement of 
 Crawford that the house was burned to the ground 
 years ago; although we believe Crawford said he 
 could just remember it. 
 
 We presume the house faced west, as the old 
 trails road, yet visible, comes from the direc- 
 tion of the schoolhouse and bends north in a 
 sort of semi-circle and then turns northwest 
 towards the John Crawford cabin site. To the 
 rear of the Josiah Crawford house site which we 
 had just arrived at, about seventy-five feet 
 east and a little south is the historic well 
 which Lincoln helped Crawford dig. It is still 
 in splendid condition with about three feet of 
 the top part reconditioned by a new brick wall 
 of comparatively recent construction. A common 
 board cover protects the well now which no doubt 
 at first had the pioneer type of Sycamore drum. 
 Below the brick part of the wall the well has 
 the original native limestone rock slabs which 
 Josiah let down to Lincoln to lay up for the 
 wall, without mortar, to keep the sides from 
 caving in. They are as true and perpendicular 
 as if built with a plumb bob, by the hand of an 
 experienced brick mason. The distance to the 
 
 [83] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 water was twelve or fourteen feet down, with 
 possibly four or five feet of water supply. 
 Judging by the amount of cattle and hogs which 
 evidently depended on this old well for their 
 supply of drinking water, it has no doubt been 
 dependable for over a hundred and twenty years. 
 
 Just north of the house site is the part of 
 the cleared land which constituted about eight 
 acres where the corn grew from which Lincoln 
 stripped the blades for Crawford to pay for the 
 damaged LIFE OF WASHINGTON. No doubt this field 
 was about all the cleared land Crawford had at 
 that time, and it can easily be imagined that 
 it was yet full of green stumps with sprouts and 
 weeds growing up around them. The field, no 
 low or wet place showing, seems sufficiently 
 rolling to have attracted first consideration 
 for clearing. 
 
 Crawford displayed no disposition to deny 
 the story of the damaged book and the steep 
 price his grandfather demanded of Lincoln for 
 the damage to it by the dashing rain. The story 
 goes on to state that Lincoln was so gratified 
 for the gift of the book after he had already 
 overpaid for it by work of stripping blades for 
 twenty-five cents per day for three days; that 
 he, with the help of his father made a three- 
 cornered wall chest of walnut and gave it to the 
 Crawfords as further appreciation for the book. 
 
 The truth of this press gift in addition to 
 the work of stripping the corn always seemed a 
 little too generous to be true, but Crawford 
 told us himself that the Lincolns did make and 
 that his family possessed the three-cornered 
 walnut press, and that it is at this time in 
 the courthouse at Rockport. He did not say 
 
 L84] 
 
THE INDIANA HOME 
 
 that the press was a gift; only that the Lin- 
 colns made it. 
 
 Of all the books which Lincoln is said to 
 have come in contact with while living in 
 Spencer County, Weem's LIFE OF WASHINGTON is 
 most often referred to. This seems partly due 
 to the manner in which he came in possession of 
 it, the damage to it and the price he paid; but 
 the effect and influence on the mind of Lincoln 
 at that particular period of his life is much 
 the greater story. 
 
 John Hanks, though doubtful authority, in an 
 interview states that the book was borrowed 
 from Crawford sometime after 1822 while he was 
 in Indiana and worked for and near Thomas Lin- 
 coln. In that case Lincoln was probably four- 
 teen or fifteen years old; an age when youthful 
 ambition could easily expand to the point where 
 he could see himself a great man, and no doubt 
 did while standing barefoot in Mrs. Crawford's 
 kitchen, and, in a boyish boast told her that 
 he would some day be President of his country. 
 
 A bronze tablet now in the courthouse yard 
 in Rockport gives the names of some fifteen or 
 twenty Revolutionary soldiers who are buried 
 in that county. The age of these men would 
 have ranged from sixty upward when Lincoln is 
 said to have read the LIFE OF WASHINGTON, and 
 the inspiration coming to Lincoln by his actual 
 contacts with these old soldiers of Washington 
 while reading the book would have been great 
 indeed. 
 
 Here, on this old clay patch of ground once 
 belonging to Josiah Crawford originated the 
 thought expressed in an informal speech before 
 the Legislature in Trenton, New Jersey, while 
 
 [85] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 Lincoln was on his way to take his seat as 
 President of the United States, in 1861. "May 
 I be pardoned if, upon this occasion, I mention 
 that away back in my childhood, the earliest 
 days of my being able to read, I ?ot hold of a 
 small book, Weem's LIFE OF WASHINGTON, I re- 
 member all the accounts there given of the bat- 
 tlefields and the struggles for liberties of 
 the country, and none fixed themselves upon my 
 imagination so deeply as the struggle here at 
 Trenton. The crossing of the river... the con- 
 test with the Hessians. . .the great hardships 
 endured at the time... all fixed themselves on 
 my memory, and, you all know, for you have all 
 been boys, how those early impressions last 
 longer than any others. I recollect thinking 
 then, boy even though I was, that there must 
 have been something more than common that those 
 men struggled for." 
 
 In another notable speech he said: "Wash- 
 ington's is the mightiest name on earth, long 
 since mightiest in the cause of liberty. .. still 
 mightiest in the moral ref orrration. On that 
 name no eulogy is expected. It cannot be. To 
 add brightness to the sun or glory to the name 
 of Washington is alike impossible." 
 
 A list of probably twenty-five titles of 
 books can be totaled from Lincoln's numerous 
 biographers, including school texts, but no 
 other, to our knowledge ever reflected the deep 
 impressions made on the mind of Lincoln as the 
 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. Out of that book he remem- 
 bered the speeches of Washington and his con- 
 temporaries on the formation of our government, 
 the Declaration of Independence, the Constitu- 
 tion and the principles of government; and out 
 
 186] 
 
THE INDIANA HOME 
 
 of those early impressions, those principles 
 shot out of his mind in his great debates with 
 Douglas as arrows from a warrior's bow. In our 
 opinion the first step taken by Lincoln towards 
 the White House was on the farm of Josiah Craw- 
 ford. Surely, if "he walks the streets of 
 Springfield at night," he visits the old well 
 and walks in the fields and around the old 
 cabin site on this old farm of Josiah Craw- 
 ford's. 
 
 We took a picture of the pen around the well 
 in line with the trees growing on the site of 
 the cabin. Here the grandson of Josiah balked 
 when we asked him to face the camera. "Never 
 had my picture taken but once in my life," he 
 said, "and that was when I was in the service." 
 So, we respected his wish at the time and took 
 the landscape of the famous field without him. 
 But, when the film was developed, the silhouette 
 of a stooped form appeared which resembled Har- 
 ry Crawford very much as he walked away toward 
 his bachelor home down the lonesome road south 
 a quarter mile. But he knows only of his army 
 picture. 
 
 It is said that only seven families were in 
 the neighborhood to which the Lincolns came in 
 the late fall of 1816, but unless one knows the 
 amount of territory a neighborhood is supposed 
 to consist of, it can hardly be known just how 
 close these families lived to one another. At 
 the old Crawford home site we could see the 
 houses which now stand on the John Crawford 
 farm, that of the Grigsbys and the site of the 
 old schoolhouse; but in Lincoln's day it is 
 doubtful if any of these places could be seen 
 one from another. The home of the Lincolns 
 
 [87] 
 
DEFENSE OP LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 was still farther north, and cannot be seen for 
 woods intervening after all the years. 
 
 The trail of the old road which the Crawfords 
 depended on to reach their neighbors bent 
 northwest and the first neighbor in that direc- 
 tion was Josiah Crawford's brother John, who 
 lived as we have said about half a mile. Not 
 looking inviting for cars at that time we did 
 not follow the road north, but we gained the 
 impression that Thomas Lincoln might have been 
 the next settler in that direction, probably a 
 mile from Josiah Crawford's. Coming down from 
 the direction of John Crawford's the road bent 
 around to the west and in another half mile it 
 passed by the old schoolhouse, and then took a 
 southwest course down by the Grigsbys, another 
 quarter mile. Unless Abraham and his sister 
 Sarah found a short cut through the woods, they 
 would pass both Crawford homes on their way to 
 school. While we were being shown over the im- 
 mediate neighborhood by Harry Crawford from his 
 grandfather's old home, we thought of the many 
 old stories told concerning the school days of 
 Lincoln, his different teachers, few indeed, his 
 accomplishments and hardships and escapades, 
 real and unreal, vague and imaginary, so we came 
 to the conclusion that our own imagination might 
 be just as reliable as any the biographers had 
 given us. 
 
 Then we saw coming down the grass grown 
 stumpy road from the north a six-foot-four boy 
 with sleeves and pants legs all too short, as 
 usual with tall young boys, possibly two sus- 
 penders with one depended on; a sister trail- 
 ing, not so tall but skirt quite too long for 
 our modern times, and a cardboard bonnet. Pass- 
 
 [88] 
 
THE INDIANA HOME 
 
 ing Crawfords the tall young man was hailed as 
 "Abe," and the girl, "Sarah." They were on 
 their way to the little log schoolroom on down 
 the road west a piece, where, on fair authority 
 they learned besides reading, writing, and 
 arithmetic, the manners of good society: He to 
 remove his cap in the presence of ladies, she 
 to bow and curtsy in the presence of gentlemen, 
 and both the proper procedure in the manner of 
 introduction by performing the act with their 
 own schoolmates. Here we can imagine the face 
 of Sarah deeply flushed while bowing to a cer- 
 tain schoolboy, for Aaron Grigsby was one of 
 the scholars, and he became Sarah's husband. 
 Here Abe "spelled down for the floor" and 
 learned "reading, writing, and ciphering. " This 
 forest bound log schoolhouse was Princeton, 
 Harvard, and Yale for the greatest President 
 the United States may ever have. 
 
 The date of the death of Lincoln's mother 
 seems very well established by records in the 
 Lincoln Bible as of October 5, 1818. No record 
 of her birth appears, and even her age in years 
 is computed from statements made by witnesses 
 so long after her death that little dependence 
 can be placed in the truth of them. The record 
 of her death in the Bible is said to be in the 
 handwriting of her son. If Lincoln had known 
 the date of her birth he certainly would not 
 have left it out. If he had no authentic knowl- 
 edge of her birth, then little attention need 
 be given to the conjectures of others, so far 
 as accuracy is concerned. In fact, the truth 
 concerning the life of Lincoln's mother is so 
 vague and uncertain, that her name is fast be- 
 
 L39] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 coming a symbol rather than a person of flesh 
 and blood. 
 
 Since the exact birth date of Lincoln' s moth- 
 er is not known we have no good reason to not 
 estimate the time of her birth as sometime in 
 the year of 1784, or the year of her mother's 
 entry into Kentucky. As particularly related 
 in the fore part of this history, Joseph Polin, 
 says that Nancy's mother was Lucy Shipley, mar- 
 ried a Hanks in Virginia, etc., and by the dates 
 given in their migrations, Nancy Lincoln was 
 thirty-five years old in 1818, the year she died. 
 
 When the Lincolns moved away to Illinois in 
 1830, evidently the grave of Nancy Lincoln was 
 left unmarked by plain or inscribed stones of 
 any kind. Very shortly after the burial of 
 Mrs. Lincoln the old graveyard began to be 
 abandoned for the new one located by the Pigeon 
 Creek Church about a mile southwest of the first 
 cemetery. We remember the appearance of the 
 cemetery some thirty years ago, before much had 
 been done toward its improvement. At that time 
 we believe fifteen or twenty markers might in- 
 clude all that were visible and some sunken 
 places not marked where other graves may have 
 been. It was plain that it had not been a bur- 
 ial place long for the area was scarcely a hun- 
 dred feet square. The burial of Nancy took 
 place in 1818 and that of her daughter, Sarah 
 Grigsby, in 1828 in the Pigeon Creek Cemetery, 
 indicating that abandonment of the old grave- 
 yard took place between those dates. Although 
 the grave of Nancy Lincoln may be approximately 
 near its true location as marked, there seems 
 to be poor proof indeed that it is truly locat- 
 ed. Herndon claims to have visited the place 
 
 [90] 
 
THE INDIANA HOME 
 
 in 1865, or forty-seven years after the burial 
 of Mrs. Lincoln and found no stone or marker, 
 merely deciding the place by depressions he 
 found and the memory of one lady Richardson who 
 was at the burial, but not with Herndon at the 
 time he visited the grave. Even at that, the 
 present stone was not located at the supposed 
 site of the grave for fourteen years after 
 Herndon was there, when P. E. Studebaker marked 
 the grave in 1879 (sixty-one years after the 
 burial) . 
 
 At the time we visited the cemetery, beside 
 the Lincoln gravestone there were several na- 
 tive sandstone slabs on either side of the 
 grave which were taken to be gravestones. In 
 speaking to our friend Harry Crawford of the 
 change now going on in regard to the old ceme- 
 tery he seemed to be surprised that the old 
 stones had been removed, indicated regret, and 
 believed that the authorities would surely re- 
 place them. Asked if he knew whose the graves 
 were that were by the Lincoln grave, he said he 
 had been there many times long ago when a boy, 
 and that he remembered some of them were Halls, 
 but was not certain as to others. 
 
 This statement of Crawford constitutes veri- 
 fication of the Lincoln tradition still extant 
 in Illinois as given us by Nancy A. Hall, who 
 is still living, as it also confirms the state- 
 ment of John Hanks in his interview by Herndon 
 in 1865, when he said that Nancy Lincoln was 
 buried by the side of the Halls. 
 
 f9ia 
 
Chapter Seven 
 LIFE IN INDIANA 
 
 The evidence of Nancy Hall as referred to 
 comes directly from father to son to daughter. 
 And here we wish to recall to the reader's no- 
 tice our statement of several pages back when 
 we said we believed that the family who had 
 preceded Thomas Lincoln to Indiana was Levi 
 Hall. In our story much will concern this fam- 
 ily of Halls beginning at this place in our 
 narrative. From this point the Hall family be- 
 comes blood relation to Abraham Lincoln. While 
 we have no direct evidence, we are as sure that 
 Thomas Sparrow and his wife are buried by the 
 side of Nancy Lincoln as we are the Halls, for 
 this reason: Elizabeth Sparrow was the aunt 
 Elizabeth Hanks whom we have mentioned earlier 
 as the one who took Nancy as a child and kept 
 her until she went to live with the Berrys. 
 Elizabeth was a sister to Levi Hall's wife Nan- 
 cy. The Halls came to Indiana first, the Lin- 
 colns followed Halls, and the Sparrows followed 
 Lincolns in about one year (1817). Levi Hall's 
 wife being an own aunt to Nancy Lincoln, made 
 the children of Hall and Nancy own blood cousins 
 to Abraham Lincoln. The Halls died first, and 
 the Sparrows soon followed them to the grave, 
 and if the Halls were buried in the cemetery as 
 the evidence seems to prove, it would certainly 
 
 [92] 
 
LIFE IN INDIANA 
 
 be reasonable to believe the Sparrows were also, 
 as the two women were sisters, a long way from 
 their native Kentucky, and the Lincoln cemetery 
 the only convenient graveyard. 
 
 Nancy Lincoln's death occurred only a few 
 days after the death of the Sparrows, so we 
 conclude that by the side of Nancy Lincoln lay 
 two of her father's sisters, Nancy Hall and 
 Elizabeth Sparrow, and their husbands, Levi 
 Hall and Thomas Sparrow. 
 
 To proceed a little farther with the Halls, 
 one of Levi Hall's sons, Squire Hall, in 1826 
 married Matilda Johnston, Abraham Lincoln's 
 step-sister; while Squire was an own blood cous- 
 in as explained above. Squire's son was John 
 J. Hall, whose daughter, Nancy A. is our in- 
 formant. 
 
 To this period in our narrative we are per- 
 sonally satisfied with the closely woven rela- 
 tionship existing between all the members of 
 the Kentucky families who have in some way been 
 active participants on the stage of Lincoln 
 lore; yet we concede that one thread is broken 
 in the beginning of the story which prevents a 
 water-tight weave. In this we refer to our ef- 
 fort to establish the true relationship of Nancy 
 Hanks to the Joseph Hanks, Sr. family, in which 
 gloss-over we could only assume that Nancy's 
 father was a dead son of the elder Hanks which 
 resulted in her father's name not mentioned in 
 the Joseph Hanks, Sr. will. We also assumed 
 that Nancy, at the time she was in the house- 
 hold of her grandfather and in the care of her 
 aunt Elizabeth, in order to avoid possible com- 
 plications, was given her dead father's part. 
 Therefore a guardian, Richard Berry, was ap- 
 
 L93] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 pointed. Receiving her part directly from the 
 hand of her grandfather, neither she nor her 
 father were named in the will. In order to ce- 
 ment the broken ends of this thread a little 
 stronger, we mention the family tradition of 
 the Halls, and our own conviction that the Spar- 
 rows lie side by side with Nancy Lincoln in the 
 cemetery. By all angles of reasoning, certainly 
 Nancy Hall and Elizabeth Sparrow were own aunts 
 to Nancy Lincoln, which could not be unless 
 both aunts were sisters to Nancy ' s father, what- 
 ever his name might be. 
 
 Had Levi Hall and his wife Nancy never moved 
 to Spencer County, or if they had never had 
 children, probably no further mix-up in the 
 Lincoln family would have taken place. But some 
 children were born to them, and by the marriage 
 of one of them to one of the daughters of Thomas 
 Lincoln's second wife, Sarah Bush Johnston, the 
 Halls and Lincolns became as badly mixed as the 
 Hankes and Lincolns had already become. 
 
 We are already fairly well acquainted with 
 Sarah Bush, who married Daniel Johnston only a 
 few weeks before her brother Isaac and Thomas 
 Lincoln returned from New Orleans on his flat- 
 boat trip for the store of Blakely and Mont- 
 gomery. 
 
 In the summer of 1815 Daniel Johnston died, 
 leaving her a widow with two daughters, Eliza- 
 beth and Matilda; and one son, John D. Johnston. 
 There ages were not known but all were born in 
 the nine years between 1806 and 1815. 
 
 One year and two months after Nancy Lincoln 
 had passed away Thomas Lincoln returned to 
 Elizabethtown, married the widow of Daniel 
 Johnston and returned to his home in Indiana 
 
 [94] 
 
LIFE IN INDIANA 
 
 with her, her two daughters, and her son. Their 
 marriage took place on December 2, 1819, and 
 was performed by Reverend George L. Rogers. At 
 this time Thomas was forty-three years of age 
 and Sarah Johnston thirteen years younger. 
 
 When Thomas Lincoln returned to Indiana with 
 his new wife his family then consisted of him 
 and his wife, Abraham and Sarah Lincoln, Dennis 
 Hanks, and the three children of his wife, mak- 
 ing in all eight to be housed and fed. Dennis 
 Hanks was then twenty years old, while all the 
 others were between eight and twelve. Dennis 
 Hanks had been in the Lincoln home from the 
 time the Sparrows died, or a little over a year. 
 
 Now, it should be remembered, in this family 
 a future President of the United States was be- 
 ing reared, and Thomas Lincoln was head of the 
 family. Should not Thomas Lincoln have at least 
 one word of praise for taking this family through 
 the hardships of pioneer life until they were 
 all married or had grown to self-supporting 
 manhood? Who of his caluminators would have 
 dared to undertake the task? With what success? 
 
 Some incidents in the story of the Lincolns 
 seem a little strange and queer when we try to 
 follow their true connections, but in most cases 
 it is because certain data are needed to clear 
 a point not definitely understood; as for in- 
 stance, the need for a guardian for Nancy Hanks 
 before she became of age. On the other hand, 
 in the case of Dennis Hanks — whom we have men- 
 tioned as coming to live with the Lincolns from 
 the home of the Thomas and Elizabeth Sparrow, 
 after their deaths — we have a case where the 
 facts seem definitely clear, but strange and 
 queer. 
 
 [95] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 So far as we can discover, no doubt exists 
 as to the fact that Dennis came to Indiana with 
 his aunt Elizabeth and Thomas Sparrow, and was 
 making his home with them until they both passed 
 away, while his own mother Nancy (Levi Hall's 
 wife) lived only a short distance. Even when 
 Dennis was required to find another home he did 
 not go to live with his mother, bu«t to Thomas 
 Lincoln's, where he still lived after Nancy 
 Lincoln, his cousin, had passed away, until he 
 was married to Elizabeth Johnston, June 9, 1821. 
 We can easily imagine the sympathetic Nancy 
 Lincoln coming from the last of the newly made 
 graves of the Sparrows in late September, 1818, 
 and leading the bereaved and homeless nineteen- 
 year-old Dennis down the steep hill north a 
 quarter mile to her own log cabin home; from 
 where, in one short week, she herself would be 
 carried a corpse up the same path to be laid 
 beside the Sparrows. 
 
 After the death of his cousin Nancy Lincoln, 
 Dennis Hanks lived on in the home of Thomas 
 Lincoln. Here we have two explanations, neither 
 backed by authentic records; one, that the 
 Halls were dead; the other, the fatherly kind- 
 ness and sympathy of Thomas Lincoln for the 
 homeless boy, his departed wife's cousin. 
 
 Late information gained from the unimpeacha- 
 ble "Lincoln Kinsman" of May, 1939, is our au- 
 thority for saying that the Sparrows had no 
 children of their own, had lived for a short 
 time in Mercer County after they were married 
 in 1796, and moved to Hardin County in 1798. 
 Here the unmarried Nancy, Elizabeth Sparrow's 
 sister, came to live in the home of the Sparrows 
 where she met the man who became the father of 
 
 [96] 
 
Pigeon Creek Church in Spencer County where Lincoln's sister, Sarah 
 Lincoln Grigsby, was buried. Old Grigsby monument on right by 
 new stone. 
 
 The John J. Hall place, part of Thomas Lincoln farm, 
 of Nancy A. Hall and "Abe the Second." 
 
 Present horn* 
 
LIFE IN INDIANA 
 
 Dennis Hanks, Jesse Friend, a brother-in-law to 
 Thomas Sparrow. The mother of Dennis, in time, 
 met and married Levi Hall; followed the Halls 
 and Lincolns to Indiana in 1807, and there died. 
 
 The Sparrows made a will on September 21, 
 1818, in which all their property was to go to 
 Elizabeth Sparrow as long as she lived, then to 
 Dennis Hanks. On September 28th, the will was 
 acknowledged by Thomas Carter, and on October 
 5th, the day Nancy Lincoln died the will was 
 evidently filed with the court in Rockport. In 
 signing the will Thomas Sparrow had made an X, 
 and Nancy Lincoln had also signed as a witness 
 by making an X. 
 
 It is a little strange that stories of love 
 and courtship never emanated from the cabin 
 home of the Lincolns while living in Indiana. 
 There were three good reasons why such stories 
 may have had support; namely, Sarah Lincoln, 
 Elizabeth and Matilda Johnston. All three of 
 these young ladies courted and married from 
 this cabin home of their parents, yet no romance 
 of sufficient importance ever seems to have 
 made the headlines. All married within a five- 
 year period. 
 
 The first to marry June 9, 1821, were two of 
 the same household, Dennis Hanks and the eldest 
 of the Johnston sisters, Elizabeth. 
 
 Sarah Lincoln was second to marry. Her mar- 
 riage took place on August 2, 1826, to Aaron 
 Grigsby. 
 
 Matilda, the second of the Johnston sisters, 
 married Squire Hall, September 13, 1826. 
 
 Sarah Lincoln, nineteen years of age at the 
 time of her marriage, died two years later, 
 January 20, 1828. She lies buried in the Pigeon 
 
 [97] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 Creek Cemetery in Spencer County. Her death is 
 said to have resulted from childbirth. Her 
 courtship and marriage may not have been the 
 cause, but for some reason her marriage into 
 the Grigsby family created a feud between that 
 family and the Lincolns. It brought on a local 
 tempest in the neighborhood which lasted until 
 Sarah's death, and possibly as long as the Lin- 
 colns lived in Indiana. 
 
 This feud must have been the center of in- 
 terest in the way of excitement among many of 
 the pioneer families in the Pigeon Creek neigh- 
 borhood for quite a while. It caused — accord- 
 ins: to Nat Grigsby, a brother of Aaron, in an 
 interview with Herndon 37 years afterward — a 
 quarrel between Sarah's brother Abraham and an- 
 other brother of Aaron's, William, a fight 
 which was finally settled in a very intelligent 
 way so far as Abe was concerned. He allowed 
 his step-brother, John D. Johnston, to fight it 
 out with William. The fight was terrific, ac- 
 cording to brother Nathaniel, and people came 
 to see it from miles around. "Johnston was 
 badly hurt" but at that Nat left the impression 
 that the fight was a draw. This feud afforded 
 Abraham a splendid opportunity to exercise his 
 pent-up mental ability, and that restlessness 
 may have been the instigation for the "terrific" 
 fight he so very generously gave up to Johnston 
 to settle. 
 
 The Lincolns were not invited to a double 
 wedding which took place at the Grigsbys when 
 "Reuben" and "Charles" were married. So, to 
 even things up, Abe wrote a satire which became 
 known locally as "The Chronicles," a sort of 
 reflection on the infare or reception to the 
 
 [98] 
 
LIFE IN INDIANA 
 
 boys when they brought their wives home from "a 
 far off country" where they were compelled to 
 go to find them, being too well known, accord- 
 ing to "The Chronicles," in their own country. 
 
 To make a happy ending, it should be said 
 that Nat, in his interview with Herndon, Sep- 
 tember, 1865, said that all the Grigsbys had 
 forgotten the feud long ago, and all voted for 
 Lincoln for President in 1860. 
 
 Dennis Hanks and his wife Elizabeth Johnston 
 lived nine years in Indiana and had five chil- 
 dren before moving to Illinois in 1830 with the 
 Lincolns; Squire Hall and his wife Matilda 
 Johnston lived in Indiana a little over three 
 years before their move to Illinois. Only one 
 son was born to them in Indiana, John J. Hall, 
 who was a baby eleven months old when the move 
 was made. 
 
 On this most notable trip of the Lincolns to 
 Illinois in 1830 thirteen persons constituted 
 the clan: Thomas, Sarah Bush, and Abraham Lin- 
 coln were three; Dennis Hanks, his wife, and 
 four children constituted the Hanks family; and 
 Squire Hall, wife, and baby John J. the Hall 
 family. 
 
 It will be seen now, since Dennis Hanks and 
 Squire Hall have married the Johnston sisters, 
 that half-brothers (their mother was Nancy 
 Hanks Hall) have become brothers-in-law also, 
 and both are second cousins to Abraham Lincoln 
 by blood connection (their mother was the aunt 
 to Lincoln's mother). Squire Hall was not the 
 only one of the Levi Hall family, although we 
 have no definite knowledge of the size of his 
 family, or what becarre of them after the death 
 of their parents with the exception of Squire, 
 
 L93J 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 who married the Johnston girl. Dennis (while 
 corresponding with Herndon) once spoke of his 
 half-brother William Hall who lived somewhere 
 in the West. We believe that the Wesley Hall 
 from whom we quote was also a brother of Squire 
 Hall and half-brother to Dennis Hanks. This 
 opinion we get altogether from his story. 
 
 The story is not widely published, and this 
 is a copy from a newspaper of several years ago. 
 
 "The Halls had to pass the Lincoln home go- 
 ing to and from the mill. One day Wesley had 
 been kept late at the mill, and was going home 
 with the grist on a cold, dark, winter evening. 
 It was snowing furiously; so when he came to 
 the Lincoln cabin, he decided to stop for the 
 night. He made his usual 'Hel-lo' out in front 
 in the usual backwoods fashion. The rest of 
 the story follows: 'By and by I heard the door 
 begin to creak on its wooden hinges, and then 
 through the storm I saw Old Tom a-shadin' his 
 eyes a-tryin' to see who I wuz. And purty soon, 
 satisfyin' himself it wuz me, he leaned back 
 and laughed a big, broad laugh, and then a 
 startin' out to where I wuz, he sez, sez he, 
 "Is that you, Wesley? You git right down from 
 thar and come in out of the weather." So I 
 commenced to git ready to slide down off my 
 sack and by the time I got ready to light, old 
 Tom wuz there and helped me down. Thenaturnin' 
 around lookin' towards the cabin, he calls out 
 a time or two, big and loud: "Abe, Abe," and 
 he aint' more'n called til I seen Abe comin' 
 through the door, and when he asked what wuz 
 wanted, and seein' who I wuz at the same time, 
 old Tom sez: "Come out here and git Wesley's 
 
 [100] 
 
LIFE IN INDIANA 
 
 grist whils I put his hoss in the stable. Wes- 
 ley's mighty nigh froze, I recon." 
 
 " 'Then he laughed again. Well, I wuz cold, I 
 can tell you, fer I hadn't had anything to eat 
 cept parched corn since morning. Well, as I 
 say, old Tom told Abe to come out and get my 
 sack, and I noticed as Abe corre out to where I 
 wuz he hadn't but one shoe on, and I thinks to 
 myself, what's up with Abe? Fer I saw Abe wuz 
 a-walkin' on the ball of his heel so's to hold 
 his big toe up which wuz all tied up, and by 
 this time I reckon there wuz mighty nigh six 
 inches of snow on the ground. Yit Abe's foot 
 wuz so big and long it didn't make no differ- 
 ence if the snow wuz that deep, Abe hadn't any 
 trouble to keep his sore toe above the snow 
 line. When I asked him what wuz the trouble 
 with his foot he told me he'd split his big 
 toe with the axe out in the clearin' that day. 
 Well, then he wuz as bie; and stout as he ever 
 wuz, and so he jest reached over and took that 
 sack of meal with one hand and layin' it across 
 his arm, he and me went into the house whils 
 old Tom put the hoss in the pole stable. 
 
 "'I set down in front of the fireplace and 
 commenced to thaw out, and in a little bit old 
 Tom come in, and a settin' down by me a slap- 
 pin' his hands together and then a rubbin' em 
 so, like he alius' done, he sez, sez he: "Wes- 
 ley, you got purty cold I reckon, didn't you?" 
 And when I commenced to say I did, Mrs. Lincoln 
 come in and she says, says she: "Wesley, I 
 reckon you are hungry?" And I told her I wuz; 
 and then I told her about the parched corn. And 
 then she sez: "We haint got no meal to bake 
 bread, we're out just now, but," a-pointin' to 
 
 [101] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 the big bank of embers that I'd already noticed 
 in the fireplace, and of course knowed what it 
 meant, she says, says she: "We've got some 
 potatoes in thar a bakin' and we'll git a bite 
 fer you purty soon." At that I spoke up and I 
 says, says I, "Just help yourself out of my 
 sack thar, Mrs. Lincoln." And so she done as 
 I told her. 
 
 "'Well, old Tom and me and Abe went on talkin' 
 and purty soon I heard a funny grindin' noise 
 back of me, and I looked around to see what it 
 wuz, and it wuz Mrs. Lincoln hollerin' out a 
 big turnip. She wuz a-makin a urease lamp. 
 Course I'd seen many a one. (The forerunner 
 of our modern flashlight.) She hollered it out 
 and cut a small groove in it on the lip, and 
 after she'd filled it with hog's lard and laid 
 a wick in the notch, and lit it, she handed it 
 to me, and a butcher knife to Abe, and. she says: 
 "Boys, go and get me some bacon." So me and 
 Abe went out to a little pole smokehouse and I 
 held up the light while Abe cut a half moon out 
 of a side of bacon. So Mrs. Lincoln went on 
 with gitten' supper, and by and by she says: 
 "Supper's ready." So when we set down to it we 
 had baked potatoes, corn cakes and fried bacon. 
 After the supper dishes wuz washed up, Old Tom, 
 a slappin' his hands together and a rubbin' em 
 together like I say, he says, says he: "Now 
 Abe, bring out your book and read to us." Old 
 Tom couldn't read himself, but he wuz proud that 
 Abe could, and many a time he'd brag about how 
 smart Abe wuz to folks round about. Well, Abe 
 reached up on a shelf where he kept his books 
 and then a stirrin' the fire on the hearth with 
 
 [102] 
 
LIFE IN INDIANA 
 
 some dry stuff he had piled in one corner of 
 the jamb, he commenced to read. 
 
 '"Itwuzthe life of Ben Franklin. He read 
 to us till bed time, and that night Abe and I 
 slept together up in the loft. We got up there 
 through a scuttle hole in one corner of the 
 ceilin', and to git up to it we had to climb up 
 a peg ladder made by borin' holes in the logs 
 and insertin' wooden pins. I remember the bed- 
 stid, which of course I saw many a time. It wuz 
 a mighty sorry affair; still, it answered the 
 purpose. A hole wuz bored in the north wall 
 and a rail-like piece wuz sloped off to fit 
 this. The same thing wuz done on the west wall, 
 and these two rails wuz brought together and 
 fastened in the same way to an upright post out 
 in the floor and then acrost these wuz laid 
 split boards or whipped plank or some thin 
 slats rived out, and on these wuz a gunny sack 
 filled with leaves gathered from the woods. On 
 this Abe and me slept covered with bear skins.'" 
 Were we to comment on the narration above 
 which is credited to a Wesley Hall, we would 
 say that, had it been continued by the child 
 above mentioned who is to make the trip into 
 Illinois with the Lincolns after he had grown 
 to manhood we would find it difficult to dis- 
 tinguish which part was Wesley's and which was 
 John J. Hall's. The significance in this simi- 
 larity of vernacular in speech is sufficient 
 proof to us that Wesley and Squire Hall were 
 schooled in the same home, and the son of Squire 
 and nephew of Wesley inherited their language. 
 It is plainly evident to this day in the speech 
 of Nancy A. Hall (Thomas), the daughter of John 
 J. Hall. 
 
 [103] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 It would appear that Wesley at the time of 
 this night at the Lincolns was no older than 
 Abe. He was addressed as Wesley by both Thomas 
 and Mrs. Lincoln. Ke was treated only as a boy 
 by Mrs. Lincoln when she handed him the turnip 
 oil lamp to light Abe to the smoke house for 
 bacon. Thomas took care of Wesley's horse be- 
 cause Abe had a sore toe, and after supper 
 Thomas asked Abe to read to the house in pref- 
 erence to conversation. Thomas Lincoln no doubt 
 was intensely interested in the life of Benja- 
 min Franklin, for it is reasonable to believe 
 his own father had related stories of Franklin 
 which were closely associated with Lincolns in 
 Virginia. 
 
 As no mention was made of any other member 
 of the Lincoln family but Thomas, his wife, and 
 Abe, the visit of Wesley was no doubt in one 
 winter from 1827-1829, as the last of the girls 
 in the Lincoln home was married in the fall of 
 1826, and from that time until their removal 
 to Illinois in 1830, it is presumed only Abe, 
 his father and step-mother constituted the fam- 
 ily. 
 
 Neither would the cordial and neighborly 
 reception of Wesley Hall have been unusual in 
 the Lincoln home; for, as in the case of Squire 
 Hall and Dennis Hanks, he was a second cousin 
 to Abe. 
 
 In 1828, and from this Spencer County home 
 Abe went to make his first trip to New Orleans. 
 He was nineteen years old when he helped build 
 the flatboat and start his trip from Rockport, 
 Indiana. A marker about twenty rods south of 
 the present landing now designates the place of 
 his departure. Good evidence remains of an old 
 
 L104J 
 
LIFE IN INDIANA 
 
 road which leads down to the water's edge of 
 the Ohio. With the exception of a gradual slope 
 of the bank at this place, it is plain that 
 there was no other place either up or down the 
 stream for a long way from it which was a suit- 
 able or natural landing. Sometime since 1828 a 
 vast amount of blasting has been done to make 
 the present more convenient landing, which lies 
 north at the foot of the steep hill coming down 
 from the main street of Rockport. Since the old 
 landing site was the only natural one near the 
 town, there can be no doubt that flatboats had 
 been built and floated away down the river from 
 it since the beginning of white men's traffic 
 on the Ohio, and this one of Gentry and Lin- 
 coln's was certainly no novelty for the town of 
 Rockport. 
 
 In this first experience of f latboating, it 
 is our belief that Lincoln and his employer 
 Gentry were assisted materially by the carpen- 
 ter and professional ability of Thomas Lincoln. 
 Poy that Abraham was, we can imagine that this 
 was the culmination of a long desire: to make 
 this initial trip down the river, believing that 
 some day the river might furnish him with the 
 opportunity for a career, finally reaching the 
 top as a steamboat captain. Whether this 
 surmise is true or not, it is known that all 
 through his later life, his stories, anecdotes, 
 and speeches were strongly impregnated with 
 river lore. He gave proof of his love for boats 
 and rivers by: another New Orleans trip begin- 
 ning on the Sangamon River in Illinois; his 
 interest in the undertaking of the ill-fated 
 Talisman boat in its endeavor to prove that 
 river navigable; in his liberal consent while 
 
 [105] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 in the Legislature to build canals in the State 
 of Illinois; and finally as late as 1848 when 
 he patented a design for floating river boats 
 off the shoals, remarking that he reckoned it 
 would work where the ground was a little damp. 
 
 On the bronze tablet at the old Rockport 
 river landing these words are inscribed: "At 
 this point the Emancipation of slavery bepan." 
 Having reference, of course, to his alleged 
 historic visit to the slave auction while on 
 this trip to New Orleans, where he was quoted 
 by his comrade, presumably Allen Gentry and 
 others to have said: "If I ever get a chance 
 to hit that thing, I'll hit it hard." 
 
 Whether Lincoln actually expressed his ha- 
 tred for slavery at that time and in those 
 words or not, it still has the virtue, if not 
 true, of doing no harm. The story can easily be 
 believed up to a certain point, however, and no 
 doubt each of the boys who were with Abe ex- 
 pressed himself equally strong. But, in our 
 opinion, there was nothing said on that occasion 
 by nineteen-year-old Abraham Lincoln intimating 
 prophecy in regard to the end of slavery. 
 
 It would be quite natural for all the anti- 
 slavery boys in the crowd around the slavery 
 block to have been thoroughly disgusted with 
 what they were witnessing, and all would have 
 wished for an opportunity to have gotten even 
 with the sale crier and the buyers for cruelty 
 and utter lack of sympathy for the slaves as 
 human beings. 
 
 It was something like thirty-four years after 
 this slave auction at New Orleans that Lincoln 
 declared in a notable speech that if he could 
 save the Union without the interference with 
 
 [106] 
 
LIFE IN INDIANA 
 
 slavery, he would do it. In our opinion, if 
 the abolition of slavery was ever a premeditated 
 thought of long standing, it was when he formu- 
 lated these words: "If slavery isn't wrong, 
 then nothing is wrong." Those words were both 
 armor and a two-edged sword with which he 
 fought his way to the Presidency and wrote the 
 Emancipation Proclamation. If Lincoln conceived 
 those words while witnessing the slave auction 
 in New Orleans on this trip, then the bronze 
 tablet at the old Gentry landing in Rockport is 
 properly worded. 
 
 As further evidence that the slavery episode 
 is only a pleasing story with sentimental col- 
 oring is the fact that the identical story is 
 told as originating on Lincoln's second trip to 
 New Orleans in 1831. This last time it was 
 circulated by John Hanks, who (as Lincoln him- 
 self once said) got no farther on that trip 
 than St. Louis, when he turned back and walked 
 to his home in Decatur. 
 
 We have expressed our opinion of the New 
 Orleans prophetic slave auction story only to 
 show the runaway tendency of the imaginations 
 of men. Sometimes a story may be over-good as 
 well as over-bad. The Lincoln family seemed to 
 suffer from both extremes. 
 
 The unembellished slave auction story in all 
 probability was that on both trips of Lincoln 
 to New Orleans he and his companions did visit 
 the slave auction exactly as all visiting North- 
 erners to the South did in slavery days. Slave 
 auctions were probably one of the greatest at- 
 tractions the South afforded and New Orleans 
 the greatest of all the auctions. What Lincoln 
 saw, heard, and said while he looked on the 
 
 [107] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 proceedings at the aces of nineteen and twenty- 
 three respectively was no different than was 
 usually heard from bystanders at such auctions, 
 depending on the degree of love or hatred for 
 the institution each visitor had. From our ob- 
 servations Lincoln family traditions were not 
 noted for any unusual hatred for slavery. In 
 fact, it is recorded that in the will made by 
 the widow of Isaac Lincoln, who died in 1834, 
 one item reads: "To Phoeba Crow, wife of Camp- 
 bell Crow, my negro girl, Margaret and her four 
 children, to wit, Lucy, Mina, Martin and Ma- 
 halla." In three other items as many as twenty- 
 five slaves were bequeathed to relatives. Isaac 
 Lincoln was a brother of Lincoln's grandfather 
 Abraham, whose farm Thomas Lincoln, the Presi- 
 dent's father worked on in Tennessee about the 
 year of 1800. It is also on record in the Har- 
 din County archives that Thomas Lincoln was 
 deputized a number of times to guard prisoners, 
 and in 1805, in March, was "Appointed patroller 
 in 'northwardly' part of Hardin County to guard 
 against runaway slaves." Certainly Lincoln fam- 
 ily tradition was not unanimous against the 
 institution of slavery. In our opinion, slavery 
 remained fairly secure until Lincoln himself 
 conceived the thought, the rock foundation for 
 the Emancipation Proclamation: "If slavery is- 
 n't wrong, then nothing is wrong/' 
 
 Before the Lincolns leave Indiana, we would 
 respectfully call attention to this item in 
 the "Lincoln Kinsman" of March, 1939: "June 7, 
 1823, Joins Pigeon Creek Baptist church by 
 letter." 
 
 From that date, in every year until the Lin- 
 colns left for Illinois, including 1830, there 
 
 [108] 
 
LIFE IN INDIANA 
 
 are items of church record concerning Thorr.as 
 Lincoln and his family which prove that both he 
 and his family were not only morally fit to be- 
 long; to the church, but welcome and active mem- 
 bers. On February 13, 1830, just fifteen days 
 before the Lincolns started for their new home 
 in Illinois, these items appear on the church 
 minutes: "Appointed moderator at church meet- 
 ing," and on the same date, "Appointed on church 
 committee to settle dispute between Mrs. Craw- 
 ford and Mrs. Grigsby." 
 
 There are some other significant items from 
 the minutes of Pigeon Creek Church which Hern- 
 don failed to find in his barroom conferences 
 in 1865 while on the hunt for the truth con- 
 cerning the family of his friend Lincoln. 
 April 10, 1824, "Appointed by Pigeon Church 
 Board to attend church conference." October 9, 
 1824, "On Pigeon church discipline committee 
 to visit man and wife who had separated." Then 
 on June 12, 1825, "One of three church trustees 
 to arrange for repairing Pigeon church meeting- 
 house." On June 21, 1825, his wife Sarah ap- 
 pears along with his name on the membership 
 list. 
 
 On April 4, 1826, Thomas Lincoln's daughter 
 Sarah was received into Pigeon church, and 
 August 4, 1826, Thomas Lincoln was appointed on 
 a committee to interview persons not in good 
 standing in the church. And then a church sub- 
 scription list records a gift from him on March 
 9, 1827 of twenty-four pounds of "manufactured 
 corn." The poorer the biographers represent 
 Thomas Lincoln to be, the greater the credit 
 due him for the generous gift. 
 
 Whatever Thomas Lincoln's church record in 
 
 [109] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 Kentucky might have been, his record in Indiana 
 is one of positive proof, as the old minutes of 
 the Pigeon Creek Church prove, with thanks to 
 the "Lincoln Kinsman." However, when he joined 
 the Pigeon church, it was by letter, indicating 
 that his letter was received from some other 
 church before joining. Without positive proof, 
 we can easily believe his church letter was from 
 some Kentucky church with which he was affili- 
 ated before moving to Indiana in 1816. To that, 
 we may say we have a clue, but not a proof. 
 We quote the following item for what it may be 
 worth: "May 24, 1806, (18 days before he was 
 married) Mrs. Ogden, wife of Benjamin Ogden, 
 the Methodist preacher, secured some silk at 
 Blakeley and Montgomery store by order of Thom- 
 as Lincoln and paid twelve shillings for it." 
 This was at Elizabethtown, Kentucky. 
 
 Back in the Lincoln country in Washington 
 County, Kentucky, the church site is pointed 
 out at which the Lincolns were said to have 
 attended, but we have no knowledge that Thomas 
 or Nancy were members there. 
 
 [110] 
 
Chapter Eight 
 THE MOVE TO ILLINOIS 
 
 Just how John Hanks happened to move to 
 Illinois is not known to us, but we have a sus- 
 picion that he, like pioneers of his day trailed 
 some friend or relative. At any rate he was 
 living about seven or eight miles west of Deca- 
 tur, Illinois, in 1828. Two years after, early 
 in 1830, Dennis Hanks made a trip to Illinois, 
 visited his cousin John and came back to Spencer 
 County with great stories of good land and easy 
 farming. This seems to be the traditional story 
 of the incentive of three families to change 
 their homes. These three families all very 
 much related were: Dennis Hanks, consisting of 
 his wife and four children; Squire Hall, his 
 wife and one child of about a year old; and 
 Thomas Lincoln, his wife and her son, John D. 
 Johnston, and Abraham. 
 
 Of all the many stories told by different 
 writers which relate particulars of this migra- 
 tion to their new home, none seem absolutely 
 reliable. Even the exact number of wagons, the 
 number of animals to each wagon, and the kind 
 of animals making up the teams are contradictory 
 in the many narratives extant. 
 
 What Abraham Lincoln himself said relating 
 to their trip to Illinois in anecdotes, inci- 
 dents and hardships is probably the only abso- 
 
 [lll] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 lutely reliable information we have. Dennis 
 Hanks lived long enough to have made a complete 
 and reliable narrative of the trip, but for some 
 reason none exists. However, it seems the fam- 
 ilies started on March 1st, and reached John 
 Hanks' place in about sixteen days, with not 
 less than two wagons and most likely three. At 
 least one of the teams were oxen, while the 
 others may have been horses. The names of Abra- 
 ham's oxen were "Tom and Jerry," as told us by 
 one living relative of the families, the grand- 
 daughter of Squire Hall. 
 
 Thomas Lincoln's new farm was about eight 
 miles west and south of Decatur on the north 
 bank of the Sangamon River, and required about 
 180 miles of difficult roads to reach it. About 
 eleven miles per day was all that could be ne- 
 gotiated, or a little more than one mile per 
 hour actual traveling time. We have followed 
 what is now supposed to be the old Lincoln 
 trail, but we have our doubts as to the cor- 
 rectness of the route as marked in many places, 
 because of the many square and abrupt turns and 
 straight stretches for miles. Our knowledge of 
 old trails in country not so primitive as that 
 which the Lincolns had to travel tells us that 
 the early pioneer roads followed paths of least 
 resistance, generally laid out by buffalo or 
 Indians long before the ox-team. Their trip to 
 Illinois was before the straight roads with 
 square turns. In 1942, we traveled the same 
 supposed trail from the Spencer cabin site to 
 the cabin site on the Sangamon River in one 
 afternoon at reasonable speed. In Illinois, 
 when they came to the Embarrass River, accord- 
 ing to a family tradition, the caravan was de- 
 
 [112] 
 
THE MOVE TO ILLINOIS 
 
 tained for two days on account of high water. 
 Seven years afterward Thomas Lincoln settled on 
 his last farm (his fourth Illinois farm) about 
 a half mile west of this river crossing, where 
 he died in 1851. 
 
 Thomas Lincoln had passed the prime of his 
 life when the move to Illinois was made. He was 
 then fifty-four years old while his wife was 
 forty-one. No cabin was waiting for the fami- 
 ily, according to John Hanks, but logs — prepared 
 by John Hanks — were on the ground ready to be 
 laid up for the cabin. This procedure, if the 
 meager records are reliable, placed the Lincolns 
 in their new Illinois home about March 18, 1830. 
 
 How many moved into the new cabin with the 
 Lincolns is only conjectural, but Abe and his 
 step-brother were certainly two; while it is 
 not unlikely that Squire Hall, his wife and 
 baby also moved in with Thomas Lincoln. Dennis 
 Hanks and family, it is thought, moved to a 
 place southwest of the Lincoln house about a 
 half mile. 
 
 This home proved to be satisfactory to Thomas 
 Lincoln for only one year; at the end of which 
 he had sold out and was retracing his steps over 
 the land he had come only the year before to a 
 new location about ten miles south of Mattoon 
 in Coles County. This new home called by the 
 Lincolns "Buck Grove" received its name because 
 the skeletons of two ancient bucks had been 
 found there. They were locked together and had 
 "died that way." 
 
 "Buck Grove" was a home for three years when 
 it was sold and another farm of eighty acres 
 bought, three or four miles southeast, still in 
 Coles County and still retracing almost his 
 
 U13] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 identical steps as he came from Indiana. This 
 farm was moved to in 1834, and was known in the 
 family as "Mud Point." Surely this place was 
 as appropriately named as was "Buck Grove." 
 
 This also was a three year home, as, accord- 
 ing to the tablet now marking the site, it was 
 sold in 1837, when the Lincolns again back- 
 tracked and settled near the Embarrass River 
 crossing which had delayed them because of high 
 water seven years before when they were on 
 their way from Indiana. 
 
 This last farm, also eighty acres, is said 
 in the family tradition to have received the 
 name which is still used: "Goose Nest Prairie 
 Farm." It was so called because of its situa- 
 tion in a hollow-like formation which resembles 
 a great goose nest of probably a mile in diame- 
 ter. Having visited all of these cabin sites 
 we have no hesitancy in saying that of all the 
 four homes Thomas Lincoln occupied after coming 
 to Illinois, the one on the Sangamon River 
 would be our first choice, while the "Goose 
 Nest" would be our second. While all the four 
 farms now are fairly well improved and have 
 accessible roads, back in the thirties when no 
 improvements had yet come to that new country, 
 the Sangamon River by the first farm and the 
 Embarrass River by the last would certainly 
 have been pleasing contrasts to the everlasting 
 black mud surrounding the "Buck Grove" and the 
 "Mud Point" farms. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln, though a bachelor until 
 1842 did not live with his parents in any of 
 these Illinois cabins with the exceptions of 
 visits of sometimes several weeks duration. The 
 first year, 1830, however, he did help in es- 
 
 [1U] 
 
THE MOVE TO ILLINOIS 
 
 tablishing the new home by building the house, 
 fencing, and breaking up some ground. This in- 
 formation is supplied by John Hanks, who, in 
 1860 (it is remembered) carried rails from this 
 farm which he and Abraham had made, into the 
 Republication Convention in Decatur, making a 
 historical political incident. This gave the 
 Republicans, as said by Indiana's Senator Henry 
 S. Lane in the nominating speech in the Chicago 
 Convention, the "Dead Wood" on the Democrats in 
 the campaign which followed. 
 
 In March, 1831, the future President accom- 
 panied by his step-brother, John D. Johnston, 
 stepped into a canoe and paddled down on the 
 flood waters of the Sangamon River which ended 
 as his second trip to New Orleans, to a new home 
 in New Salem, to Springfield, and to the Presi- 
 dency. 
 
 While Thomas Lincoln moved four different 
 times in the seven years immediately following 
 his entry into Illinois, it may be of some 
 interest to connect some of the historic inci- 
 dents in Abraham's life to the particular cabin 
 which he called his home when the incident 
 occurred: for instance, when Abe and John D. 
 Johnston returned from their New Orleans trip 
 in 1831, it was to the new home of Thomas Lin- 
 coln on the Buck Grove farm. They, with their 
 boss, Offutt, had come up from New Orleans on 
 the steamer, walked to Edwardsville, separated 
 from Offutt, he going to Springfield, and they 
 to the Buck Grove farm. Presumably they knew 
 when they returned that the new home would be 
 fifteen or twenty miles southeast from the 
 Sangamon River farm from which they had departed 
 in March. 
 
 [1153 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 Abraham had arranged to meet Offutt in New 
 Salem in the following August where he was to 
 start the Offutt store; goods had been bought, 
 but a wait of several weeks was necessary for 
 them to arrive. While the baby John J. Hall, 
 who will be remembered as the year-old infant 
 making the move with the Lincolns, was only two 
 years old when Lincoln and Johnston walked in 
 from their New Orleans trip, he is responsible 
 for the following quotations, which he told to 
 Mrs. Gridley in 1893. 
 
 "Now do ye want to know how Uncle Abe got 
 his strength?" "Why he got it splittin' rails. 
 Ye knowed it wuz down in Illinois near Decatur, 
 and at Buck Grove and Muddy Point that Uncle 
 Abe used to do most of his rail splittin'. 
 Never no tree wuz too hard for him to tackle. 
 They'd jest topple right over when Uncle Abe 
 would chop. He never minded choppin' trees, 
 nor splittin' rails nor nothin'; nor no kind of 
 work, though one time I remember he did say 
 that the hardest work he hed ever done which 
 worried him most wuz when he loaded a boat with 
 a wheel barrer. It puzzled him awfully to keep 
 the barrer on the plank, and to catch holt of 
 the handles, and to run it up hurt him mighty. 
 I reckon it wuz because he wuz so tall." 
 
 It is entirely reasonable to believe every 
 word of this narrative of John Hall, for on each 
 of the farms named by him, Lincoln built a cab- 
 in in the timber, and rails were about the first 
 order of the day in any new settlement. So, 
 since the Buck Grove farm cabin had scarcely 
 been erected when Abe and Johnston came home 
 from New Orleans; and, as Hall says, "Uncle Abe 
 never minded splittin' rails, nor choppin' trees, 
 
 [116] 
 
THE MOVE TO ILLINOIS 
 
 nor nothin'" what was to prevent him from lend- 
 ing a helping hand to his father while waiting 
 for the Offutt goods to arrive at New Salem? 
 
 Here at Buck Grove the Dan Needham scrap 
 took place which is often related in Lincoln 
 biographies. Needham lived only a few miles 
 west at a small place called Wabash Point on 
 the little. Wabash River in Coles County. John 
 Hall was about four years old when the Needham 
 bully met up with his Uncle Abe and probably 
 describes the match more from what he was told 
 than what he might remember, but he tells it 
 this way: "Ye want to know if Uncle Abe wuz 
 strong enough to tackle anything or lick any- 
 body, do ye? Wall, I'd low that didn't consarn 
 him, for Uncle Abe could tackle anything, and 
 once on a time Uncle Abe and Dan Needham rasled 
 britches holdt and Uncle Abe throwed Dan two 
 times and then he says, says he, 'Lets quit,' 
 cause he didn't want to hurt Dan's feelins. 
 Why, grandpap hisself was alius a braggin about 
 how limber Abe wus; how he could stand with 
 his hands in his pockets and bend over and tech 
 the back of his head to the ground, right level 
 ground, tu." 
 
 This farm was the home Abe returned to from 
 the Black Hawk War, probably in July of 1832. 
 He returned to New Salem in time to campaign 
 some before the election for the Legislature, 
 at which election he was defeated. However, 
 it was at the Mud Point cabin home Lincoln came 
 to at the time of the death of Ann Rutledge in 
 1835. This, and the Black Hawk War visit men- 
 tioned above will be again referred to later. 
 
 Coincidentally, and before leaving the Mud 
 Point home, one more item may be mentioned. On 
 
 [117] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 February 12, 1943, early in the morning over 
 the radio came this in faltering voice. "My 
 name is Henry C. Allison, and I am 92 years old. 
 I have lived in Coles County, Illinois, all my 
 life near the little village of Trilla. My fa- 
 ther lived in this locality before me. He was 
 a blacksmith and his shop was close to the home 
 of Thomas Lincoln who lived at a place locally 
 known as Mud Point. 'Uncle Tommy' Lincoln was 
 known as a good man; he was a blacksmith as 
 well as a farmer and worked for my father off 
 and on in the shop all the time he lived at Mud 
 Point. When 'Uncle Tommy' moved from Mud Point 
 he went over about five miles east and bought 
 what is known as the Goose Nest Prairie farm 
 where he lived until he died in 1851." 
 
 This bit of information and incidental praise 
 for "Uncle Tommy" Lincoln came to us while this 
 chapter was under construction so, with many 
 thanks to our unknown friend, Uncle Henry Alli- 
 son, we take the liberty to record his story of 
 Uncle Tommy Lincoln, the blacksmith. We must 
 admit that this news from the radio is our first 
 evidence that Thomas Lincoln had ever practiced 
 the blacksmith trade. Some writer said that 
 Abraham Lincoln considered the blacksmith trade 
 as a profession once in his life. At the time 
 his father was living at Mud Point, 1834-1837, 
 Abraham was said to be wavering in New Salem 
 over a life profession. Possibly it was on his 
 visit home at the time of Ann Rutledge's death 
 that he found his father working in Mr. Allison's 
 shop that the trade suggested itself to him, 
 which was in September, 1835. An admittedly 
 far-fetched possibility. 
 
 [113] 
 
Chapter Nine 
 THE LINCOLN COUNTRY IN ILLINOIS 
 
 In the early part of 1942 we ir.ade a visit to 
 the Lincoln Country in the Goose Nest Farm lo- 
 cality where we made the acquaintance of some 
 of the remaining living relatives of the Lin- 
 colns, Hankes, Johnstons, and Halls. We re- 
 late the original story almost word for word: 
 
 About 2 A.M. Sunday, April 12, 1942, we set 
 out on a mission which surprisingly wound up at 
 the Lincoln Park eight miles south of Charles- 
 ton, Illinois. At Rockville, Indiana, we stopped 
 at the first filling station we found open that 
 early in the morning, and secured an Illinois 
 map. On other trips to Decatur we had often 
 consulted maps to discover where this State 
 Park was situated but none until this one con- 
 tained the information. Since we were familiar 
 with about every other locality made famous by 
 Lincoln in some way or another during his great 
 and historic career, we immediately decided that 
 this day would not pass without a visit to this 
 long hidden historic farm. 
 
 A perfect day was promised, neither too hot 
 nor too cold, and good roads were indicated on 
 the map. We arrived at Charleston about 9 A.M. 
 Passing through to the southwest we soon came 
 to signs on a newly constructed black-top road 
 which indicated that the Lincoln State Park was 
 
 [119] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 ahead of us. In another fifteen or twenty min- 
 utes we came to the north outskirts of a small 
 village and on the right hand or west side of 
 the road an enclosure of about an acre was des- 
 ignated by a large sign as "The Moore House." 
 The acre belonged to Illinois as a State Park 
 and was a part of the Lincoln State Park. 
 
 The little village proved to be Farmington, 
 a place of fifty or more people, but having 
 signs of at some earlier time being considerably 
 larger. Stopping at one of two little stores, 
 more for plying some questions than for the 
 small purchases we made, we got the first bit 
 of local lore concerning the Lincolns — to us a 
 new sensation, for always before everything we 
 learned of Lincoln came from books. 
 
 In answer to our questions we were told by 
 an old gentleman and his daughter that the house 
 we were inquiring about was where Lincoln was 
 entertained on the evening he came to visit his 
 step-mother after he was elected President. This 
 new Lincoln lore coming from tongue to ear was, 
 that Lincoln, passing on through Farmington on 
 his way down to the old cabin about a mile south 
 of the village, had met his step-mother walking 
 up the road towards the Moore place, but did 
 not recognize her. He was driving two horses 
 to a buggy, having obtained them at Charleston 
 where he had stayed overnight, and eaten break- 
 fast with his cousin, Dennis Hanks, and family. 
 A notable storm had occurred on the evening be- 
 fore this visit of Lincoln: The streams over- 
 flowed and the wind blew the top off the flue 
 of Mrs. Lincoln's cabin. 
 
 On the way out from Charleston the Kickapoo 
 River is crossed, and Lincoln experienced quite 
 
 [120] 
 
LINCOLN COUNTRY IN ILLINOIS 
 
 a lot of trouble in getting over the stream be- 
 cause of the swollen condition due to the deluge 
 of the day before. The new road and new bridge 
 at this stream today gives the conditions quite 
 a different appearance from the old road, which 
 still shows traces of passing through a low 
 stretch of valley before reaching the stream 
 proper. This part of the old road no doubt was 
 overflowing when Lincoln drove out to the old 
 home on that February morning in 1861. 
 
 With this new information in our minds we 
 drove on down the road toward the Lincoln cabin, 
 which was about a mile. All the while we were 
 concious that we were traveling over the same 
 ground that Lincoln had on his numerous trips 
 home from New Salem and later from Springfield 
 after taking up law. Earlier than this he was 
 familiar with this country because he had passed 
 through it on his way to their new home near 
 Decatur when his father came back to this farm. 
 It will be remembered it was near here that 
 they tarried at the Embarrass River due to high 
 water. 
 
 We could almost feel the presence of Lincoln, 
 although there had been more than a hundred 
 years between us and the twenty-one year old 
 young man we could see in our minds, in various 
 moods, standing, walking, studying, and driving 
 an ox-team to — to where no other man dreamed — 
 the White House. 
 
 In this mood we passed on south out of Farm- 
 ington and where about half way to where we ex- 
 pected to find the cabin when we noticed on a 
 picket fence in front of a small cottage on the 
 left side of the road some signboards with in- 
 scriptions so small that we were required to 
 
 [121] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 stop the car to read them. To our surprise, 
 time reversed, for there in front of the cottage 
 door stood, not the apparition of Lincoln, but 
 Lincoln himself in flesh and blood, not "walk- 
 ing here at midnight," but standing there at 10 
 A.M. in broad daylight. 
 
 The man was about forty-five years old, a 
 little stooped but still tall, with whiskers, 
 eyes, and features such as to duplicate any of 
 Lincoln's photographs now in existence. It was 
 a weird feeling that struck us, and it really 
 took some time to realize that we were not see- 
 ing into a spirit world. His first greeting 
 helped but little to break the spell, for when 
 he spoke he said, "Howdy, folks." We complete- 
 ly ignored the inscriptions on the fence, for 
 here was an opportunity to talk to Lincoln in 
 person three-quarters of a century after his 
 assassination. 
 
 We were not deceived into believing that we 
 were seeing and talking to Abe Lincoln himself. 
 The proof was soon forthcoming, for he said as 
 much. His real name is Clarence Thomas Hall, 
 but he is locally known as "Abe the Second." He 
 is spoken of by his mother as "Abe" and also by 
 all his friends and neighbors. Still half be- 
 lieving that the man we saw and were speaking 
 to must be an apparition, we were brought soon 
 to realization when a voice came from inside 
 the door saying: "Come on in folks, God bless 
 ye." We remember replying, "Thank you," but 
 still rather mystified by Abe the Second. We 
 did not immediately accept the invitation of 
 the voice from the inside, until Abe said, 
 "Mother wants you to come in." This we did and 
 were met by a slender old lady who was partly 
 
 [122] 
 
LINCOLN COUNTRY IN ILLINOIS 
 
 gray-haired and wore a very old-fashioned long 
 skirted dress of common material. 
 
 She gave her age as seventy-three and said: 
 "I was born in the Lincoln cabin October 18, 
 1869, and I lived in it till Friday, March 14, 
 1891. It was built by Thomas Lincoln and his 
 son Abe Lincoln in 1831 and my great-grandmother 
 Sarah Bush Lincoln lived and made her home in 
 this cabin with her grandson John J. Hall and 
 his family eighteen years until her death De- 
 cember 14, 1869. She rocked me in the cradle 
 when I was a baby and I just liked four days a- 
 bein two months old when she died and Abraham 
 Lincoln lived and made his home in this cabin 
 here on this farm till his twenty-first birth- 
 day." This was her first introduction to us. 
 She wrote us afterward the identical informa- 
 tion with no capital I's, no periods and few 
 commas, but with some capitals in various places. 
 
 This is the Nancy A. Hall we have spoken of, 
 the daughter of the baby John who came in the 
 wagon along with the Lincolns to Illinois in 
 1830. 
 
 At the time of this lengthy introduction we 
 remember trying to tell her that we were inter- 
 ested very much in her son because of his great 
 resemblance to President Lincoln. She came 
 right back with a flourish: "Sure, he's my son; 
 god, honey, he is the second Abe, he's the man, 
 god yes, honey," and went right on to tell how 
 he was related to the Hankes, Johnstons and Lin- 
 colns all by blood connection. 
 
 Our interest, in spite of the mother's in- 
 terruptions, was in this man. It certainly is 
 more than a mere happen-so when the resemblance 
 of this man to Lincoln is considered. And now 
 
 1123] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 it appears, after long investigation, that 
 through the Hanks blood, and not the Lincoln, 
 this man certainly acquired his wonderful re- 
 semblance to the President. It was also dis- 
 covered that his grandfather before him, John 
 J. Hall, carried this same remarkable resem- 
 blance to the President. Earlier in this his- 
 tory it will be recalled, Levi Hall, Abe the 
 Second's great-great-grandfather married Nancy 
 Hanks (a sister to Nancy Lincoln's father) and 
 this is undoubtedly the source of the blood re- 
 lationship between this man and the President. 
 
 The rapid fire sketch of the Lincoln family 
 which Nancy had just given us was not entirely 
 without mistakes, some of which we were aware 
 of at the time. Since then we have verified 
 her claims by investigations and found that in 
 the main she was correct; but as to dates, in 
 error. 
 
 Our resolution to revisit this interesting 
 country came even before our first trip was 
 over, came as much from an unsatisfied longing 
 to see more of Nancy and Abe as to see again 
 the country over which the Lincoln family and 
 their relatives had lived their lives. These 
 two people, Nancy and her son Abe, we regarded 
 as about the last remnants of that race of ear- 
 ly pioneers from which Lincoln's bed rock sym- 
 piicity, honesty, and even his physical charac- 
 teristics were made of. 
 
 On later trips we learned that Abe the Sec- 
 ond was born July 10, 1899, and his rightful 
 name is Clarence Thomas. Once, while visiting 
 the Shiloh Cemetery Nancy told us confidential- 
 ly that after her husband had died, she took up 
 again her maiden name, Hall. She preferred this 
 
 [124] 
 
LINCOLN COUNTRY IN ILLINOIS 
 
 to Thomas, and, to avoid as much as possible 
 inevitable tongue wagging, she used the boy's 
 name as his middle name, resulting in the name 
 he now goes by, Clarence Thomas Hall, It seems 
 hardly worth while for the trouble though, for 
 not a single acquaintance of his which we met 
 on our rounds ever addressed him in any other 
 style than, "Why, hello, Abe." After she had 
 confided to us her reason for the name transmu- 
 tation it instantly occurred to us that a way 
 back in the line of this woman's ancestors an- 
 other Nancy's mother may have had some similar 
 view in her own troubled experiences which are 
 still baffling the genealogists of today. Now 
 we wonder if name changing at will is a family 
 trait? A trait which may crop out every few 
 centuries? What a stumblingblock this act of 
 Nancy's might have placed in the line of de- 
 scent should her posterity go on down through 
 the years. 
 
 All through the many biographies of Abraham 
 Lincoln are found references to him as "queer" 
 at times, "mentally off," and at one time in 
 his life was said to be "insane." Whatever the 
 justification for opinions such as these for 
 Lincoln in his lifetime, certainly they do not 
 injure his fame now; and since our acquaintance 
 with Abe the Second, we have some reason to be- 
 lieve that that part of Lincoln's life which 
 earned for him the questionable titles as above, 
 may have come from an inherited predisposition 
 which it was impossible to avoid. Whether Abe 
 the Second can be placed under the same predis- 
 position for the inheritance of that sort of 
 family trait, we can, with due respect say that 
 he is "very odd." 
 
 [125] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 His facial expressions — humble, sad, pleas- 
 ant, innocent — afforded continual interest be- 
 cause they were so unusually strange. His ac- 
 tions were peculiar and unexpected. He walked 
 with a swaying motion of arms and shoulders 
 which we feel was peculiar to the President, an 
 inherited family trait. He seemed to act by 
 sudden impulse. He would be seen standing as 
 though in the deepest study, when suddenly he 
 would dart to another place for no apparent 
 reason and assume the same thoughtful attitude. 
 At the graveyard his mother wished to find the 
 graves of certain relatives. Abe looked for 
 them independent of the rest of us. He was here 
 and there in what we thought was true Lincoln 
 fashion, sometimes posing as a statue of his 
 famous relative unconsciously as though pro- 
 claiming the greatest speech in the English lan- 
 guage, the Gettysburg Address. Another glance, 
 and he would be seen down on all fours, clear- 
 ing the grass away and peering closely in order 
 to read the inscription on a marble slab. Once 
 he stopped long enough to carve his initials on 
 a tree in the cemetery. All this time his moth- 
 er kept up a constant chatter of "Don't do that, 
 Abe," as though he were a child, then to us she 
 would say, "God bless him." Abe paid very 
 little attention to his attentive mother, but 
 kept right on with his "queer" actions, soon 
 locating the lost gravestones. We asked both 
 Nancy and Abe to stand by the graves of Thomas 
 Lincoln and his wife Sarah to have their pic- 
 tures taken. Unlike our friend Harry Crawford, 
 they did this like veterans. 
 
 A few feet northwest of the graves of the 
 Lincolns Nancy looked in ' ain for the markers 
 
 [126] 
 
LINCOLN COUNTRY IN ILLINOIS 
 
 at the graves of her grandfather and grandmoth- 
 er, Squire Hall and wife. She seemed positive 
 as to where the graves should be, but nothing 
 marked them but two uninscribed native slabs of 
 sandstone which caused an outburst of indigna- 
 tion on Nancy's part, as she had believed the 
 markers were more modern in design. Instantly 
 she came to the conclusion that some one had 
 stolen the better stones and replaced them with 
 the common red sandstones. It just had to be 
 that way. "Ain't it awful how people steal, 
 what did they want with them gravestones, any- 
 way, god, they'll pay up for it some day , ain't 
 it awful." On another trip to Illinois later, we 
 found the grave of her grandfather Hall in about 
 three feet of the northeast corner of the fence 
 surrounding the Lincoln graves. It developed 
 that her grandmother, who had married a Moore 
 for her second husband was buried where she 
 thought the stones had been stolen, by his 
 side, and not by the side of her grandfather, 
 Squire Hall. 
 
 Nevertheless, within a few square yards 
 there lay in that Shiloh Cemetery the remains 
 of five of the thirteen members of the most 
 historic and notable migratory caravan ever to 
 take place in the history of the United States: 
 that of the Lincolns to Illinois in March of 
 the year 1830. In this small space lie the re- 
 mains of Thomas Lincoln, Sarah Bush Lincoln, 
 Squire Hall, Matilda J. Hall (Moore), and John 
 J. Hall, the latter our friend Nancy's father. 
 Thomas Lincoln died in 1851, his wife Sarah in 
 1869, Squire Hall in 1851, his wife in 1878, 
 and John J. Hall in 1909. 
 
 Nancy Hall tells us that her father, of all 
 
 [127] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 of Lincoln's relations was his favorite of the 
 younger relatives. The fact that John J. was 
 the baby in the Lincoln wagon on the way to 
 Illinois would seem to verify her statement 
 along with other facts. 
 
 At the time John D. Johnston was about to 
 violate his agreement whereby he was to care 
 for his mother during her remaining lifetime for 
 the "east forty" of the Thomas Lincoln farm 
 (Johnston was to have it at his mother's death, 
 but not before) Lincoln's protest letter to 
 Johnston became notable for its defense of his 
 step-mother. The Johnston letter was dated 
 November 25, 1851, ten months after his mother 
 had become a widow. At that time John J. Hall 
 was twenty-two years old and began taking care 
 of his grandmother, according to his daughter 
 Nancy, living with her as a single man until 
 April 10, 1866, when he married a widow, Mrs. 
 Elizabeth (Taylor) Gaston. Mrs.. Lincoln died 
 three years after Hall's marriage. There were 
 six children born to the Hails, and our friend 
 Nancy was third, born as she says, lacking "four 
 days a-bein two months" before her grandmother 
 passed away in 1869. Hall continued to live in 
 the Lincoln cabin until 1891, when one room was 
 bought and exhibited at the World's Fair in 
 Chicago as The Lincoln Cabin. Hall became the 
 owner of the eighty-acre Thomas Lincoln farm by 
 the purchase of Johnston's rights for a consid- 
 eration of fifty dollars. Johnston, failing to 
 follow out his contract with Lincoln to care 
 for his mother while she lived, let the land 
 legally fall into the hands of Robert Lincoln 
 as the only heir after his father's assassina- 
 tion. This gave Hall considerable worry until 
 
 [128] 
 
LINCOLN COUNTRY IN ILLINOIS 
 
 he was assured by a letter from Robert Lincoln 
 that he made no claims whatever on the place, 
 and for him not to be disturbed about his title. 
 
 The above explanation is the result of the 
 famous Lincoln to Johnston letter as Nancy now 
 recites it. 
 
 John J. Hall made his home with his daughter 
 Nancy and her son, after his wife's death until 
 he died in 1909. With tears in her eyes she 
 described the death of her father, and her 
 prophesy she made a week before it occurred: 
 "Pap had his hair cut on Friday, and I said, 
 'Pap, you oughten't a done it, you'l die fore a 
 week,' and he did." Then she named the day and 
 hour and the corner of the room his bed was in 
 when it occurred. 
 
 We have mentioned Nancy as mistaken in her 
 dates quite often when relating her set stories 
 of the Lincoln families. She seemed most con- 
 fused as to the date of the Lincoln's arrival 
 and the building of the cabin on the Goose Nest 
 Prairie farm in which she was born, believing 
 it to be in 1831. It was on our second trip to 
 the Lincoln country that we visited the Shiloh 
 graveyard with Nancy and Abe. While we were 
 familiar with the Buck Grove and Mud Point cab- 
 in sites of the Thomas Lincoln homes of 1831 
 and 1834 respectively, neither Nancy nor Abe 
 seemed to be. Completing our stop at the grave- 
 yard we drove west a few miles until we came to 
 the Mud Point markers which had been placed 
 there by the Historical Society of Coles County 
 some years ago. Here we stopped to read that 
 at this place Thomas Lincoln built a cabin three 
 hundred feet northeast of this marker in 1834. 
 Nancy seemed completely bewildered, for how 
 
 [129] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 could he build a cabin at this place when she 
 knew he had never lived at any other place aft- 
 er moving to Illinois except in the cabin in 
 which she was born? We went on still farther 
 west until we came to the Buck Grove cabin site. 
 Here the marker said that Thomas Lincoln built 
 a cabin about twenty rods north of this marker 
 and lived here until 1834. Here Nancy seemed 
 about "floored," and yet she recalled that her 
 father had brought her on a trip to see this 
 spot along with Mrs. Gridley when that lady was 
 a visitor in their home in 1893. She said the 
 old cabin was still standing at that time, but 
 Nancy remained silenced and completely mystified 
 the balance of the trip so far as those two 
 cabins were concerned. She could not give up 
 the idea that she had been mixed in her dates 
 all her life without more proof. We suggested 
 that the authorities had consulted the Coles 
 County records surely before placing those 
 markers at the cabin sites, but Nancy showed 
 plainly that something must be wrong and it 
 could not be she. Abe said: "Mother, they 
 wouldn't put them things up that way if they 
 hadn't looked up the records, if they did they 
 shouldn't a-done it." Nancy still protested by 
 a short silence, very short. One letter re- 
 ceived from Nancy since that trip to the cabin 
 sites still maintains that Thomas and Abe Lin- 
 coln built her old birthplace cabin home in 
 1831. 
 
 Returning from our trip it was suggested by 
 Nancy that we go back through the little town 
 of Lerna and call on "Old Man Gray who had 
 bought 'taters of Pap lots of times when we 
 lived at the cabin." Abe protested a little at 
 
 [130] 
 

 
 Nancy A. Hall and son, "Abe the Second," taken at the first Thomas 
 Lincoln monument at Shiloh Church in Illinois. 
 
 Musket used by Abraham Lincoln in Black Hawk War, 1832. 
 
LINCOLN COUNTRY IN ILLINOIS 
 
 this suggestion, but since it was on our way 
 back we did stop. Old Man Gray was about eighty 
 years old, pleasant, small, and active. He was 
 quite talkative, but it seemed that Nancy's 
 prompting failed to bring out much more than 
 the fact that he had bought "taters" often of 
 her father while they lived at the cabin, pre- 
 ferring to talk of Miami, Florida, where he had 
 spent several winters. 
 
 We never studied characteristics more in- 
 tensely than on this trip with Nancy and Abe, 
 if actions, facial expressions, looks, words 
 and their combinations to express ideas come 
 under that term. The look on Abe's face, natu- 
 rally sad, humble and pleasant, with a constant 
 readiness to smile, made us feel that Lincoln 
 himself was riding with us. His conversation 
 consisted of what he could insert between the 
 almost constant flow of that of his mother as 
 she kept relating stories of her hard life, such 
 as: "Yes sir, I god, when I wus a girl I worked 
 out on the farm with Pap, drove our big Clyde 
 horses; Pap always had the best horses in the 
 whole country, and I drove 'em; drove 'em to 
 the plow and wagon, hauled wood and manure and 
 everything, dug 'taters, yes sir, and we had 
 the best 'taters in Coles County; shucked corn 
 and helped Pap do everything there wus to do; 
 yes sir honey, I done it, I aint a lyin, I done 
 it, an' I kin do it again if I didn't have this 
 here nuritus in my left shoulder, yes sir, 
 honey, I aint a lyin, I done it." And then, as 
 if referring to pain she would say: "god, aint 
 it awful?" 
 
 Nancy would tell of some of her personal 
 accorr.pl ishrr.ents , how she learned to play the 
 
 [131] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 violin; how her brother had brought an old 
 violin home, but it had no strings. One day she 
 made strings by twisting thread to its proper 
 size for the strings she needed, then astonish- 
 ing the folks by soon learning to play, and 
 winning a bet. She also plays the trench harp, 
 and one invitation is all that is necessary for 
 her to demonstrate the fact to your satisfac- 
 tion. She quotes poetry and tells stories "to 
 beat the band." She will give Abe orders to 
 repeat the Gettysburg Address, but keeps. right 
 on talking, not giving him a chance to do it. 
 
 Mrs. Gridley quotes Nancy at the age of 
 twenty-two in language but little different to 
 that of her present day use. Quoting her she 
 says: "Asking Sis to come out into the cool, 
 fresh air, she twisted herself about on one 
 foot, and turning her face away, and she said, 
 T I haint got no time for foolin, Paw said I must 
 git some good vittals for the city folks. 1 " 
 There were many such references to "Sis" which 
 makes it plain that Nancy's schooldays were no 
 more numerous than those of the average member 
 of the Lincoln relatives wherever we find them 
 quoted. Certainly Nancy is typical of all 
 those whom Lincoln referred to when he "reck- 
 oned the simple annals of the poor" appraised 
 his family history sufficiet for all purposes. 
 
 Nancy's stories covered many subjects, and, 
 like an experienced story-teller each story re- 
 lated suggested and called for another. 
 
 Returning to their cottage a little after 
 noon from our morning trip we prepared for a 
 lunch, which we ate out on the platform by the 
 well. Nancy had been to Charleston the day 
 before, and, having knowledge that we were to be 
 
 [132] 
 
LINCOLN COUNTRY IN ILLINOIS 
 
 over the next day, had prepared for the occa- 
 sion. Coffee, fried chicken and cake were the 
 main items on the menu. In all the hundreds of 
 stories we have read which concerned Lincoln 
 the first, we have never seen one which indi- 
 cated that fried chicken was more than ordinary 
 meat to him. But, if fondness for that fowl is 
 any indication of relationship, then Abe the 
 Second is far removed from the President. Not 
 a scrap of chicken of the three in stock was 
 left after the lunch, and Abe was careful to 
 s^ve all the scraps for the animal which he had 
 cooped up in the adjoining kitchen. It barked 
 like a doe:, but raved and snarled and growled 
 like a lion. This caged animal was proof, as 
 we afterward learned, that these folks lived in 
 constant dread of thieves. 
 
 Eating proved no handicap to Nancy's line of 
 conversation, and her thirty missing teeth no 
 handicap to her eating, for she still had two, 
 about an inch apart and prominently displayed. 
 She explained that she kept the two teeth be- 
 cause of some superstition which involved wis- 
 dom. She was probably right, for they certainly 
 would be as valuable for that as for eating. 
 Both Nancy and Abe seemed to enjoy this Sunday 
 lunch, but so did we. The forenoon trip and 
 the noon lunch with these folks made us feel 
 that we had deeply penetrated into the hone 
 life of the pioneer Lincolns, Halls, Hankses, 
 and Johnstons. 
 
 [133] 
 
Chapter Ten 
 THE LINCOLN RELICS 
 
 On our previous trip to the Lincoln country 
 in Illinois, when we accidently discovered these 
 two people, and before we went away this time 
 Nancy brought out a few keepsakes to show us. 
 She said these came to her from her father. One 
 of these relics was a common plain white table 
 plate which she claimed was brought out of Ken- 
 tucky when the Lincolns moved to Indiana in 
 1816, and belonged to Lincoln's own mother. 
 Immediately we thought of an item of a purchase 
 by Thomas Lincoln in Kentucky, "January 15, 
 1807. Purchased at sale of Thomas Mclntire, 
 dish and plates for $2.68, bason and spoons 
 $3.24." Could it be one of those old plates? 
 She told us that the plate had been carefully 
 preserved by Lincoln's step-mother, and at all 
 his visits home she would set the plate for him 
 at the table. It was at Mrs. Lincoln's request 
 that the plate be kept for Nancy, the then 
 youngest baby of John J. tKall, until she grew 
 up. The plate had every appearance of being 
 old enough for her story to be true. We said, 
 "Mrs. Hall, will you sell that old plate and 
 swear that the story you tell about it is true?" 
 She said right back to us: "God, honey, I 
 wouldn't lie, the Lincolns never lie, I wouldn't 
 be kin to 'em if I did." We offered her a small 
 
 [134] 
 
THE LINCOLN RELICS 
 
 sum for it, still not expecting her to part 
 with it at any price, when, to our surprise, 
 she indicated that a fair offer might buy it. 
 We then doubled our offer, and with a little 
 hesitancy she gave it to us at the last figure. 
 
 We wondered why she had kept all these arti- 
 cles so long, and just at this particular time 
 decided to part with them. One article was a 
 limestone rock about two by nine inches which 
 has carved on it the name: "A, L, LINCOLN" 
 with both N's made backward. A study of this 
 carving leads us to believe that Lincoln first 
 cut his initials on the rock, then later decided 
 to finish with his full name, the additional 
 room on the stone being of sufficient length. 
 For two reasons we believe the work was done in 
 Indiana: one, that limestone such as the spec- 
 imen might be found easily in Spencer County in 
 creek bottoms. The other reason, that the faulty 
 lettering indicates early attempts of a youth 
 in the use of the alphabet. 
 
 Nancy parted with this relic at the same 
 price of the plate. We considered the boyish 
 errors in the carving as giving the piece of 
 rock almost a priceless value, which gave us 
 the feeling of taking advantage of her. Again 
 we wondered why she had kept all those relics 
 until this time, and then decided to part with 
 them. This time we said, "Mrs. Hall, you have 
 told usthatyour father had sold lots of things 
 to those Chicago fellows, including a hundred 
 rails made by Lincoln for ten dollars apiece. 
 Why, then, did he keep all these things you are 
 now showing us?" "Why, honey, grandmother want- 
 ed him to keep these things for me. He kept 
 these things hid; r.obody node he had 'em." Tak- 
 
 [135] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 ing a tin box out of an old trunk she opened it 
 and removed a small poke with some old pieces 
 of money. "See this old one-cent piece with a 
 hole in it? Uncle Abe give it to Pap when he 
 come back to see grandmother after he was Pres- 
 ident. This old knife, too, he give it to Pap 
 at the same time. Pap had that old money under 
 his pillow when he died, and he told me to keep 
 it after he wus dead, and I did. God bless him, 
 ne wus a good man. Grandmother loved Pap, he 
 wus so good to her." 
 
 The large one-cent piece which she said was 
 a watch charm Lincoln had given her father was 
 dated 1835. There were two other large cent 
 pieces, one dated 1848, the other 1851. A bat- 
 tered two-cent piece had an indistinct date of 
 1814. 
 
 The story of the watch charm and the knife 
 is: when Lincoln visited his step-mother before 
 leaving Springfield for Washington for his in- 
 auguration in February, 1861, he drove to her 
 house as mentioned in another part of this sto- 
 ry and found John Hall on top of the cabin fix- 
 ing the flue. Nancy gave us a copy of the story 
 as her father told it, which we here repeat: 
 "Jest the day afore Uncle Abe come up, the chim- 
 ney fell down, and I hed to take grandmarm over 
 to my mother's house; she wus married agin and 
 livin' down to Farmington then. (Her name was 
 now Moore, it will be remembered.) Wall, that 
 rrornin' when I wus fixin' up the chimney who 
 should drive up to the yard and holler out but 
 Uncle Abe, the President of the United States. 
 He got out of the buggy jest as natural and 
 n^ook hands ar^ a s ' - e 1 after all the relations, 
 but w'-r-ri ne fo'-ifid trrandrrarm fone he said, said 
 
 [136] 
 
THE LINCOLN RELICS 
 
 he, 'Corre boys, let's all git into the buggy 
 and Fo over there T ; which we did; but before we 
 started Uncle Abe looked the house over and 
 said, 'It looks jest like it always did,' and 
 then he called me to one side and whispered in 
 my ear, and pointing up with his right hand he 
 said, '0, my god, John, once the old cabin, now 
 the White House. ' 
 
 "After a bit he went out into the yard and 
 Uncle Abe picked up a piece of scantling and 
 ast for an axe. Then he chopped it in two and 
 took out his pocket knife and cut two large 
 letters, 'T.L.,' and said, 'I'm goin' to drive 
 these down at father's head and feet.' Then we 
 went over to the graveyard about two miles away 
 where grandpap Lincoln wus buried and Uncle Abe 
 placed them, one at the head, tother at the 
 feet. Frum there we druv over to Farmington 
 where grandmarm Lincoln wus and took dinner 
 with the folks. When we went into the house 
 and grandmarm seed him she began to cry, and 
 said, 'They'l murder you, Abe, and I'll never 
 git to see you no more.'" Nancy adds to this 
 story that when Lincoln drove up to the cabin 
 he had got out of the buggy and was tying his 
 horses to the rail fence when her father first 
 saw him from the top of the cabin. 
 
 Family tradition also brings down the story 
 that when it became known that the President- 
 elect had come to see his mother, and that he 
 was in Farmington at the Moores, the school 
 was dismissed in order that the children might 
 have a chance to see him. It is also related 
 that he told a story to the women who had gath- 
 ered to help Mrs. Moore with the dinner: He 
 first asked them the question, "How would you 
 
 [137] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 ladies go about making a fire if all the matches 
 should be taken away and none could be had?" 
 Then he told how his own father used to start 
 fires when he was a boy by striking sparks with 
 a piece of steel. The sparks were directed in- 
 to a pan with dry rotten wood with a sprinkle 
 of powder which would catch fire from the spark. 
 
 John Hall is authority for saying that one 
 of the ladies at the dinner "took Uncle Abe's 
 eye." Hall never disclosed whether he himself 
 had noticed this attachment, or whether Uncle 
 Abe told him afterward. It might have been 
 that Mr. Hall was there with a jealous eye him- 
 self, for he was thirty-two years old and un- 
 married, while Abe was fifty-two, had been mar- 
 ried thirteen years and had three children. 
 
 When Nancy gave the traditional family ver- 
 sion of the Lincoln visit to see his step-moth- 
 er she told how Pap got down off the cabin when 
 he saw Lincoln and went to meet him, etc., but 
 when she got to the place where Lincoln made 
 the markers for his father's grave she referred 
 to them as "staubs," which we presume was the 
 old family name for stakes. These she said 
 Lincoln sharpened off and then took his pocket 
 knife, which we have referred to, and cut his 
 father's initials on them. Then he "staubed" 
 them down at the grave. After the initials were 
 cut, he gave the knife to her father for a keep- 
 sake, also the old watch charm penny which Nancy 
 said she had often heard her father value at a 
 great sum of money. 
 
 In all our dealings and acquaintance with 
 the Halls we have never detected one instance 
 where either of them intentionally meant to 
 
 [138] 
 
THE LINCOLN RELICS 
 
 mistake or deceive us. One instance will dem- 
 onstrate the truth of this assertion. 
 
 On a second visit we arrived at Nancy and 
 Abe's cottage home about four in the afternoon. 
 Just as we came up a number of other visitors 
 went into the house ahead of us, so we were of 
 the same crowd, so far as Nancy knew. It soon 
 became evident that neither recognized us. 
 Nancy, as usual was reciting her set speech 
 about the Lincolns, Kails, and Hankses, and 
 then began to tell of the relics which her great- 
 grandmother had saved for her, etc. Finally she 
 mentioned the plate which we had purchased of 
 her on our previous visit, saying she had kept 
 it until a week or so ago, when she sold it to 
 an Indiana man. We happened to be the man, but 
 if she had been dishonest, there was no reason 
 why she could not have shown another plate with 
 the same story around it, and possibly sold it 
 for as much or more than the original one 
 brought her. We had no reason to disbelieve 
 her story before, but when we heard this story 
 under circumstances which allowed deception, we 
 thought that even the remnants of the Lincoln 
 family still possess the characteristics which 
 gave Lincoln the deserved title of "Honest Abe." 
 
 We had in our several visits kept a list of 
 all the relics which Nancy possessed that had 
 come down to her through her father from her 
 great-grandmother. We also arrived at the con- 
 clusion from a great many remarks we had heard 
 her make that they might be purchased. There 
 were several reasons we believed for their wish 
 to dispose of them: one, their fear of theft. 
 Another, the mother wished to convert them to 
 cash for her son's use after her death rather 
 
 [139] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 than leave the relics to him. But, the primary 
 reason which seemed to carry the greatest in- 
 centive to dispose of them was the fact that 
 each of them believed that the authorities had 
 failed miserably to recognize them as of any 
 importance around the Lincoln State Park. Their 
 treatment was mentioned by them a hundred times 
 as "terrible." No doubt but the origin of their 
 feud with the State was at the time it took 
 over the land for park purposes. They still 
 nursed their ill-feelings, and both mother and 
 son, with magnified grievance are doing nothing 
 which might be beneficial to their enemies. So 
 they wished the relics out of their reach. 
 
 Two brothers and one sister had heired the 
 farm with Nancy and the State had been success- 
 ful in obtaining all the divisions but her twen- 
 ty acres containing the cottage in which she 
 lives. Several times she referred to these 
 transfers, each time with bitter criticism of 
 her relatives and also the State representatives 
 who had made the purchases. 
 
 She would criticise the State management of 
 the park, and speak with derision of the "line" 
 of Lincoln lore the caretaker gives out to the 
 public. "He tells the people the cabin is jist 
 like it wus when the Lincolns lived there, I 
 know it ain't, fer I wus born there and lived 
 in it eighteen years, an' it ain't. Them logs 
 wus cut right back here in this grove (point- 
 ing east to a grove) and Abe wus back there and 
 seen im cuttin em and seen em haulin em up to 
 build that east room. It don't do em no good 
 to lie. We'd tell em the truth." 
 
 One of the articles obtained from Nancy was 
 the ox-yoke ring which the Lincolns used on 
 
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THE LINCOLN RELICS 
 
 their trip to Illinois. In writing about it 
 afterward she said: "That old ox-yoke a-hangin' 
 up on that old cabin is Old Billy Balch's yoke." 
 In this last statement she has reference to a 
 yoke now hanging on the north outside wall of 
 the old cabin. It is disgusting to her to think 
 the caretaker will allow the public to believe 
 the yoke once belonged to the Lincolns. "And 
 they pay that feller there twelve hundred dol- 
 lars a year. I tell ye, honey, its a shame the 
 way they done us. We'd tell the truth. .. .ain't 
 it awful." 
 
 On the day of the porch lunch we broached 
 the purchase of the relics. We had indicated 
 in a letter of a few days before that we might 
 buy them all if she was really wanting to dis- 
 pose of them, and offered a figure we believed 
 reasonable . 
 
 The list she had given as in her possession 
 consisted of an old looking-glass Nancy claimed 
 was once the property of the President's mother 
 before her marriage to Thomas Lincoln, a plow 
 made in Kentucky by Thomas Lincoln, the garden 
 hoe used by Lincoln's step-mother until she 
 died, a square tin box which we considered of 
 much more value than Nancy gave to it, a few 
 other things which came out of the Thomas Lin- 
 coln home, a piece of stone with A. L. carved 
 on it, a segment of the old grindstone brought 
 out of Kentucky and used about the kitchen for 
 sharpening knives, an iron wedge, the ox-yoke 
 ring, an old breast chain, etc., but the thing 
 of greatest value was the musket which Nancy 
 claimed Lincoln used in the Black Hawk War. 
 
 On our first acquaintance with Nancy and 
 Abe, we learned of this eun and the claim made 
 
 [141] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 for it. Our first impression was that something 
 more than a bare statement should accompany the 
 claim, but our further questioning; brought noth- 
 ing more than that Lincoln had brought his gun 
 back from the war, had left it with his folks, 
 and when Sarah Lincoln died it fell to John Hall 
 as the other relics which Nancy possessed. Fur- 
 thermore, as proof that Nancy and Abe were sin- 
 cere in their belief, we discovered that they 
 had kept the old musket in a bank vault in 
 Charleston. We reasoned that since they were 
 so positive of the gun's value that they would 
 be willing: to pay vault rent for its safe-keep- 
 ing, we could hardly doubt their sincerity, at 
 least. 
 
 Whatever we might say about these two peo- 
 ple, we certainly have no right to say that we 
 have ever found them in any way deceiving. Nancy 
 is positive, but honestly so, and we have found 
 that she believes implicitly in her father's 
 word in all the stories which came down to her 
 and which relate to the Lincoln family. The 
 story of the gun came to her through her fa- 
 ther, and a more direct way could not be devised 
 for substantiation. John Hall's memory itself 
 could have reached back to the time Lincoln re- 
 turned from the Black Hawk War, as he was five 
 years old. But, had his own memory failed, he 
 would have been amply informed by his grandfa- 
 ther, grandmother, or Lincoln himself. The gun 
 was a household relic practically all of John 
 Hall's life, and there is no good reason to 
 disbelieve the story. 
 
 In all our investigations which we have con- 
 ducted in order to learn the truth of this gun's 
 history we have found no fact that contradicts 
 
 [142] 
 
THE LINCOLN RELICS 
 
 the Hall story, and our inquiries have gone to 
 a number of authorities including Bannerman, 
 the Smithsonian Institution, and the War Depart- 
 ment. According to Bannerman the United States, 
 early in its history, purchased several thou- 
 sand French-made guns. This was the nearest 
 reference to the gun we found in the search. 
 Jeelinssian seems to be the manufacturer and 
 the town in France in which it was made is 
 Asdetienne. 
 
 Not until after the purchase was made of the 
 relics did we get to see the gun. Until that 
 time we had been under the impression that the 
 musket was still in Charleston. When it was 
 brought home we do not know, but we suspected 
 that on the day before when Nancy went to see 
 the doctor about her neuritis might have been 
 the time, for we had written them of the day we 
 would be over to see them and try to buy the 
 relics 
 
 Whatever the truth might be as to when or 
 how the gun came to be at home, it was there 
 that morning. We were not long in closing the 
 deal, and Nancy and Abe began to gather the 
 different articles together, Abe going to the 
 closet and bringing out the gun, as that, in 
 his opinion seemed to be the most valued. 
 
 Wrapped in old newspapers and held by binder 
 twine, it had the appearance of being well ca- 
 mouflaged against the thieves so dreaded by the 
 Halls. This was our very first sight of the 
 gun, spoken of so often and kept so completely 
 hidden from sight. Afterward Nancy apologized 
 in a way for making us believe the musket was 
 in a Charleston vault by saying that they did 
 keep it there for a while because of possible 
 
 [143] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 theft, but the rental cost was too much. So 
 they decided to keep it at home, leaving the 
 impression with the public that it was not on 
 their premises. She did not say when they did 
 this. 
 
 At first we were very much disappointed with 
 the appearance of the old musket, for it showed 
 plainly that some one at some time had tried to 
 modernize the stock by giving it a cheap coat 
 of brown paint. Then we noticed a loose thim- 
 ble, a piece of the front end of the stock split 
 off and lost, and some other split and damaged 
 places. Abe carefully re-wrapped the gun after 
 this, tied up the wrapping paper with the same 
 binder twine, carried it out to the car and 
 that was the last we saw of it until we returned 
 home. Nancy was busy all this time collecting 
 the other items, and with Abe's help we soon 
 had all articles checked and in the car, in- 
 cluding the old single shovel plow which was an 
 afterthought on Nancy's part, but which she 
 wished us to keep along with the other relics. 
 
 Even before reaching home it occurred to us, 
 reflecting on the appearance of the old musket 
 when Abe exposed it to view, that Lincoln had 
 somehow referred to his musket in a speech when 
 in Congress. We had casually read the speech 
 several times, but never before had it suddenly 
 come to our mind with such significant import 
 as now. What if the accident which happened to 
 his gun showed evidence of being bent, and the 
 damage we had noticed only casually proved to 
 be that evidence? Finally we decided before 
 reaching home that if Lincoln did bend his mus- 
 ket as he said he did in his speech, and this 
 old musket did not show the effect of the bend 
 
 [144] 
 
THE LINCOLN RELICS 
 
 which it would surely have to show, then the 
 gun could not be genuine. 
 
 This is what Lincoln said: "By the way, Mr, 
 Speaker, did you know I am a military hero? 
 Yes, sir; in the days of the Black Hawk War I 
 fought, bled, and came away. Speaking of Gen- 
 eral Cass's career reminds me of my own. I was 
 not at Stillman's defeat, but I was about as 
 near it as Cass was to Hull's surrender; and, 
 like him, I saw the place soon afterward. It 
 is quite certain I did not break my sword, for 
 I had none to break; but I bent my musket pret- 
 ty badly on one occasion. If Cass broke his 
 sword, the idea is he broke it in desperation; 
 I bent my musket by accident. If General Cass 
 went in front of me picking whortleberries, I 
 guess I surpassed him in charges on wild onions. 
 If he saw any live, fighting Indians it was 
 more than I did, but I had a good many bloody 
 struggles with the mosquitoes; and although I 
 never fainted from loss of blood, I can truly 
 say I was often very hungry." 
 
 This sarcastic, humorous, and now historic 
 speech made by Lincoln while in Congress re- 
 ferred to the claims of the friends of General 
 Cass when they wished to clothe him as a mili- 
 tary hero of the Black Hawk War, but we refer 
 to it now as proof that the claims of Abe and 
 Nancy as to the gun's genuineness is substanti- 
 ated by the splintered stock of the musket 
 which is evident could not have happened to it 
 except by its being bent "pretty badly." It 
 certainly would be a rare coincidence for the 
 Lincolns to have had an old bent musket in the 
 family as an heirloom and it not be the one 
 Lincoln bent in the Black Hawk War. 
 
 [145] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 Lincoln was a Captain when he first went in- 
 to the War, but when his time was out he reen- 
 listed as "a dignified private." This last en- 
 listment as a private was when he carried a 
 gun, which was from May 27, 1832, to June 16, 
 1832, At this time all were discharged and 
 Lincoln, temporarily out of a job, no doubt went 
 home to the Buck Grove cabin, leaving his mus- 
 ket where it remained thereafter until it be- 
 came the property of John Hall, and finally of 
 our friend, Nancy A. Hall. 
 
 The square tin box in the list of articles 
 was at one time Lincoln's also. As far back as 
 Nancy could remember her father had kept the 
 small articles which were the coins, knife, and 
 the smaller triangular piece of rock with the 
 initials and dates of 1809 and possibly 1832 
 which have been mentioned. A small cotton bag, 
 purse and bill fold, all of ancient date in ap- 
 pearance were kept in the box. There may be a 
 historic reference to this old-fashioned tin 
 box, a conjecture of our own, and not Nancy's. 
 In Mrs. Gridley's book (page 92) is the follow- 
 ing: "It was after he (Lincoln) had become a 
 lawyer, and at a period in his life when he was 
 distressed f inancially , . . .his law partnership 
 was then with Major Stewart in Springfield. One 
 day an agent of the Post Office Department en- 
 tered and inquired if Abraham Lincoln was in. 
 Mr. Lincoln answered in the affirmative, and 
 the agent told him that he had called to col- 
 lect the balance due the Department since the 
 New Salem Post Office had been discontinued. 
 Mr. Lincoln seemed annoyed, and a friend who 
 was present offered to loan him the required 
 amount. Making no reply Mr. Lincoln rose and 
 
 [146] 
 
THE LINCOLN RELICS 
 
 pulled out from a pile of papers a small tin 
 box. Turning around he faced the agent and 
 asked the amount due. The sum was named. Mr. 
 Lincoln took from the box a package, unfastened 
 the wrapping, and counted out the exact amount, 
 which was a little more than seventeen dollars. 
 After the agent left the room Mr. Lincoln qui- 
 etly remarked that he never used any man's money 
 but his own." 
 
 The old-fashioned bluish box is approximate- 
 ly 4 x 5 x 6. On the front in print is "Bales 
 Lunch Herring, George A. Bales, St. Louis, Mo." 
 There can be little doubt that the box was made 
 long before round tin cans came into use. It 
 dates back to the early part of the century 
 when supplies, especially for the New Salem and 
 midwestern territory came up the Mississippi 
 River and were wholesaled out of St. Louis. 
 Lincoln no doubt sold "Lunch Herring" out of 
 his store, or used the contents of this partic- 
 ular box himself while still a bachelor, and 
 kept the box for Post Office receipts while 
 postmaster at New Salem. Later the box found 
 its way to his father's home with the small ar- 
 ticles enumerated, and was sacredly kept by his 
 devoted step-mother. 
 
 The looking-glass, about 14 x 18, is well 
 preserved for the age Nancy claimed it to be, 
 and dates back to the time when Lincoln's moth- 
 er was living and making her home with Frank 
 Berry in the Beechland country in Kentucky. We 
 can easily conceive this looking-glass to be a 
 pre-wedding present from Thomas Lincoln given 
 to Nancy some time in the two weeks in May pre- 
 vious to their wedding in June, 1806. 
 
 The frame of the glass, about two and a half 
 
 [147] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 inches wide, has sometime received a coat of 
 paint of faded green, which in no way improves 
 its appearance. Around the edges of the glass 
 the quick silver is off in irregular spots, and 
 through the clear places as a result, an old 
 newspaper was exposed to view. Opening up the 
 back of the glass we found the old paper to be 
 of the date of April 20, 1843. No name happened 
 to be on the paper, but several articles re- 
 ferred to slavery in it and we gained the im- 
 pression while examining it that it was a Louis- 
 ville publication. A short article explained a 
 new method of cultivating potatoes which would 
 increase the yield. It could be republished 
 today and never be suspected that it was a hun- 
 dred years old. 
 
 As the old newspaper we found in the back of 
 the glass is proof positive that it is a hundred 
 years of age, we can see no good reason to doubt 
 Nancy's word that it really belonged to Lin- 
 coln's mother before her marriage, as it would 
 only be a matter of thirty-six years added to its 
 known age. We replaced the old newspaper with 
 the date, April 20, 1843, exposed through one 
 of the clear spots. 
 
 At intervals Nancy would tell of many things 
 that were stolen from her great-grandmother 
 while her father took care of her. These thefts 
 were by a grandson and took place after Lincoln 
 had become a great man in the eyes of the peo- 
 ple, and he found a ready sale for all sorts of 
 things which he could carry away from the Lin- 
 coln cabin. This uncomplimentary story she ap- 
 plied to her uncle Dennis Hanks as well. Speak- 
 ing of the grandson she said: "After all his 
 meanness Pap had to keep him when he wus poor 
 
 [148] 
 
THE LINCOLN RELICS 
 
 and sickly, and had to pay his doctor bills 
 too, and bury him when he died. Pap was the 
 best man in the world." Her grief for her fa- 
 ther remains with her as though he had passed 
 away only recently. When speaking of him she 
 almost invariably took up her apron and wiped 
 away the tears. Mrs. Gridley, quoting Mr. Hall, 
 refers to the old family Bible and its ultimate 
 end in this fashion: "It was old and finger 
 worn and bore the date of 1799. Uncle Dennis 
 Hanks took it long enough to have it copied and 
 never returned it, for he sold it to a relic 
 hunter and got a right smart price for it." 
 
 Although Nancy's brothers and one sister 
 were dead, she did not hesitate to let it be 
 known that the best of feelings did not always 
 exist between them. Her oldest brother was the 
 administrator of her father's estate (the Thomas 
 Lincoln farm in the main). It was a day or two 
 after he died, she told us, as she lay sick in 
 bed that her brother "ransacked her father's 
 papers and burnt 'em right there in that stove 
 before my eyes." Still mad, she said, I might 
 have had some of Lincoln's old letters yet, "if 
 Joe hadn't burnt 'em." 
 
 The single shovel plow in this collection 
 was made by Thomas Lincoln while still living 
 in Kentucky, according to the story accompaning 
 it. It is well preserved, showing that it had 
 scarcely ever been left out in the weather, 
 positive hand-made, and looks to be plenty old 
 to fit the story. It had never been painted* 
 Lincoln once told a story which related to his 
 earliest work while a boy in Kentucky, and if 
 the plow story is true, then this is the plow 
 without doubt that Lincoln's father used to 
 
 [149] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 make the furrows for the pumpkin seed and the 
 corn. This is his story: "father had a small 
 clearing in the valley on our farm and planted 
 it in corn and pumpkins one spring. The boys 
 went ahead and dropped the corn by hand in 
 checks made by father's plow; I dropped pumpkin 
 seed in every other hill and every other row. 
 That night there was a big rain up the gulley 
 and the water came down with a rush and washed 
 corn, pumpkin seed and all right into the 
 creek." We can see no reason for doubting the 
 plow story as given by the Halls, or the con- 
 nected additional story which associates it 
 with Lincoln's flooded crop. 
 
 The garden hoe in the collection belonged to 
 Mrs. Lincoln; one she had used until her death. 
 The hoe, worn down more than hoes usually are, 
 is evidence that the owner was quite industri- 
 ous and had been for many years. Like the plow 
 it, too, had been saved for Nancy by her father 
 as a token of respect for his grandmother and 
 the Lincoln name. The iron wedge is also a 
 historic tool in the Lincoln family, and this 
 particular wedge certainly saw service in rail- 
 splitting. On every farm the Lincolns ever 
 owned, fence rails were one of the major re- 
 quirements, and the wedge we secured in this 
 collection looks as if it had seen service on 
 every farm. Nancy was insistent that we say 
 that this identical wedge split the historic 
 rails which John Hanks carried into the Repub- 
 lican Convention at Decatur, in May, 1860, and 
 created national enthusiasm to such an extent 
 that it helped greatly to give the United States 
 the greatest President in its history, "The 
 railsplitter, " Lincoln. 
 
 [150] 
 
THE LINCOLN RELICS 
 
 Scarcely any of these relics are in perfect 
 condition, all show great age. The iron shows 
 rust, the painted articles faded and scarred, 
 some of the coins with dates scarcely visible, 
 and even the old musket damaged as we have de- 
 scribed, especially about the breech where it 
 was bent. At one time a portion of the barrel 
 was cut off by one of Nancy's brothers. This 
 is exactly how Nancy says it happened: "The 
 piece of the musket i know i haven't got it and 
 i dont know what he done with it and my Brother 
 Abe M. Hall slipped it out one day while Father 
 was not at Home and he sawed it off my father 
 kept it a hanging up over the fireplace just 
 like Lincoln did When they lived in This old 
 Cabin thet wus built by Thomas Lincoln and his 
 Son ABE Lincoln in 1831." Then, in another 
 part of the letter she says: "This old musket 
 is Just like it Was when Abe Lincoln gave it to 
 my father John J. Hall." 
 
 In all our questionnaires to the authorities 
 where we expected to get information regarding 
 the old musket used by Lincoln in the Black 
 Hawk War, we were never able to get an explana- 
 tion of how the accident occurred by which the 
 gun was bent. The split in the stock appears 
 to have been caused by striking the end of the 
 barrel against the ground or other object with 
 such force that the breech end of the stock 
 split out, pulling loose the bolt which held 
 the gun to the stock. The escutcheon is lost 
 and a common square nut takes its place. A 
 small piece of the front end of the stock is 
 split off and lost, while several splits show 
 along the side of the gun stock at the place of 
 greatest strain, evidence of a severe blow. 
 
 [151] 
 
DEFENSE OP LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 „ith few errors of judgment we feel certain 
 that Nancy's stories in regard to the relics 
 are strictly reliable. With all her oddities, 
 commonplace illiteracy and her manners common 
 to hard-working old people, she never disclosed 
 in any way the slightest desire to deceive by 
 telling more or less than what her father had 
 told her concerning the articles in the collec- 
 tion. 
 
 Returning home, we decided her stories re- 
 garding the relics should be in writing. We 
 wrote out some questions which had reference to 
 some of the most important pieces in our judg- 
 ment, leaving blank spaces between the questions 
 for her answers, all to be returned by a stamped 
 and addressed envelope which we sent alone:. 
 In a day or two the questions returned answered 
 very intelligently and with no variation from 
 her verbal description and facts relating to 
 each article. 
 
 We are convinced that their only reason for 
 disposing of these lifetime heirlooms are the 
 facts already mentioned, viz. fear of theft, 
 and ill-feeling toward the State for what 
 seemed to them a personal slight or insult for 
 failing to consider them as the rightful people 
 to care for the Thomas Lincoln cabin. The lat- 
 ter especially is quite plain after listening 
 to either of them, Nancy or Abe, speak of the 
 treatment they have received, amounting to 
 studied neglect by some people designated by 
 them as "they." Nancy always closes her ex- 
 pressed bitterness by her set windup: "Its jist 
 awful, they ought to be ashamed," etc. 
 
 On one of the postcards Abe gives out to the 
 public, and for which he never refuses a tip, 
 
 [152] 
 
THE LINCOLN RELICS 
 
 if offered, Abe the Second poses as Abe the 
 first. He writes in his own hand: "have some 
 rights in this world that havn't been given me, 
 •..the dear people should keep the second hon- 
 est Abe Lincoln," etc. This isn't much to the 
 second honest Abe's credit, but it shows plain- 
 ly how he feels about the job that has been 
 denied him. 
 
 Personally, we believe that the State of 
 Illinois is neglecting a great opportunity to 
 show the public for the last time the type of 
 people, their manner of living, their belief in 
 signs, and their superstitions from which Lin- 
 coln himself never entirely freed himself. 
 So, if we should be consulted as to whether 
 these two people should be recognised by giving 
 them a home where they could meet the people 
 who visit the Lincoln country, we would say: 
 "by all means." No book, however well written, 
 can ever give as true a picture of the Lincoln 
 folks for the last three generations as these 
 people would give by simple contact with the 
 public. 
 
 We have at various times been to what may be 
 designated Lincoln localities, and some of them 
 several times. But, to us, with all the knowl- 
 edge gained from these visits, none gave us the 
 satisfaction or insight into the pioneer life 
 of Abraham Lincoln as these visits to this Lin- 
 coln locality and the acquaintance of these 
 remnants of the Lincoln family, Nancy Hall and 
 son Abe. 
 
 In Nancy we met Nancy Hanks, Matilda Johnston 
 Hall, and Sarah Bush Lincoln in person. In Abe 
 the Second we met Levi Hall, Square Hall, John 
 and Dennis Hanks, John D. Johnston, and Abraham 
 
 [153] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 Lincoln. What an asset these two people would 
 be for that old Thomas Lincoln State Park. 
 Nancy, born in the cabin, still belongs to it. 
 And Abe, search the world over, and no one 
 could ever be found who would fit the surround- 
 ings as Abe the Second. He is Abe the first in 
 all his poses, sitting, standing, or lying in 
 the shade, and judging by the multitude who 
 call on them for mere curiosity, we feel safe 
 in saying that this Thomas Lincoln Cabin would 
 double its patronage and triple its popularity 
 the moment the State places both these people 
 as keepers of the Thomas Lincoln Cabin. We can 
 hear objections to these views by some who 
 would bring a mentality test. But who, in com- 
 parison to the mentality of Lincoln, can be 
 found in all the country who could merit the 
 place under that test? 
 
 Personally, we feel that these odd people 
 are as truly relics of the Lincoln family as 
 the old musket, the looking-glass, or the old 
 plate, plow, or hoe. Their attachment to the 
 relics as shown by their fear of their theft 
 made us almost ashamed to separate them. The 
 following incidents may show this fear: On 
 arriving at their home early in the morning of 
 the day the purchase of the relics was made, 
 neither Nancy nor Abe were ready to go to the 
 cemetery as we had written them we wished to do. 
 But Nancy, by a presto change of apron was soon 
 ready, while Abe made but slight effort to hur- 
 ry, in spite of his mother's continual commands 
 to do so. "Go on, Abe, change that old waist, 
 now hurry up honey." But Abe indicated only a 
 slight effort towards complying with Nancy's 
 appeal, and finally said: "You folks go on, 
 
 [154] 
 
THE LINCOLN RELICS 
 
 I'll stay home and watch the house, somebody 
 might come while we are gone." But we told him 
 to get ready, for we would be home in a little 
 while. Then, after a lot of preliminaries de- 
 signed by Abe to tire us into the notion of go- 
 ing on without him, and two or three trips to 
 the rear of the house to investigate the back 
 door as if to see if it had come unlocked since 
 he tried it a moment before, we finally con- 
 vinced him that we were not leaving without him, 
 so he changed his waist and got into the car. 
 But his uneasiness continued during the entire 
 trip. When we stopped at any place he was the 
 first to suggest going on, and at the Buck Grove 
 cabin site, Abe was insistent that we not take 
 the time to drive back to where the cabin stood, 
 about twenty rods to the north of the marker on 
 the road. Abe did not favor his mother's sug- 
 gestion of returning through the town of Lerna 
 to see Old Man Gray who failed Nancy so miser- 
 ably in reminiscences of the Lincolns. We sug- 
 gested going over through Farmington on our way 
 back, but that did not suit Abe either, for it 
 was out of the way. So, we cut our trip short 
 because of Abe's impatience. Reaching home, 
 Abe was soon out and had the house doors checked 
 thoroughly for possible intrusions by robbers, 
 saying: "I guess everything is all right," as 
 though he was a little surprised. 
 
 Again, when we began negotiations for the 
 relics Nancy seemed to hesitate about the sale, 
 and said: "Abe, do you want me to sell these 
 things, what must I do?" Abe answered, "Do as 
 you please, Mother, it's your business." But we 
 thought we noticed a satisfied look and a new 
 alertness when Nancy gave the "go" sign, for he 
 
 [155] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 went straight for the old musket and soon had 
 it out of hiding for the first time, no doubt, 
 in many years. It is such unconscious actions 
 as these which have given us the impression 
 that these people have told us the exact truth 
 concerning these heirlooms. 
 
 All these Lincoln relics are now in the 
 Lane Museuim in Crawfordsville, Indiana. 
 
 11551 
 
Chapter Eleven 
 THE NEW ORLEANS TRIP 
 
 The personal appearance of Abraham Lincoln 
 in his younger days is often commented upon by 
 all biographers. A description quoted from 
 some biographers by Mrs. Gridley in her book, 
 FROM LOG CABIN TO THE WHITE HOUSE, (page 84-5) 
 is one similar to about all of them. It fol- 
 lows: "It is said by Mr Lincoln's biographers 
 that at this tine he was the roughest looking 
 man that one could imagine. He was tall, so 
 angular, so uneainly, and wore trousers made of 
 flax, cut tight at the ankle and baggy at the 
 knees. ..that he indeed made a comical and ri- 
 diculous looking figure. He was known to be 
 exceedingly poor, but yet he was a welcome guest 
 in every house at which he ever called." 
 
 Although we believe the description may be 
 fairly accurate at about the time the Lincolns 
 moved to Illinois in 1830, certainly Mrs. Grid- 
 ley was mistaken if she believed that descrip- 
 tion applied when he visited home at the Goose 
 Nest Prairie t, arm as she seems to indicate. She, 
 like Nancy, wrote as if that farm cabin was 
 built in 1831, when in reality it was the Buck 
 Grove Cabin, and if the description she grave of 
 Lincoln was correct, it was at the latter place 
 and not the former, and six years before the 
 Goose Nest Cabin was built. 
 
 [157] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 By the time the Lincoins had established 
 themselves at their home at the Prairie Farm, 
 Lincoln had had the opportunity to improve him- 
 self in personal appearance equal to New Salem 
 citizens, his fellow politicians in the Legis- 
 lature, and to have the inclination to look the 
 part of a surveyor, clerk and postmaster, al- 
 though as poor, possibly, as ever in his life. 
 
 This criticism of clothes and manners is so 
 universal by biographers of Lincoln that little 
 doubt can exist as to its truth, and the basis 
 for these criticisms remained with him during 
 his entire life to some extent, and whether he 
 ever made any serious efforts to correct his 
 personal appearance, we have our doubts. To us 
 it appears that as a boy he had grown tall, no- 
 ticeably angular, and that no one noticed it or 
 heard more about it than himself. His clothes, 
 at first, while no different from those of his 
 boy friends in quality and material fit him ri- 
 diculously on account of his unusual height. 
 
 As we see Lincoln now, he was conscious of 
 his being superior to his surroundings wherever 
 he might be, so, why should he care particularly 
 for his appearance? Biographers and historians 
 all say he loved to tell stories and that this 
 art proved a wonderful asset to him in simpli- 
 fying a complicated statement. Not only was 
 his art of story-telling used for clarifying a 
 point, but it also seems it was used by him as 
 an element of surprise for his personal amuse- 
 ment when among strangers. 
 
 To tell stories for the purpose which Lincoln 
 used them, it is necessary to have an audience. 
 To get an audience he must first attract people 
 to hear him, and from his earliest effort at 
 
 [158] 
 
THE NEW ORLEANS TRIP 
 
 the art of entertaining he no doubt found that 
 his personal appearance was an asset. He also 
 found that to be a good showman, a clown to an 
 extent, was to excel in story-telling, so his 
 comical appearance grew to be a part of Abraham 
 Lincoln. It was as much his stock in trade as 
 the pretended illiteracy of Josh Billings or 
 Artemus Ward was to them. Even after he began 
 to be a prominent national character, and was 
 forced to wear tailored clothes, he wore a high 
 plug hat to stil 1 exaggerate his tall appearance. 
 
 But, to us, Lincoln was not an ugly man. 
 From our earliest memory his picture has ap- 
 peared more constantly on our walls than that 
 of any member of our family, and we can never 
 remember a single time when we looked upon his 
 likeness and could see distortion, inelegance 
 or want of symmetry in his face. In fact, the 
 expression in his pictures has always been a 
 sort of standard for honesty, truth and genuine 
 nobility, gentility and intellectual elegance. 
 
 In a certain attorney's office we have often 
 studied the facial characteristics of three 
 pictures on the wall: Washington, Theodore Roos- 
 evelt, and Lincoln. Invariably our conclusion 
 is that Lincoln's face for beauty in the mascu- 
 line is superior to the other two. Then, in 
 analizing our method of arriving at that con- 
 clusion we find that along with the visible ap- 
 pearance on the wall, we have associated the 
 many references by historians of uncomplimenta- 
 ry allusions to clothes and general uncouthness 
 which he endured with dignity. 
 
 It is history that Stanton, a cabinet offi- 
 cer in Lincoln's Cabinet for the duration of 
 the Civil War, often spoke of Lincoln as "That 
 
 [159] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 baboon in the White House." To compare the fa- 
 cial features of Lincoln with those of the 
 woolly whiskered Stanton, or, for that matter, 
 with the facial expression of any of his cabi- 
 net, to be strictly impartial one must say that 
 for manly beauty, the face of Lincoln rates 
 with the best, and much higher, in our opinion, 
 than that of Stanton. 
 
 After arriving in Illinois, 1830, Lincoln 
 had remained with his father or in the neigh- 
 borhood of his father's home. With the assist- 
 ance of John Hanks he had split rails and fenced 
 his father's farm and broken some sod land. 
 For one of Lincoln's temperament it would seem 
 that this of all years would have been one of 
 the most dreary and devoid of hope of any in 
 his entire life. The winter of 1830 and 1831 
 was historical for the big snow and distressing 
 cold and sickness. And yet, exactly thirty 
 years after that depressing year, he found him- 
 self carried forward on a great wave of enthu- 
 siasm brought about by the entry into the Re- 
 publican Convention of John Hanks with identic- 
 al rails he and Hanks had split in that year of 
 trials and tribulation. On that wave of enthu- 
 siasm in that Decatur Convention in May of 1860, 
 he rode to the Presidency. 
 
 A trader by the name of Offutt, living in 
 Springfield, had heard that John Hanks was an 
 experienced flatboatman, and had made trips 
 down the Mississippi River to New Orleans while 
 he lived in Kentucky. He came to see Hanks. 
 The two went down to the Lincoln home where they 
 saw Abe Lincoln and John D. Johnston, both ex- 
 perienced flatboatmen. An agreement was reached 
 whereby Offutt was to furnish the boat and pay 
 
 LI60] 
 
 
THE NEW ORLEANS TRIP 
 
 each of the men fifty cents per day and sixty 
 dollars additional for taking the load to New 
 Orleans and disposing of it. The boat was to 
 be ready in a month at the mouth of Spring Creek 
 where it emptied into the Sangamon River north 
 of Springfield. 
 
 So, in March, 1831, these men floated down 
 the flood waters of the Sangamon River from the 
 rear of Thomas Lincoln's home to a point five 
 miles east of Springfield, left the canoe with 
 a Mr. Mann, walked into Springfield and found 
 Offutt at Elliott's Tavern. Offutt informed 
 them that the boat would be at the mouth of 
 Spring Creek, but when they all walked to that 
 place there was no boat to be found. Then it 
 was agreed with Offutt that they, Hanks, Lin- 
 coln, and Johnston, were to build the boat, cut- 
 ting the timber from Government land and float- 
 ing it down to the mouth of Spring Creek where 
 the actual construction took place. 
 
 In the meantime Lincoln walked back by the 
 way of Springfield and then to the place where 
 they left their boat with Mr. Mann and floated 
 down to where they were to build their boat. 
 
 While cutting timber for the boat on Spring 
 Creek all the men boarded about one mile away 
 from their work, and ate only two meals a day. 
 After the timber was cut, which took them two 
 weeks, the logs were floated down the river to 
 Sangamontown, a place about seven miles north- 
 west of Springfield. It does not show on the 
 maps of today. Here the logs still had to be 
 taken about a mile and a half to a mill to be 
 cut into suitable lumber for the boat. At San- 
 gamontown a shanty to live in was constructed, 
 and Lincoln was elected to be the cook. The 
 
 [161] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 first and only time to our knowledge that that 
 accomplishment was ever credited to him. 
 
 As usual Lincoln here established himself as 
 the best entertainer in the way of story-tell- 
 ing in the little burg. An audience was always 
 present to hear his jokes and impromptu stump 
 speeches in the evenings after work. One log 
 on which his listeners sat as reserved seats 
 was dubbed Lincoln's Log. It was worn slick by 
 the audience sliding off because of hilarious 
 convulsions caused by Abe's clownish stories 
 and jokes. It was known as Lincoln's Log until 
 it rotted away after many years. 
 
 Lincoln was twenty-two years old, Johnston 
 about twenty-five and Hanks thirty. Here it 
 should be observed that even at this early day, 
 at the time Lincoln made his first step into 
 the world away from his home, he, the youngest 
 member of the crew to which he had attached 
 himself for a business mission, soon assumed 
 leadership and responsibility for the enter- 
 prise. An omen of much significance, looking 
 backward, but probably not considered so at the 
 time. 
 
 The size of this f latboat is nowhere recorded 
 to our knowledge, but, since the builders all 
 had previous knowledge of this type of boat, it 
 is quite certain that the dimensions were simi- 
 lar to those of the Kentucky blueprints. These 
 were about fifty feet in length, with width 
 about one third of the length, or fifteen or 
 sixteen feet. A full load on a fifty-foot boat 
 was considered 250 barrels, generally of whis- 
 key, or 8,500 gallons. Offutt's load which Lin- 
 coln, Hanks, and Johnston took on this trip to 
 the southern market, according to Hanks' state- 
 
 [162] 
 
THE NEW ORLEANS TRIP 
 
 merit was a mixed one, made up of barrel pork, 
 corn, and live hogs. It would be interesting; to 
 know in what proportion, for it seems logical 
 to believe that the entire cargo for sale was 
 pork, part in barrels, and part in live hogs, 
 the corn on board for feeding and not for sale. 
 
 Barrels, corn, and hogs were loaded on the 
 boat at the place of construction, or Sangamon- 
 town, but not the full load, as some hogs were 
 bought of "Square Godby about one mile above 
 the mouth of Salt Creek," which gave considera- 
 ble trouble while trying to load them. This 
 part of the load came on after their trouble at 
 the dam at New Salem. 
 
 John Hanks tells of the lodgment of their 
 flatboat on the Rutledge Mill dam as they at- 
 tempted to pass the New Salem village, after 
 they began their trip down the river. This dam 
 was about nine or ten miles from their starting 
 point and was reached on April 19, 1831. There 
 is no record that Lincoln ever saw New Salem 
 before this day when their boat lodged on the 
 dam, yet it proved to be the scene of six years 
 of Lincoln's life which biographers find to be 
 as rich with interest as any like period from 
 the log cabin to the White House. 
 
 Much has been written about this flatboat 
 misfortune of the Lincoln, Hanks, Johnston, 
 Offutt enterprise, but probably nothing is more 
 authentic than what John Hanks related to Hern- 
 don in an interview. He said: "We unloaded 
 the boat, that is, we changed goods from one 
 boat to a borrowed one, rolled the barrels for- 
 ward, bored a hole in the end of the boat over 
 the dam... water run out and thus we got over; 
 on the dam part of a cay and night." 
 
 [163] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 There is hardly enough detail in this de- 
 scription of the lodgment to make all the pro- 
 ceedings clear, but it seemed that the owner of 
 the cargo, Offutt, was present, and some biog- 
 rapher quotes him as being greatly pleased with 
 the ingenuity displayed by Lincoln in dislodg- 
 ing the boat, declaring at the time that he 
 would build a boat, make Lincoln captain, and 
 demonstrate to the people that the Sangamon 
 River could be traversed by boat from the Illi- 
 nois River up to Springfield. Strangely pro- 
 phetic this boast proved to be, although Offutt 
 played no part in it, for the next spring, 1832, 
 a small steamboat actually navigated the San- 
 gamon up to Springfield, but was compelled to 
 hurry back to deeper water before the freshet 
 receded. The name of this boat was "The Talis- 
 man," and captained by a Mr. Bogue up to Spring- 
 field and as far back as the troublesome dam at 
 New Salem, which had to be partly destroyed for 
 the boat to creep over, much to the chagrin of 
 Rutledge and Company who owned the mill. From 
 the dam down to Beardstown, Lincoln and Herndon, 
 a cousin to William H. Herndon who became Lin- 
 coln's law partner and ultimately his biogra- 
 pher, piloted the boat back and received forty 
 dollars apiece as per contract. 
 
 This boating experience of Lincoln is not 
 omitted in order to show that as late as 1832 
 his ambition had not abandoned the river as a 
 possible field for a life's profession. This 
 last undertaking, however, may possibly have 
 proved to him a stumbling block to his river 
 ambition. 
 
 Since John Hanks makes the statement that a 
 borrowed boat was used to unload part of their 
 
 [164] 
 
THE NEW ORLEANS TRIP 
 
 cargo into after lodging on the dam, it is quite 
 logical that the live hogs were the part of the 
 cargo transferred to it. But first no doubt 
 the boat was balanced over the dam as much as 
 possible, with the greater weight in the rear. 
 Then unloading the hogs into the borrowed boat 
 and rolling the barrel pork forward to the front 
 end gave the balanced boat a tendency to tip 
 over on the down side of the dam. The water 
 remaining in the boat at the rear, being re- 
 leased through the hole Lincoln bored, light- 
 ened the rear end enough to allow the heavy 
 loaded end of the boat to tip over the dam, 
 after which the live hogs were probably loaded 
 again on the lower side of the dam. 
 
 In the New Salem museum today they will show 
 you the identical augur Lincoln bored the hole 
 in the boat with. It could be, for there were 
 old-fashioned augurs in that day of the capital 
 "T" type and it looks to have the age necessary. 
 It is about an inch and a quarter in size. 
 
 But the story of the boat lodging at the 
 Rutledge dam is never complete it seems without 
 the appearance af Ann Rutledge as an interested 
 spectator. A novelist whose name we have for- 
 gotten once told the story of Lincoln and Ann 
 Rutledge at the dam as follows which we quote 
 from memory. 
 
 The boat had been lodged some hours before 
 the village of New Salem began to come down to 
 the bluff on the west side of the river to view 
 the proceedings of dislodgment. The author 
 timed the appearance of Ann Rutledge and her 
 girl friend as coming down the deep-rutted road 
 to the bank where the crowd of villagers stood 
 watching the procedure at about the time Lin- 
 
 [165] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 coin was boring the hole in the boat to allow 
 the water to run out. They reached the edge of 
 the bank and had just become interested when 
 Lincoln finished boring the hole and straight- 
 ened up like an unfolding jack-knife. The act, 
 innocently performed by Lincoln, was so amaz- 
 ingly ludicrous with tousled hair, shirt unbut- 
 toned, pants rolled to his knees and held up by 
 one lone suspender, bare-footed and six-feet- 
 four, that the whole hillside broke out in 
 amused laughter, while Ann's friend, more amused 
 than any near them, cried out: "0, look at that 
 bean pole." The remark caused another outburst 
 of laughter by those who heard--with the excep- 
 tion of Ann Rutledge. Here the author made it 
 appear that Ann was immediately noticed by Lin- 
 coln as he raised up from the job of boring the 
 hole in the boat, their eyes met and for an in- 
 stant gazed while cupid aimed the arrow dipped 
 in the poison of love at first sight. Abraham 
 Lincoln and Ann Rutledge had met, and at that 
 instant one of the saddest and greatest love 
 stories ever told began. 
 
 The author goes on to say that not one word 
 was spoken during this day and night Lincoln 
 lodged in New Salem between these two people, 
 but Ann was again on the bank with the crowd 
 when the boat finally started down the stream, 
 and so near that their eyes spoke, and each un- 
 derstood the little hand signal to one another 
 as the vessel became hidden by the bushes along 
 the bank of the river as it departed. In four 
 months Lincoln was established in New Salem as 
 a citizen, and not far from the home of Ann 
 Rutledge. 
 
 On this trip no other trouble was encoun- 
 
 [166] 
 
 
THE NEW ORLEANS TRIP 
 
 tered; at any rate none is reported by any mem- 
 ber of the crew. However, a few miles down the 
 river more hogs were taken on board to finish 
 up the capacity of the boat, which gave them 
 considerable trouble in loading. The trouble 
 was due to the same stubbornness in hog nature 
 which manifests itself to this day. Hanks, not 
 very explicitly, intimates that each hog had to 
 be manhandled into a cart, hauled about a mile 
 to the boat where Lincoln received them and cut 
 open their eyes which Offutt had sown up to 
 blind them when they became too stubborn to 
 drive. This, with the incident of the inhabit- 
 ants of Beardstown laughing at them as they 
 floated past the town and a stop of one day in 
 Memphis seems to be about all the excitement 
 on the balance of the trip. 
 
 The excitement occasioned along the Sangamon 
 River due to this flatboat trip of Lincoln, 
 Hanks, and Johnston seems to indicate that it was 
 the first of its kind ever attempted in that 
 part of the country. The inspiration of the 
 trip up the river the next year of The Talisman, 
 the charterers of which boat lost their ambi- 
 tion on its return trip at the Rutledge dam, 
 required the owners to employ Lincoln to pilot 
 the little steamer down to Beardstown. From 
 where he and his second mate, Herndon, walked 
 back through the country to New Salem. The wind 
 having been taken out of its sails by its expe- 
 rience on its first trip, The Talisman lost all 
 ambition to attempt a second trip. The end of 
 its activity came shortly after when it caught 
 fire at the wharf in St. Louis and burned. 
 
 On the return of Lincoln from this second 
 trip to New Orleans coming up to St. Louis by 
 
 [167] 
 
DEFENSE OP LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 steamer, as we have said, he and Johnston 
 walked as far as Edwardsville with Offutt, where 
 they separated, Offutt and Hanks going to 
 Springfield, while Lincoln and Johnston went 
 to the home of Thomas Lincoln. He had moved to 
 his second farm, the Buck Grove cabin in Coles 
 County. Here he tarried a few weeks to wait 
 for the goods to arrive in New Salem where he 
 had hired to Offutt to run his store. 
 
 No biographer to our knowledge has ever told 
 how Lincoln traveled to New Salem from his par- 
 ent's home to begin work for Offutt. Since it 
 is practically known that he never owned a 
 horse until he was twenty-four or twenty-five 
 years old, it is almost as certain all his trips 
 were made by foot. John J. Hall, whom we have 
 often quoted speaks of Lincoln walking from 
 Springfield all the way to his father's when 
 his home was at the Goose Nest Prairie farm. 
 To save livery hire,. he would almost invariably 
 walk out from Charleston (a distance of eight 
 miles) while riding the circuit. 
 
 In March, five months before, Lincoln went 
 away from home on the Sangamon River in a row 
 boat, not knowing that the trip to New Orleans 
 would result in a permanent interruption of his 
 former home life. But now, after returning 
 from a three months absence he is again prepar- 
 ing to go from home for the final leave. 
 
 It is at this time that the following quota- 
 tion from our honest Mr. Hall surely applies, 
 although the author we quote from seems to be- 
 lieve it to be the Goose Nest farm. Since Lin- 
 coln had time here to help on his father's 
 house after his return from New Orleans, and 
 before going toNewSalem under Offutt's employ, 
 
 [168] 
 
THE NEW ORLEANS TRIP 
 
 surely it is at this second cabin, the Buck 
 Grove home, that Hall had reference to when the 
 following from Mrs. Gridley was written: 
 
 "All the tools that Abraham and his father 
 used in construction of the cabin were simple 
 in the extreme — a common axe, a broad-axe, a 
 handsaw and a 'drawer knife.' The doors and 
 floors were made of puncheons, and the gable 
 ends of the structure were boarded up with plank 
 'rived' by Abraham's hand out of oak timber. 
 The boards used for the roofs were cut by Thomas 
 Lincoln, and it took him six months 'to complete 
 the job.' Forty acres of land were secured and 
 Abraham promised to help his father pay for the 
 farm if he was ever able. 
 
 "The time had now come when Abraham Lincoln 
 bade his father and mother a final farewell. In 
 referring to this family event Mr. Hall said 
 that his 'Grandmarm Lincoln' expressed herself 
 as follows: 'When Uncle Abe went away to live 
 we all jest thought the hull world wus gone, 
 and when he'd come back to see us we'd hug and 
 kiss him and try to get him to promise that 
 he'd never go ag'in no more.'" 
 
 It is our belief that his trip to New Salem 
 at this time was accomplished in the same man- 
 ner that he and Johnston returned from St. Louis 
 on their return from New Orleans — by walking. 
 It isn't likely that Lincoln's wardrobe con- 
 sisted of much weight, or more than could be 
 carried easily in a carpet-bag at the end of a 
 stick over his shoulder. His finances may have 
 amounted to twenty-five or thirty dollars from 
 what he had earned from the Offutt expedition, 
 if John Hanks remembered correctly. In build- 
 ing the flatboat and making the trip to New Or- 
 
 [169] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 leans and return as far as Edwardsville, they 
 were employed probably seventy-five days. In 
 which case each of them earned about fifty-five 
 dollars, including the division of the sixty 
 dollar bonus divided equally between them. We 
 would say then, that Abraham Lincoln (twenty- 
 two and a half) walked into New Salem in August, 
 1831, with about thirty dollars and a pack on 
 his back containing about all his clothes. 
 
 While we have never been able to find in the 
 records any opinion expressed by Lincoln of the 
 man Offutt, there seems to be an abundance of 
 references from biographers which indicate that 
 Offutt was greatly taken up with Lincoln, and 
 as this first move of Lincoln's was to go into 
 his employ, it is reasonable to believe that 
 all the praise given Lincoln by Offutt, for 
 truth, strength, honesty, and business acumen 
 was sincere on Offutt' s part. 
 
 When Lincoln arrived in New Salem he was 
 still too early for the goods which were to go 
 into the store, and in this interval of time he 
 described himself as a piece of drift-wood 
 which had eddied into the town from the River 
 Sangamon. T&is loafing lasted for a few weeks 
 when finally their goods arrived from Beards- 
 town. They then set up their store and for 
 once Lincoln was established in a steady job, 
 and a new home for six years. 
 
 The store business with Offutt lasted about 
 one year, and while not successful in making 
 money, he, Lincoln, was successful in making 
 many friends. He was solicited to become a can- 
 didate for the State Legislature, carrying his 
 local neighborhood about New Salem by a vote of 
 two hundred and seventy-seven to his opponent's 
 
 [170] 
 
THE NEW ORLEANS TRIP 
 
 vote of three, but the outside districts turned 
 his local majority into defeat, the first and 
 only defeat by the popular vote Lincoln ever 
 experienced. 
 
 [171] 
 
Chapter Twelve 
 LIFE IN NEW SALEM 
 
 Looking back on the life of Abraham Lincoln 
 as he spent it in New Salem one hundred and ten 
 years ago, from August, 1831, to the spring of 
 1837, and stripping it of biographer's glamor, 
 worship, and adoration due to his greatness in 
 later life and through which vision may have 
 been distorted, one can scarcely see material 
 in the man pictured in that little pioneer town 
 of about one hundred to build upon for the 
 greatest American. 
 
 He seems to have been put in full charge of 
 the Offutt enterprises, first as clerk in the 
 store, and later the additional duties as miller 
 when Offutt took over the mill at the dam. In 
 a year he was out of a job, Offutt was gone and 
 passed out of history. 
 
 In 1832, there were two or three important 
 moves of Lincoln, but none of them were of a 
 stable nature. He made an unsuccessful race 
 for the Legislature, took an active part in the 
 endeavor to prove the Sangamon River navigable 
 by assisting in bringing up The Talisman to 
 near Springfield and return. He served in the 
 Black Hawk War from April 22 to June 16. 
 
 If Lincoln had a steady job from the time he 
 was mustered out of the service during the bal- 
 ance of 1832 and to March 8, 1833, we have failed 
 
 [172] 
 
LIFE IN NEW SALEM 
 
 to discover it in history. It is our opinion 
 that since he himself has stated that his second 
 enlistment was due to the fact that he had no 
 job to go to, and that his last enlistment only 
 lasted from May 27 to June 16, he would still 
 be out of a job, and that he went directly to 
 his father's home again at the Buck Grove cab- 
 in, taking with him his damaged musket which we 
 have described in earlier pages. At his fa- 
 ther's house he could be of some help in the 
 summer crops, at least for a time. Since he 
 was up for the Legislature, he probably devoted 
 some time in the fall in New Salem before the 
 election which came so near a victory for him. 
 
 On March 18, 1833, William F. Berry and Abra- 
 ham Lincoln went on record at Springfield for a 
 license to keep a tavern in New Salem. The 
 most natural and consequently the most likely 
 story in regard to this business deal is that 
 when Lincoln first went to New Salem, he and 
 also Offutt boarded with a Mr. Cameron, a part- 
 ner in the Rutledge mill with his brother-in- 
 law, James Rutledge. The lifetime of the Lin- 
 coln-Offutt enterprise was for eight months. 
 Lincoln formed the partnership with Berry fully 
 eleven months after Offutt's store closed its 
 doors. 
 
 The failure of the Offutt store was the sig- 
 nal for Offutt's departure into obscurity. Lin- 
 coln remained, but boarded with the Rutledges 
 at least part of the time while applying him- 
 self to surveying for a bare living. He fol- 
 lowed this in 1834 and 1835 in addition to his 
 tavern business. 
 
 The first Berry-Lincoln store stood as the 
 second log cabin west of the Rutledge tavern, 
 
 [173] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 the home and office of Doctor Allen being be- 
 tween them. The month in 1833 in which they 
 took possession of the store is not known, but 
 evidently sometime before an application was 
 made to run the tavern in March. In May of the 
 same year Lincoln received an appointment as 
 postmaster for the New Salem Post Office which 
 was carried along with their store, but, with 
 all the various lines of business, nothing pre- 
 vented the store from "winking out." 
 
 In the fall of 1832, while Lincoln boarded 
 with the Rutledges no doubt the historic romance 
 between him and Ann Rutledge began. Like so 
 many incidents in the early life of Lincoln, 
 this seems to be one more which grew to its 
 greater proportions as time and the greatness 
 of the man became more pronounced, and scarcely 
 remembered ' until after the death of Lincoln. 
 But it does seem reasonable to assume that in 
 the love affair of these two young people, he 
 at the age of twenty-four, and she at the age 
 of twenty, the now existing built-up romance 
 might fall far short of the true intensity of 
 their love. As the light was thrown back on 
 the scene through an intervening thirty years 
 of time, both principals being dead, and one 
 for thirty-one years, the story of necessity is 
 a combination of imaginations of the different 
 biographers. 
 
 In no way minimizing the various phases of 
 imaginative biographers in regard to this, pos- 
 sibly the first love affair of Abraham Lincoln, 
 we believe the real and basic truth in relation 
 to it is more reliably expressed by John J. Hall 
 when he quotes his grandmother, Sarah Bush Lin- 
 
 [174] 
 
 
LIFE IN NEW SALEM 
 
 coin, than the facts from any other source to 
 our knowledge. 
 
 "It wus after a little visit to us, and when 
 we heard Uncle Abe wus goin' to be married, then 
 we asked grandmarm if Uncle Abe never had a pal 
 before. She said, says she, 'Well, Abe wus 
 never a hand no how to run round visitin' much, 
 or to go with the gals neither, but he did fall 
 in love with Ann Rutledge, who lived out some- 
 where near Vandalia or Springfield. And after 
 she died he came home and told all about her, 
 and cried dreadful, and he never could talk of 
 her nohow but he'd shed tears.' He told Grand- 
 marm onct they wus promised to be married, and 
 that's all any of us ever heard about that love 
 affair. But after Uncle Abe hed lived at 
 Springfield for a while we heerd he wus goin' 
 to marry a Kantucky woman, and nothin' more 
 than that." 
 
 Ann Rutledge died in August, 1835. John J. 
 Hall was six years old or more when Lincoln 
 visited at home and told his step-mother this 
 story of his love affair with Miss Rutledge. 
 Had John Hall been present he might have remem- 
 bered the story first-hand, but not until a 
 short time before Lincoln was to be married to 
 Miss Todd when he made "a little visit" home 
 did Hall hear the story of Lincoln's first love, 
 not from Lincoln, but from his grandmother, Mrs. 
 Thomas Lincoln. As Lincoln was married in No- 
 vember, 1842-, John J. Hall was all of thirteen 
 years old when he first heard the story, or 
 seven years after the death of Ann Rutledge. 
 
 When this interview took place with Hall he 
 could easily have made it appear that he himself 
 heard Lincoln repeat it to his grandmother. He 
 
 [175] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 told the story in 1892, and no one would have 
 been the wiser had he chosen to do so, but, un- 
 like his Uncle ^Dennis Hanks, he preferred to 
 tell the exact truth, so it was repeated as his 
 grandmother heard and told it. 
 
 Here we wish to say that in this as in every 
 other quotation we have given from interviews 
 of John J. Hall in regard to Lincoln family 
 lore, not one, regardless of rank illiteracy 
 has ever shown evidence of the slightest pre- 
 varication. Had biographers sought this man in 
 earlier times, in the sixties and seventies be- 
 fore age had dulled the memory, many more true 
 Lincoln family traditions might have been added 
 to the early life of Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 Since we are interested far more in what is 
 true in regard to the Lincoln-Rutledge love 
 episode than what is told, we have used the 
 quotation from Lincoln's step-mother as the ba- 
 sic fact around which is built up volumes of 
 speculative imagination from the minds of nu- 
 merous writers. A seed was sown and a great 
 tree grew up. Now it is one hundred and seven 
 years old, still alive and flourishing. 
 
 The story of Ann Rutledge in relation to 
 Lincoln as told by her brother Robert (five 
 years her junior) thirty-four years after his 
 sister's death in a letter to Herndon would 
 seem as authentic as any to be found. Of the 
 time he writes, he was twelve years old. Ann 
 was seventeen, and Lincoln twenty-three. The 
 year was 1831, when Lincoln first made his ap- 
 pearance in New Salem. 
 
 He states that after the Offutt store had 
 closed its doors, Lincoln went to board with 
 the Rutledges, leaving the Cameron home. If the 
 
 [176] 
 
LIFE IN NEW SALEM 
 
 change took place immediately, he would have 
 ?one there in April of 1832. This was the year 
 Lincoln was persuaded to run in the election 
 for the Legislature, against his will or any 
 hope of election. A literary society was formed 
 in New Salem in the same year and James Rutledge 
 was chosen president of the organization. Mr. 
 Rutledge apparently was above the average as to 
 intelligence in business, and as a promoter of 
 the little town of New Salem. He was born in 
 1781. When Lincoln boarded at his tavern Rut- 
 ledge was fifty-one years of age, and it is said 
 by the son that he took a deep interest in Lin- 
 coln. In the debates which took place no doubt 
 Lincoln was coached in speaking by the older 
 man as well as his chosen grammar instructor, 
 Mentor Graham. 
 
 The son of the president of this society 
 gives an interesting word picture of Lincoln in 
 what was perhaps his first effort at public 
 speaking, but he fails to give the subject of 
 the speech. 
 
 "As he arose to speak, his tall form towered 
 above the little assembly. Both hands were 
 thrust down deep in the pockets of his panta- 
 loons. A perceptible smile at once lit up the 
 faces of the audience, for all anticipated the 
 relation of some humorous story. But he opened 
 up the discussion in splendid style to the in- 
 finite astonishment of his friends. As he 
 warmed with his subject, his hands would for- 
 sake his pockets and would enforce his ideas by 
 awkward gestures; butwould very soon seek their 
 easy resting place. He pursued the question 
 with reason and argument so pithy and forcible 
 that all were amazed. The president, at his 
 
 [177] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 fireside after the meeting, remarked to his wife 
 that there was more in Abe's head than wit and 
 fun, that he was already a fine speaker, that 
 all he lacked was culture to reach the high 
 destiny which he knew was in store for him. 
 From that time Mr. Rutledge took a deeper in- 
 terest in him." 
 
 This was in the year of 1832, and the son 
 states that soon after this speech Mr. Rutledge 
 urged Lincoln to announce hircself for the Leg- 
 islature. At first he declined to do so, fore- 
 casting a defeat for himself. But he came so 
 surprisingly near election that he was highly 
 gratified in defeat. 
 
 In our opinion Lincoln, had he been asked 
 the question, would have rated this period of a 
 few month's length while in New Salem the most 
 enjoyable in his whole life. This period was 
 from about August, 1832, after returning from 
 the Black Hawk War, and at which time we believe 
 he began boarding with the Rutledges until they 
 moved out of New Salem to a farm north eight or 
 ten miles, probably the latter part of 1834, or 
 the beginning of 1835. 
 
 In the beginning of this period of probably 
 eighteen months he had no steady job or respon- 
 sibility, so had leisure for his favorite pas- 
 time, reading and thinking. 
 
 Having grown up in the poorest circumstances 
 his needs and wants were easily obtained by an 
 occasional job of work and then, as in no other 
 time in his life did he let ambition for wealth 
 or luxury interfere with his sole ambition, 
 knowledge. At the Rutledge tavern he had lei- 
 sure. He was centrally located among friends 
 who depended on hirr for the various small tasks 
 
 [178] 
 
LIFE IN NEW SALEM 
 
 such as came up in business transactions: con- 
 tracts, notes, and fair-minded advice, for these 
 he became the favorite adviser among a class of 
 citizens not so proficient, many could not read 
 or write. 
 
 In the months at the Rutledge tavern he had 
 opportunity to meet the traveling public, of- 
 fice holders and politicians from distant parts 
 of the country who stopped for lodging. This 
 must have afforded considerable satisfaction to 
 him, for about this time he began a political 
 career which became the vehicle on which he 
 rode to immortal fame. Looking back over a pe- 
 riod of one hundred and ten years, and imagin- 
 ing ourselves in the little burg of New Salem 
 at the Rutledge tavern for an overnight stay, 
 what could have been more interesting than the 
 discussions carried on by sojourners in that 
 two-room log lodging-house? In the winter by a 
 great fire in a big fireplace; or in the summer, 
 out in the yard on benches between the tavern 
 and the old well in front, close by the stage 
 road. 
 
 Subjects discussed no doubt would vary 
 greatly. At times when no distant travelers 
 were present and local citizens made up the as- 
 sembly, the movement to rebuild the dam at the 
 mill by donating work of the citizens, a common 
 freewill offering in the old water mill period, 
 might well have been discussed. And in the dis- 
 cussion the exploit of the lodgment of the Lin- 
 coln-Offutt flatboat of the year before would 
 be remembered, bringing to Lincoln's mind a 
 story which he heard while in New Orleans. This 
 story, being finished reminded him of another 
 which happened back in Indiana, while digging a 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 [179] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 well for Josiah Crawford, etc. and no doubt old 
 Josiah's ears burned that night. This crowd 
 probably adjourned long after midnight, each 
 listener retiring with aching sides. 
 
 Another night a new assembly, politicians 
 predominated, one may have been Stephen A. 
 Douglas. Internal improvements, canals, rail- 
 roads, public lands, the national banks, all may 
 have been discussed, but for only a limited 
 time; for slavery — slavery in all its aspects — 
 its place in the constitution, its extention 
 into free territories, its origin and its ulti- 
 mate extinction, how would it and how could it 
 end with the Union saved, is slavery right or 
 is it wrong? This was the paramount question 
 then, and remained so for another thirty-one 
 years. 
 
 But, while these were memorable evenings for 
 Lincoln at the Rutledge tavern, we can easily 
 believe that there were many more which fol- 
 lowed in the wake of these which lingered long 
 and often in the mind of Lincoln. Not a day 
 passing in all his after life that did not bring 
 memories back to him of the most sacred sort. 
 These were the days toward the latter part of 
 the Rutledge sojourn in New Salem. Days after 
 the attentions of William Berry and Samuel Hill 
 for Ann Rutledge had subsided and her love for 
 the absent McNamar was on the wane. Lincoln was 
 falling in love for the first time, and she be- 
 came his sweetheart. 
 
 It would be difficult indeed to depict these 
 days in the life of Abraham Lincoln and fully 
 describe the pleasure he no doubt experienced 
 in that one short year. Sometime in the past 
 we have read an article purporting to have been 
 
 [180] 
 
LIFE IN NEW SALEM 
 
 based on the word of Mrs. Rutledge, the mother 
 of Ann Rutledge, who gave a sort of descriptive 
 narrative of her daughter and Abe together at 
 the tavern. As we remember the story she told 
 of their genuine devotion to one another, of 
 her daughter going to meet Lincoln before he 
 arrived at the home, of their serious talks and 
 playful moods; the latter sometimes resulting 
 in dousing one another with pans of water or 
 throwing the dishrag in the face with deadly 
 accuracy and a final race or two around the 
 tavern that the victim might punish the thrower 
 of the rag in a lover's method. 
 
 There were parties, corn huskings, logroll- 
 ings, weddings, bebating society meetings over 
 which Ann's father presided as president, and 
 political meetings where Abe, the candidate for 
 Representative no doubt made the principal 
 speech of the day or evening. Then we can think 
 of evenings when Ann and Abe, with Mentor Graham, 
 the school teacher, would spend hours together 
 in the study of grammar, or the principles of 
 surveying, a new profession taken up by Lincoln 
 about this time. All this may have happened in 
 the only twelve months of Lincoln's life when 
 he might truthfully say he was a happy and 
 cheerful man. 
 
 To verify the latter observation in respect 
 to Lincoln's optimism of that particular date, 
 two quotations from the pen of Ann's youngest 
 brother of October, 1866, are given: "I think 
 Mr. Lincoln read law in 1834 and 1835, read sur- 
 veying probably in 1833 and 1834,... I cannot 
 say whether Mr. Lincoln was a radically changed 
 nan after the event of which you speak (the 
 death of his sister) or not, as I saw little of 
 
 [181] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 him after that time. When he first came to New 
 Salem and up to the time of which we write, Mr. 
 Lincoln was all life and animation, seemed to 
 see the bright side of every picture," etc. 
 Again he refers to a letter received by his 
 mother from Lincoln after he was elected Presi- 
 dent. In his letter he had occasion to thank 
 her for nailing a political libel put out by 
 opponents to the effect that he had left the 
 Rutledge tavern without paying his board bill. 
 "This slanderous report reached the ears of 
 Mrs. Rutledge, or Aunt Polly, as Lincoln always 
 referred to her. She took immediate steps to 
 correct this infamous libel and caused a letter 
 to be written to Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln at 
 once wrote Mrs. Rutledge, expressing his thanks 
 for her kindness and interest in his behalf, 
 recurring with warm expressions of remembrance 
 to the happy days spent under her roof." 
 
 But these joyful, happy, and hopeful days for 
 Abraham Lincoln soon disappeared, apparently 
 leaving a void in his life which forever after 
 remained a slough of despond and a constant re- 
 minder of a beautiful life denied, one "Which 
 might have been." 
 
 Ann Rutledge died on August 25, 1835, and was 
 buried in a country cemetery north of Petersburg 
 about seven miles where her remains lay until 
 taken up and brought to a new cemetery in the 
 south edge of Petersburg. The Rutledges had 
 disposed of their tavern in New Salem and moved 
 to a farm where Ann died in August and her fa- 
 ther on December 3rd, following. We have vis- 
 ited the grave of Ann Rutledge at Petersburg 
 where we admit the surroundings are nice and 
 appropriate, but, had we been consulted, we, as 
 
 [182] 
 
LIFE IN NEW SALEM 
 
 with a great mass of the people, would still 
 prefer to go to her original resting place, to 
 the sacred spot in Lincoln's mind, where she 
 was laid with the hands of her friends and rel- 
 atives, and where the grave was marked with a 
 simple boulder with her name, Ann Rutledge, 
 carved in a semicircle on it. 
 
 In 1862, Lincoln wrote to a young girl who 
 had lost her father in the war, and in the let- 
 ter were these words. We have often wondered 
 if the early death of Ann Rutledge was not the 
 inspiration for them, together with his own 
 grief. "I have had experience to know what I 
 say... in this sad world of ours sorrow comes to 
 all, and to the young it comes with bittered 
 agony because it takes them unawares." What 
 words could have pictured the ending of that 
 happiest of all years more perfectly or express 
 more truly his own sorrow than those he used to 
 console this young girl in her bereavement? 
 
 Lincoln's actions at the time of Ann Rut- 
 ledge's death and shortly afterward seem more 
 or less obscure. So far as we have knowledge 
 he was not at her funeral. He is said to have 
 visited her in her last sickness, but no biog- 
 rapher pretends to repeat what was said on that 
 last visit. Ann's own brother did not remember 
 whether Lincoln was a radically changed man 
 after Ann's death, for he "saw little of him 
 after that time," but we can be certain that 
 John J. Hall repeating what Lincoln related to 
 his grandmother, Mrs. Thomas Lincoln, gave as 
 true a word picture of Lincoln's feelings as 
 any biographer. 
 
 There are many and varied stories as to the 
 effect the death of Ann Rutledge produced on 
 
 [183] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 the mind of Lincoln. By close scrutiny it 
 seems that none of them can be much more trust- 
 worthy than mere opinions of the writers; opin- 
 ions which apparently came from a desire to 
 produce a great and historic love story which 
 might compare favorably with the supreme great- 
 ness of the man who suffered the loss of his 
 first love, who, quoting him, took him unawares. 
 He was then twenty-six years old. 
 
 We have read, and seen a movie depicting it, 
 that Lincoln dashed out into a terrible storm 
 in the night to the grave of Ann Rutledge, be- 
 cause, in his agony, "he could not bear the 
 thoughts of the rain falling on her grave." 
 Lincoln continued to live in New Salem after 
 the burial of Ann Rutledge, although it was 
 seven miles from the cemetery where she lay 
 buried. Unless Lincoln said himself that he did 
 it, or some reliable person made affidavit that 
 he followed Lincoln to the grave through the 
 rain for seven miles over the Illinois country 
 roads of that day, neither of which we have 
 discovered in print, we prefer to believe that 
 his demonstrations of grief, while agonizing in 
 the extreme, were more truly described by his 
 good step-mother than any biographer who wrote 
 from his own imagination. 
 
 It seems quite reasonable to believe that 
 Lincoln visited his home folks soon after Ann 
 Rutledge's death, and possibly, if he was not 
 at the funeral, he made the visit home for the 
 very reason that he felt unequal to the trial 
 of attending the burial, believing there might 
 be some alleviation of distress by distance. 
 In fact, it is our belief that after Lincoln 
 was informed of her death, or that death was 
 
 [184] 
 
LIFE IN NEW SALEM 
 
 approaching as a certainty, he did visit his 
 father and mother to avoid the funeral. This 
 was in the last days of August, 1835, when his 
 folks lived at the Mud Point cabin, in Coles 
 County. The quotation from John J. Hall should 
 not be forgotten; "He told Grandmarm onct they 
 wus promised to be married. . .And after she died 
 he came home and told all about her, and cried 
 dreadful, and he never could talk of her nohow 
 but he'd shed tears." 
 
 How long Lincoln lingered with his folks at 
 home when Ann died can only be conjectural, 
 but from numerous references to his return at 
 other times it was probably two or three weeks; 
 long enough at least to alleviate to some ex- 
 tent the bittered agony which took him unawares. 
 
 Regardless of the familiar scenes from which 
 he thought to escape by his visit home, Lin- 
 coln's interests in New Salem were too much to 
 be abandoned. As surveyor, he possessed a 
 horse, at that time. We presume it was his 
 means of transportation to his folks and back 
 to New Salem when his visit ended. 
 
 Lincoln's life while he lived in New Salem 
 is vague and indefinite. The reason need not 
 be far-fetched when we consider that from about 
 the year Lincoln departed from the place to 
 take up the law in Springfield the little vil- 
 lage itself had thinned to only a very few 
 families, and in another year or so not a sin- 
 gle one was left. This rather strange and 
 singular fate of New Salem was due to the fact 
 that about two miles north another small town, 
 Petersburg, was made the county seat of a new 
 county, Menard. It had once been a part of 
 Sangamon County. A rapid exodus of residents 
 
 L1S5] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 to the new county seat was inevitable, and the 
 town of New Salem became only a memory. 
 
 For over a period of twenty years from the 
 time Lincoln lived in the town until he was 
 elected President of the United States the site 
 of the town, so far as historic interest was 
 concerned was but little more than farm land. 
 Naturally, as the greatness of one of its for- 
 mer citizens grew, historians and biographers 
 began to re-establish the village of New Salem 
 into story form, which, to say the least, has 
 restored its memory to greater fame than the 
 village itself could have ever gained, had it 
 never been molested. 
 
 But, to-day, one hundred and seven years 
 after the town faded from the face of the land, 
 its memory is not enough, for admiration of the 
 great Lincoln who once walked its wide and 
 grass-grown streets for six years has demanded 
 that it be restored to its one time greatness. 
 To the credit of the citizens of Illinois, New 
 Salem can again be seen as Lincoln saw it in 
 1831 to 1837. Thousands of Lincoln admirers 
 now not only visit this memory village but 
 visualize Lincoln walking its streets as of old, 
 not forgetting Ann Rutledge. 
 
 From the varying and sometimes conflicting 
 evidence which has come down through the years 
 in regard to all the activities of Lincoln, 
 both from business and necessity while he lived 
 in New Salem, we have concluded that three of 
 the buildings in the village were all that he 
 conducted business in. The first of these was 
 the log storeroom in which he clerked for Den- 
 ton Offutt when he first landed in New Salem in 
 August, 1831. This store building stands high 
 
 [186] 
 
 
LIFE IN NEW SALEM 
 
 above the mill, probably a hundred feet, and 
 close to the remains of the old road as it as- 
 cends from the river bottom, four or five 
 hundred feet west of the mill and dam. This 
 store building has been restored for the park, 
 and just north of it is the restored Clary 
 Store, which stands about sixty feet northeast, 
 and is the last building towards the river in 
 the east part of the town. 
 
 The famous Jack Armstrong fight occurred in 
 front of this Offutt store, which has been told 
 in so many versions by the different writers 
 that each describes a different fight seemingly. 
 Our version must be a composite one made up 
 from all the others told long ago by other 
 authors, none of whom were eyewitnesses of the 
 scrimmage. 
 
 The composite understanding of this episode 
 seems to be that Jack Armstrong from whom Lin- 
 coln won his laurels belonged to the Clary 
 Grove gang of boys who boasted a bully. Jack 
 was it. To start with something authentic, we 
 wish to quote from a folder put out by the 
 Deoartment of Public Works and Buildings of 
 Illinois. In this folder a description of 
 Clary's store in New Salem is given, which is 
 in uart as follows: "William Clary, brother of 
 John Clary, the first settler in Menard County 
 and founder of Clary's Grove five miles west of 
 New Salem, built a grocery about 1830. This 
 was the town saloon and was operated as such 
 until 1833, when Clary migrated to Texas. No 
 definite information has been recorded regard- 
 ing the cabin after that date. It probably 
 continued to serve as a meeting place of the 
 rougher element for a short time, with a new 
 
 [187] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 proprietor, and later abandoned or moved to 
 Petersburg." 
 
 The following is our story of the Jack 
 Armstrong fight before our discovery of the 
 folder we have just quoted. Jack Armstrong 
 belonged to a gang of ruffians from a little 
 rival town about four or five miles west of New 
 Salem. The place was called Clary's Grove. 
 Since the closest store to Of futt ' s was Clary's, 
 which, as we have said stood about sixty feet 
 northeast of Offutt's where Lincoln was clerk- 
 ing, it is not unreasonable to believe that a 
 relationship existed between some of the Clary 
 Grove boys and Clary of the rival store. Which 
 relationship, properly nourished, might easily 
 instigate a contest for the purpose of estab- 
 lishing Lincoln's right to sell goods so close 
 to Clary, or to show Lincoln that they, Clary's 
 gang, should have been consulted beforehand. 
 
 It is too late now to ever know that any 
 such reason for this Jack Armstrong and Lincoln 
 fight existed. But, since human nature, cause 
 and effect, and the survival of the fittest are 
 all natural laws and have had their effect on 
 the human race since prehistoric times, we con- 
 sider that the same laws were in operation in 
 New Salem when Lincoln made his first appear- 
 ance in that little village in 1831. 
 
 Until we discovered the bit of history we 
 were unaware that Clary's "grocery" was the 
 village saloon. Since this discovery we can 
 safely surmise a little farther and guess that 
 one or two of Jack Armstrong's friends, possi- 
 bly himself were nephews of William Clary, and 
 had made Uncle William a visit or two before 
 
 [188] 
 
LIFE IN NEW SALEM 
 
 calling upon the tall, boyish looking competi- 
 tor, Lincoln, 
 
 As to the exact data relating to the Denton 
 Offutt store we refer to the following historic 
 sketch which we believe is as true as may be 
 found at this time. "Denton Offutt secured a 
 license on July 8, 1831, to operate a retail 
 store in New Salem. With the assistance of 
 Abraham Lincoln he erected a log store building 
 the following month. After its completion Lin- 
 coln was employed as clerk. He slept in the 
 rear room and boarded with the Rowen Herndon 
 family who lived a short distance to the south- 
 west. Later Offutt rented the mill and employ- 
 ed William Green to assist Lincoln with the 
 details of both enterprises. This famous lit- 
 tle store operated for the short period of 
 eight months and closed its doors in April, 
 1832, when Offutt fled the country, leaving his 
 creditors unpaid. Whether the store was aban- 
 doned or moved away is not known." 
 
 As to the statement above that Lincoln 
 boarded with Rowen Herndon, we also have an 
 equally positive one from R. B. Rutledge that 
 "he boarded with John Cameron along with Offutt. 
 He afterward boarded with my father." It is 
 our opinion that both of these statements, on 
 the face of them contradictory to one another, 
 may be true. 
 
 The history of New Salem states that James 
 Rutledge and James Cameron built the mill in 
 1829, a year after Cameron had entered eighty 
 acres on which the town stands. It is not 
 known definitely that Rutledge built his tavern 
 the year before, or in 1828, but is "probably" 
 so, as it was thought that by these first set/?* 
 
 [189] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 tiers that the mill would attract customers who 
 would also be customers to a tavern. This 
 belief led them to the determination to lay off 
 lots for sale. At any rate John Cameron was a 
 first settler and first owner of a cabin, which 
 cabin stood "southwest." It was the nearest 
 dwelling to the Offutt store, and, since a son 
 of James Rutledge says that Lincoln boarded 
 with Cameron along with Offutt, later boarding 
 with his father, we believe his statement. 
 After all, it could be that Lincoln boarded 
 with both Cameron and Rowen Herndon, with Cam- 
 eron first, or until he sold out to Herndon, as 
 the site of each of their cabins is identical, 
 southwest of the Offutt store, about half way 
 to the Rutledge Tavern site. 
 
 So far as Lincoln's employment at the Rut- 
 ledge mill is concerned, the statement made by 
 R . B. Rutledge, a son of the owner, ought to be 
 satisfactory. He says: "'It has been stated 
 that Mr. Offutt owned or had an interest in the 
 mill, and Mr. Lincoln was employed to assist in 
 taking care of the new enterprise. Thijs is a 
 mistake. James Rutledge and John Cameron, 
 partners, first commenced erecting a mill on 
 Concord Creek, about six miles below New Salem, 
 where they owned the land. But large induce- 
 ments being offered and the proprietors fearing 
 scarcity of water, they removed to New Salem in 
 1828 and built the mill and laid out the town. 
 Neither Mr. Lincoln nor Offutt had any pecuni- 
 ary interest in it. It belonged solely to 
 Rutledge and Cameron, and Mr. Lincoln only 
 assisted in repairing it as other neighbors did, 
 gratuitously. He was at this time the clerk of 
 Mr. Offutt, who kept a general country store, 
 
 [190] 
 
LIFE IN NEW SALEM 
 
 including dry goods, groceries, and all the 
 varieties which belong to such an establishment." 
 This story seems true. If it is not we would 
 have to say that Offutt worked pretty fast in 
 acquiring new enterprises for the inexperienced 
 young clerk to take over, commencing with the 
 store in August, 1831, ,a and pursuing a downhill 
 business until the next Apri:l, 1832, whenuhe 
 faded out of New Salem never to be heard of 
 again, leaving, as some contend, unsatisfied 
 debts behind him. 
 
 [191] 
 
Chapter Thirteen 
 LIFE IN NEW SALEM (CONTINUED) 
 
 From a summary of all records, when Offutt 
 closed his store in April, Lincoln became free 
 from any responsibilities so far as a steady 
 job was concerned. At this period many of the 
 stories originated of his doing odd jobs about 
 the town and even in the country where he would 
 visit, help about the house, cut wood, kindliner, 
 etc. all for his board. But not for long, for 
 in the same month of April he left town not to 
 be seen for three months or more. On the 22nd 
 of April he was in Richland, a small town west 
 of New Salem about twenty miles, and was on 
 that day chosen captain of a volunteer company 
 for the Black Hawk War. 
 
 We have before spoken of Lincoln's return 
 from the Black Hawk War, and our belief that he 
 went almost directly to his parents' home at 
 the Buck Grove cabin, walking most of the way 
 from where he received his discharge. His horse 
 had been stolen the day* before. Hesprobably 
 reached home about the first of July, with no 
 particular job to go to after returning except 
 the incentive to get into politics in the New 
 Salem country. He had there been placed on the 
 Whig ticket as a candidate for the Legislature. 
 
 We have come to the place in Lincoln's New 
 Salem life now which is between two known dates. 
 
 [192] 
 
LIFE I>< NEW SALEM 
 
 the end of the Black Hawk War and his appoint- 
 ment as postmaster, in May, 1833, (a period of 
 eight months and a few days). In this time va- 
 rious biographers have kept him busy as an un- 
 successful candidate for the Legislature, a 
 student of Mentor Graham in the study of grarrir- 
 mar, a student of and boarding with a drunken 
 vagabond by the name of Kelso who interested 
 Lincoln in Robert Burns and William Shakespeare. 
 Also, a William Green claims credit for many 
 things: of inducing Lincoln to study law about 
 this time; many of the odd jobs stories we have 
 mentioned; and finally, for Lincoln's profes- 
 sion of surveying, which was a definite source 
 of income. 
 
 Lincoln's postmastership at New Salem, if 
 dates can be relied upon from the records, bes;an 
 in May, 1833. Samuel Hill was appointed first 
 postmaster for New Salem on Christmas Lay , Ld<J^. 
 If his appointment was for four years, then Lin- 
 coln either served part of Hill's term, or from 
 May to the 25th of December, 1833, as deputy, 
 or to fill out Hill's unexpired term. The post 
 office lasted at ^ew Salem until 1837, when it 
 was discontinued--a two-term period of four 
 years each. As the government agent called on 
 Lincoln for a final settlement as mentioned in 
 an earlier chapter, we presume he was the post- 
 master when the office was discontinued. This 
 would indicate that Lincoln served a total oe- 
 riod of four years and six months as postmas- 
 ter. Samuel Hill operated a general store on 
 the south side of the main street in New Salem 
 which was second house west of the Rutledge 
 Tavern, and here for a time the post office was 
 housed. Lincoln clerked for Hill in this store 
 
 [193] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 and no doubt when hill disposed of his interest 
 in the store he gave up the postmastership 
 alone; with the business which would account for 
 Lincoln serving out part of Hill's term. 
 
 In the reconstruction of New Salem as under- 
 taken by the State of Illinois the original lo- 
 cations of the log cabins are no doubt correct- 
 ly placed. Evidently the ground on which the 
 village once stood had been allowed to return 
 to its natural state, growing up in briars and 
 bushes, never being used at any time for culti- 
 vation. Where the buildings once stood some of 
 the rock foundations were found as left when 
 the log structures were torn down and moved to 
 Petersburg. Many of the old excavations marked 
 the places of cellars, warm houses, and wells. 
 It was certainly an excellent spot for a small 
 village such as New Salem was in its day, for 
 all could find favorable, high and dry spots 
 for their respective homes. 
 
 Our first visit to this village site of long 
 ago was before much had been done toward its 
 reconstruction, with only markers showing the 
 cabin sites of the former inhabitants. The old 
 Onstot Cooper Shop had been replaced on its old 
 location, having been brought back from Peters- 
 burg-, the only structure existing of all which 
 had been removed, 'inis fact was accounted, tor 
 by it having been weatherboarded and preserved 
 by its owner in Petersburg. Its history was 
 told us by an old man who had taken the job of 
 moving it back to New Salem and rebuilding it 
 on its original foundation. When the flue was 
 rebuilt and run up through the roof, a pi^ece of 
 the original walnut rafter had to be cut. This 
 piece he kept and from it gave each of our par- 
 
 [194] 
 
 
LIFE IN NEW SALEM 
 
 ty a small piece. 
 
 It was the first cabin to be replaced. It 
 was first built in 1835, moved to Petersburg in 
 1.840, and replaced to its original foundation 
 in 1922". 
 
 It would be a greater accomplishment than 
 one could reasonably hope for to take all the 
 evidence handed down by biographers and weave 
 it into a reliable, connected, and continuous 
 story of Lincoln's life while in New Salem, tohv 
 they seem so contradictory in time, place, and 
 importance is plain to see. It is very much as 
 if some promising youth who had lived among us 
 some twenty-five or thirty years ago had sud- 
 denly become great. All of us living who knew 
 the young man in his youth would immediately 
 become in a manner biographers; some credita- 
 ble, some not. But all of us would give de- 
 scriptions, accounts, statements of fact, false 
 statements, details, particulars, and circum- 
 stances — all according to our individual ability 
 to remember, to be truthful and accurate, or, 
 to lie and boast. 
 
 To us, after a search for a straightforward 
 career of Lincoln through the six years of his 
 life in New Salem, the picture we see is one 
 painted by an array of artists such as the 
 above, who have, with amateurish brushes, paint- 
 ed a scene from memory which happened fully 
 twenty-five years before the attempt at por- 
 traiture. The picture is confusing for lack of 
 regular order. A few recorded dates, such as 
 his entry into the Black Hawk War, his postmas- 
 ter appointment, his election as representa- 
 tive, his tavern license and his work as sur- 
 veyor are reliable and make corner stones for 
 
 [195] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 some fair deductions. The dates of Ann's death 
 and her father's death are authentic, but the 
 month and year of their move to the farm on 
 which they died is vague. 
 
 It would seem that the brother of Ann Rut- 
 ledge, R. B. Rutledge, would be the best of au- 
 thority on anything relating to that family. 
 He writes : "McNamar (Ann's lover) had 'purchased 
 the farm on which we lived at the time of Ann's 
 and Father's death, prior to his leaving the 
 county in 1832 or 1833, and did not return un- 
 til the fall of 1835, after Ann's and father's 
 death." He informs us that his father, James 
 Rutlecee, moved to the farm which McNamar had 
 purchased prior to leaving the county, then ex- 
 pressed doubt as to whether it was in 1832 or 
 1833. In fact, he did not say when his father 
 moved to the farm, only that McNamar had owned 
 the farm they lived on, and in the period that 
 McNamar was away from New Salem. 
 
 Believing Rutledge's statement, this ques- 
 tion naturally arises, why did James Rutledge 
 move to McNamar 's farm? Was it because financial 
 inability prevented him from purchasing one of 
 his own? Had Ann Rutledge's father become a 
 bankrupt, and through her influence she had in- 
 duced her lover to assist her father to a new 
 start? Or, in addition to Ann's influence, not 
 unlikely, McNamar, a successful business man, 
 on leaving fully expected to return and marry 
 Ann, believing that to put his farm into the 
 care of his future father-in-law was only good 
 business. 
 
 Without positive knowledge we can believe at 
 this late day that it was through the influence 
 of Ann that her devoted father was induced to 
 
 [196] 
 
LIFE IN NEW SALEM 
 
 move to her lover's farm where she could wait 
 more contentedly for McNamar's return from his 
 intended visit to his folks in New York State. 
 In other words, Rutledge moved from the scene 
 of his bankruptcy in New Salem to the McNamar 
 farm because of his deep attachment for his 
 daughter, and her deep attachment for McNamar. 
 
 While the Lincoln-Rutledge-McNamar love tri- 
 angle is now considered a myth by some good au- 
 thorities, we, after a study of the meaner facts 
 available, do not believe the story can be so 
 easily set aside. We conclude that Ann's love 
 for McNamar began early in their acquaintance, 
 perhaps when McNamar first made his appearance 
 in New Salem in 1829 or 1830; that it continued 
 growing in intensity as long as McNamar remained 
 in New Salem; that a betrothal in due time ex- 
 isted between them which was sacred to Ann while 
 she lived, and that the Rutledge-Mc;\Jamar love 
 affair was well-known and respected by Lincoln 
 during the time all parties were residents of 
 New Salem. Then we believe it quite likely that 
 as the continued absence of McNamar grew from 
 weeks to months, and then to years, Lincoln's 
 visits to the Rutledges after they had moved to 
 the McNamar farm from New Salem, occasional at 
 first, gradually became more numerous as he saw 
 the rays of hope grow brighter for him. Ann's 
 love for McNamar was forced to fade because of 
 the unexplained and indifferent prolonged ab- 
 sence of h.er lover. 
 
 Without the testimony of Lincoln's devoted 
 step-mother who said: "...but he did fall in 
 love with Ann Rutledge, who lived out somewhere 
 near Vandalia or Springfield. And after she 
 died he came home and told all about her, and 
 
 [197] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 cried dreadful, and he never could talk of her 
 nohow but he'd shed tears"; without this state- 
 ment little if any evidence is in existence to 
 substantiate the fact that a love romance of a 
 serious nature ever existed between Ann Rutledge 
 and Lincoln, To our mind, this statement alone 
 is sufficient, and that it was made at the time 
 we have before suggested; on a visit to his 
 home at Mud Point in August, 1835, possibly to 
 avoid being present at the death and funeral of 
 Ann Rutledge. 
 
 We are mindful of the fact, as before stated, 
 that this love affair was only a myth, a mere 
 snowball which gathered force and dimensions as 
 it rolled down the years, having its beginning 
 from a few small incidents which were recalled 
 to memory by New Salem residents at least twen- 
 ty-five years after their alleged occurrence. 
 These incidents had long been forgotten, vague 
 and inactive, but with spark enough left to be 
 fanned into flame by the sudden brilliancy oc- 
 casioned by accession to the Presidency of one 
 of the three principals in the almost forgotten 
 episode in New Salem. 
 
 It is now also contended by those who be- 
 lieve the story to be only a myth, that it rep- 
 resents a composite story of three love stories 
 in which Lincoln was the principal in each: 
 the Ann Rutledge case was first; and in a year 
 at the same little village of New Salem, Mary 
 Owens came to the memory of the relators for 
 another story; while five years later Lincoln 
 became involved in a third love story, this 
 time with Mary Todd, after he had gone to 
 Springfield to live. 
 
 We can easily see that to the general run of 
 
 [198] 
 
LIFE IN NEW SALEM 
 
 readers of Lincoln biography the composite pic- 
 ture of the love affairs of Lincoln and the 
 three ladies mentioned might rest easily on the 
 mind. But a little scrutiny into the known 
 facts would, in our opinion, separate the so- 
 called composite love myth into three separate 
 and distinct love episodes. No one of these 
 has escaped a substantial addition of imaginary 
 embellishments by writers to suit their own 
 ideas of a love story commensurate to tne great- 
 ness attained by Lincoln twenty-five years aft- 
 er the foundation of the stories alleged. 
 
 As an example of how the three composite 
 love stories might fall apart in which Lincoln 
 participated we may take up again the statement 
 of his step-mother. Reason itself is sufficient 
 to prove which of the ladies she had reference 
 to when she said: "...and after she died "he 
 came home and told all about her, and cried 
 dreadful," for Ann alone was the only one of 
 the three who died in Lincoln's lifetime. This 
 statement of Lincoln's step-mother in our opin- 
 ion is not only the first but the most reliable 
 of all the evidence now extant bearing on the 
 relationship of Ann Rutledge and Lincoln. It 
 has been available from the date of Ann's death 
 in 1835, and possessed by two of Lincoln's most 
 beloved relatives, Sarah Bush Lincoln and her 
 grandson, John J. Hall. What an oversight on 
 Herndon's part when he failed to ask Lincoln's 
 step-mother what she knew of Ann Rutledge and 
 Lincoln's love affair when he visited her in 
 1865. 
 
 Lincoln himself after Ann's death seemed 
 reticent about the love affair with her, for, 
 desoite the fact that every available effort 
 
 £199] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 has been put forth to find some evidence ema- 
 nating from Lincoln in regard to it, not one 
 word from him ever reached the authors of the 
 so-called myth except what we have quoted com- 
 ing from his own folks. 
 
 We can believe that there was one exception- 
 ally good reason for his reticence. In the 
 first place we believe Lincoln told his step- 
 mother the truth before McNamar's return. Now, 
 granting the truth of his step-mother's state- 
 ment, what could be the state of Lincoln's mind 
 other than reticence or concealment when, on 
 returning to New Salem after his visit home to 
 avoid the funeral, he found McNamar returned 
 then or shortly afterward from his long absence 
 to claim Ann Rutledge for his wife? And no one 
 knew that fact better than Lincoln. 
 
 That Ann Rutledge was intensely in love with 
 McNamar is not inconsistent and has not been 
 disputed by any writer. Even though he might 
 have been seemingly neglectful as a true lover, 
 the fact that McNamar owned the farm on which 
 she and her folks lived may have seemed to her, 
 also McNamar, sufficient to bridge over his 
 long and thoughtless absence. And no doubt this 
 was the argument she put up to Lincoln, making 
 her oromise to him contingent on the return of 
 McNamar, which, at the time of Ann's death had 
 not occurred, so Lincoln felt free to tell his 
 step-mother that he and Ann were promised to be 
 married. 
 
 In a short time after Ann's death, authori- 
 ties now say, McNamar returned. A short time 
 may mean a week, two weeks, or possibly a month 
 or two, but, whatever the time, he came back. 
 When he arrived in New Salem, a surprise return, 
 
 [200j 
 
LIFE I*i NEW SALEM 
 
 Lincoln, remembering his contingent bethrothal 
 to the dead girl could only think, but what 
 could he say?--Nothin£ r . 
 
 We have said that McNanar might have acted 
 seemingly indifferent toward Ann; and, for one 
 who was to be her husband in no great distant 
 future, it was not only seemingly so, but cer- 
 tainly a fact. Ann's actions, if we know their 
 case, were exactly the opposite to his. She 
 seemed the disappointed, distressed, and for- 
 saken girl, deeply in love but thoroughly be- 
 wildered as though a lost child. He was either 
 cold, calculating, and all business, believing 
 that "yes" in love meant the same as "yes" in 
 business; that absence and indifference meant 
 nothing so long as he, McNamar, the business 
 man played the cold-blooded part; either that 
 or, and this is our belief, McNamar was not 
 deeoly in love with Ann Rutledge, ever, at any 
 time. 
 
 In all of our investigations among the writ- 
 ings of the different authors we have found 
 several probable excuses for the actions of 
 McNamar, ranging from a long spell of sickness 
 which overtook him while traveling through Ohio 
 on his way back to his former home in New York. 
 This sickness, it is said, kept him from writ- 
 ing back to Ann. Then the excuse is advanced 
 that after he finally arrived home he found his 
 father in his last sickness, necessitating a 
 long period of settling up affairs, etc. all of 
 which took from the latter part of 1832 to 1835, 
 or about three years. 
 
 Not asking the authors of these excuses to 
 tell us of their origin or how they were ob- 
 tained, we would ask, why, if McNamar was deep- 
 
 [201] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 ly in love with Ann would he be so very differ- 
 ent from other lovers, why would he fail to 
 have a bedside nurse to write, not just once, 
 but every day of his sickness until he became 
 convalescent. Then, if a normal lover, why he 
 would not keep up the daily correspondence back 
 to New Salem or to wherever the Rutledges at 
 that time received their mail? But, overlooking 
 the alleged sick spell in Ohio and counting that 
 excuse legitimate, what, if any, can tne excuse 
 be after the lover regains his health suffi- 
 ciently to transact business, and still fails 
 to keep his promised future wife informed of 
 his own wel.fare and his hope soon to be able to 
 return to her? 
 
 Then, toward the last, in August, 1835, Mc- 
 Namar was nearing the end of the settlement of 
 his father's estate. A business consisting of 
 what? Only a few years before, he had assumed 
 the name of John McNeal, gone West to parts un- 
 known to his own family in order to make a new 
 home for his father and family who had lost all 
 they had. So, he certainly could have little 
 business to settle so far as his father's es- 
 tate was concerned. 
 
 But, granting that his father had again ac- 
 cumulated sufficient property after McNamar 
 went West and settled in New Salem to requiire 
 considerable time to settle the business, how 
 many times would it happen that there would be 
 just enough business to settle to keep a lover 
 from the bedside of his bride-to-be, allowing 
 him to arrive "shortly after the death of Ann 
 Rutledge, " rather than shortly before her death? 
 
 In our opinion the Lincoln-Rutledge love 
 story can be summed up as follows: 
 
 [2C2 3 
 
LIFE IN NEW SALEM 
 
 Ann Rutledge was deeply in love with John 
 McNamar. 
 
 McNamar's love for Ann Rutledge was decided- 
 ly indifferent. 
 
 Lincoln's love for Ann Rutledge was intense 
 at the time of her death. 
 
 Ann's love for Lincoln was listless and sec- 
 ondary, never was and never could have been 
 equal to that she had for McNamar. 
 
 We believe we can understand why Herndon, 
 Speed, or any of Lincoln's close friends never 
 heard him mention this particular love affair. 
 Deeper yet, on the surprise arrival of McNamar 
 after Ann's death, a counter to his intense 
 grief immediately came to him. In a year Mary 
 Owens became his new attraction, and in her 
 case he was not reticent or secretive. The 
 Owens love affair, coming so soon after the in- 
 tense mental aecony occasioned by Ann's death, 
 and divulged to his step-mother at that time is 
 our best evidence, as we believe, that McNamar's 
 return was balm to the heart of Lincoln. He 
 realized in his own secretive mind, that, had 
 Ann Rutledge lived she would have become, not 
 his, but the wife of John McNamar, which, to 
 him, because of his great love for her would 
 have given him greater and more lasting sorrow 
 than nature's course brought him by her early 
 death. 
 
 It has been claimed by some writers that 
 after McNamar left New Salem to return to his 
 folks in the East, that Ann Rutledge was a daily 
 visitor to the post office of which Lincoln was 
 postmaster, where she received expected letters 
 from McNamar. This, according to the writers 
 of the Rutledge fiction, afforded Lincoln ready 
 
 12081 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 knowledge of whatever correspondence might be 
 taking olace between them while Mci\amar was 
 away. This bit of superfiction was and no doubt 
 is yet believed by many readers without ques- 
 tion , when , with a little reflection on the part 
 of the reader, it would reveal itself only as 
 the child of the author's mind. If the Rut- 
 ledges still lived in New Salem at the time 
 Lincoln was postmaster, and if the village re- 
 ceived daily mail six days of the week, the 
 statement might be believed, but still it would 
 be a little strong, for not many letters, ac- 
 cording to excuses made up for McNamar ever 
 came back to Ann. 
 
 It is very doubtful if the Rutledges contin- 
 ued to get their mail in New Salem after they 
 moved to the McNamar farm, which was seven miles 
 north of the town. But, even though they did, 
 we can be certain that the author was dreaming 
 when he made the statement that she was a daily 
 visitor at the post office in order to get an 
 occasional letter from McNamar when the mail 
 only came once a week. This unusual anxiety on 
 the part of Ann would mean a trip of fourteen 
 miles per day, eighty-four miles per week. She 
 would know before she made the five trips per 
 week that they would be useless. 
 
 In view of the above glaring absurdity, an 
 example of many which seem to have crept into 
 the so-called biographies of Lincoln, it is our 
 opinion that when, if ever possible, all of them 
 are finally sifted from the life of Lincoln, 
 leaving one true history, that history will be 
 a story as plain, honest, and great as the man 
 himself. But the author cannot be a novelist, 
 he must be a true historian. 
 
 1204] 
 
LIFE IN NEW SALEM 
 
 Recently we visited the McNamar farm where 
 Ann Rutledge died. This farm can be reached by 
 takine- road 97 out of Petersburg, Illinois, 
 to the village of Atterberry (a distance of 
 about 7 miles), then about 3 miles east. For- 
 merly the Old Coach Road went by the farm more 
 directly from Petersburg (more properly at that 
 time, New Salem) and the distance then was 
 scarcely more than half the distance now on im- 
 proved roads, as the Old Coach Road went angling 
 through in a northwest direction directly by 
 the farm. 
 
 The first impression one gets on nearing the 
 place is the unusual good quality of the land 
 with its rolling surface. This would have been 
 very attractive to the early settlers because 
 of its easy drainage without the trouble and 
 work of ditching. The timber--judging by the 
 uncleared woods, trees of bur oak, walnut, 
 sycamore, etc., still standing to-day — indi- 
 cates the best of soil over the high land as 
 well as the low. 
 
 Nearing the old homestead site one is struck 
 by the natural beauty of the location. One's 
 estimate of John McNamar's judgment as to land 
 fertility and natural pioneer advantages cer- 
 tainly rises many points. The fine large well- 
 kept buildings stand as proof that in the last 
 hundred years the farm has been bountifully 
 generous to its very few different owners. 
 
 On the site of the old log home, which orig- 
 inally stood nearer the road than the house of 
 to-day, is a tablet made of wood with the fol- 
 lowing inscription: "On this very spot stood 
 the log cabin in which Ann Rutledge died, Au- 
 gust 25, 1835. On the hill-side to the west 
 
 1205 3 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 stood a large oak tree under which Abraham Lin- 
 coln wept bitterly after leaving the sick room 
 of Ann Rutledge where their last communion was 
 held." 
 
 Probably three miles southeast in the direc- 
 tion of Petersburg, the course of the Old Coach 
 Road to New Salem, is the place still known as 
 the Old Rutledge Farm once owned and occupied 
 by Ann's uncle. Like the McNamar farm, this, 
 too, is typical of the best in Illinois, here 
 the old home location is situated prominently 
 on high rolling ground with a handsome two- 
 story hundred-year-old brick house, which Ann's 
 uncle built. This house is now modernized. 
 Here it is said Ann spent much of her time with 
 her uncle, aunt, and cousins. 
 
 Southwest of the home site and across a val- 
 ley, with a small creek running through it, 
 about a quarter mile away on an eminence can be 
 seen through the trees the gravestones of the 
 Old Concord Cemetery. This was the burying 
 ground for the Rutledges, and it was to this 
 cemetery that Ann was brought from the McNamar 
 farm home. 
 
 There are probably one hundred markers to 
 graves in it. It is very well fenced but indif- 
 ferently cared for. It is inaccessible for ma- 
 chines, none coming closer than the Rutledge 
 home site which is itself a quarter mile from 
 the road since the Old Coach Road was abandoned 
 years ago. No path from any direction leads to 
 it. It is strictly an isolated acre, yet it 
 was in this cemetery Ann Rutledge lay for three- 
 auarters of a century with no marker other than 
 a large boulder which was supposed to have been 
 placed at the head of her grave by her lover, 
 
 I 206 J 
 
LIFE IN NEW SALEM 
 
 Abraham Lincoln, in one of his numerous trips 
 said to have been made to this lonely spot. As 
 her father's grave is not marked in any way it 
 is reasonable to believe the Lincoln story. 
 Her father died three months after her; and as 
 her folks moved away shortly, within a few 
 months, Lincoln alone remained the only one 
 near who would seem interested in marking the 
 grave. The identical stone weighing about a 
 hundred pounds, was removed with her remains to 
 her grave in the Petersburg Cemetery and her 
 name is now carved on it. 
 
 Her empty grave is next to that of David H. 
 Rutledge and heads a row of probably eight or 
 ten others of the same name, some of whom are 
 probably her brothers and cousins. The names 
 of Hardy, Thomas, William, Mary, Robert, and 
 James are remembered. Fastened to two posts 
 above the empty grave and similar to the one at 
 the McNamar home is a marker bearing this in- 
 scription: "Old Concord Cemetery. This marks 
 the original grave of Ann Rutledge, born Jan. 
 7, 1813, died Aug. 25, 1835. Abraham Lincoln 
 made many pilgrimages alone to this sacred spot. 
 He often said, f My heart lies buried here with 
 Ann Rutledge. I" 
 
 No grave of later date than 1870 was found. 
 None were of any especial interest with the ex- 
 ception of that of John Clary, who died in 1860 
 and on whose gravestone is represented Clary 
 sitting on a stump with his gun in hand and a 
 dog lying at his feet. He was known as a great 
 hunter and was probably from the "Clary Grove 
 Settlement," west of New Salem. 
 
 In the Cemetery at Petersburg ' many of Ann 
 Rutledge 's relatives are buried. Not far from 
 
 [207] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 her lies the remains of Hannah Armstrong, whose 
 son Lincoln, after he became a lawyer in Spring- 
 field, defended and cleared from the charge of 
 murder. 
 
 Boiling Green, who figured prominently in 
 Lincoln's life at New Salem, lies within two 
 hundred feet of Ann's grave. As do many others 
 of that village's residents. 
 
 Much seems to be made of Lincoln's unsuc- 
 cessful business ventures while he was a resi- 
 dent in New Salem. So far as we have been able 
 to ascertain, no one who might have been au- 
 thority has ever refuted or questioned the 
 truth of his failures, and Lincoln himself has 
 been quoted as referring to the Lincoln and 
 Berry partnership as having "petered out." At 
 another time he mentions his obligations as the 
 "national debt." Many are the stories emanat- 
 ing from that period in his life in New Salem 
 which makes it appear that he lived desperately 
 poor if not in fact on charity, trading on ami- 
 ability and story-telling for corn bread, mush 
 and milk. 
 
 Here again we believe imaginative exaggera- 
 tion creeps into the pens of Lincoln's biogra- 
 phers, and that all that goes beyond Lincoln's 
 jocular description of his distressful circum- 
 stances might be charged to competitive writers 
 for the best description of destitute poverty. 
 
 Picturing a young man twenty-two years old, 
 a boy in fact, walking the unimproved streets 
 of a little village of pioneers all living in 
 log cabins, fifteen or twenty in number, and 
 forgetting all knowledge of the young man gained 
 in later life, is it likely that one could sin- 
 gle him out from other residents of near his 
 
 [208] 
 
LIFE IN NEW SALEM 
 
 age in the village as more indigent than those 
 he lived among? It is a strange thing that 
 Lincoln himself never complained of poverty if 
 he was so much worse off than his companions. 
 The fact that he was "tall, awkward, and wore 
 ill-fitting" clothes could have nothing to do 
 with poverty; yet the adjectives, "awkward, un- 
 gainly and ridiculous" almost always are used 
 along with every description of the man when 
 poverty alone is meant. The significance of 
 this combined description of appearance and 
 penury by historians smatters too much of fic- 
 tion and imagination very similar to the Ann 
 Rutledge episode. 
 
 In Mew Salem at the time Lincoln was a resi- 
 dent there, probably there were fifteen or 
 twenty more young men of about his age, and it 
 is very doubtful if any of them could rate high- 
 er in business activity in the village than he, 
 yet he is singled out by the historians as "un- 
 gainly" and "akwardly" poor. 
 
 There was one time during the year of 1832 
 in which Lincoln was out of lucrative employ- 
 ment, and consequently without much money. That 
 was the period between the closing of Offutt's 
 store until going into business with Berry in 
 September, a period of five months. Yet two 
 months of this time he spent in the Black Hawk 
 War, and, as we have before related, there is 
 good evidence that some weeks were taken up by 
 his long slow journey back to New Salem and a 
 visit to the home folks on the Buck Grove farm. 
 In the first month of his military service he 
 was drawing a Captain's salary, and the balance 
 of his service a private's pay. He may have 
 been allowed milage for the home trip plus 
 
 [209] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 expenses, and of course while at home he was at 
 but little expense. This then, if rightly com- 
 puted, leaves only two out of the five months 
 for idleness and expense. From the many stories 
 emanating from the New Salem life of Lincoln 
 part of this time before going into business 
 with Berry must have been devoted to working 
 for farmers: splitting rails, helping build 
 cabins, rocking cradles, and clerking in stores. 
 Not all of these activities paid more than 
 board and lodging, probably, but it is quite 
 reasonable to believe that some of them did. 
 In this five months, then, his expenses were 
 light and his income sufficient for average 
 living conditions. 
 
 On March 8, 1833, William F. Berry, in the 
 name of Berry and Lincoln, applied to the court 
 of Sangamon County, in Springfield for a license 
 to keep a tavern. This was one year after the 
 five months we have taken as a possible low 
 income period for Lincoln while living in New 
 Salem, but the prices they as tavern keepers 
 were allowed to charge their customers will 
 give a fair idea of the living costs prevalent 
 in the times. 
 
 French Brandy, per half pint $-25 
 
 Peach Brandy, per half pint .18 
 
 Apple Brandy, per half pint .12 
 
 Holland Gin, per half pint .18 
 
 Domestic Gin, per half pint .12 
 
 Whiskey, per half pint «12£ 
 
 Wine, per half pint .25 
 
 Rum, per half pint .18 
 
 Breakfast, Dinner or Supper .25 
 
 Lodging, per night •!££ 
 
 [210] 
 
LIFE IN NEW SALEM 
 
 Horse, per night £.25 
 
 Single feed .12J 
 
 Breakfast, Dinner or Supper 
 
 for Stage Coach Passengers .37^ 
 
 If Lincoln earned as Captain, with one 
 month's pay as private one hundred and seventy- 
 five dollars and an additional eight or nine 
 dollars for mileage and expenses home, this, 
 with an average of fifty cents per day for job 
 work for two months, leaving one month for 
 visiting at no pay, would net him about $214.00 
 income for the five months. Even at the above 
 cheap rates for board and lodging, which he 
 paid at no time while earning this money, he 
 could have saved money and worn average cloth- 
 ing. 
 
 After this period, or from the time he went 
 into business with Berry, it does not seem that 
 he was ever without a source of income, however 
 small. His partnership began with Berry in 
 September, 1832, and continued until the next 
 April of 1833. In a few days, May 7, he was 
 appointed postmaster, but was no doubt clerking 
 for Hill, the postmaster before him, even be- 
 fore he took over the office himself. 
 
 It is no doubt true, for Lincoln himself 
 admits it, that some very clever deals were 
 pulled on him which left him with the costs to 
 pay, as said by him, "the national debt." Even 
 with that bad luck, it cannot be said that he 
 was not resourceful with at least an average 
 financial ability. 
 
 Comparing the facts that have come down to us 
 in various ways of Lincoln's financial enter- 
 prises and their earnings, we fail to see much 
 
 [211] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 to place him below the average of his fellow 
 townsmen in New Salem. Granting that he failed 
 in business along with Berry, and with the Trent 
 Brothers who fled the country, should he be 
 less respected in the failure because he assumed 
 their debts and ultimately paid them, assumed 
 them in the face of the oncoming panic of 1837? 
 
 Lincoln was not the first, with Berry, to 
 fail in business in that little pioneer town, 
 Offutt, the wonderful trader and flatboat ship- 
 per to the New Orleans market, we are told closed 
 his door in April of the year before and left 
 town without disclosing his destination; yet no 
 writer has ever described his appearance • as 
 "awkward" and "ridiculous" as he departed. The 
 Rutledge and Cameron Promoting Company failed 
 also, leaving the mill and tavern in the hands 
 of their creditors, with Rutledge virtually 
 accepting a form of charity by moving to the 
 farm, at that time of his prospective son-in- 
 law, John McNamar. None of these failures are 
 heralded of course; only Lincoln, the only one 
 of them who finally paid all of his and his 
 partner's obligations, gets his personal appear- 
 ance delineated as a sort of tar-and-f eather 
 punishment for doing the Lincoln way, the only 
 way he ever knew. 
 
 Lincoln, so far as we know, never accepted 
 charity or asked for help. He certainly never 
 soured on the world for any misfortune which 
 came to him. The proof was his growing popu- 
 larity among the very people who knew about his 
 failures. In 1832 he was defeated by a close 
 vote for Representative to the Illinois Legis- 
 lature. In 1834, after his financial failures 
 he was elected by a good majority in a district 
 
 [212 J 
 
LIFE IN NEW SALEM 
 
 abnormally anti-Whig, and in 1836 his election 
 abnormally t besides 
 
 was repeateo. During 111 
 
 making friends who were true enough to vote for 
 e was studying to beoome a surveyor, hav- 
 ing been offered the position as deputy surveyor 
 by one who had been elected by his opposing 
 party. 
 
 [213] 
 
Chapter Fourteen 
 LINCOLN IN LAW 
 
 We have heard the name of Lincoln and remem- 
 ber his features as portrayed from our earliest 
 memory, and our judgment and opinions of the 
 man have been formed from about all the sources 
 available: biographies, histories, and contacts 
 with many older men who lived in his day, sol- 
 diers from both sides in the Civil War some of 
 whom had actually had official contact with him 
 and had heard some of his great debates with 
 Douglas, and one story which we cannot forget 
 told by a great-uncle who served on a jury be- 
 fore Lincoln in Illinois, in which trial Lin- 
 coln was attorney for the defense where a man 
 had been charged with stealing sheep. 
 
 And so, from the sixty-five years in which 
 our opinions have reached a definite status, 
 one of which pity and sympathy for the great man 
 now predominates as coming from the sources 
 enumerated above, we still face the one great 
 and unanswered question: why the greatest of 
 all our Americans, Lincoln, should be singled 
 out for baseless slander, and merciless vilifi- 
 cation by biographers and historians such as 
 came on after his assassination. And more, not 
 only Lincoln suffered the attacks, but his fa- 
 ther and mother, his grandmother,, uncles and 
 aunts and cousins, all have heen pitifully, 
 
 [214] 
 
LINCOLN IN LAW 
 
 sorrowfully, and helplessly slandered, and all 
 by enemies who were never wronged. 
 
 These slanders, calumnies and misstatements, 
 originating in the minds of bitter, almost mor- 
 tal enemies, have been wrapped around the life 
 of Lincoln and his relatives in proportion to 
 the degree in which the relation existed. As 
 an example, his father and mother being closest 
 kin, took the greater part of the slander. His 
 good step-mother, being of no blood relation, 
 escaped while she, in truth a good woman, was 
 no better than Thomas Lincoln. 
 
 Thomas Lincoln's life ended in 1851, at the 
 age of seventy-five years. He had lived six 
 years in Virginia, thirty-four years in Kentucky, 
 fourteen years in Indiana and twenty-one years 
 in Illinois. Conscious of the concerted vicious 
 attacks on the character of this man and his 
 innocent family by an array of historians after 
 the assassination of his illustrious son, Abra- 
 ham Lincoln, we have followed as best we could 
 his footsteps in every conceivable and tedious 
 way to ascertain the facts on which these writ- 
 ers based their opinions they have so positive- 
 ly stated. Whatever the opinions of others 
 might be originating from what we have said of 
 Thomas Lincoln and his people in Kentucky and 
 Indiana, we ourselves are convinced that, in the 
 light of positive facts from research in the 
 public archives, of traditions coming from an- 
 cestral families, and reasonable deductions 
 based on both records and traditions, we feel 
 satisfied the Crusaders attacking the Lincoln 
 family have blindly followed without reason one 
 "Don Quixote" Herndon. 
 
 But what of Thomas Lincoln's life in the 
 
 [215 J 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 twenty-one years he lived in Illinois? Was it 
 different from our estimate of the man while he 
 lived in Kentucky and Indiana? Unlike those 
 two States, we have no public records except a 
 few land transfers on which to base an absolute 
 authentic opinion; no old ledger or the church 
 minute book yet available to us as corner stones 
 for fact finding. But, in our opinion we do 
 have a record in Illinois, as true and honest, 
 as authentic and reliable as the old ledger in 
 Elizabethtown or the minutes of the old Pigeon 
 Creek Church, and that is, the humble and inno- 
 cent words recorded by Mrs. Eleanor Gridley in 
 her interviews with John J. Hall for material 
 for her book in 1892 while secretary for the 
 Lincoln Log Cabin Association of Illinois. 
 
 By the words of John Hall, the baby we have 
 so often spoken of as having come to Illinois 
 with the Lincolns in IcjU, we can feel sure or 
 knowing more intimately the life of Thomas Lin- 
 coln and his wife Sarah Bush Lincoln than from 
 any factual records we may ever find recorded 
 anywhere. He was one year old when they ar- 
 rived at their Sangamon River home. At no time 
 in his life did he ever live out of neighbor 
 distance from Thomas Lincoln, his grandfather 
 by marriage. Until the age of twenty-one he 
 was as familiar with the home life of Thomas 
 Lincoln as a grandson can be who lives continu- 
 ally near the family. At the age of twenty-two 
 he as a bachelor moved into the home of his 
 grandmother to care for her at the death of his 
 grandfather after her son, John D. Johnston, be- 
 came restless and wished to go west. This un- 
 rest on Johnston's part called from the Presi- 
 dent the notable rebuking letter. For fifteen 
 
 [216] 
 
LINCOLN IN LAW 
 
 years he lived with his grandmother as a bache- 
 lor. He married in 1866 and three children 
 were born to them before the death of his grand- 
 mother in 1869. The last of them is our own 
 particular friend, his daughter, Nancy A. Hall, 
 still living on the Thomas Lincoln farm. 
 
 From known facts and family Lincoln lore we 
 know Thomas Lincoln was not a wealthy man at any 
 time, and possibly as poor while he lived in 
 Illinois as any time in his life. But, not a 
 day while living in Illinois did he live on a 
 rented farm. It is also well known that not 
 one of his farms, four in all in Illinois, pos- 
 sessed any other than a very ordinary log cabin. 
 But, can it be said that a single neighbor in 
 all the country at that time owned a more pre- 
 tentious residence? The whole life of Thomas 
 Lincoln was passed in log cabin days. Log cab- 
 ins in Thomas Lincoln's day were no particular 
 disgrace to the occupants, and never became 
 such until years afterward, several years after 
 the assassination of Thomas Lincoln ?, s son, 
 Abraham Lincoln. Thomas Lincoln was well along 
 in his declining years when he moved into Illi- 
 nois, which is ordinarily considered a handicap 
 to growing wealth, yet, by stories emanating 
 from family traditions and the words of John 
 Hall he continued to work for twenty years. 
 
 One story goes that one day he was out by 
 the road grubbing out a fence row. A neighbor 
 passing stopped and said, "Why, Uncle Tommy, I 
 thought you wanted to sell your farm, why do 
 you do that hard work?" "So I do," said Uncle 
 Tommy, "but I don't want my farm to know it." 
 
 And another story portraying him at work is 
 told as follows: While John D. Johnston was 
 
 [217] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 living with Thomas Lincoln before Johnston was 
 married, he came home late one night with two 
 young oxen which he had traded for. Not known 
 to ever be over industrious at any time, this 
 night found him so indolent as to tie the steers 
 to a post out in the lot instead of putting 
 them in the stable as he should have done. The 
 next morning one of the steers was found by his 
 grandfather dead at the post, having wound the 
 halter in .such a manner as to fall and break 
 its neck. The accident occurring so recently 
 that the animal was judged fit for beef, Uncle 
 Thomas began immediately to dress the beast for 
 table use. While busy at this expensive and 
 compulsory job a neighbor passed by as neigh- 
 bors sometimes do, saying, "Uncle Tommy, £oin' 
 to have some fresh beef, I see?" Without look- 
 ing up he said in reply, "Yes, beef to my sor- 
 row," 
 
 Such stories as the above coming from a 
 truthful source make us believe that Abraham 
 Lincoln certainly enjoyed his visits home if 
 for nothing more than a family chat with his 
 folks. What could be of more interest than to 
 have listened in on a conversation between two 
 wits of the type of Thomas and his son Abraham 
 Lincoln on his numerous trips home on visits 
 before the death of his father? We are fur- 
 ther informed by traditions that Thomas Lincoln, 
 while sorely aggravated by his step-son Johns- 
 ton because of his shiftless nature, was pa- 
 tient in the extreme, no reprimand ever more 
 than: "John, how careless you are," or "John, 
 how wasteful you are," knowing full well possi- 
 bly, that John would never learn. 
 
 Thomas Lincoln was said by our friend Nancy, 
 
 [218] 
 
LINCOLN IN LAW 
 
 through her father, tnat "uranopap was gooa to 
 Johnston's children, would care for them and 
 rock 'em to sleep and sing to 'em." The song 
 he would sing was, "He-oh-a-nay , He-oh-a-nay, 
 whoop," an Indian song which always stopped the 
 crying child. It reminded us of our own grand- 
 father's song to us while he rocked out a tune 
 on the old hickory bottom chair without rockers, 
 on the bare floor of our cabin. His song was 
 tuneful and consisted of the repetition of 
 these words, "Trow, trow, trow," i("6" as in 
 cow) . 
 
 Thomas Lincoln kept up his religious activ- 
 ities in Illinois, according to the Halls. While 
 in Indiana the family were Baptists. In Illinois 
 they became Christians or Campbellites. John 
 Hall further states that a Stanley Walker, a 
 native of Kentucky, held meetings once a month 
 in the east room of their log cabin. "Grand- 
 pap," Hall continued, "was so terrible religious 
 that he never 'ud eat nuthin, nohow, without 
 sayin' grace, and I can rekerlect as pliain as 
 can be jest what he said. It wus short, but it 
 wus allers the same, and he never failed to say 
 it, 'Fit and prepare us for humble sarvice. Beg 
 fer Christ's sake. Amen. f " 
 
 It is mentioned by a great many writers that 
 Abraham Lincoln acted and talked at times as 
 though influenced by a degree of superstition, 
 and that dreams especially bothered him. By the 
 word of John Hall and our personal knowledge of 
 a belief in suoerstition as a characteristic 
 in his daughter Nancy, we can easily believe 
 superstition might have been an inborn family 
 trait. John Hall says: "Both Grandpap and 
 Grandmarm Lincoln prayed so much, that they hed 
 
 [219] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 a wonderful power about 'em to cure folks, iftny, 
 Grandmarm could draw out fire and Grandpap 
 could cure a felon." Then Hall would relate 
 how folks would come from miles around to get 
 his grandfather to cure them, and all he would 
 do was just to hold the sore finger in his hands 
 a few minutes and say something in a whisper, 
 "and every time heM cure 'em sure enough." But 
 his grandmother performed her treatment in a 
 slightly different manner. She would just lay 
 her hand on the burn and "shet up her eyes" and 
 say two or three words and it would never hurt 
 "no more." She had drawn the fire out of his 
 own hands lots of times, and once she told him 
 that if she ever divulged the secret to "arry a 
 woman" she would lose her power, but if she told 
 a man it would make no difference, then he says: 
 "She did tell me afore she died what she said 
 when she cured 'em, but I can't tell nobody." 
 
 John tells of the first money he ever made 
 in this way: "Grandpap's only medder was two 
 acres and a half a little north of the house in 
 the east forty. I wus seventeen years old then 
 and he said to me, 'John, if you will mow the 
 medder 1*11 give you a yo. f " The next spring 
 the sheep had three lambs and saved them all. 
 In two or three years he had sold ten sheep out 
 of his flock at $1.25 apiece, "and so you see 1 
 got a start." When he talked to Uncle Abe 
 about his money he said, "Now you can get mar- 
 ried and build a home of your own." 
 
 It seems that old age for Thomas Lincoln 
 might have been but a small handicap and inter- 
 ferred little in his religious worship. John 
 Hall again states and the story is verified by 
 his daughter Nancy that Thomas Lincoln walked 
 
 [220] 
 
 
LINCOLN IN LAW 
 
 to church services at Charleston, a distance of 
 eight miles once a month, stayed over Saturday 
 night for the Sunday, services and walked home 
 on Monday morning. 
 
 Here, in defense of the Lincolns, we would 
 beg to call attention to the Lincoln family 
 vilifiers that this man, Thomas Lincoln, in his 
 extreme old age walked the round trip to 
 Charleston on week-ends to church. Not to sa- 
 loons, beer joints, or wine shops, cock fights 
 or horse races, but to church. 
 
 We go back to the friendly city of Spring- 
 field, Kentucky, where on a certain Sunday morn- 
 ing we met a friendly Mr. Bishop who spent an 
 hour to find the County Clerk in order to let 
 us into the courthouse to see the marriage rec- 
 ord of Thomas Lincoln, then with Joseph Polin, 
 from Springfield to the old deserted home of 
 Frank Berry where he was married, to the cabin 
 site where he first went to housekeeping and 
 where we believe his children were born; to 
 Elizabethtown where Thomas Lincoln carpentered; 
 to the sites of his Kentucky farms; to his new 
 home in Indiana; to his homes in Illinois and 
 the separate cabin sites and finally to this 
 last near Charleston. And think, in all these 
 places in a period of nearly seventy years, not 
 one single act in the life of Thomas Lincoln 
 can be pointed to by his revilers which jus- 
 tifies their contentions to the slightest de- 
 gree. And we come up to those same questions 
 shrouded in mystery; how could they, and why 
 did they defame the name of Thomas Lincoln? 
 
 For our part, we fail to see that any great 
 difference would have resulted in the great work 
 of Abraham Lincoln had all the. scandal and vi- 
 
 [2213 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 tuperation, vilification, and barroom gossip 
 charged to the Lincoln family been true; as, 
 for instance, suppose Thomas Lincoln was truly 
 of the Southern white trash, would his son's 
 Gettysburg Address have been less perfect? Or, 
 suppose Lincoln, after the death of Ann Rutled?e 
 had actually shown signs of insanity, would the 
 Emancipation Proclamation freed fewer of the 
 colored slaves? Or, suppose his father and 
 mother's marriage license had remained undis- 
 covered, would that have justified Lincoln's 
 traducers in saying Lincoln's was an illegiti- 
 mate birth, and making; it a positive statement? 
 What, then was the object of these men? 
 
 For our own satisfaction we must say here, 
 that if it takes such scandal as the Lincoln 
 family has had to endure in the last century to 
 produce a Lincoln we sincerely believe that 
 this nation desperately needs a repetition of 
 another such series of happenings often, and 
 never worse than now. 
 
 The opposite of egotism and boastfulness in 
 Lincoln's character was the secret of his great- 
 ness. Had it not been so he would have proved 
 a failure. Continually mindful of his superior 
 power of reasoning and clear insight into dif- 
 ficult problems of political conditions of his 
 time, he was keenly aware of the necessity of 
 minimizing that fact before his fellowmen. His 
 enemies were his jealous friends with whom he 
 was compelled to live, all, possibly, in their 
 own transparent way endeavoring to cover up any 
 outward show of envy because of Lincoln's tow- 
 ering intellect. Conscious of this blue blood 
 environment as he found it at every turn, and 
 in order to escape from it, only one sure reme- 
 
 [222] 
 
LINCOLN IN LAW 
 
 dy presented itself; a visit to his norr-e w.iere 
 he found peace, true and unenvious friends, a 
 shade, a book and a chance for undisturbed 
 study. This is verified by the stories of John 
 
 J. Hall. 
 
 This mental concealment grew to be a second 
 nature with Lincoln. It became so natural that 
 he himself was totally unconscious of the dis- 
 guise. Telling a good story and telling it 
 well was probably his best means to keep mental 
 endowment in the background and at the same time 
 stand on level ground with friend and enemy. 
 With the strong minds of the nation while Pres- 
 ident, the same innocent superiority of mind was 
 kept submerged until it became necessary to use 
 it. When that time came Cabinet Officers and 
 Generals: Seward, Chase, Stanton, Hooker, and 
 McClellan became as pawns on a chessboard. 
 
 Had Lincoln not have been the humble man he 
 was, had he displayed egotism and arrogance to 
 the slightest degree , he could never have reached 
 immortal fame. He lived among and gained his 
 position along with schooled and college men, 
 passing them on the road to fame, and the pass- 
 ing was woe to the family of Lincoln. 
 
 Not one of Lincoln's vicious critics of whom 
 we have knowledge but was educated in the best 
 schools of the time. Some were teachers and 
 college professors, others lawyersi lecturers, 
 and some professional biographers. One sat 
 across an office table from Lincoln for nearly 
 twenty-five years in awe , pity , disgust , wonder, 
 hatred, and admiration for the uneducated Lin- 
 coln, never realizing that in due time, he, 
 Herndon, his partner in law* would spend another 
 twenty-five years after Lincoln's assassination 
 
 223] 
 
DEFENSE OP LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 in contriving a comfortable seat for himself in 
 the chariot of Lincoln's immortal fame. A sort 
 of hitchhiker to glory. 
 
 It is our opinion that Herndon never quite 
 condescended to admit the truth: that Lincoln, 
 uncouth, ungainly, ugly, even a baboon in the 
 estimation of Stanton; awkward, humble and un- 
 educated, the product of "Southern white trash," 
 and coming from a "putrid pool" could possibly 
 outshine all the blue blooded educated men of 
 the times as the sun outshines a candle. Un- 
 doubtedly the keen mind of Lincoln was aware of 
 this hidden resentment, and relied greatly on 
 his oeculiar personal appearance to annul any 
 show of arrogance or superiority because of mind 
 supremacy. His studied correlation of personal 
 appearance and story-telling for smoothing out 
 and adjusting himself to the common run became 
 a part of him. He became humble Abe Lincoln by 
 the same means that made him great, by hard 
 study. Among schooled and college men he found 
 it wise to be humble. With all his boasted 
 power of reading character, Herndon in our 
 opinion missed his guess , missed finding the key 
 to Lincoln's greatness, the art of being hum- 
 ble. So, he maneuvered him into being the son 
 of a Virginia nobleman. 
 
 Believing in his theory that Virginia blue 
 blood solved the enigma of Lincoln's great in- 
 tellect, he began earnestly to gather facts to 
 bolster and substantiate it. As we interpret 
 the many letters from Herndon to several co- 
 partners in their effort to produce the only 
 screat biography of Lincoln, it would seem that 
 he acted very much as a steam engine without a 
 balance wheel. He let enthusiasm lead him into 
 
 [224] 
 
LINCOLN IN LAW 
 
 eccentric actions. His ears were keen to hear 
 the slightest rumor if it supported his new 
 theory of the solution of his law partner's 
 genius, but dull indeed if it contradicted it. 
 At one time Herndon considered the testimony of 
 Dennis Hanks as reliable; later, since Dennis 
 could never be made to say that Lincoln's moth- 
 er was an illegitimate child, or "base born," 
 he immediately became a "liar." So long as he 
 was a good witness, he was trustworthy. When 
 he became a bad one, he was not. He seemed bent 
 on injecting better blood into Lincoln's veins 
 than that which flowed through the Hankses and 
 Lincolns, and the "wish" was his impelling force. 
 In his hunt for superior blood, he listened to 
 any man, regardless of character. The barroom 
 Enloe fight myth only shows how willing Herndon 
 was to fish in the "putrid pool" for sustaining 
 evidence to smear the family of his own bene- 
 fctor, Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 But what can be more strange than finding 
 later twenty-five or thirty educated college 
 men such as Woodrow Wilson, Albert J. Beveridge, 
 and many others falling in with Herndon's wish 
 to rescue Lincoln from the lowly common people 
 to blue blood aristocracy? Such selfish jeal- 
 ousy was never before manifested in history to 
 our knowledge. 
 
 We have often wondered what Lincoln's esti- 
 mate of Herndon might have been. Herndon was 
 almost ten years younger than Lincoln. With 
 nothing more for evidence than what might be 
 formulated from reading Herndon's many attempts 
 to put his opinions of Lincoln in writing, we 
 have concluded that Herndon was accepted by Lin- 
 coln as only a young student of law, and never 
 
 [225] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 became much more than a very reliable handy man 
 in the partnership. Lincoln's great work was 
 on the "circuit" but he needed an office in 
 Springfield, and of course an office boy was 
 necessary. While Lincoln rode the circuit, 
 Herndon kept' office, would meet new clients, 
 make notes, and hunt statutes which might apply 
 to cases. In all important matters, in our 
 opinion, nothing was done until Lincoln re- 
 turned from the circuit. Herndon of course did 
 have wonderful opportuniti.es to study the char- 
 acter of Lincoln, and to use his wonderful power 
 — of which he seems so fond of boasting — to 
 penetrate the mind. We can easily believe that 
 when Lincoln stepped out into their office, by 
 a mere glance on Herndon's part, he could easi- 
 ly tell whether he should speak first, or let 
 Lincoln do it. It is said that Lincoln often 
 read aloud to himself, believing the sound of 
 the spoken words made the subject more clear 
 than by silent reading. Likewise we can believe 
 that when discussions of law occurred between 
 them, Herndon became an object for Lincoln to 
 direct his views at, and not to, by which he 
 obtained the same benefit as when he read aloud 
 to hi it- self. 
 
 As Lincoln came gradually to the front in 
 law, and in local, state, and finally national 
 affairs, Herndon himself took on importance as 
 the law partner of Lincoln. We can believe he 
 reveled in this sort of absorbed glory, making 
 himself seen and heard among Lincoln's associ- 
 ates as though he was the power behind the 
 throne. He was not asked by Lincoln to make 
 the Eastern trip in which he saw Greeley, Trum- 
 ball, Seward, Garrison, Phillipps, Parker, and 
 
 [226] 
 
LINCOLN IN LAW 
 
 others. He wrote twenty-five years afterward 
 that he only "inferred" that Lincoln wished him 
 to go. He went, "saw them, and set them right 
 for Lincoln, saw the country, returned, received 
 the cordial thanks of Lincoln." He also wrote 
 twenty-five years after this notable freewill 
 offering that he oaid all his own expenses out 
 of his own pockets; not out of the common till 
 of the Lincoln and Herndon partnership. To our 
 notion he writes of Lincoln as not quite his 
 equal. Back of every sentence he wishes to 
 give the impression that he gratuitously pushes 
 aside his own importance in order to be gener- 
 ous to Lincoln. His Eastern trip was an exam- 
 ple. By his interviews with these prominent 
 men of the time he told the story in such a way 
 as to slyly give the reader the impression that 
 in reality, he, Herndon, was the great molder 
 of the nation's destiny; that Lincoln was only 
 a tool which he had discovered. 
 
 In the original Herndon letters, speaking of 
 this trip to the East, we find this: "To be 
 sure, the youthful and ardent Herndon always 
 began the correspondence; yet, even so, it was 
 to him and not to his partner that these bril- 
 liant men, molders of the public opinion of the 
 time, looked for reports of conditions in Illi- 
 nois. It is extremely curious that, judging 
 from their letters to Herndon, these leaders 
 seemed not to have realized that Lincoln amount- 
 ed to anything during that period." 
 
 The above is a quotation from Emanuel Hertz, 
 January, 1938, but as it was in quotation marks 
 with Beveridge previously quoted, we suopose he 
 was the original author. At any rate, the quo- 
 tation seems to be intended as a compliment to 
 
 [227] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 Herndon. If not, what was the meaning of the 
 author when he said: "It is extremely curious 
 that, judging from their letters to Herndon, 
 these leaders seemed not to have realized that 
 Lincoln amounted to anything during that peri- 
 od." Our interpretation of the above would be 
 that these leaders by the tone of their letters 
 had for some reason believed that Herndon him- 
 self, not Lincoln, was the power in the West 
 that "amounted to anything." And who, if not 
 Herndon gave them that impression? And why, if 
 not for his own self laudation did he misinform 
 them? We wonder, too, if these Eastern leaders 
 had not yet heard of the Lincoln-Douglas de- 
 bates? Or did Herndon fool them into the be- 
 lief that Lincoln was only a Charlie McCarthy 
 on his political knee? 
 
 The author of the above also states: "For 
 years before his (Lincoln's) nomination for the 
 Presidency, Herndon wrote to such men as Parker, 
 Sumner," etc. "For years," who can believe 
 that such important correspondence originated 
 with Lincoln's own law partner, in Lincoln's 
 own office, on a subject as important as the 
 Presidency of the Umited States, all without 
 the knowledge of Lincoln — of all men? If the 
 author believes this, he certainly cannot ex- 
 pect his readers to do so. 
 
 It is more logical in our opinion to believe 
 that Lincoln saw every letter that left his 
 office in his interest for the Presidency in 
 those "several years," and that at le.ast>> some 
 of them were actually dictated by him. 
 
 The whole story of the Herndon Eastern cor- 
 respondence in the interest of Lincoln's candi- 
 dacy for President, including his trip in which 
 
 [228] 
 
LINCOLN IN LAW 
 
 he "saw the country" at. his own expense, re- 
 flects in our opinion to Lincoln's credit; to 
 his farsightedness and astuteness. If all this 
 maneuvering went on out of Lincoln's office se- 
 cretly by Herndon and resulted in Lincoln's 
 nomination for the Presidency, there is of 
 course nothing left for us to do but remove our 
 hats to Herndon. On the other hand, if Lincoln 
 did know about it, as we believe he did, finally 
 capitalizing on it, at the same time allowing 
 Herndon the role of "Big I," we would respec- 
 tively leave it to the reader as to whom the 
 joke was on. 
 
 Herndon reports in his biography of Lincoln 
 that he was always addressed by Lincoln as 
 "Billy." Lincoln had a son while he lived in 
 Springfield whom he named William. This son he 
 always addressed as "Willie." We have often 
 wondered if this dissimilar nickname for "Wil- 
 liam" was not for the purpose of' making a dis- 
 tinction between his office boy "Billy" and his 
 own son "Willie." Herndon, in his many letters 
 of instructions to his collaborators working 
 with him on his biography of Lincoln seemed to 
 impress upon them the wonderful opportunity that 
 was his in applying his great gift of reading 
 the character of men, and especially that of 
 Abraham Lincoln, which he was twenty-nve years 
 in doing. Lincoln, no doubt, had finished the 
 job as to Herndon 's mind within a week, and was 
 making practical application of the result every 
 day of their partnership. 
 
 Herndon tells of Lincoln's last visit to 
 their of fice just before leaving Springfield for 
 Washington and quotes Lincoln as saying: "Billy, 
 let the shingle still read, 'Lincoln and Hern- 
 
 [229] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 don' to let the people know tnat the election 
 to the Presidency makes no difference." We 
 wonder if tiiis was not Herndon's request of 
 Lincoln, 
 
 In due time Herndon was on a farm west of 
 Springfield a few miles. Many times in his 
 correspondence to his partners in history writing 
 he confessed to being poor and hard put to meet 
 his obligations, needed money, was raising vege- 
 tables and once "digging his taters." had he 
 have been a successful lawyer, one even capable 
 of making a living, he might not have been 
 driven to hard work on the farm. When the pos- 
 sibility of Lincoln's return to Springfield 
 faded because of his assassination, evidently 
 Herndon gave up the law. There might have been 
 some extenuating proof that Herndon was more 
 than an office boy for Lincoln, but it certainly 
 is not manifested in the latter part of life. 
 Herndon, the great analytical mind reader, the 
 maker of a President, descended to the lowly 
 "digging his tatersV; Lincoln, the uneducated 
 product of the "Southern white trash," 'ascended 
 from the lowly log cabin to the White House. 
 
 [230] 
 
Chapter Fifteen 
 THE PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 We have given considerable space to trie de- 
 fense of the Lincoln family against what we be- 
 lieve a concerted, vicious, and violent out- 
 break of base and weakly supported evidence. 
 A family long dead, beyond all power of self- 
 defense, and with the greatest misdemeanor or 
 deviation from rectitude charged, not one was 
 ever greater than that of being "poor." Even 
 at that, none have charged that Thomas Lincoln 
 ever failed to pay a debt. Can we say the same 
 of all the charitable writers' families (three 
 generations back)? 
 
 We quote from an interesting list of the 
 "Lincoln Kinsman" of February, 1941. 
 
 Albert J. Beveridge: 
 
 "No more ignorant boy than Thomas (•Lincoln) 
 could be found in the backwoods." 
 Nathaniel W. Stevenson: 
 
 "His parents — drifting, roaming people, 
 struggling with poverty — were dwellers in 
 the Virginia mountains." 
 Lea and Hutchinson: 
 
 "The unhappy child was left to the tender 
 mercies of strangers in a wilderness swarm- 
 ing with savage beasts and still more sav- 
 age men." 
 
 [231] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 James Morgan: 
 
 "He was as often called f Linkern f or ' Linkorn' 
 as Lincoln, because he himself did not know 
 how to spell his name," 
 N. Stevenson: 
 
 "A shiftless fellow, never succeeded at any- 
 thing, who could neither read nor write." 
 Ward H. Lamon : 
 
 "He was idle, thriftless, poor, a hunter, 
 and a rover." 
 William Coleman: 
 
 "He was an indolent, happy-go-lucky, con- 
 tented tramp." 
 N. Stevenson: 
 
 "A sh'adowy figure, this Thomas; the few mem- 
 ories of him suggest a superstitious nature 
 in a superstitious community." 
 John T. Morse, Jr. : 
 
 "Shiftless migratory squatter by invincible 
 tendency, and a very ignorant man." 
 W. Coleman: 
 
 "From all accounts, an ignorant, shiftless 
 vagabond." 
 Rose Strunsky: 
 
 "He reached the age of twenty-seven , the year 
 of his marriage, a brawny, wandering labor- 
 er, a poor white, unlettered and untaught, 
 except for his trade of carpentering." 
 W. Lamon: 
 
 "Nobody alleges he ever built a house, or 
 pretended to do more than a few little odd 
 jobs connected with such an undertaking." 
 William Herndon: 
 
 "He never fell in with the routine of labor; 
 was what some people would call unfortunate 
 
 [232] 
 
THE PRESIDENT 
 
 or unlucky in all his business ventures--if 
 in reality he ever made one." 
 William M. Thayer: 
 
 "Slave holders and wealthy men looked down 
 upon him as a menial of hardly so much ac- 
 count as a slave." 
 Eugene W. Chafin: 
 
 "Thomas Lincoln was an ignorant, worthless, 
 shiftless, illiterate man." 
 W. Herndon: 
 
 "Not only devoid of energy and shiftless, 
 but dull." 
 J. Rogers Gore: 
 
 "He had the wandering foot, and looking for 
 other locations for a home was his hobby." 
 Carl Schurz: 
 
 "A typical 'poor southern white 1 ; shiftless 
 and improvident, without ambition for him- 
 self or his children, constantly looking 
 for a new piece of land where he might make 
 a living without much work." 
 Denton J. Snider: 
 
 "Nomadic Tom Lincoln belongs really nowhere, 
 and so he cannot find out where he belongs." 
 J. Morse, Jr. : 
 
 "He constantly sought to change, since it 
 seemed that no change could bring him to a 
 lower level than he had already found." 
 N. Stevenson: 
 
 "Vagrants, or little better than vagrants, 
 were Thomas Lincoln and his family making 
 their way to Indiana." 
 Nicolay and Hay: 
 
 "His earthly possessions were of the slight- 
 est, for the backs of two borrowed horses 
 sufficed for the load." 
 
 [233] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 W. Lamon : 
 
 "Where he got the horses used upon this oc- 
 casion it is impossible to say. His de- 
 cision (to move), however, was hastened by 
 certain troubles which culminated in a des- 
 perate combat between him and one Abraham 
 Enloe. They fought like savages; but Lin- 
 coln obtained a signal and permanent advan- 
 tage by biting off the nose of his antago- 
 nist." 
 
 Madison C. Peters: 
 
 "Thomas Lincoln was a poverty stricken man, 
 whom misfortune had seemingly chosen for 
 her own, and whose ambitions were blighted 
 and hopes almost dead." 
 
 Frederick T. Hill: 
 
 "An ignorant man, amiable enough, but color- 
 lessly negative, without strength of char- 
 acter, and with no ambition worthy of the 
 name." 
 
 Robert E. Knowles: 
 
 "A poor specimen of the ,f poor whites,' syno- 
 
 * ' nym for ignorance and superstition to half 
 a continent. To the day of his death he 
 could neither read nor write." 
 
 Lord Charnwood: 
 
 "He never seemed to have left the impress of 
 his goodness or anything else on any man." 
 
 Woodrow Wilson: 
 
 "Abraham Lincoln came of the most unpromising 
 stock on the continent, the !, poor white 
 trash of the South.' His shiftless father 
 had moved from place to place in the western 
 country, failing where every body else was 
 succeeding in making a living; and the boy 
 had spent the most susceptible years of his 
 
 [234] 
 
THE PRESIDENT 
 
 life under no discipline but that of de- 
 grading poverty." 
 
 In addition to the statement of Beveridge 
 which we have quoted, "No more ignorant boy 
 than Thomas (Lincoln) could be found in the back 
 woods," we also find that he contended sincere- 
 ly to the last of his life that Abraham Lincoln 
 was an illegitimate child; that his conclusion 
 was based primarily on the supposition that 
 Thomas Lincoln was physically deficient--a myth 
 originated by Herndon and set afloat by him. 
 
 Is it possible for anyone to read the above 
 quotations and have the least idea of what these 
 highly educated authors were trying to prove? 
 Here we have quotations from about twenty dif- 
 ferent writers telling us in twenty-eight lif- 
 ferent ways that Thomas Lincoln was a "poor" 
 man, when all the world has known that fact 
 since his son became President of the United 
 States; that the son himself proclaimed it; 
 that the son never complained or held aught 
 against his family for being poor, but on the 
 other hand considered it honorable. Honorable 
 all the days of his life, as one of his good 
 deeds before leaving for Washington was to visit 
 his step-mother, one of the last of his family. 
 
 Let us admit that Thomas Lincoln might have 
 been poor relatively, but the records show that 
 he still was no more in want than his contempo- 
 rary pioneer neighbors; even his cruelest vil- 
 ifiers say he had a trade in addition to farm- 
 ing — one would naturally believe this might 
 help in times of stress--and to that extent he 
 was above the average of his neighbors. 
 
 It will be noticed that all of the above 
 
 [235] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 writers whom we have quoted have made positive 
 statements. None were in doubt. Now, since 
 they seemed to have been so very well -inf orrred , 
 is it not a little strange that not one of these 
 forgiving writers did not add to the "terrible" 
 crime of being "poor" the crime of murder, man- 
 slaughter, thief, drunkenness, wife desertion, 
 a one time slaveholder while he lived in Ken- 
 tucky, or a renter who failed to pay his debts? 
 All that was needed was a positive statement 
 from them, proof wasn't necessary. 
 
 One thing we can be reasonably sure of, if 
 Thomas Lincoln had been the father of one of 
 the above historians, not one of them can we 
 believe would have eyer shown him the slightest 
 respect, especially if they had reached the 
 heights his son attained. 
 
 There is one phase in the above quotations 
 which seems to us a little amusing. Beveridge 
 "sincerely believed" that Thomas Lincoln was 
 not physically capable of being a father, by 
 which contention of course he wished to give 
 out the impression that Abraham Lincoln was not 
 Thomas Lincoln's son, but the son of some person 
 of a little bluer blood than Thomas possessed. 
 All the while the other writers were racking 
 their sympathetic minds to find descriptive 
 words to fit the awful penury of Thomas Lincoln, 
 who, according to Mr. Beveridge, was not the 
 father of Abraham at all. 
 
 We also believe it would be a little amusing 
 to have Mr. Beveridge try to place the man in 
 his proper division of the human race, who, like 
 his Thomas Lincoln, not capable of being a fa- 
 ther, yet goes on from year to year maintain- 
 ing a home for his wife Nancy while she proceeds 
 
 [286] 
 
THE PRESIDENT 
 
 to raise a family of three children from some 
 other man. 
 
 But, with this combination of writers as a 
 whole, in spite of their numerous contradic- 
 tions, one with another, all seemed to have the 
 general idea that penury, pioneers, log cabins 
 and Thomas Lincoln were synonymous terms. And 
 for a man like Abraham Lincoln — of all men — to 
 spring from that fusion of impurities was a 
 little too much to take; so, to them, any theory 
 that afforded an avenue of escape was a relief. 
 
 The question presents itself again, what ob- 
 ject could all of these writers have had? None 
 of them knew Thomas Lincoln personally, certain- 
 ly then, they had no personal grudge; none knew 
 of his own personal knowledge that what he said 
 of Thomas Lincoln and his family was true, yet 
 none expressed doubtfulness in what he said. 
 All could have said that Abraham Lincoln's 
 father lived in the early pioneer days when log 
 cabins housed the rich as well as poor; that 
 from authentic sources Thomas Lincoln was in 
 possession of land from the time he was about 
 twenty-five years of age until his death at the 
 age of seventy-five; that he owned as much as 
 forty to several hundred acres. As land in his 
 Kentucky days was cheap he could not be consid- 
 ered wealthy; or, on the other hand extremely 
 poor. But no such charitable description of 
 Thomas Lincoln's life was given. Yet this man 
 raised a son who said: "With malice toward 
 none, with charity for all." 
 
 What then, can be the object of these highly 
 educated writers in reducing the father of 
 Abraham Lincoln in the minds of their readers 
 to the lowest depths of depravity? The most 
 
 [237] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 charitable answer, as we see it, is a sort of 
 wish, born of jealousy, to bridge across from 
 their own comrronalty to the inaccess i ble heights 
 of Lincoln's immortal fame. 
 
 If only one of the above writers had rrade 
 his statement, let it even be a positive state- 
 ment, it might be accounted for by juderine the 
 author as careless, thoughtless, or possibly 
 one who felt sure of his ground; but, since 
 twenty or more have risked their reputations 
 as writers of true history on nothing rrore than 
 the statement of some one who had no more per- 
 sonal knowledge of the dead than they themselves, 
 what other explanation can there be than the 
 one above? 
 
 Were these men conscious of their unchari- 
 table and unproven slanders toward an innocent 
 man and his family? In a way, perhaps they were 
 not, although the result is the same. Their 
 crime may be classed along with unintentional 
 manslaughter, with a possible additional charge 
 of running away and leaving the victim drowning 
 in a "putrid pool." 
 
 In all the past, to our knowledge, there is 
 no page in history so darkened by vultures — who 
 have passed as writers — which compares with 
 this in sneering, scoffing, and flouting disre- 
 spect for the innocent dead as the above corr- 
 ments hold for the family of Abraham Lincoln. 
 Can any one think of a single exception? 
 
 Turn back and read again what Herndon said, 
 what Knowles, Lamon, Hill, Snider, Woodrow Wil- 
 son and others said. Then ask these questions 
 of each of them: Did you know this man Lincoln? 
 Will you swear to the truth of what you have 
 said? How can you be so positive? Is it, in 
 
 [238] 
 
THE PRESIDENT 
 
 your opinion, such a terrible disgrace to be 
 poor? Please tell us, Mr. Herndon, Mr. Hill, 
 Mr. Snider, and all of you, just why you said 
 these things. Why? 
 
 We can be certain that had Thorras Lincoln's 
 son never been born, Thomas Lincoln would have 
 been as obscure in history as the day he died 
 in 1851. Or, had Abraham remained in compara- 
 tive obscurity all his life the results would 
 have been the same; therefore, since Abraham 
 Lincoln did not remain in obscurity, we can 
 with certainty charge the defamation of the 
 Lincoln family directly to the fame of Lincoln. 
 
 But other great men have lived before Lin- 
 coln whose families or ancestors may have been 
 as disreputable or more so than that of Lin- 
 coln ' s, yet historians have not dwelt on their 
 misdeeds. Why, then, was the Lincoln family 
 the only one in history to have to take a con- 
 certed scandal? 
 
 Certainly, Abraham Lincoln was something 
 different from any other man whose families 
 were let alone. That difference must have been 
 the reason and the only reason that brought the 
 family defamation of Lincoln. 
 
 Our theory, then, is that Lincoln lived con- 
 stantly in an atmosphere of jealousy among his 
 associates from the hour he left his real and 
 true friends, the comrron people. This began 
 at the time he left New Salem and went to prac- 
 tice law in Springfield. When he arrived in 
 Springfield, his intellect began to manifest 
 itself as unusual among his fellow lawyers. 
 Since he came out of nowhere in particular, 
 with no schooling and no refinements, his in- 
 tellectuality soon became an enigma. He was an 
 
 [239] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 intellectual Gulliver among the Lilliputians. 
 Jealousy and resentment followed him to his 
 assassination. And they lingered on and on. 
 
 There are numerous recorded instances in the 
 many biographies where Lincoln was subjected to 
 shameful humiliations after leaving New Salem 
 and going among the more refined. While only a 
 few of these incidents are needed to clear the 
 point, we can be sure that where one incident 
 found its way into print, there were hundreds 
 which happened of lesser importance and were 
 lost to the writers, but which were as shameful 
 and hard to endure as were the greater ones. 
 
 Probably the most cutting discourtesy which 
 ever fell to Lincoln's lot (of those we find in 
 the books) is that which came from Edward M. 
 Stanton while trying the famous McCormack case 
 in Cincinnati. As the story is told, Stanton — 
 at first sight of Lincoln — remarked in Lincoln' s 
 hearing to some one that he would not be seen 
 in court with such an ungainly looking baboon 
 as Lincoln. The result was that Lincoln did 
 not make an appearance during the trial, al- 
 though he had gone to considerable trouble to 
 prepare himself. 
 
 We are further told that Lincoln returned 
 home greatly mortified, but said little. This 
 is reasonable to believe. The phrase "but said 
 little," in our opinion, is significant. He 
 did say little, but thought quite a lot. Think- 
 ing was the only reserve which he had full con- 
 fidence in. And in our opinion before Lincoln 
 reached Springfield from Cincinnati a sharp 
 jawed trap was set for a certain fox that parad- 
 ed under the name of Edward M. Stanton. The 
 time came, the trap snapped. 
 
 [240] 
 
THE PRESIDENT 
 
 The election came in 1860 and Lincoln was 
 elected President. A cabinet had to be chosen. 
 As we get the facts from history, Lincoln's 
 selection of men brought some criticism from 
 his close friends. Some of his chosen ones had 
 shown political antagonism to him — had support- 
 ed opposing candidates to him in the Chicago 
 convention. This fact, as it was pointed out 
 would bring discord in his administration from 
 the very start. 
 
 We believe that Lincoln had a double purpose 
 in selecting his pre-election opponents: first, 
 he thought they were the ablest men in the coun- 
 try; second, if they were in his cabinet he 
 would have his worst critics corralled. In the 
 cabinet, their best would be directed toward 
 saving the Union. While if left outside the 
 cabinet they would be left free to continue 
 their criticisms without any restraint, This 
 would hurt his administration 
 
 In addition to this, we have another view 
 which we have never seen in print. It supports 
 our view in regard to the cause, the basic 
 cause, for the defamation of the Lincoln family. 
 
 In spite of the fact that Abraham Lincoln, 
 in the course of human events was winning inno- 
 cently immortal fame, he had to live a human 
 life. He was human. Being human he was sub- 
 ject to human frailties. Among his frailties 
 were (the one most noticed by all who have self-* 
 respect to the slightest degree) the many per- 
 sonal insults and discourtesies he was compelled 
 to endure in silence. Because of his backwoods 
 appearance and his illiterate background his 
 associates believed there could be no equality 
 between them. By the time he was elected Pres- 
 
 [241] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 ident he had the true measure of all the public 
 characters in the nation. His great debates 
 with Senator Douglas gave him confidence in his 
 ability to cope with all emergencies in his 
 contacts with men of all types: the keen, the 
 dull, the high, and the low. For twenty-three 
 years, or from the time he went to Springfield 
 to live, he had encountered more than his share 
 of indignities similar to that at Cincinnati by 
 Stanton. 
 
 He had made his way by sheer intellect, 
 still contrite and humble, a place superior to 
 them all. Stanton's baboon became Stanton's 
 chief. The chief was a spider, and the spider 
 had spun a web. The web was the cabinet, so, 
 "Please walk into my parlor, said the spider to 
 the fly." Stanton was trapped for the duration, 
 for four years, as we get it from State papers 
 which passed up from the War Department for the 
 President's approval. No caged hyena ever 
 snarled so viciously and found itself so help- 
 less as Stanton did during the years previous 
 to the assassination of Lincoln. He had been 
 given a free hand in the conduct of the war. 
 His generals gave him trouble. He could only 
 quarrel with then privately, not publicly. For 
 if he did he would be criticizing his own War 
 Department. When Stanton became so terribly 
 exasperated and wished to go beyond authority, 
 he would get a little reminder from the Presi- 
 dent somewhat similar to the soft paw of a kit- 
 ten as it keeps a captured mouse corralled. As 
 in the case of Daniel Winger (a fourteen-year- 
 old boy who had been sentenced to be shot) the 
 order came from Stanton to Lincoln for his ap- 
 proval; Stanton received this reply: "Dear sir: 
 
 242] 
 
THE PRESIDENT 
 
 Hadn't we better spank this drummer boy and 
 send him back home to Leavenworth? A. Lincoln." 
 "It is better," he writes to Stanton again, 
 "for the public service that he (an Adjutant 
 General) give his time to the business of his 
 office, and not to personal attendance on me... 
 my view of the matter is as I have stated. A. 
 Lincoln." 
 
 Stanton was not the only fly in the web. 
 Seward was high man in the Chicago convention 
 but soon lost his lead to Lincoln. In the for- 
 mation of the cabinet, Lincoln made him Secre- 
 tary of State. The highly intelligent and edu- 
 cated Seward mistook the meaning of the western 
 backwoodsman — whom no doubt he had often heard 
 Stanton refer to as the Ape. He believed that 
 Lincoln only wished him as adviser or manager 
 to relieve him (Lincoln) in the management of a 
 white elephant, the Presidency. 
 
 On Inaugeration Day, March 4, 1861, Seward 
 offered to resign the Secretaryship of State 
 because Lincoln refused to let Seward name his 
 cabinet. Lincoln refused his resignation, say- 
 ing afterward, "I couldn't afford to let Seward 
 take the first trick." In about a month Seward 
 undertook once more to line the President out, 
 still believing him incompetent to run the Gov- 
 ernment. This time he sent a note to the Pres- 
 ident which, in our opinion, looks like impu- 
 dency, since he should have hardly recovered 
 from the sting inflicted the month before. The 
 title of the advice to the President was "Some 
 thoughts for the President's consideration." 
 It begins, "We are at the end of a month's ad- 
 ministration, and yet without a policy either 
 domestic or foreign." The one time flatboatman 
 
 [243] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 answered, "At the beginning of that month, in 
 the inaugural, I said: 'The power confided in 
 me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess 
 the property and places belonging to the gov- 
 ernment, and to collect the duties and imposts. ' 
 This had your distinct approval at the tirre; 
 and, taken in connection with the order I im- 
 mediately gave General Scott, directing him 
 to employ every means in his power to strength- 
 en and hold the forts, comprises the exact 
 policy you now urge..." We would say that Lin- 
 coln took the second trick, also. 
 
 Lincoln's correspondence with his Generals 
 (McCleilan, Meade, Hooker, and others) was as 
 convincing as his state documents that he un- 
 derstood their military problems as well or 
 better than they themselves, though he was in 
 Washington, and they on the front. To Mc- 
 Cleilan, October 24, 1862: "I have just read 
 your dispatch about sore-tongued horses. Will 
 you pardon me for asking what the horses of 
 your army have done since the battle of Antietam 
 that fatigues anything? A. Lincoln." 
 
 The truth is that the state documents of 
 Abraham Lincoln are so clear, concise, and 
 pointed, (so singularly superior to most gov- 
 ernment documents) that they are as interesting 
 as a novel. 
 
 Closing, it would surely be in place to ex- 
 press the view that our country today would 
 find itself in perfect safety with families 
 like Thomas Lincoln's and his fellow pioneer 
 neighbors scattered throughout the land. It 
 was they who gave Abraham Lincoln his inspira- 
 tion for the Gettysburg address and the Emanci- 
 pation; and who would no doubt say to us to-day, 
 
 [244] 
 
THE PRESIDENT 
 
 "Go back to the principles of George Washing- 
 ton, of Thomas Jefferson, to the Bill of Rights 
 and stand by the Constitution in spirit as well 
 as principle." Answering the dreamers, they 
 would say, "No, no, it is better to be a cen- 
 tury slow, than one year too fast; let your 
 national debt be your guide." 
 
 In the light of recent research and the pos- 
 sibility of further discoveries through the 
 archives in all the Lincoln localities over the 
 country (such as the notable work of The Lin- 
 coln Foundation of Fort Wayne, Indiana) we wish 
 to say this in defense of the many mistaken 
 writers whom we have quoted throughout this 
 manuscript: All of them, Beveridge, Wilson, 
 Stevenson, Charmwood, and even Herndon would 
 say, "We're sorry." 
 
 Could they have had just one short talk with 
 the last remaining emigrant who came in the old 
 ox-wagon to Illinois with the Lincolns and who 
 knew Thomas Lincoln and his family best of all! 
 Could they have been told by him of a certain 
 good honest man— of the love his family and 
 neighbors had for him, of his many week-end 
 trips (walking both ways) to Charleston to 
 church, of his quiet home life, and of his lit- 
 tle prayers, "Fit and prepare us for humble 
 service. Beg fer Christ's sake. Amen."! We 
 might all say with him, John J. Hall, "How we 
 wish we could see Grandpap and Grandmarm and 
 Uncle Abe once more." 
 
 THE ELM 
 
 The tree mentioned in the accompanying poem 
 is still standing and is estimated to be 200 
 
 [245] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 years old. It stands opposite to the north end 
 of the Shepherd Road about three and one-half 
 miles southeast of Lebanon, Indiana, on Road 52, 
 and nearly a half mile south of the C. C. C. & 
 St. L. R. R. over which the Inaugural Lincoln 
 Train passed on its way to Washington, D. C, in 
 February, 1861, and also the funeral train on 
 its way back to Springfield, Illinois, in May, 
 1865. 
 
 When I was young, around me stood, 
 The Beech, the Linn, and Cottonwood. 
 
 All were giants of forestry, 
 
 Tall and great, they seemed to me. 
 
 With spreading branches, reaching high, 
 With leaves and vines which hid the sky, 
 
 While I was yet a little tree, 
 I grew beneath this canopy. 
 
 I've heard folklore among the trees, 
 As sighed to me by gentle breeze, 
 
 Of things they saw when they were young, 
 And of traditions, elders sung, 
 
 Of sleets and snows and wintry rains, 
 Of lightning blasts, and hurricanes. 
 
 All these they weathered, as of plan, 
 Until there came the axe of man. 
 
 I saw the giants fall and crash, 
 
 Till all were felled with cruel lash. 
 
 No, not all, yet all but one, 
 
 For Fate left me, an elm, alone. 
 
 [246] 
 
THE PRESIDENT 
 
 Standing as a sentinel, 
 
 Many stories I can tell, 
 Not alone of tales of tree, 
 
 But things I've seen, now history. 
 
 As, when the Red man, moving on, 
 Passing this way, woe-begone, 
 
 Stopped in view to hesitate, 
 
 Silently camped, moved on to fate. 
 
 The path he trod was then to be, 
 The hunter's trail, eventually, 
 
 And then the man with axe in hand 
 Felled the forest and made the land 
 
 A barren, lonesome place for me, 
 For now I stand a Lone Elm Tree. 
 
 Because I stand beside the trail, 
 I owe my chance to tell this tale. 
 
 As I did once before relate, 
 
 f Twas here I grew to my estate; 
 
 And now I feel it is my place 
 To act the part of one to face 
 
 The lot of all, both man and tree, 
 
 And linger on to destiny. 
 I tower above, and look below, 
 
 See mankind passing to and fro, 
 
 Each with face of woe or peace, 
 Happiness, hate, or sacrifice. 
 
 But all go on, pass out of sight, 
 As hidden by the darkest night. 
 
 [247] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 Two hundred years I've seen, and more, 
 The good, the bad, the rich and poor; 
 
 Some pass by early, and some are late, 
 Yet go as though decreed by Fate. 
 
 The tramp, the beggar, and vagabond, 
 With halting gait, have gone beyond. 
 
 And many fortunes Gypsies told, 
 
 While camped beneath, in days of old. 
 
 And once, when I, of middle age, 
 
 Saw surge on surge of passion rage, 
 
 Destined to bring the greatest storm, 
 This land as yet had ever borne, 
 
 Saw to the north, on track of steel, 
 A train move out from West, on wheel, 
 
 All decked in flags of stripes and stars, 
 'Twas speeding East, there were two cars 
 
 A month or two another scene 
 
 Appeared beneath. A call, foreseen 
 
 By him who saw the gath'ring storm, 
 The tall sad man, almost forlorn. 
 
 And then I saw what he had seen, 
 
 The tumult raging from within, 
 The Country, severed, bringing war, 
 
 The call for men from near and far. 
 
 Beneath I saw men going through, 
 To join with others, donning Blue. 
 
 They to meet, the breeze did say, 
 To join in conflict, men in Gray. 
 
 [248] 
 
THE PRESIDENT 
 
 As news comes through to trees by air, 
 
 'Twas gloom, then light, and then despair, 
 
 Then, brighter yet, the horizon. 
 
 The news came back, the Blue had won. 
 
 And then, ah, then, the gloom of war, 
 Was brighter than a brilliant star 
 
 Compared to that with whispering breath 
 Came o'er the land. The news was Death. • 
 
 A tree, as I, did sigh and wail, 
 I saw once more the cars on steel. 
 
 This time, somber, moving West, 
 Coming slowly from the East. 
 
 And, as I stood and looked upon 
 
 That black draped train, which soon 
 
 was gone, 
 
 I knew, I knew, with no word said, 
 
 I knew 'twas Lincoln, Lincoln — Dead. 
 
 Of all I've seen, in all my years, 
 Of all the times I've been in tears, 
 
 That despondency, lingering on, 
 Has never reached oblivion. 
 
 Could I, at will, by beck or call, 
 At times when clouds come over all, 
 
 And when our Country, in distress, 
 And all seems doomed to hopelessness, 
 
 Could I yet stand your sentinel, 
 And look again for cars on steel, 
 
 I promise you, both day and night, 
 I'll be again your beacon light; 
 
 [249] 
 
DEFENSE OF LINCOLN FAMILY 
 
 With waving arms I'll signal all, 
 
 There's Hope again. An answered call 
 
 To common man, though illy dressed, 
 As Lincoln came from out the West. 
 
 [250] 
 
i