972,
Barton, William
Additional information*
Hie Lincoln cabin on Boston
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LINCOLN ROOM
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
LIBRARY
MEMORIAL
the Class of 1901
founded by
HARLAN HOYT HORNER
and
HENRIETTA CALHOUN HORNER
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Digitized by the Internet Archive
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http://archive.org/details/additionalinformOObart
I
DESIGNED AND PRINTED BY
EDWARD J, JACOB
AT HIS SHOP IN PEORIA, ILLINOIS
Presentation Copy — None for Sale
Additional .Lniormation
The
Lincoln Cabin
Boston Coninion
#
Rev. William E. Barton, D. D
AUGUST 1929
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ON SUNSET LAKE
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it* lint f *Hd4 ihtri, Uu h) mj dipt-
an liiimld m*ki it iM/A'-PlVTAtca
FoXIOtO, iMstUffillJtUi
August 10, 1929
My dear Mr. Jacob:
I have received this morning from our mutual friend Oakleaf
a copy of the charming little brochure containing Mr. Shoaff 's
statement to me in Springfield last May, It is a beautiful little
monograph as you have sent it forth, and I thank you sincerely
for sending me a copy.
I note the request for further information, and I send
you what I have to this date, I am also inclosing a photostat
of the little handbill advertising the cabin on Boston Common.
These are available for any use you care to make of them
Sincerely yours,
/7*£u~£ ^-
THE LINCOLN CABIN
ON BOSTON COMMON
By William E. Barton
Author of The Life of Abraham Lincoln, etc
Whoever supposes that there exists an entity to be called
Historic Truth, a concrete and separable reality, entire and
free from error, to be obtained from authentic and indubit-
able sources, and forever certified as the antipodes of false-
hood, has something to learn when he enters the realm of
historic investigation. Human testimony, on which history
is based, even that small fraction of history which is
preserved in official documents, is subject to marked limita-
tions and strange and irreconcilable contradictions. Not
only so, but there are inexplicable silences. The investi-
gator approaches an event which he feels certain must have
occurred, confident that it will have left abundance of
contemporary evidence, and he sometimes finds that the
incident which bulked so large in subsequent history made
little impression on those who witnessed it. If one thing
more than another has impressed me in listening to men
who personally knew Abraham Lincoln, it has been their
inevitable tendency to interpret their experiences in the
light of subsequent events, and to read into what they
actually observed the reflections of later years. In this
process truthful men often appropriate the experience of
others and believe it to have been their own. Often the
really significant feature of an event failed to register at
the time.
Not only so, but whole communities permit notable
events to pass without record; and the historian seeks for
the documents which he is confident must have existed, and
whose discovery is essential to the explanation of other
events, and does not find what he is seeking.
i
;
J
These considerations have present pertinence because of
a recent experience with regard to one of the most inter-
esting relics of Abraham Lincoln, the cabin which he and
his father, with the assistance of Dennis and John Hanks,
John D. Johnston and Squire Hall, erected as a family
residence ten miles west and a little south of Decatur in
the spring of 1830.
On May 10, 1929, I met in Springfield, Illinois,
Thomas Benton ShoafF, editor of the Shelby County
Leader. His father, James ShoafF, descended from Dutch
settlers near the Maryland-Pennsylvania line, was a hard-
hitting Democrat of the old school, who edited the Decatur
Magnet. While James ShoafF was fighting as a Union
soldier, and Lincoln was speaking at Gettysburg, ShoafF
was carrying at his column-head his ticket for 1864,
Horatio Seymour for President, and George B. McClellan
for Vice President; and later he ardently supported
McClellan. He had married Nancy Hanks, daughter of
Dennis Hanks, and he reared up a race of Democratic
newspaper men, Douglas ShoafF is editor of the Paris
(Illinois) Gazette, and Thomas Benton ShoafF is editor
of an equally sound Democratic paper, the Leader, at
Shelbyville. Only once has Thomas B. ShoafF considered
the possibility of getting away from his pencil and paste-
brush. That was when Woodrow Wilson set out to make
the world safe for Democracy, and the Shelbyville post-
office was an outpost of Democratic safety. ShoafF went to
Washington with a pile of endorsements which he says no
applicant for office ever exceeded in depth. He had all the
Shelbyville and Shelby County officials, and other political
friends of supposed influence, including William Jennings
Bryan. He had the support of everyone except his local
Democratic congressman who had a political friend in
Shelbyville. This Member of Congress received Shoaff's
impressive pile of endorsements without enthusiasm, and a
few days later wrote ShoafF a letter addressed to his
Washington hotel, saying that he had recommended, and
Wilson had appointed, the other man; and that the
Member of Congress was leaving for several days' visit to
New York.
Shoaff discovered that other good Democrats were
similiarly situated. He and two others who had suffered
like wounds in the house of their friends walked forth
together, lamenting the perversity; of congressmen and the
fact that there were sixty thousand Republicans holding
office under civil service appointments whom Wilson would
not remove. They stopped in at a Democratic restaurant
and obtained a glass all around of what was denominated
lemonade, and it helped somewhat. As they walked they
found two other places of refreshment and found them
politically sound. After three drinks of this invigorating
concoction they came to Jackson Square, where Andrew
Jackson sits on his horse triumphantly treading down
Republican office-holders and they said:
i
"Boys, the thing that's the matter with the Democratic
party is, that man's dead!"
So my good friend Shoaff went back to his editorial
desk, and now at the age of eighty-two is perhaps the
oldest active newspaper man in point of continuous service
in the United States. He brought with him to Springfield
a number of articles which he wished me to see, one of
them being a carte-de-viste picture of the cabin which
Abraham Lincoln helped his father to erect in Macon
County, Illinois, in the Spring of 1830. I was familiar
with this picture in reproduction but had not seen the tiny
original. On its back was a printed paster saying:
Lincoln Cabin
This is to certify that this is from the ORIGINAL
LOG CABIN built by Abraham Lincoln, John and
Dennis F. Hanks, in Macon Co., Illinois, 1830.
John Hanks,
Dennis R Hanks.
Mr. Shoaff said:
"That is the only photograph of the cabin that was
ever made. The two men seen in the photograph are my
grandfather, Dennis Hanks, the smooth-shaven man at the
corner, and his cousin John Hanks; and I was in the
Decatur Wigwam, with my ; father, at the reporters' table,
when John Hanks and Isaac Jennings brought in the
famous Lincoln fence-rails. I was present with my father
when this photograph was taken, just before the cabin was
taken down in 1865 for removal to Chicago and Boston."
I was familiar with the story of the Coles County
cabin, which was removed to Chicago in 1891, but I
had never heard that any other cabin associated with
Lincoln had been exhibited in that city, much less in
Boston. We were in the Library of the Illinois State His-
torical Society, and I called a stenographer and she took
down a full statement by Mr. Shoaff, my friend Hon.
J. B. Oakleaf of Moline being present. At the suggestion
of Miss Georgia L. Osborne, Librarian, I had a copy made
of the little photograph, the negative being retained by
the Society. In the enlarged photograph the features of
John and Dennis Hanks came out quite clearly.
Said Mr. Shoaff: "My father marked the logs, num-
bering them plainly, and they were shipped to Chicago
and Boston, and exhibited there for several months. My
father was in Chicago during the exhibition. The cabin
was re-erected on Boston Common. No; it was not in
any other part of Boston, but on the Common. My
father went on with John and Dennis Hanks and helped
set it up. I have heard about it many times and from all
three of them. The cabin was visited by famous people.
I did not see it there, but I saw it in process of being taken
down by my father and grandfather, and by John Hanks.
I have a clear recollection of it, and this little photograph
was made to sell as a souvenir to people visiting the cabin
in those two cities."
He told a strange story about the disappearance of the
Macon County cabin; but that does not belong in the
present narrative. There were seven Lincoln log cabins
all told, and sometime I intend to tell about them all; for
there is much confusion regarding them. For the present
I content myself with the cabin on the Chicago lake front
and on Boston Common.
A fortnight later in Shelbyville I had another visit with
Mr. ShoafF, whose step is as light as it was when he was
fif tyt and whose memory is clear. The cabin was only one
of many matters we talked about, and he had not many
details to add. But he was clear in his declaration that the
cabin was exhibited for some time on Boston Common.
That seemed to me a matter worth inquiring about, and
it did not appear to present any great difficulties. I spend
my summers near Boston, and I began there. Something
surely would be of record at City Hall; some permit would
have had to be issued for an exhibition of this sort any-
where in the city, and some special action granting the use
of the Common. I made inquiry through a friend, and
not a scrap of evidence appeared.
No matter; we would go to the newspapers. They
would certainly have commented on the exhibit; would
have told of the visits to it of General and Mrs. Grant, of
Charles Sumner and other notables. But a friend made
search and found not a single reference to it in any Boston
paper examined.
There is always that free-flowing fountain of historical
knowledge, the Massachusetts Historical Society. I wrote,
but learned that others had preceded me a few weeks in
the quest, and that the Society had not been able to dis-
cover any contemporary evidence that the Abraham Lin-
coln cabin was exhibited in Boston.
Now, with all their faults, the newspapers are among
our most reliable historical sources. And not very much
of importance escapes them. One single line in any Boston
paper of 1865, saying that General and Mrs. Grant visited
the Lincoln Log Cabin on the Common yesterday, would
be better evidence that the cabin was there than the record
of an official permit at City Hall; for the permit might
have been granted and no exhibit followed. When both
City Hall and the newspapers yield no results, one is dis-
posed to say that no one man's testimony, based on
recollections of events sixty-four years back, is sufficient to
remove the inherent improbability of such an exhibition.
I have personally excluded from my books concerning
Lincoln several incidents vouched for by eminently truth-
ful persons because of the lack of supporting evidence.
D
Meantime I instituted inquiry in Chicago, but at first
with like results. No one remembered the Cabin as having
been in that city, and at the outset no one there gave me
any assurance that such an event had occurred. Singularly,
the first evidence that came to me that the Cabin had been
shown in Chicago was disclosed in the search of the Boston
newspapers. The Transcript of June 15, 1865, told of the
Northwestern Sanitary Fair, then in progress in Chicago,
and said that "the most interesting of all the objects at the
Fair" was the log cabin "which he helped to build with
his own hands in the days of his youth and poverty."
It stood in an enclosure at the corner of Randolph Street
and Wabash Avenue, on the then lake front, about where
the Public Library now is.
The knowledge that the Chicago exhibit was in connec-
tion with the Sanitary Fair was of marked assistance. Mrs.
Hazelton of the Chicago Historical Library searched the
daily papers with meager gleanings. The Chicago Tribune
contained the only reference that has thus far been dis-
covered in the Chicago newspapers and was printed May
29, 1865:
ij
\
'
THE LINCOLN LOG CABIN
The identical log cabin, built by Lincoln and John
and Dennis Hanks, in the days of their rail-splitting,
about twelve miles west of Decatur, Macon county,
111., has been brought to this city for exhibition dur-
ing the Fair, and will be placed on the corner of
Randolph street and Wabash avenue. It will be open
to inspection to-morrow. The Messrs. Hanks will be
in attendance and give interesting items of their exper-
ience with Lincoln in the days — "Auld Lang Syne."
The following letter of identification from our noble
Governor Oglesby will be read with much interest:
State of Illinois, Executive Dep't,
Springfield, May 20, 1865.
John Hanks, Esq., Decatur, 111.:
My Dear Old Friend — In reply to your ques-
tion relating to the log cabin, said to have been built
by yourself, Thomas Lincoln and the late President,
Abraham Lincoln, I take pleasure in stating to you
that for twenty-five years there has been doubt in the
public mind in Macon county, Illinois, on this ques-
tion. If the cabin you now have is the one you
pointed out to me in the spring of 1860, when you
were collecting the Lincoln rails, I cheerfully state
that I am certain it is the one built by Mr. Lincoln:
besides your voluntary statements on the subject
abundantly satisfy me there can be no mistake about
it.
As the old companion and friend of Mr. Lincoln,
and one who has been constant in your support of
his administration, and an adopted friend of the
Union, I hope you may receive a just compensation
for your efforts to bring before the country the
simple but honorable testimonies to the early, labor-
ious and worthy efforts of our beloved President in
his youth, to make for himself a home, a fortune and
a name.
The Log Cabin would be out of place in any other
hands than your own. You should retain the control
of it, that its identity may not be lost. There is but
one such in the United States, and it rightfully and
properly belongs to you.
(Signed) RICHARD J. OGLESBY,
Governor of Illinois.
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6
This item in the Tribune certifies the date of the first
exhibit in Chicago and the Fair closed June 24. It was a
notable fair, and contributions of many kinds were made
to swell the total of receipts for the benefit of sick and
convalescent soldiers. General Grant donated his war-
horse "Jack." The Fair received a stipulated percentage
of receipts from entrance fees at the cabin.
But if the daily press said little about the Cabin in
Chicago there was other evidence. The Chicago Historical
Society unearthed the Fair's own publication, called The
Voice of the Fair, and in it these three items:
I
I
The Voice of the Fair, Chicago,
Tuesday, May 30, 1865.
Mr. Lincoln's Old Log Cabin and Razor
For the Fair
The Old Log Cabin. — Mr. James ShoafF, well
known in this city, writes us, in a private letter, that
he has "a big thing on ice." He and John Hanks,
Esq., both citizens of Decatur, have purchased the
old "Log Cabin" in which Abraham Lincoln studied
law in 1830. The cabin is situated in Macon County,
twelve miles west of Decatur, and is said to be in an
excellent state of preservation. Messrs. Shoaff &
Hanks have certificates from James Whitely, Esq., the
gentleman from whom they purchased it, and also
Gov. Oglesby and Col. Pugh, stating that it is really
the identical Cabin referred to. It is about eighteen
feet square and is represented as being well and sub-
stantially built.
The present owners design shipping the Cabin to
Chicago today and placing it on exhibition for several
weeks. From there the proprietors will proceed east
with it, perhaps as far as Boston. Mr. Dennis F.
Hanks, of this city, a near relation of Mr. Lincoln,
and who taught him how to write, was written to
by Messrs. ShoafF and Hanks to join them in their
exhibition, and left to do so on Tuesday forenoon.
Previous to starting, Mr. H. called in and got the
razor, referred in another paragraph, to place it in a
proper niche in the Cabin. Mr. John Hanks assisted
Mr. Lincoln in making the rails, about which we
y
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heard so much in the canvass of '60, to fence in a
ten acre field adjoining the Cabin. He will do the
lecturing on the expedition. The Messrs. Hanks will
add much to the interest of the exhibition. Mr.
Shoaff writes that he could get fifty partners if he
desired them, and that applications are being con-
stantly made to him for situations. We doubt not the
"Old Log Cabin" will prove a good card. At all
events we wish those concerned great success in their
enterprise, and candidly believe they will achieve it.
A Relic of the Lincoln Family. — Mr. Dennis
F. Hanks, of this city, has left at our office a razor,
which is about 70 years old, which was presented to
him by the late Thomas Lincoln, of this county, and
father of the lamented President. Mr. Hanks, who is
a near relation of the family, informs us that to his
certain knowledge, that this was the first razor that
was ever in this branch of the Lincoln family, and
that the late President has shaved with it often —
perhaps it is the identical blade with which he shorn
himself of his maiden beard.
It was Mr. Hanks' intention to have presented this
razor to President Lincoln, but now that he is no
more, he requests us to state that it is at the service
of Capt. Robert Lincoln, Mr. Lincoln's eldest son.
The razor is in a remarkable state of preservation,
in excellent plight, and we doubt not would do
better execution than one-half of the new ones of the
present day. It is considerably worn at the "heel",
but having been manufactured out of the best steel,
the point has stood the test of time admirably. It
bears the following brand: "Clark & Ham; war-
ranted."
Saturday, June 3, 1865.
The Lincoln Cabin
One of the great features of the Fair is the original
log cabin, located at the corner of Randolph and
Wabash Ave. It was brought to this city by John
and Dennis Hanks, from the farm formerly owned
by Thomas Lincoln, father of Abraham, in Macon
County, Illinois, twelve miles west of Decatur. The
Messrs. Hanks are old companions of Mr. Lincoln,
ra
>
and can be seen night and day in the cabin, they are
very gentlemanly and answer all questions pertaining
to the cabin and the history of our late President.
The building is sixteen by eighteen feet and was
erected in the year 1830 by Abraham Lincoln and the
two Hanks'.
We hope that the cabin will receive a large share of
citizens and visitors, as the proprietor, John Hanks,
proposes to donate half of the receipts to the Sanitary
Fair. Gov. Oglesby says in a letter published in
several of the city papers, that old John Hanks and
the cabin are genuine. Hundreds of visitors daily,
pay their respects to the old log building.
Voice of the Fair, Chicago,
Thursday, June 8, 1865.
The Original Lincoln Cabin
One great feature of the Fair, is the original Lin-
coln Cabin, built in Macon County, Illinois, in the
year 1830, by Abraham Lincoln, John and Dennis
Hanks, and now on exhibition near the corner of
Randolph street and Wabash avenue. Hundreds daily
visit it, and all acknowledge it the best part of the
Fair.
Every article or memento with which the lamented
President was in any way connected, will hereafter be
treasured up as a precious relic, and there are none
more worthy of attention than this old log cabin.
What tender recollections will it bring up! How
sublime the thought that within the walls of this
simple cabin was matured a mind which has so ably
controlled, in its most trying hour, the destinies of
the great nation, and sad the remembrance of the
terrible manner in which its career on earth was
terminated! The position filled by Abraham Lincoln
during the four years of the terrible civil war will
shed a lustre and romance around his name which
nothing can do away, and future history will accord
that high position to him which it always does to the
great and good of all nations, however humble be
their birth or their position in early life.
ffl
"Uncle John Hanks" as he is called — the com-
panion of "Abe" in early life, and who assisted him
in erecting the cabin now on exhibition in this city —
can be seen daily in the old building, ready and will-
ing to relate to visitors all the incidents connected in
erecting said cabin, and also a complete history of
Mr. Lincoln's early life. "Uncle John" is quite talk-
ative, and the information we gained during our
short but pleasant visit to the cabin Tuesday, was
highly interesting. And, then, there is Dennis F.
Hanks, the old gentleman who gave Mr. Lincoln his
first lessons in reading and writing. He has in his
possession the identical razor, seventy years old,
formerly used by Thomas Lincoln, father of Abra-
ham, and then by Abraham.
Governor R. J. Oglesby paid his respects to the old
cabin on Monday, and when he entered within its
enclosure, taking John Hanks by the hand, exclaimed,
"Well, John, this is certainly the identical Lincoln
cabin. I have been in it many years ago. My feelings
are sad. I realize where I am."
After the Fair, we understand, the Messrs. Hanks
intend removing it to New York, where it will be
placed upon exhibition. From thence it will go to
Boston. Those who fail to visit the cabin will lose
one of the best parts of the Sanitary Fair.
a
I do not imagine Robert T. Lincoln called at the cabin
and asked for the razor which was advertised as at his
service. He did not wholly enjoy being reminded that his
father had lived in log cabins. And by the way, this was
the razor of Thomas, though Abraham may have used it
occasionally. Abraham Lincoln had no skill in shaving
himself and during the whole of his professional life he
patronized a barber. Robert T. Lincoln said his father
never owned a razor; but Thomas did, and the razor was
doubtless genuine.
It would be interesting to inquire whether the cabin
was exhibited in New York. There would have been time
for it during the month of July, but Mr. Shoaff has no
i
!
(
recollection that it was so done. I have looked through
Harper's Weekly for the period and find no drawing or
editorial paragraph concerning its display in that city.
While the research in Chicago was under way, there
came into my possession a very interesting broadside. It
was an undated handbill or "dodger" printed in the
Herald office in Boston. It came into market in a sale
September 27, 1911, and was prominently mentioned in
the Transcript of that date. The auctioneers were C. F.
Libbie & Co., who disposed of a "collection of Lincolniana
the largest ever brought under the hammer, including 1237
lots." A few items are selected for mention, among them,
"Ah extremely rare item, not as yet listed by Fish, the
Lincoln bibliographer," being a broadside, "The Original
Lincoln Log Cabin, is now on Exhibition on the Parade
Ground, Boston Common."
D
!
This clipping was framed with the broadside, which
sold in 1911. The broadside came back into market in
1929, and found its way to Goodspeed's. Mr. Goodspeed
sold it to me. This handbill was printed in the office of
the Boston Herald, and reads thus:
Fac-simile of this Hand Bill is inserted on Pages 12 and
13 of this booklet,
If, however, the Herald, which printed this "dodger"
mentioned in its columns the cabin then on the Common,
I have not discovered it. But I announced in the Herald
in July,, 1929, that this broadside was in my possession
and asked for other evidence. In reply I have this letter
from Dr. William O. Faxon:
u
Dr. Wm. E. Barton, July 30, 1929.
Foxboro, Mass.
Dear Sir:
The enclosed clipping from last Sunday's Herald
I read with a great deal of interest.
Am not quite clear in my mind whether it was in
1865 or 1866 but am sure that it was just after the
war (I was born in 1853 so was 12 years of age)
that I distinctly remember of my mother taking me
to see the Lincoln Cabin on Boston Common,
To my mind, as it goes back, I think it was the
cabin in which Lincoln was born. The main fact,
of which I am sure, is that it was called the Lincoln
Cabin.
I have a piece of what appeared to be a shingle or
piece of wood from that cabin which was given to
me by a man in charge. Of course, I cannot remember
his name. I suppose I was an inquisitive boy and
full of war history at that time as my father had
served in the Civil War.
At any rate, I still have this piece of shingle which
was from the Lincoln Cabin which I saw on Boston
Common.
Thinking that perhaps this might interest you I
have taken the liberty of sending you this letter.
Respectfully yours,
William Otis Faxon.
It is a mark of changing styles in journalistic judg-
ments of news values that the Boston dailies say, so little
about it. Mr. Julius H. Tuttle of the Massachusetts
Historical Society discovered what is probably the first
Boston reference to the coming of the cabin. It is in
The Liberator for July 21, 1865:
The Original Lincoln Cabin
The original Lincoln Cabin, which he helped to
build in Macon County, Illinois, in 1830, is to be
exhibited on Boston Common. The identity of the
structure is fully established. It was exhibited at the
recent Sanitary Fair in Chicago, and was visited by
thousands.
Within a few days after July. 21, certainly before July
29, the cabin was set up. Mr. Tuttle found these two
references. The first is in the Advertiser of July 29:
The English Nobility in the
Lincoln Log Cabin
The Marquis of Drogheda and his lady, who arc
in this city, stopping at the Tremont House, paid a
visit last evening to the "Lincoln Cabin," which is
now on exhibition on the Common. They spent
some time in the examination of this now sacred
relic; and, while purchasing some articles made from
the wood of the cabin, her ladyship remarked: "I
wish very much to take home these to show our
people ; for my husband is one of those in our country
who admired President Lincoln's character."
On taking their leave the Marquis and his lady
shook hands in a very cordial manner with Uncle
John Hanks, who helped build, and now owns and
exhibits the cabin, and said to him: "We are very
happy indeed to take the hand of the old friend and
companion of Mr. Lincoln."
Although persons of high rank and large fortune,
they came and went in a quiet, democratic way, and
"Uncle John" was not aware, until after their depar-
ture that he had been entertaining the English
nobility in the humble log cabin which he helped
young Abe Lincoln the rail splitter build over
thirty-five years ago. But such was the case. The
distinguished visitors, however, honored themselves
no less than the humble cabin by the respect which
they thus unostentatiously paid to our martyred
President's memory.
The other was in the same paper on August 1, 1865:
n
If
ill
The Lincoln Cabin. — Most of our readers are
doubtless aware that there is on exhibition at the
south end of the Common a quaint relic of the early
days of the late President Lincoln, in the shape of a
log cabin, which he aided to erect and in which he
lived for two years, in Illinois. His comrade in build-
ing and occupying this structure, and in many flat-
boat journeys on the Mississippi, was one John
Hanks, with whom Mr. Lincoln kept up a friendship
as long as he lived. Mr. Hanks, no less interesting
than the cabin superintends the exhibition, is always
present to receive visitors, and has a variety of stories
li
to narrate and of little relics and photographs to
show or to sell. The idea of the modest little exhibi-
tion is unique, and a visit to the cabin is time well
spent.
So this is the story of the exhibition of the first Illinois
home of the Lincoln family in the migrations of 1865.
Mr. Shoaff says that the logs were shipped for exhibition
in Europe and lost at sea. We have no present occasion
to follow their adventures further. But this will serve as
an illustration of the difficulties which beset the student
of history who seeks to establish every event by reliable
evidence. In this instance we have it, and it is deserving
of permanent record lest it perish from the earth.
COPY OF PERMIT
ISSUED BY THE
BOARD OF ALDERMEN
OF THE
CITY OF BOSTON
JULY 10, 1865
From the official record of the Board of Aldermen of
the City of Boston for the year 1865:
At a Meeting of the Board of Aldermen of the
City of Boston, held at Mechanics' Hall, on Monday,
the tenth day of July, Anno Domini, 1865,
Agreeably to the reports of the Committee on
Licenses and Common, leave was granted to John
Hanks to exhibit President Lincoln's original log
cabin on Boston Common.
*
a
The above item is furnished to Dr. William E. Barton
by William Alcott, Librarian of the Boston Globe.
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA
973.7L63C2SH7S1 C001
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION PEORIA, ILL
3 0112 031803270