Life of Abraham Lincoln 3

T h e Mis s in g C h a p t e r

in the

L ife o f A b ra h a m L in c o ln

A n um be r o f a t c es e s o d es h o o ra h s en a n d r i l , p i , p t g p , p in k s k etch es con ce rn i n g th e l i f e o f Abr ah a m Lin co l n

in S en ce ou n t n d an a b etween p r C y, I i , 1 8 1 6 - 1 83 0 a n d 1 844

B y B E S S V . E H RM ANN

P en a n d In k S ke t c h es

B y M ARY LE E GAB B E RT

W P i A M . u bl s h e r LTE R H I LL ,

H ICAGO LLINOIS C , I COPYRIGHT 1 93 8

E HR M NN B SS V. E A

b t o . This ook is dedicated my husband , Dr

D eB ruler Calder Ehrmann , a descendant f e o a southern Indiana pion er family , and t o my beloved children , Edwin , Dorothy and Carlos , who were born and grew up in the same county where Abraham Lin coln spent the formative years of his life .

FO REWO R D BY TH E A"THO R

’ The writing of these pages , concerning Lincoln s life in

o f Indiana , has been done to preserve in book form some the incidents that occurred in his life in Spencer County ,

1 8 1 6 - 1 8 0 1 8 t o Indiana , from 3 and in 44 ; and also make available for future historians some facts not generally known concerning research work o n his life here . f 1 2 0 . . o In 9 Mr John E Iglehart Evansville , Indiana , founded the Southwestern Indiana Historical Society and “ shortly after coined the phrase , The Lincoln Inquiry . ’ He realized there was a missing chapter in Lincoln s life , the fourteen formative years spent in Indiana , which had never been written by historians and which could never be written by outsiders who would perhaps spend a few days

r s h o uld in investigation in Spence County ; but it be written , a n d by the children and grandchildren o f those people who knew Lincoln in his boyhood days .

h o Mr . Iglehart said that it was the people w live near ’ the scenes o f Lincoln s early life who are best able to inter pret its environment . They are intimately acquainted with

o f th e the descendants his boyhood friends , have heard stories of his life as related by their elders , therefore , ought to be in a positio n to write more understandingly o f those early days . Having been born in Spencer County of the third genera ’ tion o n my grandfather s side and the fourth o n my grand ’ mother s and having lived here practically all my life , I ’ have known the children and grandchildren of Lincoln s

neighbors . ’ h o My grandmother s father was John Bayliss , w came to Spencer County soon after Rockport became the county FOREWORD BY THE AUTHOR

seat . My grandmother , Evaline Bayliss , was married in Rockport o n August the 2 1 s t 1 8 2 9 t o Thomas Pindal

th o n 0 Britton , and their marriage record is the 5 page 3

o ld o f in the marriage record book that pioneer time , and kept in the present Spencer County Court House . Thoma s

a Pindal Britton , my grandf ther , came from Virginia to 8 2 1 . Rockport , Spencer County , in 7 My mother was

Rachel Britton . ’ T o live in a community one s entire life and t o have heard o f the early people from those who have lived there before y ou cause you t o know such a communi t y and its many families well . You know their social and economi c status and those o f their ancestors far better than an out sider . ’ With this knowledge o f Lincoln s friends and associates

con in Spencer County , I record here only those incidents n ect ed with his years lived in Indiana and information “ brought to light by The Lincoln Inquiry . AC KNOWLE D GM ENT I wish to acknowledge here the help received from many sources in compiling this material . o f First to the memory o f the late John E . Iglehart

o f Evansville , Indiana , descendant southern Indiana pio n e er s h o , w inspired all members of the society which he founded , to give such facts. to the world as were known to ’ them concerning Lincoln s background in Indiana .

f h o . o w To Mr William Fortune Indianapolis , Indiana , was born and reared a few miles west o f the Lincoln home in southern Indiana . Mr . Fortune has allowed me to use i his valuable historic monograph in this book . H s knowl edge o f southern Indiana history and inte rest in its people

e have be n outstanding . ’ F T o O l n n . . Miss Anna y and Rev Edward J Murr , both ’ In investigators of Lincoln s li fe Indiana , whose valuable articles appear in this book . “ " To Lincoln Lore , edited by Dr . Louis A . Warren and published by the Lincoln National Life Insurance Founda

e . tion of Fort Wayne , Indiana , for c rtain dates and facts To the “ Indiana Magazine of History" for articles by

o f the writer this book , published by them , and used again in part in this book .

T o . . r Dr J . Christian Bay of Chicago , Ill , admire of ’ Abraham Lincoln . Dr . Bay s knowledge of books and book

18 a d making well known and his interest , suggestions and f vice have bee n o great assistance . To the Indianapolis S t a r and Evansville C o ur ier fo r use

o f . articles by the author , published ﬁrst by them

T o . Mrs James Gabbert , Spencer County pioneer de s cen d a n t h o fo r , w did the photographic copies the book , x ACKNOWLEDGMENT

did and to her daughter , Mary Lee Gabbert , artist , who the

pen and ink sketches .

M c ll h f To Miss Lillian Hoch and Mrs . Bertha Cu oug o r

t o ll h stenographic help and Miss Betty Aliene M cC u oug . To those wh o s o kindly loaned me the pictures o f their

fo r a d ancestors , and use of the pioneer biographies and

’ dresses written by members O f the Southwestern Indiana

r Historical Society and kept in ou ﬁles .

T o Edna Brown Sanders , President Of the Southwestern

t Execu Indiana Historical Socie y , and the members of the tive Board wh o have s o graciously given their approval t o

my work .

T o e ff . Deirdr Du Johnston , Mt Vernon , Indiana , Emily

f o f Orr Clif ord and the late Albion Fellows Bacon , Evans

I co - s ville , ndiana , worker in the Lincoln Inquiry , and whose interest has been an inspiration to me .

c r Without the above help , this book ould neve have been

written . T HE AUT HOR TAB LE O F CONTENTS PAGE

D EDIC ATION FOREWORD BY THE AUTHOR

AC KNOWLEDGMENT PART I

Sp en cer Coun t y Hist ory

Format ive Yea rs

E n viron men t

T h e Lin coln I n q uiry

T h e Missin g Ch a pt er PART I I

A n I n diana Invest igat or "Willi a m Fort un e

“ ’ Lin coln s Boyhood F r ien ds

’ H Kn n e e s N e rs "R ev . E a w Li coln ighbo J . dw rd Murr ’ ’ I n t ervi ewi n g Lin coln s N eighbors "Miss An n a O Flyn n PART I I I

Lin col n Rid es t o Rockport

D own in the Lin coln Coun t ry of I n di an a

’ Wh ere Lin col n s Mot her Lies Buried

’ S a rah Lin col n s Gra ve

T he Lin coln Pagea n t

A Lin col n Pion eer Vill age

’ Thomas Sp a rrow s Will

Lin coln Cabi n et M a ker

His Spirit Lives

L I ST O F I LL"STRATI ON S PLATE

H C L C . 1 . LAST OME OF THE LIN O NS IN SPEN ER COUNTY

O " L C W O C L 2 . T INE MAP OF SPEN ER COUNTY, ITH L A ITIES ’ PERTAINING TO LIN C OLN S EARLY LIFE .

O L D PIGEON BAPTIST CH "RC H .

P I " C R LEAF FROM IGEON BAPT ST CH R H E C ORD BOOK .

FAC SIMILE OF LETTER OF LIN C OLN .

JOHN E . IGLEHART .

WILLIAM FORTUNE . W HOME OF MR . AND MRS . JOSIAH CRA FORD . D — P MR . AND MRS . AVID TURNHAM . THOMAS INDALL — — BRITTON . JUDGE JOHN GRAHAM . JUDGE LEMUEL

D E - P — C "L . H . L QUIN Y BR ER ON JOHN ROC TOR . CO .

K . G . R . ELLAMS — . A . L . A L JAMES GRIGSBY FRED LAMAR MR AND MRS .

R N ER LEN B OO . — A P C . MANDA CISSNA IT HER JUDGE JOHN PITC HER . — — . . L L . . o MRS BILL BARKER CO BIL BARKER MRS . J W — W SIAH CRA FORD . JOSIAH CRA FORD .

C MRS . JOHN GRAHAM . NAN Y MONTGOMERY JOHNSTON .

Z Z ELI ABETH GRASS GREATHOUSE . ELI ABETH GRASS

HAMMOND . LYD IA GRIGSBY SMITH . BENJ AM IN

SMITH .

C — — JOSEPH RI HARDSON . JAMES GENTRY . JOSEPH GEN — — . L . L . H TRY CO WI LIAM JONES JOHN UFFMAN . H JAMES AMMOND . LIN C OLN HOME IN SPEN C ER CO"NTY

C C H C LO ALITY OF LIN OLN OME IN SPEN ER COUNTY .

’ ANNOUN C EMENT IN TH E HERALD OF LIN C OLN S VISIT TO R C 1 O KPORT IN 8 44 . Kiv LIST OF ILLUSTRA TI ONS

T H E O LD INN IN ROC KPORT . SPEN C ER COUNTY COURT

O . HOUSE . BOAT LANDING ON HIO RIVER AT ROC KPORT E NTRAN C E TO NAN C Y HANKS LIN C OLN PARK . MARKER

INDI C ATING LOC ATION OF LIN C OLN HOME . MEMOR IAL

AT SITE OF LIN C OLN LOG CABIN .

HOME OF COL . WILLIA M JONES IN SPEN C ER CO"NTY .

GRAVE OF NAN C Y HANKS LIN C OLN .

’ R IGS BY SARAH LIN C OLN G S GRAVE .

PAGEANT STAGE ON O HIO RIVER .

C T H E C L P R PARTI IPANTS IN LIN O N AGEANT AT OC KPORT .

REPLI C AS IN LIN C OLN PIONEER VILLAGE IN RO C KPORT .

H . GEORGE . HONIG

C " L R C H C L LIN OLN M RA IN O KPORT IGH S HOO , BY GEORGE

H . . HONIG

T H E W THOMAS SPARRO WILL .

A C . CUPBOARD AND CABINET MADE BY . LIN OLN Frontiers have faded westward with the sun ; ’ Beneath a century s dust , the pioneers ’ Sleep quietly ; while Lincoln s boyhood years

Forgotten , fall into oblivion .

Ou rs be the task to prove his heritage " To sift the sands of Legend for the gold Of Truth ; to recreate the culture o ld ’

o n . Of Indiana , here Nature s stage

’ Who knows what mark was left by sorrow s pain , When Lincoln knelt beside his mother ’ s grave "

e Or when his youthful ey s ﬁrst saw a slave , What indignation ﬁred his noble brain "

The child foretells the man . Come , banish toil , W And see hat Visions called Abe from the soil .

2 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

the ﬁnal limits of the commonwealth as it stands today , and a similar process o f elimination wa s followed in practically f all the earliest counties o Indiana .

From the southern end of Knox County , the ﬁrst county

in 1 8 1 organized in Indiana Territory , came 3 Warrick and 1 1 Gibson Counties . In 8 4 Posey and Perry were created from Warrick which embraced the present Posey , Vander burg , Spencer , Perry and part of Crawford Counties . Per ry County ﬁrst included the southern portion o f Dubois and

Crawford and about half of Spencer .

th r 1 1 6 o n In e yea 8 Indiana became a state , and January

1 0 1 1 o f a r , 8 8 , Spencer County was formed from parts W rick and Perry Counties and was named fo r Captain Spears f o . Spencer , who was killed at the battle Tippecanoe The selection o f the county seat came next and on March

1 1 1 8 1 8 . , , Rockport was chosen This place had been ﬁrst known as Hanging Rock , a name given it by the Indians . Walter Taylor and Daniel Grass were the ﬁrst land owners 1 8 0 . 6 in Spencer County Taylor entered his land May , 7 , ’

1 8 0 . and Grass May 9 , 7 Grass s land was on the present m site of Rockport . He changed the name fro Hanging

o f Rock to Mt . Duval , in honor Colonel William Duval , a

Kentucky friend , but this name was put aside later by the

h o commissioners w called the growing town Rockport , and so it remains today .

a s The county w divided into nine townships , Carter ,

Jackson , Clay , Hammond , Grass , Ohio , Luce , Harrison and Huff . Historical records tell us that Ezekiel Ray and Uriah 1 8 0 8 Lamar established the second settlement in , in what

n o w t o f is Spencer Coun y, on the present site Grandview ,

e and that Ezekiel Ray was the ﬁrst p rmanent settler , com 0 ing with his family between 1 8 4 and 1 8 0 7 . There w e re many Wh o came between 1 8 0 7 and 1 8 1 8 and

o t o who are t o numerous to mention here , but all helped LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 3

’ make Spencer County what it was in Lincoln s day , as well as in our own time . " The principal towns in the county now are Rockport ,

Dale , Chrisney , Grandview , St . Meinrad , Gentryville , f Lamar , Lincoln City , Evanston , Fulda , Huf man , Richland ,

Newtonville , Hatﬁeld , Santa Claus , Mariah Hill , Clay City and Eureka . The entire county abounds in interesting Lincoln tradi tions and thos e of the pioneer settlers who helped build o u r f great Indiana . The lives o these settlers and boyhood

o f friends of Lincoln give us the environment his youth , and the inﬂuences that undoubtedly had an effect o n his life and character . Throughout his life he remembered those y e ars lived in

Spencer County , and mentioned them to his friends .

e M c Clella n d e In an addr ss by Dr . Stewart W . , Presid nt o f Lincoln Memorial University , Harrogate , Tennessee , “ " which was printed in the Lincoln Herald the Universi t y

o f 1 8 Quarterly February 93 , is a photographic copy of an

e original Lincoln letter . The original is in the Lincoln R

e o f e s arch Library Lincoln M morial University . In this

o f letter Lincoln mentions the town Rockport , in Spencer “ County , the county where he was brought up . With an acknowledgment to the Lincoln Memorial Uni

McClella n d versity , to Dr . and the Historical Research

o f is Library the University , the letter quoted here

. 2 0 1 8 60 . Springﬁeld , Ill , July ,

HON . L Y CASSIUS M . C A , My dear Sir "

I see by the papers , and also learn from Mr . Nicolay ,

wh o - saw you at Terre Haute , that you are ﬁlling a list

of speaking appointments in Indiana . I sincerely thank y ou fo r this ; and I shall be still further obliged if you LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

C o f will at the lose the tour , drop me a line , giving your

impression of our prospects in that state . Still more will you oblige us if you will allow us to

o f make a list appointments in our State , commencing ,

say , at Marshall , in Clark County , and thence South and

o u r . West , along Waba sh and Ohio river border

In passing , let me say that at Rockport you will be in the county within which I was brought up from my eighth

i o f year hav ng left Kentucky at that point my life .

Yours very truly ,

LI A . N C OLN .

Pla t e I

s r a B r wn D a le C ou rt e y O o ,

Phot ogra ph of t h e l a st home of t h e Lin col n s in Spen cer Coun t y FO RM ATIVE Y EAR S Let us brieﬂy review the outstanding events in Lincoln ’ s

0 e - life from 1 8 1 6 to 1 8 3 . These y ars number one quarter

of his entire life , so they must be important years in his development . When the Lincoln family o f four arrived in Indiana in 1 8 1 6 , Thomas Lincoln was forty years of age ; his wife ,

-two Nancy , thirty ; Sarah , the daughter , nine ; and Abraham , l seven year s o d . They settled in what is now Spencer Coun t r o f - y , Indiana , on the southwest quarte section thirty two , township four , south of range ﬁve west . Two horses brought them and all their possessions from

d o in Kentucky to the Indiana shore . A cow and a g were cluded in the party , and bundles and baskets were carried by Nancy and the children . Thomas led the horses and

r car ied a gun . Into the Indiana wilderness they slowly picked their way until they reached their destination o n the banks of Pigeon Creek sixteen miles from the Ohio Rive r

Here the ﬁrst rude , three faced cabin was built , and the

Indiana life of Lincoln began .

1 8 1 In 7 Thomas and Betsey Sparrow , aunt and uncle

o f Nancy Hanks Lincoln , and Dennis Hanks , son of another

o f Nancy Hanks , aunt Nancy Hanks Lincoln , joined the

Lincolns . By this time Thomas Lincoln had built a second ,

four sided cabin for his family , so he allowed Thomas and

t o Betsey occupy the ﬁrst cabin , while Dennis lived with the

Lincolns .

1 8 1 8 On October 5, , the mother , Nancy Hanks Lincoln , died and was buried o n a knoll not far from the cabin

home . b 2 1 8 1 On Decem er , 9 , Thomas Lincoln who had gone 6 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

o n to Kentucky a Visit , married Sarah Bush Johnston , a

t - widow , aged thir y one years , with three children . T o gether with the three children , Elizabeth , aged twelve years ,

. an Matilda , aged eight , and John D Johnston , aged four , other trip was made to the Indiana wilderness . This time a covered wagon owned by Ralph Krume , cousin of the bride , was used to convey the family and several pieces of furniture , bedding and household articles , from Kentucky to Indiana .

The new Mrs . Lincoln became a go o d mother to Sarah

two s and Abe and the set of children lived in perfect accord . In 1 8 2 0 Abraham Lincoln attended his ﬁrst school in

s Spencer County , a chool taught by Andrew Crawford , the a ’ instructor who taught manners as well s the three R s . In

’ 1 8 2 2 he attended school with James Sweeney in charge , and in 1 8 2 4 his last Indiana school was taught by A z el

Dorsey . Lincoln wa s employed in 1 8 2 5 by a man named Taylor who owned and operated a ferry at Anderson Creek . This gave the young boy a chance to see and meet the many peo ple who were traveling through this pioneer country .

Both Lincoln and his sister , Sarah , were employed at

h o . w various times by Mr . and Mrs Josiah Crawford lived near the Lincoln home .

2 1 8 2 6 t o On August , , Sarah Lincoln was married Aaron 2 0 1 8 2 8 Grigsby , and just a year and a half later , January , , she died and was buried in the Pigeon Creek B aptist Church

Cemetery . Thomas Lincoln and his son , Abe , had helped

' lo chur ch in 1 8 1 1 8 2 build this g 9 , and in 3 Thomas and his

second wife had become members , and Abe was j anitor for

a short period .

James Gentry , a rich landowner , lived near the Lincoln

home and frequently employed the tall , young Abe to assist ‘ ’ r him on his farm . Gent y s children were friends and school ’ o f o f mates Lincoln . One Gentry s sons , Allen , had gone in

8 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

Rockport . In thi s letter William Morgan mentions start ing his ﬂ a tb o a t s o u t o n e month before the letter was written

which would have been in December . This corroborated ’ Mr . Gentry s statement about winter ﬂ a tb o a t trips to the

south land . Rockport was the main S hipping point on the Ohio River

fo r Spencer County , and Allen Gentry lived near the boat landing .

A bs olem Roby , his wife , Polly , and their two daughters ,

t o Ann and Elizabeth , had come Rockport from their home near the Gentrys , to keep house for Allen soon after his

z cabin home had been ﬁnished in Rockport . Ann , Eli abeth and Allen had attended the same pioneer school and played n together when children , as had Abe Li coln . Both Lincoln and A llen had been ardent admirers of Ann from their

n o h er earliest childhood , but w Ann had given heart to

Allen , although she had a great friendship for the big awk

in . 1 8 2 8 ward Abe Early the year of they had been married , “ " vowing to take each other for better o r for worse as long as life should last .

Th e o f C coming their ﬁrst hild , James Gentry , born

1 8 1 8 2 8 December , , had delayed the southern trip as Allen had r e fu s ed t o go until he knew all was well at home . Many years later when Lincoln became famous , the Gentrys were always to remember the date of this particular ﬂ a tbo a t

o f trip from the birthdate the eldest son . Many weeks were spent on the trip south and o n e night when tied up for the night below Baton Rouge , a lawless band o f negroes tried t o take possession o f the boat . They ’ almost killed Allen and Abe . Abe s great arms , made strong by swinging an ax , were used to good advantage and the negroes were routed , but Abe ever after carried a deep scar above his right e a r received in this ﬁght .

Wa s e At last the j ourney ended , and the wond rs of New Orleans claimed t h e attention o f these two pioneer back LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 9

e woodsm n . One day as they were walking along the street

e w e a crowd attracted th ir attention , and they dre n ar to see

n ff what was going o . A man was making a speech and o er ing f o r sale a young negr o woman standing on a huge block

Th e en e f r . m used o the slave market two were horriﬁ d ,

th e e and as girl , with tears streaming down her fac , was

e r given to the highest bidd r , young Abe , in a frenzy of ange , “ turned to his friend and said , I f I ever get a chance to hit ’ " that thing, I ll hit it hard .

e e e e Prophetic words wer th s , spok n by a young man , little d r e a m mg th a t the time would come when he would be the emancipator of this. slave race . Always the scene of this ’ slave market was to remain in Lincoln s mind , and many

e 1 1 8 6 0 years lat r , January 9 , , he wrote a letter to his friend ,

Alexander H . Stephens of Springﬁeld , Illinois , in which was “ " e New o n this statement When a boy , I w nt to Orleans a

ﬂ a tb o a t e , and there I saw Slavery and slave mark ts as I had

e never s en them in Kentucky , and I heard worse of the Red " River plantations . Today the m emory of Abraham Lincoln is revered in every country in the world , and every place connected with

e e e his lif has becom a sacr d Shrine . Thousands annually

o ld visit the Ohio River boat landing in Rockport , Indiana ,

o n the place where he left that ﬁrst memorable trip , and ’ e s ee standing at the water s dge , they again the boy who so courageously set out from this spot on his ﬁrst great a d venture . In 1 8 2 9 Lincoln served as a cl e rk in the store of Colonel

e e e William Jon s at Jon sboro , a settl ment near the Lincoln

e h ome . H re he met and listened to discussion s o f the lead ing m en of the community ; here he read the newspapers

e e s that Jon s rec ived , and during thi year he continued his trips t o Rockport and Boonville where h e had met the lead

*‘ D r . Lo i A . en of o t n e o of t i ett e t ken u s Warr F r Way has a c py h s l r, a f om th e o i i n r r g al . Io LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

ing men o f both villages . In Rockport he had borrowed books from the noted lawyer , John Pitcher , and listened to the speeches o f Judge John Graham . Lincoln had met many people throughout the county and

t o beyond its limits , as he was sent the Hammond Tannery near the present site of Grandview ; to the Huffman Mill near Troy , and to Princeton , in Gibson County, to have f i wool corded o r h s father .

Ne At w Harmony a great experiment was under way , and this must have interested the boy Lincoln even if he never went to the settlement .

Another place near Evansville , forty miles from Lin ’ o f coln s home , was the subject much conversation . It was the British Settlement made in 1 8 1 7 and called Saunders

Ville . These British settlers were men of capital , education and culture .

1 1 8 0 L . On March , 3 , the incolns left Indiana for Illinois s In the party were member of the Lincoln , Hanks and Hall " families , numbering thirteen . They were Thomas Lincoln ,

ﬁft - -two aged y four ; Sarah Johnston Lincoln , aged forty ;

- Abraham Lincoln , aged twenty one ; John D . Johnston , aged

t - z ﬁfteen ; Dennis F . Hanks , aged thir y one ; Eli abeth John

t w - ston Hanks , wife of Dennis Hanks , aged enty three ;

John Hanks , aged eight ; Sarah Hanks , aged seven ; Nancy

Hanks , aged ﬁve ; Harriet Hanks , aged four ; Squire Hall

l\Ia t ild a and his wife , Johnston Hall , aged nineteen , and

. t o their child , John Hall , aged two Quite a caravan set

out for a new home . The Lincolns were entertained in th e home o f James

o n Gentry the night before they left their long journey , and on that morning the Gentrys went a piec e o f the way with

’ the Lincolns before bidding them goodbye .

So ended the Indiana years of the Lincoln family , one member o f which wa s to travel to great heights in the na ’ tion s history . COLN CITY a “ M C "M un mucous

500 “ m a t $ “ a m a

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LA N O CNG

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ENVI RON M ENT I f we claim here in southern Indiana that Lincoln ’ s asso ciates and environment inﬂuenced his intellectual develop

his ment and entire life afterwards , then we must tell of the f inﬂuences that had to do with his acquisition o knowledge .

His forceful reasoning in later life , when responsibilities were heavy , shows the principles which became a part of his character in early life . Something of the culture o f southern Indiana may be learned by studying the lives of great men produced in this part of the state ; John Hay , Walter Q . Gresham ; Generals W Harrison , Hovey , allace , Burnside , Rosecrans ; also

Joseph , James and Henry Lane . These are a few known to all readers of history , men of unique and vivid personal ities , who loomed larger than their simple pioneer setting . All men of that early day in Indiana had a compl ex back

o f a d v en ground stern justice , Puritan piety , superstition , ture and many dangers . It made them lusty and full blooded , with a store of knowledge gathered in the homely details of everyday life .

With the eager spirit of childhood , Lincoln was deeply impressed by the period in which he lived and the people h w o . were his friends The books he read were o f the best . John Hanks told of how Lincoln always kept the Bible and ’

e m . Aesop s Fables in r ach , and read the over and over These two books furnished him the parables and ﬁgures o f ff speech which he was to use with great e ect in later life , as he had a most retentive memory and a great power of

concentration . David Turnham , who lived near the Lincoln “ th e farm , lent Abe ﬁrst law book he ever read , The Stat utes o f Indiana and John Pitcher o f Rockport lent other s law book that fascinated the growing boy . THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

The newspapers o f that day contained news from all

e ov r the world , and it is known that he read the newspapers which were taken by ‘ C o lo n el William Jones in whose store

he clerked . A general fund of informatio n was contained

in the Louisville , Kentucky , papers that reached the store

regularly , and in other newspapers of the day . The ﬁrst newspaper published within the limits o f Indiana 1 8 0 was published in Vincennes in 4 , by Elihu Stout , and

Ind ia n a a e t e called the G z t . A remarkable paper written b C a u th o rn o f is ou r y Alice Potter Princeton , Indiana , in

o f ﬁles , which tells these early newspapers and from them

much Indiana life has been gleaned . The ﬁrst newspaper in t 1 8 published Spencer Coun y was in July , 3 7 , and was

Th e a e t e called G z t . The possibly preserved ﬁles o f these earliest papers were destroyed by ﬁre, but I have read several volumes o f Th e

Pla n t e r 1 8 8 , published in Rockport in 4 , by Thomas Lang

wh o . don , lived here when the Lincolns did These early

o f newspapers tell much the social , literary and business ff a airs of the county , and although published eighteen years

o f after the Lincolns left Indiana , they Show the type people ( for they were the same ) wh o lived here during all those ’ formative years in Abe s life . In these papers are mentioned

ff o n banquets , dinner parties , musical a airs , debates the

slavery question and other subj ects , political speeches ,

church services and public gatherings .

There was a philosophical society that studied astronomy ,

literature , phrenology , magnetism , mesmerism , etc . , and all young men we r e urged t o join and improve their minds ;

there were temperance lectures , and Lincoln was known t o have written a paper o n temperance which Judge Pitcher

commended highly . These were some o f the things the pioneer s were think

' ing and doing a f ew years after Lincoln had moved to

1 4 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

e ne unusual things are conc r d , and it has been said of Lin coln that he was always interested in what he saw or h e ard .

a He said once that he would lie awake at night , when boy , trying to solve the meaning o f some chance remark or un usual word he had heard , and of which he did not know the f meaning . So we may feel sure that the af airs of the county were quite well known to the growing b oy . I wish to relate here two incidents o f pioneer occurrence which showed that unusual things were discussed and in

es t i a t ed ou r v g by the pioneer citizens of county . “ T a s Mr . aylor Basye w a pioneer storekeeper near the present town o f Grandview and where the Lincolns no doubt ’

e . trad d In Goodspeed s history of Warrick , Perry and Spencer Counti e s is an account o f an election h e ld at the

e o f T hous Jonathon Greathouse in Carter ownship August ,

1 - on e 1 8 9 . There were thirty men who cast their ballots and Taylor Basye is the ﬁrst name mentioned in the list and

t - ﬁfth Thomas Lincoln the twen y , so we see these men as

neighbors and perhaps friends as early as 1 8 1 9 . Some years ’ 1 8 8 e after the Lincolns moved to Illinois , in 5 , Taylor Basy s

son , John Basye , moved to Rockport and bought a drug

M . . store from a Dr . organ On a trip Mr Basye made to 1 8 6 2 f o r Louisville in to buy goods , he saw and bought his

o il . store an lamp , the ﬁrst ever brought to Spencer County

This lamp was such a luxury , and coal oil so expensive , that

Dr . Morgan warned Mr . Basye that he would soon be bank rupt i f he was to indulge in such wasteful expenditures of

M r e money . However , . Basye believ d in advertising , and

e a o n s o he let it b known th t each Saturday night , in his

store , a coal oil lamp would be lighted and burned through

h e . ou t t evening , where all customers could see It did bring him trade ; they cam e for miles to see this

o f new marvel , and years later , a Mr . Romine Gentryville , a member o f the Romine family who had been neighbors and Pla t e 3

“ V L I/ 4

Sket ch o f O ld Pigeon B a p t ist Church wh er e t h e Lin col n s e in en e C n t In a n a worshipp d Sp c r ou y , di Pla t e 4

P t a a e t e O ld P e n C Re B ho o of p g from , h ig o hurch cord ook b ea ri n g t h e n a m e of Thom as Lin coln as a memb er LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 1 5

h o f t e . friends Lincolns , told Mr Taylor Basye ( son of John Basye and who succ e ede d his father in the drug store

business in Rockport ) th e following incident . He said it was the custom for his father to come to Rockport every other

Saturday to do their trading, and that the family would

s e come with him in a big wagon . The road wer rough and

e e e s ev ral cre ks had to be crossed , so th y always arose before day and made an early start for Rockport , seventeen f ’ . o miles away When news the strange , new lamp at Basye s

store reached them , the father said to his family on a Fri day night before the regular Saturday for their Rockport “ trip " We will not get up befor e day tomorrow to start to

Rockport , but will do up the Saturday chores in the morn

ing and take a later start , so that we may remain in Rock port a fter dark and see this wonderful oil lamp lighted .

e They did this , and the children never forgot the incid nt .

s My grandfather , Thoma Pindall Britton , had the ﬁrst

frame residence ever built in Rockport ; and my mother , who

e as a small child lived in this house , told me that ev ry

In Saturday people came from all over the county , great

o n wagons or horseback , and would drive by the new frame house just to look at it and its ﬁne glass windows . Some

s e e . would come in and ask to the interior They too , were o f o f an investigating turn mind , as was Lincoln in Vin

en n s o n n e l c e when the way to the w home in Il inois . He

fﬁ Wes t e r n S u n stopped and visited the o ce of the , and saw

o f his ﬁrst printing press , which he had heard back in

Spencer County . ’ Lincoln s contacts with the Ohio River , its ferries , steam boats and Shipping ; his contacts with the affairs at the Court

Houses of both Boonville and Rockport , where he heard the speech -making of the leading lawyers ; his friendship

e s with these lawyers and judg of that time , and his asso cia t io n s at the Jones and Gentry stores near his home ; the 1 6 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN church services at the Pigeon Baptist Church ; all th e se must h ave caused him to gather a great fund o f information of

affairs in general .

Amidst these primitive surroundings , among a plain , can

e did , straightforward people which had faced the r alities o f a hard , and a dangerous life but were not afraid of it , the boy Lincoln grew up . Living their life , he acquired that

e C toughn ss , tenacity , idealism and moral quality of haracter , which was to carry him through the dark days of the Civil

War many years later .

o f There were many handicaps ; lack education , ungainly

t o f physique , pioneer hardships , pover y ; in fact , almost all

the things that one considers necessary to success these days , Lincoln did not have and yet In years to come he was to

‘ i ab e th e e co n r s e ov all handicaps , and with courag of his v iction s win thousands by the clarity and justice of his

thinking . TH E L IN CO LN INQ"I R Y

’ The subj ect of Lincoln s greatness h a s been a source o f

o f inquiry and investigation . Hundreds books have been written about this greatest American , some dealing with his political career , some with his life as a whole , some with his peculiar melancholy but more o n his ancestry and the f possible inﬂuences o heredity . Writers fo r years have been trying to solve the mystery ’ o f . the man s rare personality Born in poverty , with but little schooling , and living in a pioneer age when life was so

o f wh er e full hardships , did Lincoln get his ambition to make something more than the ordinary o f his life "Wh e r e and wh e n did he absorb such deep insight "Most writ e rs suggest that all these qualities came t o him after he had reached Illinois ; because surely it was not in Indiana he h acquired them , that state whic was made the laughing stock d of the world by certain novels ealing with the uncouth , illiterate pioneers in the Hoosier state . Still it has ever been an established fact that Lincoln read everything he could

ﬁnd to read , and yet there must have been something else somehow , somewhere , to inspire him . For Lincoln undoubt edl 1 8 0 y arrived in Illinois in 3 almost , if not entirely ,

f r equipped o the great work before him .

What , then , is the missing and unwritten chapter in his life "It remained fo r an Indiana man o f good pioneer stock

e t o discov r this missing history . 1 2 0 In 9 Mr . John E . Iglehart of Evansville , Indiana , with the active aid and co -operation of a select body o f men and women whom he has described as belonging t o the social and intellectual aristocracy o f Indiana ( most o f whom trace a lineage back to the beginning of the State and a number 1 8 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE t o the early history o f the Territory of Indiana ) founded the Southwestern Indiana Historical Socie ty ( embracing the o f eight counties Warrick , Spencer , Vanderburgh , Perry ,

r Dubois , Pike , Posey and Gibson ) . Late Knox County was added . Soon after this organization was perfected , know ing that Lincoln was the society ’ s greatest asset and wishing ’ to learn everything possible concerning Lincoln s life o f fourteen years in Spencer County , Mr . Iglehart started what “ " was called The Lincoln Inquiry , the purpo s e of which was to collect from many new sources informatio n concern ’ 1 1 i ing Lincoln s life from 8 6 to 1 8 3 0 . In h s opinion this ’ missing Chapter in Lincoln s life could never be explored until the life o f the people in the sectio n o f the state where

Lincoln found his environment was properly explored , that

r the former was a corollary to the latte . It should be ’ noted , however , that Lincoln s environment in Southwestern Indiana for at least the radius of ﬁfty miles did not n eces s a r il t s In y recognize coun y line social , business and political

s 1 8 1 life . In fact , previou to 4 , there were no county lines , o f in Southwestern Indiana other than those Knox County, which originally covered a large part o f the o ld Northwest

Territory .

After the Inquiry was started , and people in Southern Indiana began to write the biographies o f their pioneer

e ancestors and bring forth l tters , documents , pictures and

old newspapers of that early time , it was discovered that there would be a wealth o f history here valuable to Indiana ’ and to the study of Lincoln s life . The Lincoln neighbors ,

A b e then , form the background for the boy , Lincoln , who

e worked , played and studi d from the age of seven to twenty

o n e years in Spenc e r County . Who were these pioneer neighbors o f Lincoln "From

" e d uca t Io n where did they come What was their , their home life and their ambitions "

e It is the descendants of those arly people , who live near

2 0 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

judges , ministers , many of whom the Lincolns undoubtedly

e o f knew and som whom , such as Pitcher and Brackenridge ,

must have inﬂuenced the young Abraham . Daniel Grass and his son were both men o f good minds

in and breeding , and Abraham Lincoln stayed the Grass

home at o n e time . John Pitcher was one o f the most brilliant lawyers in ’ the State of Indiana in Lincoln s time . He lived in Rock

e t port wh n the Lincolns lived in Spencer Coun y, and it has always been known that Lincoln borrowed books from

e Pitch r . I knew one woman , deceased , a Mrs . Alice Hanby f o . Mt Vernon , Indiana , who heard Pitcher say that Lin

o f coln had read some his books .

a n w s . In Boonville John A Bracke ridge , noted lawyer , and it has been shown that Lincoln walked to Boonville to

hear Brackenridge in his law cases and t o borrow books .

The Gentrys were very superior people , and Lincoln worked for them and was in their home a great part of his

n o t youth . He could help but be inspired and helped by the

o f co m Gentry family , their standards living , their home

forts and their conversation . It was with Allen Gentry that Abraham Lincoln made his ﬂ a tbo a t trip in 1 8 2 8 to New

o f Orleans . The Gentrys lived near the home the Lincolns ,

which was seventeen miles from Rockport . They brought their produce from there in wagons ; their hogs they herded and drove overland and butchered them o n a farm nea r

Rockport owned by Allen Gentry . Then at the lower land ing in Rockport the ﬂ a tb o a t was loaded fo r its southern

trip . l Near the o d landing was the home of Alfred Grass , son f D ’ o aniel Grass , Spencer County s ﬁrst landowner and a

o r cultured man . Here Lincoln stayed for a week two , f loading the boat and preparing o r the southern trip . In the Grass family is the tradition of how Lincoln pored

over the books that were in their home . Dr . John Grass

Pla t e 5

I N E D O F A B R A H A L INC O L N R E F R I HO LOG R A PH L E T T E R S G . M E R NG O D HO M E " IN ND l A N TO HIS O L D B O YHO l A .

u r Mi t t e n G o o d l a n d l m h a n a t u n e o O nl l a B y C o u r t e s y o f A r t h G . . r f t h e g n l

In a et t e 1 86 1 L n n en P e en t ea l r of i col , wh r sid , sp ks e in I n a n a a a e ea t o of his boyhood hom di , pl c d r his h ea rt a lways LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 2 1

o f Denver , son of Alfred Grass , speaking of those days , “ said " Lincoln would S it in the evening near t he table with the rest of the family until the tallow dip had burned ou t ; then he would lie down o n his back with his head toward

o f the open ﬁre place , so as to get the light upon the page

his book , and there he would often read until after mid " night . Dr . Grass said his mother told him it seemed to her that he would bake the top of his head o r wear himself ou t

' o f e for want rest , but he was always up in the morning r ady

f o r his work .

A S e I have stated before , the Grasses wer educated and

well to do . Living in Rockport at that time were other

educated and cultured people . They were Judge John Gra

ham , John Morgan , A . W . Dorsey , Samuel Hall , William

Berry , John Proctor , John Pitcher , Thomas Britton , Alex

r ' ande Britton and John Greathouse . Out of Rockport , but

within a short distance of where the Lincolns lived , were ’ o f many families reﬁnement and culture , and Lincoln s social affili ations were n o t alone in Spencer County but in t Dubois Coun y around the neighborhood of Enlow Hill ,

as . George R Wilson , Indiana historian , has described it . f Also in Warrick County there was Ratlif Boon , Congress ’ man during six years of Lincoln s time , and many others .

All these families Lincoln must have known , and as he

f e was o an inquiring nature , we can be assur d he learned all there was to learn from those with whom he came in

contact . We Spencer County people feel that the ﬂ a tb o a t trip which Lincoln took in 1 8 2 8 t o New Orl e ans with Allen ’ n e o ld Gentry , whe he was nineteen y ars , and had a man s

d o stature and vision , had much to with his inspirations and f ambitions o later years .

Without attempting to go more fully into details , these suggestions illustrate the ﬁeld in which the Southwestern Indiana Historical Society h a s worked f o r 1 8 years ; under 2 2 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

a common purpose , continuously producing and publish ing evidence o f the opportuniti e s existing in Southwestern ’ Indi ana within a reasonable range of Lincoln s ambitions ,

s investigation and inquiries , and particularly in Spencer

o f ou r and Warrick Counties . Some active workers have produced valuable resear ch work in this direction before

z o f the organi ation this Society , and the work is continuing by men and women of ability , education and culture , who have been to the mano r born ; they are in sympathy with the people and the life existing within the environments men t ion e d ; they know that the ﬁction published in an early

r day does not correctly describe the people , thei life and habits as they are actually known t o have existed . Enough has been produced and proper references fur n is h ed to all historian s and f a n minded inquirers to satisfy

o f C o f them the falsity , unfairness and misleading haracter some o f the o ld literature mentioned and o f the truth o f facts which Show a condition o f society under which a man ’ o f t Lincoln s ype , ambition and curiosity could develop and did develop a s Lincoln did .

That such people and such opportunities were known to , and inﬂuenced Abraham Lincoln , should cease to be a mat ter of surprise to any thoughtful student as it has already ceased with many ; since he had a reserve store of knowledge of books and men , and a perfect acquaintance with human nature in pioneer life for a long time before he left Indiana

- fo r m at the age o f twenty one his new ho e in Illinois .

Pla t e 6

JOHN E . IGLEHART

2 4 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

s been known , by the Lincolns during their year in Indiana

Grass , Gentry , Richardson , Jones , Crawford , Britton , Luce ,

Garrett , Medcalf , Barnett , Snyder , Bunner , Wright , Berry

Naney , Proctor , Graham , Lamar , Ray , Hammond , Brown ,

Brady , Logsdon , Montgomery , Boyd , Mattingly , Deweese ,

Ha ckelm a n h it t in hill , W g y Langford , Turnham , Haskin ,

H o Oskin , Hoskin , all , Cro ks , Kellams , Grigsby , Cotton ,

s s r Markle , Robert , Romine , Taylor , Greathou e , Carte , ff ff Lindsey , Hu , Wilkinson , Hu man , Morgan , Veatch ,

B r o on er Pitcher , Dorsey , Lucas , Parker , , Basye , Meeks ,

Gwaltney , Hevron , Hesson , Bayliss , and many others .

o f These are mentioned especially as being men public ofﬁce , ministers , lawyers , doctors , teachers , leading farmers and

m en business men . These were largely the type that would b be a n inspiration t o a yo ung oy .

s In Warrick , Perry and Duboi Counties were many more c well known people whom the Lin olns undoubtedly knew , but I mention here only some of those whose descendants are known to me in Spencer County .

o f What these settlers north , south , east and west the Lincolns were thinking and doing between 1 8 1 6 - 1 8 3 0 form the background and atmosphere in which Lincoln matured .

The Owenite Settlement at New Harmony , Indiana , and the British Settlement , forty miles from the Lincolns , near

a t Evansville , Indiana , which have been mentioned , were

o f tracting considerable attention . Both these settlements

W co n ere made by people of culture , and their libraries sisted o f the best books o f E n glish prose and poetry . One

a o f James C ws on the British Settlement , a civil engineer

out and school teacher of London , England , brought from England into the English settlement in 1 8 1 8 a library o f

o several hundred volumes , to which he added c ntinuously

h is while in America . This library was preserved by de

' s cen d a n t s and some 4 0 volumes h ave been donated to the M useum o f Arts and History in Evansville , Indiana , by LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 2 5

. o n e Mrs . Bertha Armstrong It is proof today of library ’ t o f e within the ﬁf y mile radius Lincoln s hom , as are the New Harmony books preserved all these years in that seat o f culture and education .

o f Dr . Christopher Coleman , Director the Indiana His “ " t o r ica l Bureau , in an address , The Lincoln Legend , de livered at the annual mem o rial services o f the Spencer County Historical Society at Nancy Hanks Lincoln Mem 2 8 1 orial Park , Lincoln City , on May , 93 3 , said “ Both Lincoln ’ s political principles and his unequaled ability to apply them to each crisis in the measure that pub lic opinion could be brought t o their support were the result o f his experiences and his associations in Indiana and Illi nois . His democratic nationalism he absorbed here in

Spencer County and over in Sangamon County . His sensi tive accuracy in gauging public opinion came from his intimate contact with the boys and the men o f his neigh b o rh o o d . He was not the abstract genius that legend has made him , aloof from the crowd and distinguished from it by an unique divine endowment . He was in every sense o n e o f the people , one of the people of the pioneer west of the

ﬁrst half o f the nineteenth century . Every quality he had

n he shared with friends and models of his boyhood . His e v ir o n m en t t n emphasized human equali y , ambition , natio al ism , shrewdness and native wit . “ n o t s Legend says , and a few biographer have patterned their work upon it "See from what unfavorable surround Ings the great man arose ; Se e h ow inexplicably great he was in the contrast he presents to his family and his environ ment "We can say with much more truthfulness "See what

o f qualities the pioneers the Middle West possessed , see the product of American ancestors and the Old Northwest " If we lessen the contrast which legend draws between an adverse environment and a supreme achievement , we d o not

o f lessen the greatness Abraham Lincoln . I f we draw the 2 6 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE picture of a man who developed gradually under the in ﬂu ence of an Invigorating environment and a democratic fron

a tier , man who joined in movements rather than creating

o f them , we disclose his power seeing far more clearly than his neighbor s into the heart and the meaning o f those move

e ments . He towered abov his fellows , but he never ceased

n f to be o e o them . ‘ ou r own The people who lived here in his boyhood , forefathers , cannot be represented as the uncouth , unpromis

fo r s ing ﬁgures of the Lincoln legend , standing the depth from which he rose . They were the sturdy , capable builders of American democracy . They leveled the wilderness , they tilled the land , they mastered the mighty rivers , they built f n ew o . a world in the heart the continent These plains ,

s hills and valley , whose primeval forests Lincoln helped to n fell , are not alo e reminders of his early hardships , they are the more pleasant t o look upon because they nurtured the greatnes s which the world afterwards saw in him . The work done by the Southwestern Indiana Historical Society has been recognized by the greatest historians in ou r

t o o f land , and letters have come the society from a number " them to express interest in the Inquiry . Working with the society have been several Indiana

o f Lincoln students and writers note , outstanding among these being Mr . William Fortune of Indi anapolis , formerly ’ s in of Boonville , Indiana . Mr . Fortune was Indiana ﬁrst ’ ve s tiga t o r of the fourteen formative years o f Lincoln s li fe

o f o n e here . Judge Roscoe Kiper Boonville , Indiana , of the ’ best known lecturers and writer s on Lincoln s life ; Pr o fes s o r E s a r e Logan y of Indiana University , a noted writer of Indiana history and a descendant of southern Indiana pio

n e er s . s . ; Mr Thoma J de la Hunt of Cannelton , Indiana , o f t and Mr . William L . Barker Warrick Coun y are all his

o r ia n B t s of note . Mr . arker compiled the convincing array " o f testimony in the Lincoln Trail which gives the route LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 2 7 followed by the Lincolns when they left Indiana for Illi ’ O Fl n n In dianr a nois . Miss Anna y of Vincennes , , collected ’ o f the Indiana material for Ida Tarbell s history Lincoln ,

M c lu r which was published by the C e Magazine .

o f Charles Baker Grandview , Indiana , has given years of labor to Lincoln research , trying to learn more about the coming of the Lincolns to Indiana , and the place where they crossed the Ohio .

e f o f . Deirdr Duf Johnston Mt Vernon , Indiana , Emily

ff s o f In Orr Cli ord and Albion Fellow Bacon Evansville , diana , well known women of southern Indiana , were Mr ’ Igleh a r t s able assistants in years o f research which he gave ’ to Lincoln s life in Indiana .

Mr . Clarence Wolfe , newspaper publisher , and Mrs . Nora

Fr et a eo t o f g , both New Harmony , Indiana , have written articles concerning the Rappite Settlement and Owen Colony in New Harmony . Lincoln must have been interested in this seat o f Indiana culture .

The late Judge Lucius Embree of Princeton , Indiana , and

o f Mr . George Wilson Indianapolis both have contributed much valuable material on southern Indiana pioneers and the Lincolns . Rev . J . Edward Murr , who knew personally o f many the Lincoln neighbors , has written many articles concerning the Lincolns in Indiana .

Mr . Iglehart felt that the evidence presented by Mr . ’ F n n O l . Fortune , Miss y and Rev Murr formed the most convincing and important testimony in our archives , because these three knew and interviewed the neighbors of the Lin colns , visited personally in their homes and so were able to give ﬁrst hand testimony as to the type o f people who were ’ living near the Lincoln farm and were the family s friends .

W o f Maj or Robert ood Princeton , Indiana , in one of “ o n " his brilliant brochures pioneer Indiana , says Who shall attempt to measure the depth , the breadth and the " height o f the inﬂuences of those old pioneers " 2 8 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

o f in Professor Ross Lockridge Indiana University , a “ ’ " paper on Lincoln s Kentucky and Indiana Background “ ou r " presented before society , said In estimating the fo rma tive inﬂuences that went into Lincoln ’ s ripened conception

r of liberty and union , we shall ﬁrst conside his Hoosier

a raising , his schooling nd reading that is his education . Surely we S hall foreve r claim ou r Hoosier heritage arising from the historic fact that Abraham Lincoln was educated

bo as a Hoosier school y , in Hoosier school houses , by Hoosier school masters and by the reading o f the books which were furnished him from Hoosier homes within the ﬁfty mile radius of early Hoosier culture here in the pocket " o f Indiana .

Ha lbru e o f Mrs . Carrie V . g Rockport , Indiana , grand ’ o f r daughter John Morgan , Rockport s ﬁrst postmaste , held a Daguerreotype and Portrait Exhibit o f Spencer 1 1 County Pioneers at the court house in Rockport , March ,

2 t o t o f 1 9 9 . Thi s collection was Show the ype Abraham ’ t Lincoln s neighbors and friends . There were over wo

t o il t hundred daguerreo ypes , paintings , silhouet es and pho

z t o gr aph s shown at this time . One reali ed in looking into

o f . these faces that they were a ﬁne , sturdy class people t Mr . George Honig , Spencer Coun y, Indiana born sculp

o r o f ou t t and artist , has done numerous works art as an “ " come o f the Inquiry as well as much intensive research

work o n pioneer life .

a n d in In each county town the nine counties , there are well known students and writers o f history who are de s cen d a n t s o f the pioneers ; and they have presented in inter

o f esting form stories the early life in Indiana , its hardships ,

it s t o dangers , amusements , religious life ; struggles make

progres s against heavy odds .

e s But all alike , th se word pictures of the pioneer Show u o f m us a strong, courageo s type people from who Lincoln LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 2 9

must have learned something in achievement , leadership and ambition .

h a s As a result, the Inquiry been far reaching ; in other

e own stat s , as well as our books and magazine articles have been written , and in many historical gatherings the facts of the Indiana years have come into the foreground .

S o , directly or indirectly , all these things have had their ’ I leh a r t s beginning in the sentim e nt aroused by Mr . g per sistent demand that the historical societies , of each of the

fﬁ th e w nine counties a liated with South estern , help write the story o f the fourteen forgotten Indiana years in Abra ’ ham Lincoln s life .

This work has been done , and we have accomplished what ’ is called the missing chapter in Lincoln s biography . I give

o f s e here the list all papers , addresse and activiti s concern t ing the Lincolns , that have been done by the socie y since it was founded .

W s North , South , East and e t of the Indiana home of the

s Lincolns , the pioneers have had their biographie written , so that today there is no guess work as to the southern

Indiana typ e of e arly settlers near the Lincoln home . All ’ papers mentioned a r e in the curator s ﬁle s o r have been published by the State . “

1 Ho . . . w Abe Saved the Farm , written by C T Baker ,

M o nit o r editor of the Grandview , and published in that

2 6 1 2 0 . paper August , 9

Nl r s . . It is the personal recollection of Mary J Scott , e whom I rem ember quite well . She is a ni ce of Joe Richard son who was a clerk in the store o f William Jone s of Gen

r ill . t yv e where the Lincolns traded . Mrs Scott said Thomas Lincoln was n o t in favor of book learning and often hid o r threw away the books with which Abe “ was foolin ’ away " his time . He often found fault with Abe for thus using time that he thought might h a ve been bette r employed at 3 0 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

other things , but that one day he gave good evidence of the

value of his learning .

One autumn Abe was cutting corn for a Mr . Carter at

s the wage of ten cent a day , and his employer and Thomas

Lincoln bargained to transfer a portion of the Lincoln farm . Carter wrote the deed and presented it to Lincoln for his

signature . A be looked over the deed before h is father “ a ﬂix ed his signature and said I f you Sign that deed , you

have sold the farm . The bargain wa s for a certain ﬁeld

n o t and the whole farm . Thomas Lincoln looked Carter “ ’ " In the eye and said , Somebody lied and taint Abe . As

was the custom in those days , a ﬁst ﬁght followed . After this event Thomas Lincoln never found fault with Abe for

reading books . 2 . A paper by the Rev . John Bunner who lived near Meeks church

h o -t o I knew Rev . Bunner w died at the age of nine ty w years . His paper was the story of the borrowed book that belonged to Crawford , which has often been told before . ’ Bun n e r s M o n Rev . article was published in the Grandview

o r 2 6 1 2 0 . it of August , 9 ’

o f . 3 . A copy Abraham Lincoln s letter to Mr David 2 1 8 60 Turnham dated October 3 , , and which was presented

o n 1 1 2 . t o the Southwestern Historical Society June 5, 9 3 “ o f 4 . Paper by Helen Rhoades on Life James Gentry,

1 2 2 th e written in May , 9 , and ﬁled with curator in Evans

ville .

This paper relat e s the friendship o f the Gentry s . and

Lincolns and mentions many incidents in the life o f Lincoln . It also records the history of the Gentry family in Spencer

a o n County . The Gentrys no doubt had great inﬂuence Lincoln during his boyhood days and the writer of this

paper is a great granddaughter o f James Gentry . “ e 5. Copy of Remarks of Honorable Charles Li b in

o n 2 8 1 1 6 o n the House of Representatives June , 9 , Sarah

3 2 THE MISSING CHAPTE R IN THE

occasional Visitor at th e Brackenridges home and also o f his walking to Boonville t o hea r John Brackenridge in his

t o law cases and borrow his books .

on r i b 8 . G s s . Paper the g y , written by Mrs Bess Ehr mann and read by her at the historical meeting held in

2 8 1 2 o 1 N . . Evansville , February , 9 3 , published in Bulletin 8 s Thi is the Grigsby family history and gives Mrs . Nancy ’ Grigsby In co s assertion that the ﬁr s t law books Lincoln

ever read were two that belonged to Aaron Grigsby .

o f In 9 . Copy a letter presented by Mrs . co to the South

western , written by Abraham Lincoln to Nathaniel Grigsby . Also a picture o f James Grigsby for the Spencer County

Mu s eum .

1 0 . e . Paper , More Lincoln Memori s , written by Mrs In co and read by her at the dedication o f Sarah Lincoln ’ Gr i s b s 2 0 1 1 6 g y Monument , June , 9 , and published in Bul

letin No . 1 8 .

o f 1 1 . Some historical pictures granddaughter and great

grandson o f Rev . David Elkins taken at Nancy Hanks ’ ho . s wa s w c Lincoln s grave . Rev Elkin the minister prea hed f the belated funeral service s o Nancy Hanks Lincoln . “ 1 2 o f u 2 0 1 1 . Newspaper article Febr ary , 9 5, Road " Travelled by the Lincolns to Illinois , which was written by

Cicero Fellinger of Winslow , Indiana . ’

1 . . 3 . I consider Mr William L Barker s paper on Rat ff In 1 2 2 li Boone , written 9 and read at the Historical Soci i 1 6 1 1 2 2 n . ety , January 3 , 9 , and published Bulletin No , to belong t o the Lincoln Inquiry although he does not mention ’ o n e Lincoln s name . Boone was of those men who by his leadership no doubt drew the attention of the young Lin

coln and no doubt helped t o inﬂuence and mold his opinions . ’ 1 s 4 . Lincoln s Boyhood Day in Indiana , written by Judge Roscoe Kiper of Boonvill e and read by him before

' the Socie ty o f Indiana Pioneers in Indianapolis , December

- 1 6 . 8 1 2 2 . 9 , 9 , was published in Bulletin No LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 3 3

This paper mentions the names of a number o f pioneer families , one of such is Daniel Grass , who no doubt had a great inﬂuence o n the young Lincoln and i t is also his belief that the New Harmony settlement and their ideas were

z reali ed by Lincoln , and that he could have come under the inﬂuence of prominent educators connected with the Owen movement .

1 o n i 5. Paper Daniel Grass , wr tten by his great grand daughter , Laura Mercy Wright , and read before the His t o r ica l 2 8 1 2 0 Society at Poseyville , September , 9 , and was

ﬁled with papers in charge o f the curator in Evansville . ’ Judge Grass s political life began in 1 8 1 2 as justice o f the 1 8 1 peace . In 3 he was an associate judge for Warrick ,

Perry and Posey counties .

in 1 2 2 1 6 . Visit of Miss Ida Tarbell 9 to Spencer county “ o f and Rockport in search material for her new history , In " the Footsteps o f the Lincolns . Miss Tarbell expressed herself to me as being much interested in the “ Lincoln

Inquiry .

I a o n Paper by d D . Armstrong Moore The Lin colns in Spencer County , read by her at the meeting in

Evansville .

f . n . o o e Joseph D Armstrong, father Mrs Moore , was of ’ Spencer county s earliest historians and in fact the only o n e whom I know who has had his materi al published . He b e gan collecting historical mat e rial in 1 8 58 and published a small pamphlet called Spencer County and its Prominent ’ S en Citizens , or Extracts from Armstrong s History of p cer Count y which is n ow being written and will be published the present year 1 I have a copy o f this ﬁrst pamphlet history o f Spencer County which was given me by his d augh ter , Mrs . Mina Cook . Much of this history he used in the

1 Spencer County Atlas which was published in 8 7 9 . His manuscripts were also used by the publishers of the Wa r

r 1 rick , Spence and Perry Counties History published in 8 8 5. 3 4 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

Having been a school teacher Mr . Armstrong wrote much ’ o f on the early schools and Lincoln s schooling , what little he received . He made a pencil drawing of the Lincoln home in the back o f one of his books ; this book is a cherished possession of his only living child , Mrs . Mina Cook of

Rockport . He also published a vivid word picture of Lin ’ e coln s mother , the color of her ey s and hair , complexion and general appearance . In his ﬁrst published history of the Lincolns he states “ " that the ﬁrst teachers , who boarded round and taught

Abe , said he could read well at the age of eight years .

I knew Mr . Armstrong and remember well his interest ing personality and conversation . He was always de eply interested in all Lincoln history and I have in my possession o 1 8 1 0 1 a c py of a letter written February , 9 , a short time ’ before Mr . Armstrong s death , showing his interest in the

Nancy Hanks Memorial A ssociation . The letter is written o n stationery of the General Assembly o f the state o f

Indiana . f House o Representatives .

J D . ARMSTRONG . Sir and Comrade "

Your s at hand and in reply must say that you surely are

f . truly loyal to the memory o Mrs . Lincoln I have received a number of petitions and yours contains the greatest num ber o f names sent in by any one person . Now as to your help on the committee will say I do n o t know o f any co m m it t e e appointed or elected in any way . The appropriation , i f obtained , will be made to the Nancy Hanks Memorial

o f Association Commission , consisting the Governor and two other parties whose names I do not now remembe r .

a o Thi s commission was organized nearly a year g .

“ Respectfully , LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 3 5

1 2 1 8 . Vi sit of Rev . Warren to Spencer County in 9 3 when he was collecting Lincoln facts for one of his histories

o f Lincoln .

e o n . 1 9 . Very int resting talk Lincoln by Rev John

Edward Murr , made at the meeting of the Southwestern in

1 2 1 2 Evansville , February , 9 4 , in which he stated that he ’ had known eleven of Lincoln s boyhood associates .

2 0 . Letter of inquiry from a Mrs . Alfred Beach in Cas

i fo r per , Wyoming , ask ng information concerning the Hall

family who went to Illinois with the Lincolns . The speciﬁc information asked I could not give and so answ e red and

later had some historic data from Mrs . Beach concerning

the Hall and Hanks family . 2 1 1 2 0 . Paper written in 9 by David H . Morgan on " John Morgan , Pioneer , and ﬁled with the curator of the

e Southwestern in Evansvill .

John Morgan the first clerk , first postmaster and first recorder o f Spencer County was a man o f e ducation and

culture . The Lincolns would perhaps have come in contact

with John Morgan every time they came to Rockport , hi “ therefore s biography belongs to the Inquiry . “ "

2 2 . 1 2 Pocket Periscope , article published February ,

1 2 1 C o ur ier 9 , in the Evansville and written by Mr . Thomas

J . de la Hunt of Cannelton . Mr . de la Hunt reviews quite o f o f a bit recently discovered data concerning Lincoln , part

which is the recollections of Mrs . Mary J . Scott , whom I

have mentioned elsewhere . Mr . de la Hunt quotes Mrs . “ Scott as saying , I f more children were as ambitious for an education today as was Abraham Lincoln there would " be many more college graduates . “ 2 e 3 . Newspap r article Rockport Tave rn where Lin " J o ur n coln Stopped , published in the Rockport a l was ﬁled

in Spencer County History Book . The tavern was known “ " as the Sargent House and Squire J . L . Stewart , a former e native r sident of Rockport , tells his recollections of Abe 3 6 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

Lincoln . Squire Stewart was an errand boy at the tavern

1 8 o l when Lincoln stayed there in 4 4 , his ﬁrst Visit to his d home after moving to Illinois . 2 4 . A paper on General W . Johnson by Mr . George Wilson and read before the Southwestern Indiana His t o r

it s n s 1 2 ical Society at ﬁ fth an ual meeting in Evan ville , 9 4 ,

d in 1 2 z o f and was publishe the June , 9 4 , Indiana Maga ine History This paper is o n e o f the ablest addresse s ever delivered “ o u r before society and belongs to the Lincoln Inquiry , be ca us e it deals with the question o f slavery at th e beginning of the state , a matter of vital interest to the Lincolns , par

i la rl o t cu y t Abraham . General Johnson was perhaps more generally known than any other m a n Wh o lived in south

e 1 8 2 0 t o 1 8 0 s o west rn Indiana from 3 , and the Lincolns must have known a great deal about Johnson and could ’ have had access to General Johnson s report o n the slavery question . “

2 o f . 5. The Birth a State , by George R Wilson , read

s 1 1 2 2 before thi society , January 3 , 9 , and was published in

N 1 6 . Bulletin o .

s ou o f Mr . Wilson say I f y wish a good historical vision a city you must know the history of the county "i f you wish

is a good vision of a county , it well to have the vision of a

o f state ; and , i f you wish a knowledge a state it is well to " s know the history o f a nation and so o n . I think thi is necessary whe n we study the history of a man and so the “ " " Lincoln Inquiry is concerned with The Birth o f a State . ’ 2 o n s 6 . George Wilson s article Judge Jame Lockhart, written fo r the Southwestern Historical Societ y and pub lis h ed by the Indiana State Historical Society , Publication

8 . 1 , No , deals with the early period of Indiana shortly "

s t o . after the Lincolns left , but belong the Inquiry

2 . 7 . Another paper by Mr George Wilson that should

e Pr o ﬁit t be included in this list is o n on George H . and LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 3 7

which was published in th e Indiana Magazine o f History . ’ This is a history o f Pr o ﬂit t s life in the thirties after Lin

s coln left Indiana , but it deal to some extent with that period .

2 o n 8 . Paper by Mrs . Samuel Orr the Casselberry fam

s 1 2 1 2 ily and read before thi society , February , 9 4 , and f was published in the Bulletin o that date . This paper shows that one o f the large and prominent families of the early period lived both on the east and west o f t a s Abraham Lincoln , and that a creek in Perry Coun y w ’ named after one of Mrs . Orr s ancestors . “ "

2 . o n n . . 9 Paper Judge Joh Pitcher , by Rev John E

1 8 . Cox of Evansville was published in Bulletin No . This

h e is the personal recollections of Rev . Cox when lived in

Mt . Vernon and knew Judge Pitcher . f 0 . o 3 Paper by Colonel Gil R . Stormont, Princeton , on

e n 1 8 . Judge William Prince , published in Bull ti Judge William Prince ﬁlled a large place in southern Indiana history and had so much to do in public affairs that the Lincolns undoubtedly came under his inﬂuence .

1 o n 3 . A paper Materia Medica of Pioneer Indiana ,

e 1 0 by Mrs . H . C . Knapp , and read before the soci ty , June , “ " 1 2 9 4 , might be linked with the Lincoln Inquiry because a part o f the life of every community in pioneer days was

the pioneer doctor .

In the town of Rockport was an old desk owned by Mrs . Mary Garlinghouse which was made by Thomas Lincoln ’

fo r . o n e . Dr Crooks , of Spencer County s ﬁrst doctors It is

now owned by her grandson , Townsend Taylor of South

Bend , Indiana . ’

2 . s s o f 3 In Thoma J . de la Hunt History Perry Coun ty is a chapter devoted to the Lincolns and although this

1 1 6 e history was written in 9 , four y ars before the South

e western was founded , I feel that this Should b long to the h Southwestern as Mr . de la Hunt a s given us much pioneer

history . 3 8 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

’ 3 3 . In the third volume o f E s a r ey s Indiana History “ which is marked Vanderburgh County , by John E . Igle

o f in hart , are two features interest original research , “ " which belong to the Inquiry .

First . Something over one hundred pages o f original

. n s matter by Mr Iglehart o Early Evan ville , and second , beginning at page 1 1 9 at the bottom and continuing for about eighteen pages is an abstract o f the Evansville

Ga z t t e e , a weekly newspaper published in Evansville , from 1 8 2 1 1 8 2 to 5. Undoubtedly the Evansville Ga z e t t e ﬁles are a very v a l u able research source . They throw a searchlight for three

- In and one half years the early twenties , nowhere else to be found .

Thomas J . Evans was a brother of Robert M . Evans , who lived in Evansville except the year 1 8 2 7 when he lived at

t e o f New Harmony , and a bro h r the Evans at Princeton wh o was a wool carder and who advertised in the Evans

a t e e ville G z e t . Thomas J . Evans adv rtised that he was living ih Rockport and was doing law business generally in the district . There is independent testimony settled beyond controversy that Lincoln used t o go once a year t o Evans at Princeton to have h is wool carded . So you have Lincoln

o n e o f in touch with the Evans family , the leading families in southern Indiana , the family which gave Evansville its name . Lincoln was doing his wool carding in Princeton where he had to remain several days each time he went and t h e man with whom he transacted business was a brother to wa s Robert M . Evans , who a contributor to the weekly s papers then published in New Harmony . These fact are an illustration of h o w this newspaper throw s light on the environment of Lincoln . ’ I leh a r t s B e 3 4 . Mr . g address on Correspondence " tween Lincoln Historians and This Society deli vered in

4 0 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

original research , open to investigators in pursuing the Lin " coln , Inquiry , in which ﬁeld he seemed to think there was ample evidence to justify the conclusions at which he had f . o s arrived On account of absence historical record , thi is largely circumstantial evidence furnished from many well l established facts , making c ear the opportunities which Lin coln actually had , and i f he had them there is no doubt that

o f he availed himself them .

a s o n Being unable , Mr . Iglehart stated , account of time required in the work and his advanced age , to follow this inquiry in the future , as he had sought to aid in doing

e o f through the chann ls this society work in the past , he submitted a summary of the source s o f information in such

o f research , relating largely to the opportunities Lincoln h while e lived in Indiana .

o n Of the ﬁrst importance this subject , he quoted the m statement of Leonard Swett , that oln said to him that “ he had read through every b o ok he had ever heard o f in that country fo r a circuit of ﬁfty miles from the farm upon " which he lived . The limit of thi s radius included Vincennes ,

Princeton , Evansville , Boonville , Rockport , Corydon , the

o f 1 8 2 capital of the territory and the state until 5, and a

o f f o r center culture a much longer period , also close to , if not actually including, New Harmony , and part of north

o f western Kentucky , including Henderson , the county seat

o f o f Henderson County , where some the descendants the three Hart brothers. ( o f Richard Henderson 81 Company )

o f in ﬁu en ce lived , and were men much ( David Hart , an

' S en able man , one of such descendants , was Judge of the p cer circuit court in 1 8 1 8 ) Mr . Iglehart evidently thought it probable that the Lincolns knew very well the story o f 81 the Hart brothers and o f Richard Henderson Company , so important in the ﬁrst settlement o f Kentucky whe r e Abraham Lincoln was born and where Thomas Lincoln lived until he moved to Indiana . LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 4 1

o f After summarizing many sources information , too nu m er ou s to be mentioned here , which have been Investigated in our work , and through which opportunities were then open to a man of Abraham Lincoln ’ s ability and habits of inquiry , and showing in that address ( with reference to reliable historical authority ) the means of reasonable easy communication for those days , both north and south , and east and west , in southwestern Indiana , particularly the

o f t nine counties embraced within the territory this socie y , which were then conﬁned in a single congressional and

his s judicial district, Mr . Iglehart gave conclusion as to the opportunities existing in pioneer life in thi s section when he lived in Indiana , and how Lincoln knew many of the people who lived within a reasonable distance of his home , which fo r that time might reasonably be considered a dis tance of ﬁfty miles , and that he knew about all worth know ing o f them ; also that in I 8 3 0 Abraham Lincoln knew prett y

a s h is t well all that w worth knowing in locali y, and within that radius , which could be learned by reading the papers , intelligent inquiry , and personal acquaintance with the better class o f people whose history had n o t ( with honorable ex cep t io n s ) been properly recorded up to the time of the organization o f this socie ty . He further said that he believed that h is conclusion was the correct explanation of the equipment o f the man Lin

s 1 8 0 coln , as he is found in Illinoi in 3 and later , and that such an interpretation would furnish the method o f solving “ " the problem underlying The Lincoln Inquiry , none other having been furnished by the historians .

3 5. There was an outstanding work by George R . Wil “ f - o 1 8 1 6 1 8 0 . son Indianapolis , The Lincoln Environs 3 This gives the Lincoln Forest Field Flora and Family of those years . A most complete work . This is on ﬁle in ’ pamphl e t form in the curator s archives in Evansville and also in Spencer County . Thi s work was made in the form 4 2 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

of a repor t fo r the R e search Committee of the Southwest ern Indiana Historical Society under the presidency of Bess

V . Ehrmann .

3 6 . In the Spencer County ﬁles is the correspondence between Mrs . Cordelia P . Wood and Bes s V . Ehrmann con ’ a 1 8 6 8 cerning the neglected gr ve of Lincoln s mother in , with poem by William C . Corbin , which aroused public sentiment and resulted in the erection o f a suitable marker

at the grave later . “ o f In 3 7 . The Environments Abraham Lincoln in — ’ a O Fl n n m dian The Best Witnesses , Anna y , Willia

t . For une , Rev . J . Edward Murr , Hon Elbert Hayford , " e George Honig , B ss Ehrmann . Each of these persons giving information as to the type o f Lin coln neighbors from

- in 1 1 n . 8 1 6 8 3 0 . These papers are o ﬁle Evansville “ "

a . 3 8 . The Cr wford Family ; by William Adams Abra ham Lincoln worked for Josi ah Crawford ; William Adams , ’ Josiah s grandson , tells the story of their lives , the home

bo life , the y Lincoln as a helper and many interesting details

of those early Indiana years .

3 9 . A very important paper , The Lincoln Route , by a ﬂid a v it s William Barker , gives the of numerous people who knew the Lincolns in Spe n cer County and who kn ew

the route the Lincolns traveled in going to Illinois in 1 8 3 0 . This document was published by the State in the 1 9 2 6

Bulletin . “ 0 4 . The Lincoln Environment , by Judge Roscoe

e Kiper , is a very convincing articl and was published in an

1 2 . extra Bulletin of December , 9 5 Judge Kiper was an ex president of the Southwestern Indiana Historical Society

and a noted Lincoln scholar . “ ’ 1 O O 1 . 4 . Lincoln and the W Carder s Niece , by Mrs

e . Lotta Edson Erwin of Mt . V rnon This bit of history is most interesting and proves that Lincoln traveled about the environs of southern Indiana and was in touch with people LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 4 3

o f different communities within the ﬁfty mile radius that he

e spok about . This incident happened in Princeton . ’ 2 e e 4 . Morris Birbeck s Estimate of the Peopl of Princ

ton in by Judge Lucius Embree , gives intimate views

of the pioneer settlers in southern Indiana .

o f 4 3 . In an article by Mrs . Lewis Taylor Yankeetown “ " o f on Early Reminiscences Anderson Township , the stur

dy type o f the pioneers in again made clear . “ " 4 4 . Bailey Anderson the First , by Mrs . Sadye Ander

o f son Wilson Newburg , adds another link in the long chain o f personalities who made the background for the Lincoln

family in southern Indiana . ’ 4 5. Like all of George Wilson s historical works , the paper o n Senator Benj amin Rose Edmonston is an exc e l

e lent o n e . He t lls u s that the facts set forth in his article

have been secured from legal documents , registers of births ,

deaths , marriages , baptisms , corporation records , wills , title

. u s deeds , tax lists and the like . The result gives the pioneer

type to the north of the Lincoln home , years before the Lincolns came to Indiana as the Edmonston family came to

1 8 0 8 . Dubois County , about This paper is to be found in the December 1 9 2 6 Bulletin of the Southwestern Indiana

Historical Society .

El o r o 6 . d 4 General Joseph E . Lane , by Minor Raleigh ,

u s takes a long trip into the past , and we feel that this man

must have been known to the Lincoln family , holding as he

did such a prominent place in early Indiana history . Two 1 letters written by Joseph Lane t o C O . Wm . M . Cockrum

o f Oakland City are included in this biography , which was published in the December Bulletin of the Proc e edings o f 2 the Southwestern Indiana Historical Socie ty of 1 9 6 .

4 7 . From the southwestern environs of the Lincolns

s M cGill were the Gaines Head Robert and families , whose biographies were written by Th e odoro Hazen M cGill Tor

o f 1 2 8 rance and published in the March History Bulletin 9 . 4 4 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

. r Mrs Torrance also w ote an article on The Roberts , ’ M cGill o n o u r Hazen and families , which is ﬁle in curator s

t o care . The w papers making a most complete picture of pioneer settlers in that direction .

T o 4 8 . the east of the Lincolns were many worth while “ people ; Thomas James de , la Hunt in The Lincoln East " ward Environment gives us a clear picture o f pioneers there .

Ho n . 4 9 . Mason Jones Howell settled in Spencer Coun

t 1 8 1 6 . s y in Thomas Lincoln ettled near him , and Samuel

o f Howell lived one mile south the Lincoln farm . George Honig writes o f these families in an article o n ﬁle with the f curator o the Society . 0 5 . An unusual library in southern Indiana , in early f wa s o s C a o n . ws . . days , that Jame , and Mrs W R Davidson

n o f gave the ames of many these books in a paper entitled , ’ s C a n 1 1 - 1 0 Jame ws o s Library 8 8 8 4 . ’

1 . o f 5 George Wilson s sister , Margaret A . Wilson

o u r o u r s o n e Jasper , has given to society and tate of its most valuable records in the form of a paper published in “ 1 2 8 o f ff a March , 9 , Bulletin , the title which is Bu alo Trails The Great Wilderness Road of Southern In

s ou r diana . Over these trails the Lincoln and pioneer ancestors traveled in that long ago day . “ " 2 5 . Jonesboro , by Grace Jeanette Bullock , gave the story o f that early settlem ent of Jonesboro west o f Gentry

ih ville , where Lincoln worked the Jones store and where f the forme r residence o Col . William Jones stands and in which Lincoln was a guest in 1 8 4 4 o n his visit to his

r o ld home as a Clay electo . With thi s article Miss Bullock presented a map o f the sites o f the houses that stood in the

o n old pioneer town . Copies of the map and papers are ﬁle with the curators o f Spencer County Historical Society and f o the Southwestern Indiana Historical Society .

f . . . o 53 History Pike County , by Mrs Beulah H Gray , LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 4 5

gives a pict ure o f the Pike County neighbors of the Lincolns . o f Mrs . Gray had done much to establish the worth Pike t Coun y pioneers .

54 . Near the Lincolns lived the Powell , Hornback and

Gentry families , and the lives of these were written about f in the article by Harriet Powell o Lamar .

l\/Iis s 55. Powell also wrote a most interesting sketch o n Nancy Hanks Lincoln with information secured from a

o f o n pioneer relative . Both these documents are ﬁle with the Society . “

6 . e 5 Some Early Troy History , by Salli Logan Ber

en r o th g of Troy and a descendant of pioneer families , tells the history o f the town once so closely associated

o f with the history the Lincolns in Indiana . It is ﬁled in the Archives .

57 . Papers on the life of General James C . Veatch ,

n B written by Edna Brow Sanders , David Morgan and etty Veatch Spayd are in the ﬁl e s and give an insight into this ’ t man s life , the paper by his daughter , Bet y Veatch Spayd , giving before unwritten pictures o f the forme r Rockport f man and early investigator o Lincoln lore . l " 8 . 5 Life of Thomas Pindal Britton , a public man in t Spencer Coun y during the Lincoln residence there , was written by his granddaughter , Bess Ehrmann , and published

In 1 2 8 . the March , 9 , Bulletin e 59 . Word Pictures of Pioneer Families , by Dierdr f Du f Johnson , Albi an Fellows Bacon and Bess Ehrmann , was published in bulletin form and gives intimate word pictures of some of the old pioneer people whom the writers had seen in their childhood and the impressions left in their

Go d minds of these fearing men and women . “ 6 0 . Some Descendants of George D eB ruler and

o f Thomas Hargrave , Who Became Pioneers Pike and

s D e B r u le r Duboi Counties in Indiana , by Eva , gives addi t io n a l insight into the north west neighbors of the Lincolns . 4 6 THE MISSING CHAPTE R IN THE

t o o f It is interesting note the intermarriages the Hargraves ,

D e Bruler s Kels o s Nibla cks , , , Barnetts , Hicks and Sharpes , outstanding families , every one proving that in the Indiana l wilderness , were cultured and educated people as ear y as 0 1 8 0 . The descendant s of these families still carry o n in

o f z Indiana today , and amongthem are some the best citi ens in the state , lawyers , teachers , ministers and doctors .

on e o f Bishop Simpson said of the Hargraves , Richard

in 1 8 0 b e Hargrave , the circuit rider , who was born 3 and

1 8 2 1 n o gan preaching in , and was doubt known by the Lin “ colns "Few men o f the West have addressed larger audi " en c r es for a long series of years o reached more hearts .

6 1 . Another powerful pioneer preacher and circuit rider

a . w s Rev Andrew Jackson Strain , whose life story has been told by Miss Margaret Ann Wilson . Undoubtedly Richard Hargrave and Andrew Strain traveling the southern Indiana wilderness must have been listened to by the Lincolns during their fourteen years ’ residence in southern Indiana . ’ 2 n e o f 6 . O Lincoln s school masters in Spencer County

o f was a man named Sweeney . A descendant this man , Earl

Deweese of Richland , Indiana , himself a school teacher , h a s written of his ancestor . His paper and poem are on ﬁle

1 2 . in the June 5, 9 9 minute book of the society “

6 . t 3 The Lost Lincoln Cabin in Spencer Coun y , by

Sch r ee d er o f b e Colonel C . C . , gives his recollections what f came o f the Spencer County cabin home o the Lincolns . This cabin was supposedly shipped to Cincinnati and the logs made into relics .

e ch r e e e r 6 4 . Anoth r article by Colonel S d tells of his personal ownership o f one log o f the Indiana cabin and he tells h ow he found it at the home Site and afterwards had it cut into six inch blocks , polished and then presented to various historical societies and museums . o f 65. One of the best known pioneer families Southern

4 8 THE MISSING CHAPTE R IN THE

under the inﬂuence of this pioneer preacher . Reverend Hart also preached at Bake r Creek Baptist Church and

Richland . ’ o f 73 . In the days the Lincolns residence in Indiana , the people o f surrounding towns were often concerned in activities that in various ways brought them int o possible contact with the Lincolns . Although there is , of course , little ’ evidence to Show that Abe Lincoln s attention and int e rest

o f e t kn owm were focused on certain these happenings , y g the keen mind o f the boy and his reaching ou t to grasp i ff everyth ng worthwhile , it seems that many of the a airs dis cussed by his elders must have made an impression on the “ S o f o r growing boy . , that reason , I include in this Lin coln Inquiry" the biographies and activities of everything

' b o n with a possible earing his mental development . In the paper “ Free Masonry in Vincennes and Prince " n o n t o , by Robert Archer Wood , it might first reflection “ " o n on have no bearing the Lincoln Inquiry , but we find

o f reading the paper that William Jones , father William\

Jones who had a store at Jonesboro , near Gentryville , and

a s o f where Abe Lincoln worked at times , w a member the

1 1 8 0 . Vincennes Lodge No . , organized in 7 The Masonic Lodge in Princeton was founded in 1 8 2 0 “ a n d Major Wood in his excellent paper says " The Masoni c Order rendered good s ervIce In those primal days in south " ern Indiana . “ e ff 74 . Posey County Lincoln Lore , by Deirdr Du ’ t o Johnson , tells of Lincoln s visit Posey County , also ’ ’ Dennis Hanks story o f Abe s interest in the New Harmony “ settlement and the thought o f thousands o f books just made him wild , so Dennis said . “ " C au t h o rn 7 5. A paper Elihu Stout , by Alice Potter ,

r . o is copyrighted by ou society Stout came t Vincennes , 80 1 8 0 . 1 Indi ana , in 3 In 4 he issued the ﬁrst number of the

Ga z e t t e Indiana , the ﬁrst newspaper published within the LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 4 9

limits of Indiana , and the ﬁrst anywhere in the Northwest

L ibe r t H a ll C in cid n a t i Ga z e t te territory, except y and

published at Cincinnati , Ohio . From these papers much early Indiana life has been

1 8 0 o ﬂice gleaned . In 3 Lincoln visited Elihu Stout in the

f e n u o n l a z e t t e o the W es t r S n his trip to I linois . The G

o ﬂice 1 8 0 6 1 8 0 had been burned in , but in 7 Stout began the

e publication of the Wes t r n S un . f 6 . o f o 7 Walton M . Wheeler Evansville , descendant “ "

ou r . pioneers , wrote for society The English Settlement This settlem ent just out of Evansville was o n what is n o w

1 o r State Road No . 4 , fourteen ﬁfteen miles from Evans I ville . t was active in intellectual aff airs and had farm clubs f over one hundred years ago . Many o the aristocratic fam ilies o f southern Indiana today are descendants o f those people

7 7 . John Law , by Christopher E . Coleman gives us the pictur e of a personal friend and sincere admirer o f Pres

. 1 8 1 ident Lincoln He came to Indiana in 7 , settled in Vin

-ﬁ en n e . c es and lived there about thirty v years Dr . Coleman says "“ No attempt to describe the character and standing o f the population of Southwestern Indiana in the early days o f the state can ignore the presence o f men such as John " Law .

7 8 . With ou r socie ty were ﬁled papers o f General James

C . Veatch , relating to the funds raised by Rockport , In

f o r o f diana , citizens the fence erected around the grave

Nancy Hanks Lincoln . These papers had been in the p o s f h ’ o . Ve a t c s session Gen granddaughter , Miss Pet Enlow ,

t o and were presented by her the society . “ " 7 9 . The Lincoln Atmosphere , by William B . Carleton , explains the attitude now of southern Indiana folks toward “

. . " e Lincoln Lore Mr Carleton says W live , breathe and have our being in a Lincoln atmosphere in southern In " diana . 50 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

8 0 . The Warrick County Neighbors of the Lincoln

e . s Family , by L vi B Barker . In thi paper is a list of fam ilies living in Warrick County during the years the Lincolns lived in Indiana . Showing , too , that when Lincoln went into his n ew home in Illinois he took with him that patriotic

a n d / n oble e zeal , religious impulse moral character that wer

h e instilled in him by t people of Indiana .

8 1 . . Literacy of the Lincoln Neighbors , by C T .

r h o Baker , contains a furthe list of families , w were neigh bors o f the Lincolns at the time o f settling in southern In

s o f diana , their education and book owned , with references authenticity . “ ’ 2 8 . Lincoln s Indi ana Neighbors by Bes s V . Ehrmann . This paper gives a long list o f pioneers wh o lived in Spencer

1 8 1 6 - 1 8 0 e County between 3 , and whos descendants are known by the writer , and from whom she heard the stories o f the early life and settlers in Spencer County . The writer

C - un states that those Lincoln neighbors were lear minded ,

o f pretending men common sense , and with unquestionable

e patriotism . The boy Lincoln was undoubt dly molded by

n their inﬂuence and inspired by their i tellect . He became the ﬁrst true type of American citizen with ste r ling qualities f o f — o heart , humane sympathies , purity life the eman 1 2 8 cip a t o r o f a race . This article was published in the 9

Proceedings of the Indiana History Conference . “ ’ 8 3 . Lincoln s Spencer County Friends and Neighbors ,

o f - by Bess V . Ehrmann , contains the account twenty one Spencer County families who were neighbor s and friends o f the Lincolns and gives their photographs copied from old daguerreotypes and o il paintings in poss ession of descend

s ih S ta r o f ants . Thi article was published the Indianapolis

8 1 1 . February , 93 “ D eB ru ler . 8 4 . Harbard P . Pioneer , by Beulah B d o f Gray . This man plante a formal garden , remains which are still to be seen . It was a j ewel in the Indiana wilderness . LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 51

He called this garden Delectable Hill . Today , after one ff S hundred years , the o spring of those shrubs till grow and

e r le r bloom . The D B u s and Hargraves were Lincoln neigh

e bors . Mrs . Gray has print d the story of Delectable Hill

in booklet form . “ e 8 5. A Memorial to Mrs . Eldora Minor Ral igh ,

by John E . Iglehart . In which the facts of John Bracken

O f ridge Boonville , lending Abraham Lincoln law books , is ’ substantiated by family history , as told in Mrs . Raleigh s historical work .

8 6 . The history of southern Indiana and the Lincoln

country is connected with the life and deeds of Hon . Rat ’ “ ff Ki er s li Boon , so Judge Roscoe p paper , An Incident in Warrick County History" is important and tells of the gift ’ f 1 o Boon s picture to Warrick County in 8 53 . “ "

8 . Z 7 Judge achariah Skelton , by Judge Caleb J . Lind

sey, tells us the story of this man who came to Warrick

1 8 1 o f County in 3 , was a member the Primitive Baptist Church and Clerk of Little Zion Baptist Church a few miles

o e fr m little Pigeon Baptist Church , wh re the Lincolns wor

i Z a s s h p ed . Little ion Baptist Church w located on the farm o f John Phillips , whose son married a daughter of Judge Skelton and it was John Phillips who had the honor o f entertaining the Lincoln family o n their j ourney from In diana to Illinois . “ 8 8 . A Diary and Some Letters written by James Caw " V r son edited by l I s . W . R . Davidson . This man came from 1 8 1 England to Indiana in 9 , and was a prominent member o f o f the ﬁrst British settlement . He was a type southern

Indiana pioneer .

8 . f o . 9 The Assassination Lincoln , by Mrs Herbert

e n Fitton tells the incid nts r e lated by Mr . John Shankli Ram

e . sey , civil war veteran of Wad sville , Indiana As Lincoln ’ was carried from Ford s Theatre , his head brushed Mr . ’ Ramsey s coat sleeve and left it covered with blood . 52 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

0 . Th e Hu d s ith s 9 Grahams , p and Dennys , by John

E . Iglehart , is a paper concerning these pioneer families and the part they played in developing the Lincoln back ground ’ 1 9 . Lincoln s Kentucky and Indiana Background , by

s . Ros F Lockridge , is a worth while thesis . “ 2 9 . The Relation of Southwestern Indiana Pioneers to " o f those other Pioneer Sections , by Robert Archer Wood . “ Indiana pioneers were no different from the pioneers of

o r e New England , Maryland P nnsylvania , says Major “ f . o Wood The best blood the East was among us . Mr . ’ Wood s grandfather , Robert Archer , taught school less than

-ﬁ ve 1 8 0 . twenty miles from the Lincoln cabin prior to 3 Mr . Wood has several pieces of exquisite mahogany furniture and numerous books that were in his family in Indiana many

years before the Lincoln departure from Indiana soil , indi

cating the culture and reﬁnement of pioneer days in Indiana .

- 1 8 1 6 1 8 2 6 . 93 . Indiana from , by John Hall Woods The ﬁrst decade o f Indiana statehood Clearly shows the worth while pioneer settlers the populated region o f the

state being the southern portion . “ B 94 . George W . rackenridge and Mary Eleanor

o f . Brackenridge , children John A Brackenridge , by Fan

M c ulla o o f c nie C , brings t us the family history the Bra ken ll ridge s "also the Graham and Mc Cu a families . “ " 95. William Smithers , by Laura Mercy Wright , his ’ - great granddaughter . This man s life was connected with t W the early history of Spencer Coun y,Indiana , and ith Ken

-in - o f tucky history . He was the father law Daniel Grass ,

t o f the ﬁrst landowner in Spencer Coun y . Both these men probably knew the Lincolns before they came to Indiana

as well as later in Spencer County , Indiana . “ "

6 . . . 9 Thomas B Graham , by Mrs Robert Wilson , give s us added information o f the notable Graham Family f o southern Indiana . LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 53

W . . . 97 . Judge John Graham , by George H Honig The li fe o f this member of the Graham family is closely

connected with the Lincoln family , the two families having

been fri ends in Kentucky and later in Indiana . “ "

a . 8 . 9 Judge John Graham , by his gr nddaughter , Mrs

Li zzie Graham Taylor , adds many interesting facts to the

o f s a n Kentucky and Indiana li fe thi family , and obituary delivered at his funeral reveals many historic happenings

connected with his life . “ 1 1 - 1 8 o f 99 . David Robb ( 7 7 4 4 ) Early Pioneer Gibson " County , gives us another pioneer background ﬁgure for the

o f Lincoln environment . This history the Robb family was written by Miss Louise Embree , a descendant .

1 00 . Richard Hargrave , Pioneer Circuit Rider , by

c o f Mrs . Beulah Braselton Gray , completes the pi ture this

remarkable man mentioned in another paper by Mrs . Gray

n o the Pike County pioneer family .

1 1 o 0 . The names and types f pioneer settlers in all the

towns near the Lincoln home gave background for them , as

a s e o f well the activiti s churches , schools , etc . All these thin gs are brought forth in a paper by Robert Archer Wood “ called Early Princeton and Gibson County . 1 0 2 . Mr . Iglehart considered the Grahams one of the

o f s o important families southern Indiana , in his paper “ " The Graham Pioneers in the Mississippi Valley, he rec

ords their history . “ 1 0 3 . Judge Samuel Hall , by Robert Archer Wood , shows Hall as a prominent actor o n the stage of public

ff e a airs in southwest rn Indiana , a lawyer , jurist , politician ,

legislator , landowner , railway builder and promotor of civil ,

religious and educational movements . Every new frontier

gathers momentum from its outstanding men . “ 1 0 4 . Early Culture o f the Pioneers o f Southweste rn

. . o n Indiana , by Dr William P . Dearing A paper the

pioneer Citizens . Dr . Dearing says he has been privileged 54 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

o f He — a in seeing the change scene in civilization . w s born in a backward locality and saw the departing rear guard o f the civilization in which Abraham Lincoln played and grew

to young manhood .

1 0 . on o f 5 A paper the Bethel family Warrick County ,

e in 1 8 1 whose memb rs settled Warrick County in 5, was

written by members of the family and read by Mrs . Robert

Wilson .

1 0 6 . Arietta F . Bullock , the wife of the present owner o f the Col . William Jones home o n th e old Jonesboro vil “ i 1 1 lage s te , had published in 93 a poem Old Time Tales " Told of Jonesboro . This poem was read by its author at the unveiling of the marker three years a go marking the

site of the Jones store . “

1 0 . o f 7 Pioneer Families Spencer County , by Alda

M c C o o f y Honig, gives added pictures the Lincoln friends

in Indiana .

o n 1 0 8 . Interview with James A . Jones The Lincoln " i it e . s s d t h e . v Cabin by George Honig Mr Jone x Lincoln “ " cabin before it was torn down and gives the descripti o n of how i t looked a short time after the Lincolns moved t o

Illinois .

0 A n 1 . . 9 Lincoln Environment , by Lucius Embree other testimony o f the pioneer settlers who lived nea r the Lincolns l 1 1 0 . . The Graham Family , by E dora Minor Raleigh

Added information concerning thi s pioneer family . “ " 1 Fo r 1 1 . What Indiana Did Lincoln , by Bess Ehr

mann , shows the inﬂuences that helped to mold the character

f b o o the growing y . “ 1 1 2 a n d . Boone Family Brackenridge Family , by

e s George W . Morrison , t ll the connection these families had in shaping th e destiny of a wildern e s s country and its

settlers and their friendship with the Lincolns . “ "

1 1 . . . W 3 . Dubois County , by Mrs W A ilson , gives

56 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

with the tall young Lincoln handling the great o a r o f the

o f c boat . Most the a tors in this pageant were direct de s cen d a n t s of the people wh o knew Lincoln and were his

neighbors .

1 1 o f a 7 . A great piece work w s the ﬁlming of the 1 93 0 pageant in order to preserve thi s event fo r future genera f . o . . f tions The generosity Mr John L Iglehart, cousin o

Mr . John E . Iglehart , made this possible . “ "

I 1 8 . The Lincoln Pageant , an article written by Bess

V . Ehrmann and published in the India na Club Wo m en “ " o f 1 0 93 , explains the Lincoln Inquiry and how the Lin “ coln pageant When Lincoln Went Fla tbo a tin g From Rock “ " a n port w s a outgrowth o f the Inquiry .

1 1 o 9 . The Perry County Historical Society and the Sp n cer County Society ere cted a marker at Anderson Creek to m a rk the spot where the boy Abraham Lincoln worked as

a ferryboat helper while living in Spencer County . 1 2 0 o f . The Lincoln Trail Club Grandview erected a number o f markers t o mark the places in Hammond Town sh ip connected with the Lincolns during their fourteen years

in Indiana .

2 e o f 1 1 . In Rockport a marker was erect d in front the

o ld s 8 o n tavern where Lincoln was a gue t in I 4 4 , his return

t o his o ld home as a Clay ele ctor . Thi s was ﬁnanced by the ’ Rockport Business and Professional Women s Club .

2 o old 1 2 . A marker has als been erected at the Colonel

William Jones residence where once stood the Jones store ,

then a part o f the little settlement called Jonesboro .

1 2 c 3 . The Lincoln Union has been improving the Nan y ’ Hanks Lincoln Park in which lies the remains o f Lincoln s

mother and the site o f the cabin home o f the Lincolns . A

monument , marking the home site , was erected by Spencer

County citi z ens , but has recently been moved to The Trail

o f Rocks in the park . 1 2 1 2 o n 4 . Each year since 9 7 the Sunday before Dec LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 57

e t t h a s oration Day , the Spenc r Coun y Historical Socie y

s L held a memorial service at the Nancy Hank incoln Park , as a tribute to the mother of Lincoln . Noted speakers have addressed the people that assembled each year . . 2 t 1 5. In Warrick Coun y the Boonville Press Club as semble s its members and guests from many directions and

e hold a yearly service at the grav of Nancy Hanks Lincoln , thus keeping alive the memory o f the Lincolns in Indiana . 1 2 6 . In Boonville the Warrick County Historical Soci V et o f l Ir . y, through the generosity William Fortune of

Indianapolis , has erected a splendid memorial to Abraham ’ o f Lincoln . On this monument is the record Lincoln s visits to Boonville t o borrow books and to hea r John Bracken ridge plead his law cases . It also marks the spot where the Lincolns passed on their way from Indiana to Illinois in 1 0 8 3 . f 1 2 . o 7 In Vincennes , the people have given a pageant the Lincolns ’ Indiana years and on their visit to Vincennes in 1 8 3 0 enroute to the Illinois home . " ff By all these a airs held in southern Indiana , in honor o f Abraham Lincoln , we see that the citizens have become “ imbued with the idea o f carrying o ut the plan of the Lin

1 2 0 . coln Inquiry , as originated by John E . Iglehart in 9 “ "

1 2 8 . a Lincoln , The Hoosier , biography by Charles “ o f Garrett Vannest, was , I believe , an outgrowth the Lin " coln Inquiry in Indiana ’

1 2 . o n 9 Miss Ida Tarbell s magazine article Lincoln , The Boy" was written about the Lincoln pageant given in

Rockport . Thi s article was published in the New York “ H er a ld Tr ib e 2 un I 1 8 . " , July , 9 Miss Tarbell says Prob ably n o more interesting monument will ever be raised to Abraham Lincoln than the o n e the Spencer County His t o r ical o n Society is doing, a biennial pageant the Fourth o f O f July , celebrating the life the boy Lincoln in their “ county . The leaders in it speak o f it as the Lin 58 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

coln Inquiry , and what they mean by that is that they are trying to establish beyond doubt what kind o f people made

co n m m un it 1 8 1 6 - 1 8 0 up their y from 3 , what they were

o f thinking and doing , which means what kind thoughts and actions played o n the impressionable nature of thi s

bo extraordinary y . ’ 1 0 o f 3 . One the society s greatest inspirations has been

o f the interest Miss Ida Tarbell in our work . She has kept in touch with the work from year to year , as did the late

Dr . William E . Barton , and has written many other maga c f ’ zine arti les concerning the Indiana years o Lincoln s life . “ 1 1 3 . When Lincoln Went Fla tb o a t in g from Rock " port , a newspaper article by Bess Ehrmann , was the story “ " o f o f the pageant as a part the Lincoln Inquiry . 1 2 3 . Pilgrimages to the Nancy Hanks Lincoln Park have become a yearly affair n o w in many Indiana schools

e and also from som of the neighboring states .

o f 1 3 3 . Rev . Louis A . Warren the Lincoln National “ o f Life Foundation , Editor Lincoln Lore at Fort Wayne ,

Indiana , has been doing a very extensive and exhaustive work o n the life o f Lincoln in Indiana . Dr . Warren has written several papers for the Southwestern Indiana His t o r ica l Society and has shown appreciation o f the works o f " the society in the Lincoln Inquiry ; he is an honorary f member o the society . h a 1 . s s 3 4 Mr . Charle Baker , of Grandview , written a

Lincoln play , using the pioneer friends of the Lincolns and the Lincoln family as the actors in the drama . “ 1 a s o f 3 5. The Ohio Valley the Keystone the American

Union , a very interesting and valuable paper , was written by Dr . A . L . Kohlmeier , of the History Department of

Indiana University . As Lincoln was developed in this Ohio

Valley , it too is a part of his background .

1 6 o f 3 . One the early families in Spencer County was

o n the Barnetts . A paper their history in Indiana was writ LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 59

ten for the society by a great granddaughter , Miss Helen

s wo r thz o f Barnett . Such familie as this one were y founders o u r county and state . ’ o n 1 3 7 . An address by Judge Roscoe Kiper Lincoln s " Boyhood in Sp encer County was delivered at the Dedica tion Program of the Lincoln Pioneer Village in Rockport

o n 1 . July 4 , 93 5 Later , this address was read before the Southwestern Indiana Historical Society and is now on ﬁle

r with o u curator . “ f ’ 1 8 . o 3 A Fourth July in Lincoln s Time and Today , an address by former Attorney General Philip Lutz was

on 1 delivered July 4 , 93 5, at the dedication of the Lincoln

Pioneer Villag e . I have quoted an excerpt from this paper . “ "

1 . 3 9 The Pioneer Mother , a paper on Nancy Hanks ’ Lincoln s life in Indiana , was written by Laura Mercy f o . Wright , a great granddaughter Daniel Grass It was 2 1 read May 7 , 93 4 , at the annual memorial held at the grave of Nancy Hanks Lincoln under the auspices of the

n Spencer County Historical Socie ty . I quote o e excerpt ’ fro m Miss Wright s paper “ Today our minds turn to this mother of the great Eman ci a t o r p , who with her family lived on the farm now trans formed into the Lincoln Shrine , which is to be handed down

o f to succeeding generations as a memorial , a piece work that bespeak s the sentiments of its people . Here o n this

S h e land Nancy Hanks Lincoln lived , here died , and here " she lies buried . This ground is hallowed ground . “ ’ " 1 4 0 . A play Lincoln s First Great Sorrow written by 1 6 Miss Alice Hebert , presented July 3 , 93 , in Rockport .

1 4 1 . The organization o f the Southwestern Indiana Civic Association is one of the latest results o f the Lincoln " Inquiry . Its purpose is to advertise the Lincoln Country to f . o s the world It is composed nine countie , all within ﬁfty

o f miles the Lincoln home . The Association has r e cently “ issued an interesting booklet called The Lincoln Country . 60 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

No doubt there are numerous Lincoln articles , books and “ " activities , outgrowths of the Lincoln Inquiry, that are not

o f recorded here , but I have tried to enumerate most the outstanding results o f these years o f research by the South

1 2 0 - 1 western Indiana Historical Society from 9 93 8 . f The State o f Indiana owes Mr . Iglehart a great debt o gratitude f o r awakening its citi z en s to the fact that they had been neglecting one o f the greatest historical episodes ’ in the state s history , namely , the forgotten fourteen forma ’ tive years of a boy s life ; a boy who was later to be called f one of the ﬁve greatest men o all time .

Pla t e 7

MR . WILLIAM FORTUNE

6 2 THE MISSING CHAPTE R IN THE be safely accepted for the guidance o f future writers in developing worthily and truthfully the ‘ story of the life of

Abraham Lincoln in Indiana . “ When Thomas Lincoln came over here Indiana had not yet been admitted as a state . He came not into Spencer

County , because Spencer County did not then exist , but he settled near the boundary line between Warrick and Perry

Countie s , in what is now Carter Township , in Spencer

County . Warrick County originally extended from along the line o f Harrison County to the Wabash and Ohio Riv ers and embraced about all of the territory that now con ‘ ’ t i e f s tu t s what we so frequently call The Pocket o Indiana . Perry and Sp encer Counties were created out of what was

t . o f previously Warrick Coun y, which was a region dense woods of very large trees . Those of you who belong at least to the last generation have not seen h e re such trees as those that made the woods o f southern Indiana at that time . The Indians had been gone only a few years when Thomas

Lincoln brought his little family into Indiana . The last Indian massacre had occurred only a few years before not m far from the point where the Lincoln fa ily settled , with the killing of a pioneer named Meeks by some of the

Shawnee band of o ld Chief S et t eed own . They had been

S et t e ed o n pursued by the white settlers o f that region . w was captured and in the night was shot in the cabin where

s ev he was conﬁned as a prisoner , presumably from uch idence a s has come down to us by one of the Meeks family , f o ld t and that was the last o the Indians in Warrick Coun y, then a forest with all the wilderness that we can w e ll

f e o . imagine , in which there was abundance wild gam The few pioneers who had at that time ventured into this region

e were widely scattered . Th re was a census taken three years before Thomas Lincoln came with his little family , and that census showed that there were fourteen hundred LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 63

r e and ﬁfteen white people in Warrick County . In all that gion of Indiana from the Harrison County line to the

e two Wabash and Ohio Riv rs , there were only hundred and eighty-ﬁv e white p e rsons who were twenty-one years old or

Yo u e over . will realiz , therefore , from this census informa

e tion that the settlers w re widely scattered , and yet the very sparseness of population brought these pioneers in the wood s in close alliance and friendship as neighbors . That was the kind of country into which Thomas Lincoln brought his wife and two children , Abraham then being between seven and eight years of age . “ Abraham Lincoln at that age came here with some little

e education which he had gained in Kentucky . H had learned ‘ ’ t o cipher as they called it . He had learned to read , and

o f o f he had learned to spell , course , and all that was Very unusual . There were very few children who had gained that much education and advantage . When the true story of the development Of Abraham Lincoln is. written , it must take into account in all condition s and inﬂuenc e s the life o f

- the people who were abiding here in the Indiana forest . T o ﬁnd then what could have been the inﬂuences that en t er ed into the development of this boy into a man you must

s e look for those who were leader among th ir neighbors , and who were the outstanding examples and inﬂuences o f the community . In doing that I think that we will come t o the point where you must look with particular care to that 1 8 2 1 8 0 period of time between 5 and 3 , because that will cover the period of time when Abraham Lincoln was pass

h is -ﬁr s t ing from his sixteenth to twenty year , and that is the period o f tim e wh e n his mind was grasping mos t eagerly for the kind o f information that would constitute a part of his education . It is in that period of time when he was best capable mentally of digesting and applying such information

as he acquired , and it was in that period of time when we 64 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

know from the testimony o f some o f the survivors that he was then going down t o the roadside and waiting for tour is t s t o pas s to question them and to learn from them some thing o f the great world o f which he knew mainly through

s i o r N thi ﬁrst hand informat on interviewing . o t much be fore then could it have been that he was venturing forth

o f upon long walks to ﬁnd books . The testimony the sur vivo r s a s was without exception , I recall their words , that ‘ ’ ‘ ’ ’ ‘ ’ wa s e he a gr at reader , he wasn t like other boys , he didn t

m o f take uch part in the social pleasures the time , but he ’ out could nearly always be seen reading a book , and it was

a s of the books that he borrowed and read , well as from the talk that he heard about the questions o f the day from the men he met wh o were best able t o discuss them and h is occasional talk with some o f these men that he go t such

n e education as he acquired . But o thing we must recogni z e f is that Abraham Lincoln was an unusual child o Pr\ov

idence , that he came into this world with a g reat destiny before him and he was endowed with the kind of mind and

‘ th e qu a litie s o f character that made it possible for him t o

fo r t ﬁt himself the remendous task that was ahead of him . There was something of consciousness in Abraham Lincoln

fo r fo r o n e himself that Destiny held him a great task , in o f the interviews that I had with Mrs . Josiah Crawford , ‘ ’ a s she told me that Abraham w always making fun , and that o n e day when he was at her house and was making

wh o h jokes , his sister , Sarah , was there , as she lived wit the Crawfords and helped with the work in payment fo r h er ‘

ou o f . board , said , Abe , y always make fun everything I ’ f u wonder what is going to become o y o . And he answered “ ’ o f in a ﬂash , I ll tell you ; I intend to be President the ’ United State s before I die . He was a boy when he said

n e that . There are ma y boys who may have said som thing o f that kind in their time , but in the case of Abraham Lin coln it came true . We can see that there was in him some LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 6 5 consciousness even a t that time o f what wa s to come into his life . “ o f I am getting away from the immediate point my talk ,

e th e and that is , that wh n biographer of Lincoln adequately portrays this part of his life as completely as it needs yet

e to be written , he must look to the people who w re examples in the neighborhood in which Abraham Lincoln grew up . Who were those people and what kind of people were they "

n It is o t impossible to develop this information , but it may be difﬁcult . Who were the men who lived within walking distance o f the Lincoln hom e "We know that among the men who were prominent at that time as lead e rs in that r e

ff e e gion were Ratli Boon , Dani l Grass , Jos ph Lane , Hugh

a . McG ry and John A . Brackenridge ; there are many others l My suggestion wou d be that we ﬁnd more of them , and this can be done . Abraham Lincoln may not have had con

o f e tact with all them , but rem mber that in that time there were so few people that all of them in a wide area would

o n e pr obably know another . “ The social life centered around ‘log rollings ’ and ‘husk ing bees ’ and camp meetings and religious gatherings and ‘ ’ shooting matches , and Visits to the general stores at the

- e in cross roads . There they came together and xchanged formation and discussed the subj e cts that were of interest i to them in th e ir backwoods li fe . It s known that Abraham Lincoln was a frequenter o f the store located at the point which is now Gentryville , and for a while was employed in it . He was known as a boy who could get up and make a

a s good speech , he w known as a boy who could give recita tions , and it is known that he had distinguished himself in

o n hi the community as e wh o could write . Usually he put s efforts at writing in the form of an imitation of the scrip tural Chronicles . Sometimes h e wrote what they called a

o f poem , but it was usually doggerel the worst kind . The people of the backwoods at that time thought it quite won 6 6 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE d er ful that a boy could write anything in words that might seem to rhyme , and so he was known from these perform u a ces as a very unusual person . “ The place where Lincoln lived was well in contact with

o f the line of travel through this part the country . The ﬁrst mail route established in southern Indiana was between

New Harmony and Louisville Via the place where , Boon ville stands , and that was established even before the L in coln family arrived in Warrick County . It brought the trav c l e of th country along their way . That enabled Lincoln t o meet strangers and t o learn from them something as to the

f o f rest o the world . This part Indiana at that time was f in a political way o some importance . “ One o f the outstanding men in public li fe was Ratliff

Boon . He was the ﬁrst congressman from Indiana and

' fo r s ix t e en r was in Congress y e a s . In that day it was about a s important to be a congressman as it was to be a United

States senator . In some respects a congressman better served the purposes o f his co n s t itu t en t s than th e senators . ff For a brief period he was governor of the state . Ratli n Boon lived near Boo ville , twelve miles away from the Lin ff coln family home . Ratli Boon was a very important ﬁgure in Indiana . He was much sought and was much talked about at the ‘log rollings ’ and the ‘husking bees ’ and in the general ff store discussions . I am mentioning Ratli Boon more par t icula r ly because o f his importance as a public man . All that came in th e time when the Lincolns were here and you can well understand that Ratliff Boon ’ s political activities were probably among the inﬂuences Of that sort that had some part in the life o f Lincoln . “ About ten miles farther away was Joseph Lane , who was a very popular young rival of Ratliff Boon and so great was his popularity tha’ t Ratliff Boon became impressed with the idea that it would be well to ge t rid o f Jo e Lane by creating another county and so draw the boundary lines as LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 6 7

o f o f to throw Jo e into the new county . Some the evidence that you will now ﬁnd if you will notice the line that is drawn between Warrick and Vanderburg Counties , where ,

is a at a certain point , there a jog in the boundary line p

a r en tl r p y without any good reason , making an irregula bit of ground between Warrick and Vanderburg Counties . Rat liff Boon wh o was a dominating man at that time politically was able to have that line drawn so as to have the Lane farm thrown over into Vanderburg County and thus he dis

o f o n e posed Joe Lane , who was of the rising young men wh o seemed likely to become a dangerou s rival . “ It 18 an interesting fact that Lane in later years became a general in the Mexican War , and governor of Oregon and a senator o f Oregon and ﬁnally was nominated for vice 1 8 60 president on the Breckinridge ticket in , and the Breck in r idge and Lane ticket was in opposition to the ticket o n which Abraham Lincoln was a candidate for president . Lincoln and Lane came from the same neighborhood in In diana where they were not more than twenty mile s apart and in the same year had risen to the prestige of becoming candidates o n opposing presidential tickets . So far as we know , there has not come down from Lane or Lincoln any recognition of the fact that they had come from the same neighborhood in Indiana . “ ' Daniel Gras s was an important ﬁgur e at that time in that region as a political leader . John A . Brackenridge at Boonville was a man whose ability and brilliance as a lawyer had attracted wide attention through this backwoods coun try . We have evidence that he had undoubtedly become an

in example and an inspiration to Lincoln . We have some formation that has been brought out mainly through the

o f President your Society , Judge Kiper , that Lincoln often walked twelve mile s t o Boonville to visit John A . Bracken

t o ridge , to talk with him and borrow books from him , and that he was getting from Brackenridge much o f the knowl 6 8 THE MISSING CHAPTE R IN THE edge and inspiration that entered into his o wn making as a man . And there are others . I mention these outstanding men t o bring them into the picture of the Indiana environ ment of Abraham Lincoln . “ ’ In Lincoln s twenty-ﬁr s t year when he moved from In

h is diana to Illinois , he was what life in Indiana had made

' o f him . But it seems that when he got over in t o Illin o is these qualities commanded more attention tha n they h ad received in Indiana and we ﬁnd him very rapidly rising in recognition until within a period o f thirty-ﬁve years a fter ward he had become the greatest American o f all time . No w it is a fair and reasonable presumption that Abraham Lincoln carried from Indiana into Illinois the knowledge a n d the ability and the qualities that enabled him to go o n with the career that followed and that these qualities vwe r e n o t derived from inferior people , but from sterling men wh o were equal to the stern test o f pioneer life and who

fe s o f developed themselves . In fact the ﬁrst w year his

o r life in Illinois were not year s of much gain upbuilding . He Wa s a laborer and operated ﬂ a tb o a t s and split rail s

a s t o and w a clerk in a general store , but there had come him some recognition from his associ ates that he was an

e extraordinary person . The amusing stories that he told wer gathered largely from his experience in Indiana . “ Yo u want to be told something about what I know about ’ Abraham Lincoln s life in Indiana . Judge Iglehart indi ca t ed to y ou in his comment this morning something as t o ’ is how I became interested in Lincoln s life in Indiana . It true that as a b oy I had made a very amateurish attempt at a s writing the history o f my native county . The writing w

n o ld done when I was between ﬁfteen and sixtee years , and the book was published a year or more afterward . I men tion my age in explanation and apology . It was rather an ’ h unusual thing t o do at that time . There wasn t really muc ’ t o f historical spirit as y ou know it n ow. And there wasn

7 0 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

Spencer County interviewing these survivors . I have notes

‘ of these interviews a s taken at that time in a much faded

Fo r little notebook still in my possession . many years it

a s o f was lost , but w found after many months search in

1 2 o n 9 3 while I was a trip around the world . “ Among the people I interviewed at that time were Gen eral Veatch , Mrs . Polly Egnew , Mrs . Polly Stapleton ,

Joseph Richardson , Silas Richardson , David Turnham ,

Br o o n er e a n d Henry , Henry Be ler , Mrs . Josiah Crawford

o Nathaniel Grigsby . N w it seem s t o me that it may be o f somewhat tedious to take those notes , mere fragments

ou information , and read them to y here today , but it might be better t o rather review some of the notes in a general

out . way, pointing some of the more Signiﬁcant points Mrs . Ehrmann has suggested that it would be interesting to have

r f descriptions of some of these people . Out of the blu o

o f impressions that come with the lapse time , I doubt if I

o f o f could give much a description the person s interviewed ,

o f but some them are outstanding .

A nd . chief among these I recall Mrs . Josiah Crawford She was the widow of the man wh o lived in the Lincoln neighborhood who was distinguished as having had the

o f in advantage some education , and who was very much t e r es t ed in Abraham Lincoln and helped him a great deal .

n o t fo r He was , however , the man who a while was the teacher o f Lincoln as has been mistakenly asserted . The ’ teacher s name was Andrew Crawford . Mrs . Crawford was a very bright woman and quite vivacious . Her memory seemed quite clear and deﬁnite . She talked rapidly . She was a woman o f more than usual reﬁnement o f speech and

e manner , and yet , in her conversation , th re was a good deal o f the dialect that belonged to the early days o f Indiana .

It is a mistake for u s to deny that there was dialect . I ‘ ’ accept The Hoosie r Schoolmaster as a description of life to in southern Indiana in that period of time , especially as LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 7 1

dialect , but that book was ﬁction and not hi story . I have ,

o f however , seen enough it to know that Eggleston gave a rather faithful description o f what we call the backwoods f d e s cr i o . life Indiana I accept , too , in other even unfair p

s o f o f tion some the backwoods life , versions as to the dialect o f Indiana pioneers , but I do not think that dialect is conclusive evidence of deﬁciency o f character o r ability a c o n the part o f the Indiana people o f the early days . I cept the Hoosier dialect of James Whitcomb Riley as a ppli

t o O f . cable a class Indiana people , but not all Indiana people It cannot be fairly asserted that certain peculiarities o r faults o f speech determine the character o r intelligence of

r n o fo r all people living in Indiana then o w. There was a time a distinct Hoosier dialect just as there is a Kentucky kind of talk that is peculiarly Kentuckian and a kind o f New

England language that is regarded as typical of the Yankee . These little peculiarities Of speech do not affect seriously the people of these regions . Abraham Lincoln rose above what ever there was o f that in his early environment until he was

e able to deliver the mast r speech of all time , his Gettysburg

a address . And later others have arisen from among us s speakers , poets and writers who have brought to Indiana great distinction in literature . Is there a state in all of the Union today that has the literary celebri ty that attaches to Indiana "It may even b e of some signiﬁcance that most o f the famous writer s of Indiana as shown in Meredith Nichol son ’ s book on ‘The Hoosiers ’ came from the southern half o f the state . “ Whatever may be said about the Hoosier dialect i s wholly inconsequential so far as it is traceable in the li fe o f

. a Lincoln The Hoosier dialect was , I think , pioneer phase of Indiana literary genius . It largely grew out o f a sense o f humor . This is shown somewhat in the deliberate distortion o f proper names to make them sound funny . This was s o commonly practiced in the Lincoln neighborhood that som e 7 2 THE MISSING CHAPTE R IN THE

‘ ’ families became as well known by nickname s as by their true patronymics . Even the Lincolns were s o frequently ‘ ’ called Linkhorn by their neighbor s that they were solemn l o f t y mentioned thus in the church records their locali y . It ’ o f was a phase backwoods life . Resentment o f it isn t worthwhile “ The slang o f a later period is another phase of affection o r o f ingenuity expression . Eggleston was a reporte r o f dialect , which may have been the crude pioneer origin o f

o f r e r e Hoosier literary expression . Stages progress are p sented by the later peculiar humor o f Artemas Ward and

Petroleum V . Nasby , who are known to have been in such favor with Lincoln that he carried around with him and n ofte read to others their latest effusions . Evolution of the same tr e nd o f humor has brought to u s as a phase o f literary ’ o style , Kin Hubbard s faceti us and philosophical comment on modern life th rough the creation o f the Hoosier char

o f t acter Abe Martin of Brown Coun y, Indiana , which James Whitcomb Riley regarded as the most unique literary

o f development the last half century . Contemporaneously ’ we have George Ade s rather pict uresque use o f words for

r his grotesque conceits . The outstanding exponent s o lead

o f ff o f ers di erent periods native Hoosier expression are , therefore , Eggleston , Riley , Abe Martin and Ade , with the ’ dialect o f southern Indiana pioneer s o f Lincoln s t im e _ a s

o f the beginning Hoosier literary development . “ It was interesting and of some signiﬁcance to ﬁnd some o f the early di alect o f southern Indiana in the talk of Mrs . Josiah Crawford and now I come back t o my interview with her . Mrs . Crawford said that she had a feeling of great friendship f o r Abraham Lincoln and o f sympathy for him .

She spoke rather freely about the life o f the Lincoln home .

e o f She said they were very poor people . Th y had little even the comforts o f that time in their home . Li fe in the

Lincoln home was so hard that she had invited Sarah , Abra

LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 73

’ C r a w r d e ham s sister , to come and live in the hom and pay for her board by h elping with the house work . As my ‘ notes Show , she said that Sarah and her fellow did all their ’ ‘ sparking at her house . She said , Sarah was a good girl , ’ ‘ ’ e a good deal like Abe . It se med to her very funny , as she

e expressed it , that once wh n she called at the Lincoln home , ’ t o f e e they didn t have anything of er th ir gu sts , as was cus

om a r e e t y among those very hospitabl pioneer peopl , but they brought out swe e t potatoes and scraped them and offered these to their call e rs . “ e e Mrs . Crawford remember d v ry distinctly some of the doggerel that Abraham as a boy had written , and in the

o f e ﬂickering candle light the night I sp nt at her house , I

h e wrote in my notebook word for word as S remembered it ,

e t wo o f s o some of his vers s . I ﬁnd that you have these t called poems in the publications of your socie y , and you have them exactly as my notes show that they were r emem

e o n e . bered by Mrs . Crawford . Th re was story that Mrs ’ a e Cr wford herself didn t give me , but I got it from oth rs , and that was about a little incident of Abraham ’ s resent ’ ment o f Josiah Crawford s requirement that h e should pay

for the damage done to a book which he had borrowe d .

h e r Mrs . Crawford told me that husband had loaned to Abe ’ ‘ ’ a book , Weems Life of Washington ; that he had taken it home ; that he had stuck the book in a crack betw e en the logs o f the cabin at night ; that rain had come up in the night and beat through the crack and damaged the book and that

e Abraham cam the next day to see her husband , and as she ‘ expressed , he was the awfullest plagued boy she d ever ’ ’ seen ; that he didn t know quite how to express himself , but

he apologized and wanted to pay for the book , but that her husband had said that if he would help with the farm work

for a day o r two he might k e ep the book . That was Mrs . ’ t h e Crawford s version . From others I was given information

o n e that Lincoln was really very resentful , so he wrote Of 74 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE his doggerel verses about Josiah Crawford in which he was called ‘old bluenose Crawford ’ and that this stuck to him

o f . the rest his days Lincoln had that little trait as a youth .

I f he conceived a grievance or dislike for a person , he would get his revenge through writing something in ridicule about

. o f the person He would read it to a few his friends , and it would soon be repeated t o others until it was known

throughout the neighborhood . He had , it seems , some of

the traits of average human beings . “ ’ o f h e r r eco llec Mrs . Crawford s estimate Lincoln and tions o f him may be taken as fairly typical O f what other f ’ survivors told . From some o them I couldn t get much

s information . They preferred to talk about thing mainly

‘ e fo r inter sting to themselves , such , instance , as that the last bear hunt was in 1 8 2 1 when a total of nine bears were - ‘ killed ; that there were many snakes in the country and On e ’ night Abe found a copperhead under his pillow ; the little troubles they had had ; the quarrels that had neve r devel

o n e oped into ﬁghts , as in instance when some man made a threat - O f striking Lincoln and Abraham looked at him very ‘ ou steadily and said very calmly , Before you strike me y ’ ’ e b tter stick your head in the ﬁre , and the man didn t strike

him . “ ‘ a Mrs . Crawford said that Lincoln was always peace ’ w s t e b r o th maker , that he was kind , that his ne ly acquired p ers when his father married the second time were ‘ fractious ’ ‘ and quarrelsome , but that Abe was always trying to smooth out th e troubles between them and keep things har ’ monious ; that he was not lazy but that he did like to read , and he took advantage of every opportuni t y to look into ’ his books , but there weren t many books in the neighbor

f o f s o . hood . She knew only a few One the strange thing

' about this testimony is th a t i f Lincoln found books in dis ’ tant libraries , his neighbors among these survivors didn t

7 6 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

chuckling t o himself . I asked him why he was smiling . ‘ ’ lo t o f out There was another book we boys got a fun Of , f he answered in the indistinct voice o a feeble man . ‘ "’ What wa s it I asked . ‘ ’ ‘ A book O f funny stories , he replied . Lincoln would ’ t o u S o n read it out in the woods Sundays . ‘ ’ ou " Do y remember the name of it , Uncle Natty ‘ ’ Oh , yes ; Oh , yes , mighty well . ‘What was it "’ “ ‘ ’ I unders tood him to say The King s Jester . In my ‘ ’ notes I simply have the words , N . Grigsby King s ’ r Jeste . “ I carried the intention through the years to look up ‘ ’ ’ s a o o f The King s Jester , and some year g the quest the book was begun . One book expert after another conﬁdently undertook the tas k and ﬁnally reported that n o book o f that Of title could be found . J . Christian Bay, the John Crerar c th e Library in Chicago , and previously long onnected with

Congressional Library in Washington , ﬁnally undertook for me the task o f ﬁnding the book and sought the assistance

o f other authorities in the United States and London . The

search continued , with occasional reports of progress , until 1 2 f January, 9 3 , when I received a well preserved copy o ‘ ’ ’ 1 66 Quin s Jests , published in London in 7 , with an ex

planation from Mr . Bay that the conclusion had been reached by him and others with whom he counselled that this was really the book that they had been seeking under ‘ ’ ’ the mistaken title o f The King s Jester . “ I fear I have encroached too much upon your time . I have in this rather informal way outlined to y ou some o f my o wn thought as t o what should be the work that should

a s be carried on in your inquiry , it is very properly called , and I am conﬁdent that when that has been thoroughly ou fo r done , y will then have a basis and a background the true story of the inﬂuences that entered into the making o f LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 7 7

a s e Abraham Lincoln so far any inﬂuences , ducational or social , could have had a part in developing the man . “ A very large proportion o f the foremost people wh o live in this south e rn Indiana region today are descendants of those pioneers who came here in that period of time when the Lincoln family lived in Indiana or were already here in

1 1 e 8 6 . I f you will examine the biographies of these peopl

o u that have thus far been published , y will , I believe , be much impressed , as I have been , with the fact that so many o f the men whose lives have been thought worthy of pres er va t ion in printed form are descendants of those who came here in those early pioneer days . “ A boy such as Lincoln was is not inﬂuenced by the ign o r

o r o r . ant , the stupid , the vulgar It is the better examples o f manhood and achievement that he sees about him that ’ inﬂuence him . It is absurd to think that Lincoln s great qualities grew out o f impressions or inﬂuences prior to the arrival of the family in Indiana when he was a little mor e

a o r ff th n seven years old , that he at once became a di erent ma n o f after he arrived in Illinois , where for a period six or eight year s he was under great depression and it seemed f to be the darker period o his life . I ﬁnd in these southern Indiana people who are de s cen d a n t s of those pioneers who belonged to the Lincoln days many o f the characteristics that were distinctive in

Lincoln . I have been so impr e ssed with these southern In diana characteristic s that I have been much interested in bringing with me others to visit the Indiana Lincoln country to learn their impressions of the characteristics of the peo ple . It has seemed to me that there was something of eye to - eye straightforwardness and ﬁne frankness and kin d li nes s and courtesy that y ou meet almost unfailingly in these

o ld people of the Warrick region , who are descendants of the pioneer s e ttlers in that part of the State where the ’ s s o Lincoln lived , that you don t ﬁnd commonly elsewhere . 7 8 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

o f They are the homely , unpretentious qualities native hon esty and kindliness that were characteristic s of Lincoln . It was from this kind o f environment that Abraham Lincoln came and from it he rose to recognition a s the greatest man

T o in history since the coming of the Messiah . you belongs the task of great honor in gathering all information that you can ﬁnd bearing up o n the life o f this greatest o f all men

in in modern history , who , while developing from boyhood t o o f manhood , lived here in your part the world among " you r ancestors .

8 0 THE MISSING CHA PTER IN THE

O f Dani e l Boone ; and his pic ture shows him holding the ’ gun given to him by Daniel Boone . Judge Graham s brother attended the wedding o f Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks in Kentucky , so the Graham and Lincoln families were

s / friend before they came to Indiana .

o f o f Here is the quaint picture James Grigsby , brother

c Aaron Grigsby , who married Sarah Lincoln , also a pi ture o f -in -la f Lydia Grigsby Smith , sister w o Sarah Lincoln

Grigsby , and her husband , Benj amin Smith .

h o Thomas Pindal Britton , an educated settler w came

from Virginia in an early day , and Mr . and Mrs . Josiah

Crawford . Josiah Crawford employed Abe on his farm ’ “ o f and loaned him books to read , including Weems Life " ’ Washington . Josiah s sister married Colonel Bill Barker ,

and here are their interesting photographs . Colonel Bark ’ er s sister married Reuben Grigsby , Sr . , so all these persons were friends of the Lincolns . Judge Lemuel Quincy D eB ruler was a notable ﬁgure in

o f southern Indiana , and his home near the present town

o f . Jasper was not far from that the Lincolns Years later ,

D eBruler when Lincoln was President , Judge visited him

at the White House .

Now f , let us look into the faces o Judge John Pitcher

and his wife , Amanda Cissna Pitcher . The portrait s from which these copies were made were painted at the time the

Pitchers lived in Rockport , and are dim with age . Amanda

Cissna Pitcher was the daughter of Dr . S . Cissna , Spencer ’ County s ﬁrst physician , who had come to Indiana with the

George Rogers Clark expedition .

o f Here is a picture of Alfred Lamar , son Uriah Lamar ,

ﬁrst Justice of the Peace in Spencer County , and Captain

o f Alfred Myler . Alfred Lamar was a boyhood friend ’ wa s Lincoln s , as Joseph Richardson , known as a schoolmate

- in the log cabin school that Lincoln attended .

The Gentrys , Honorable James Gentry and Joseph Gen a t e 9

1 . R D . G . MR AND M S . AVID 3 JUD E JOHN GRAHAM C TURNHAM 4 . JUDGE LEMUEL QUIN Y P B T D B 2 . THOMAS INDAL RI TON E RULER ’ T h e u t o n f t e H N PR T O . C a h r s gra d a h r 5. JOHN O OR K . R . 6 . COLONEL G ELLAMS Pla t e I O

B R ON ER . A O 1 R G B 2 . R . . JAMES G I S Y M AND MRS LLEN

B r o o r t t h e v e o f N n A R M r . n e o e 3 . LFRED LAMA l ca d gra a cy Ha n ks Li n col n w h en th e St ud ebake r m ark 4 CAPTAIN ALFRED MYLER e r w a s er e ct e d in 1 8 7 9

Pla t e I 2

1 Z H . MRS . JOHN GRAHAM 4 . ELI ABETH GRASS AMMOND Wi f e o f Sam u e l Ham m o n d ; A b e Lin 2 . NAN C Y MONTGOMERY col n t ri ed to go w i t h h e r b efor e h er O H N S TO N J m arriage Z 3 . ELI ABETH GRASS 5. LYDIA GRIGSBY SMITH B GREATHOUSE 6 . ENJ AMIN SMITH LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 8 1

try , were boyhood friends . It was Joseph who; helped make fi the rude cof n in which Nancy Hanks Lincoln was buried , and who pulled the sled upon which the body was taken t o its last resting place . James Hammond was a prominent citizen whom Lincoln knew as a boy . His father located in Spencer County in 0 1 8 9 . f o . The picture Mrs Samuel Hammond is shown here .

e Her maiden name was Elizab th Wood . Hammond Town

wa s . ship named for her husband , Samuel Hammond When she still was a girl , Abe Lincoln wanted to go with her , but she would n o t accept his attention s because he was so ugly and awkward . ’ Colonel William Jones was o n e o f Spencer County s well known men in pioneer days and a life long friend of

Lincoln . It was in his store that Lincoln served as a clerk . 1 8 u t In 4 4 , when Lincoln ret rned to Spencer Coun y as a f o . Clay elector , he visited in the home Colonel Jones ff John H . Hu man was a prominent man , and his father , ff 1 8 1 6 . George Hu man , engaged in the milling business in Nancy Montgomery Johnston was a pioneer woman

o n e whom every knew , and her picture interests one as does the o n e of Colonel G . R . Kellams who was born on a farm near the Lincoln home . f o . The pictures Mr and Mrs . David Turnham are most

ou r valuable to Inquiry , as David Turnham loaned Abe “ Lincoln the ﬁrst law book he ever read , Revised Statutes o f Indiana

Br o o n r Mr . and Mrs . Allen e were pioneer friends and

B r o o n er neighbors of Lincoln . Mr . located the grave of Nan cy Hanks Lincoln wh en the Studebaker marker was

e e erected in 1 8 7 9 . His mother was int rr d in the grave next to the o n e where Nancy Hanks Lincoln lies buried .

- o f So , the thirty one persons pictured here were citizens

1 - 0 Spencer County between 1 8 6 1 8 3 . 8 2 THE MISSING CHAPTE R IN THE

o f Here , too , is a picture the Lincoln Spencer County

a home taken a few days after Lincoln w s assassinated . This picture and the o n e used as a frontispiece were given me by f . . l . o co Mr O V Brown Dale , Indiana , who has a rare ’ lection o f things pertaining to Lincoln s life in Spencer

o f County . We have seen some pictures the cabin showing f ’ a porch . I quote here a letter o Mr . Brown s in which he explains the possibility that there might have been a porch

at some time . 1 1 December 4 , 93 7 H DEAR MRS . E RMANN “ old I am sending you some pictures today , showing the

Abraham Lincoln Home in Spencer County , Indiana . This

wa s picture taken a few days after Lincoln was assassinated ,

o f and has a group three men and three women . I f you

ou will notice this picture closely, y can see upper part of the

cabin is shaded and the lower part is in the bright sun light . This makes me believe there was a narrow porch as shown

n t ou t o other pictures . You can also see the logs ex ending

at either end to support this porch . This show s very plain

o f o n the end next to the chimney . The smudge light was no doubt caused by the photographer while retouching the

negative t o make the ﬂag show more plainly . Wind was blowing . “ The light one horse wagon wa s the only o n e in Dale at that time and was used t o haul passenger s and was also used

f o r the Dale hearse . “ The names o f the six people from Dale are as follows

o . 1 . . a Rear row N Mr Kelsey , the man with he vy beard ,

cane in hand , harness maker .

2 . . No . . Mr George Medcalf

No . . . 3 Mr Sanders , school teacher , under

ﬂ ag . a Front row No . 4 . Mrs . Clara Kelsey Ball , the l dy with

a hat .

Pla t e 1 4

r B r wn u t es V . C o y O . o

P t e t he L n n e in en e C n t t a en a few a s ic ur of i col hom Sp c r ou y , k d y a ft e r Lin col n w a s assa ssin a t ed LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 8 3

" E elen . No . . v 5 Siss or Miller , in center

6 . . r ow No . Mrs Kelsey , on end of next to

wagon . The other picture of the Lincoln Cabin I have showing t the rail splitters was taken after this one . This pic ure

"NO . I shows , I think , seven people barely showing at edge N f N 2 O . o o . picture ; , George Medcalf ; 3 , Porter Haines

No . . . with fence rail ; 4 , Dick Jones , with maul ; No 5, No

6 o . . and N 7 not known These people , I believe , were also all from Dale .

Sincerely ,

O . V . BROWN .

Looking backward t o those years from 1 8 1 6 to 1 8 3 0 we ’ reali z e that Lincoln s fourteen formative years lived in Indiana were spent in an environment which must have left its mark on the man who , as a boy , observ ed , read and pon

o n dered things far beyond his years . H E KN EW L IN CO LN ’ S N E I G H BO R S

. . D . D . Rev J Edward Murr ; , a well known Methodist ’ o f o f minister Indiana , has lived near the scenes Lincoln s youth and has known intimately many of their friends and

e e n ighbors . Rev . Murr has written num rou s articles on ’ Lincoln s Indiana years and has made addresses before ou r

e e Southw stern Indiana Historical Soci ty . The following interesting story of his contacts with Lin ’ a coln s neighbors w s written for this book .

Within the compass o f such a brief treatment as is here is contemplated , it not at all p ossible to do more than mere ’ ly outline some outstanding things characte r i z ing Lincoln s

e formative care r in Spencer County , Indiana . In justiﬁcation for venturing to make some Slight con ’ t r ibu tio n concerning the early years of Lincoln s life , I may state “ that I was born and reared in the general neighbor

a n o f hood where Josiah Lincoln , older brother the pres ’ ident s father ( who was the ﬁrst of the Lincolns to quit the state of Kentucky ) , resided . This location was in Harrison o f County , Indiana , not far from Corydon , then the capital the state .

o f I personally knew all the older Lincolns , descendants

o r of Josiah , and thus early Obtained more less general information relative to the Lincoln family and Thomas Lincoln a n d his family in particular In the year 1 8 1 2 Thomas Lincoln paid a visit t o his

e r . brother Josiah who , as h re stated , lived nea my forbears

During this visit Thomas , the father of the future president ,

' disclosed his p u rp o s e t o quit Kentucky for some two or three reasons but chi e ﬂy on account o f th e presence o f slavery , and thus seek a home in Indiana .

8 6 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE the boyhood and girlhood associates o f Lincoln as well a s

o f the sons and daughters these pioneers . I wa s a visitor in their homes and had some o f them as guests in my home . It chanced that I o fficiated at the fu nerals of certain early associates of the future president . Not only did I have parishioners and neighbor s wh o per s on a ll y knew Lincoln as a youth , but likewise they well knew all o f the older men and women who were neighbors to c Thomas Lin oln and Nancy Hanks .

A S o n e illustrative I had parishioner , William Forsythe , “ " wh o was a native o f Troy and who often joined the gang that wa s much accustomed to go down to the mouth o f

Anderson Creek to listen to the tall ferryman , Abraham

. c Lincoln , spin his yarns Although my dis overy through ff r . c William Forsythe and Je erson Ray , J that Lin oln made his ﬁrst ﬂ a tbo a t journey down the Ohio and Mississippi as

far as Memphis , has received no credence and has been

s s b e disallowed , nevertheles I have the best of reason for

lieving this t o be true . Lincoln cultivated a ﬁeld of tobacco M a t o at xville during his ferry boat days and , desiring ship ff this to a southern market , he bargained with Je erson Ray ,

h o . Sr . w was a riverman and loading a boat for Memphis Lincoln took the bow o a r and thus worked his passage as well as disposing o f his toba cco . This is important merely in thus evidencing the fact that Lincoln had by so much an

earlier knowledge o f slavery than has been supposed . Many o f these early associate s of Lincoln went to school

' with him , engaged in the usual pioneer games with him , and

s attended such gathering as spelling bees , political meet ings and church worship . Lincoln was a frequenter of their homes , and they in turn visited the Lincoln cabin . It is interesting t o note that the ﬁrst wagon used in

Spencer County was in the Troy neighborhood . This was

1 8 1 2 . an innovation , and the year was Soon other wagons appeared , and this fact was known to Mr . Carter and also LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 8 7 accounts for a suitable conveyance of the Lincolns from

Troy t o Gentryville . ’ No t only did I know those who were Of the president s age but also met others who were o f the years o f the pres ’ s ident s father and mother and thu intimate friends of them , being present at both the burial as well as the funeral ser vices of Nancy Hanks . It will be remembered that her

e 1 8 1 8 burial occurr d in October , , and the funeral services were held in the summer of 1 8 1 9 . I may say that some of the truly informing things oh t a in ed were detailed to me by men and women far younger than Lincoln but wh o well remembered the older friends of

n Lincoln ; and among these , Reube and Betsy Ray , Charles “ " and Matilda Hawkins , Andrew Crawford , Blue Nose

Crawford . It should be recalled that Crawford was a pio neer doctor and dentist . His medical knowledge was merely

t o the ability concoct certain medicines from roots , berries “ a n d bark , and thus he was what was then called a root " a nd yarb doctor . And as a dentist he never ventured any “ " a thing beyond pulling teeth with pair of twister forceps . One man detailed his gruesome experience in the hands of “ Blue Nose " Crawford with his formidable twister forceps in the removal of an unruly tooth . I had the good fortune to know quite well a highly r e put able citizen who was O ften a visitor to the Grigsby home and who would over and over again describe the p er p en dicula r sassafras ladder up which the two newly wedded couple s ascended on the occasion o f the famou s double wed ’ in Gr i s b s ding the Elder g y home . I venture to give this colorful background to the Gentry ’ ville pion e er life o f Lincoln s time in order to more nearly insure a follow-up interest and above all to warrant belief in the disclosures made by these pioneers who lived in Lin ’ coln s day . In my interviews they would relate many commonplace 8 8 THE MISSINGC HA PTE R IN THE

o f incidents , and yet these loomed large in view the many f conﬂicting stories by the inventive irresponsibles . Want o

space forbids any attempt to detail these . It is deeply regrettable that many erroneous things are ’ believed quite generally c oncerning Lincoln s formative years . We are greatly indebted to the Older writers f o r the many things of moment in the life of Lincoln as a public char

acter , but it must be said that comparatively little that is trustworthy has been handed down to us concerning the events in Lincoln ’ s life during the fourteen years spent in

Spencer County , Indiana . The older biographers contented themselves by paying

hurried and ever hasty visits t o Gentryville . When it is recalled that the future president spent one - fourth of his

o n e o f entire life in Gentryville , is amazed at the character

the treatment given him during these formative years . ’ William Herndon , Lincoln s law partner at Springﬁeld ,

o f Illinois , was the dean all his biographers and the ﬁrst to ’ e reach Gentryvill , but he did not come until after Lincoln s ’

. s death Mr . Herndon spent ﬁve days in and about Lincoln

old home . Herndon came with highly preconceived con v ict io n s and opinions concerning the inﬂuences at work in the life and character of Lincoln such as only could have

t o been wrought in Gentryville . Herndon was disposed dis mis s almost the whole of this Indiana stay as a thing o f l small moment , and substantia ly all of the Older writers and

a eulogists after Herndon followed this lead . One may p p r ecia t e this unhappy attitude if I but state that I made my investigations at the same time that a later but preten tious biographer of Lincoln was preparing t h e well known

four volume biography the president . I chance to know [ of that the author of that life of Lincoln spent one and only o n e night in Spencer County and interviewed but o n e asso

e . e . ciat of Lincoln , Mr Jam s Gentry of Rockport

9 0 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

sat on either Side of the room . Suddenly and unexpectedly to Gentry and all others — Lincoln stepped forth and began to make a speech . He was in his seventeenth year .

e Mr . Gentry did not prof ss to give the exact wording, but ’ z ith he did give the substance , w some attempt at Lincoln s antics , grimaces and laugh provoking mimicry . “ What mean s this gathering here today "I can tell you ’ o n f o -l- - -a - - what it means . It s all account o an d g r y g oose " " " r Worth about two bits Suddenly turning to M . A “

. . ou and pointing Mr A if y win your case today , what have you won "I can tell y ou y ou will have won an " o -l- d g-r - a -y goose worth about two bits "And then sud d en l y wheeling about he pointed his ﬁnge r at Mr . B a “ i " . n and s id Mr B if you should w your case today , you will get an o -l-d g- r -a -y goose worth about two bits "

A . But ( now serious ) you , Mr . and you , Mr B

Fo r o n e . ou whichever wins , you will lose y will lose your o n e time friendship and put a whole community here at

t o d o — outs , and I urge upon you the manly thing the

r s prope thing, the right thing , by standing up here and hak

a nd n o ing hands , make up , have more to do with this goose ’ c a s e f Just as the lawyers and Squire entered the doorway of

e two . the school hous , the litigants were shaking hands ’ Lincoln had won his ﬁrst case . This was Lincoln s ﬁrst public effort at speech making, although prior to that time he wa s much accustomed to repeat sermons and political speeches at home and wh e rever small groups assembled .

t o He never failed imitate the speaker in gesture , little peculiarities and distinguishing mannerisms otherwise . One only has need to take the trouble of again reading Lincoln ’ s First Inaugural Address to see the marked sim ila r it a y in the method , m nner and even the deep seated pur

b o t o . pose o u both occasions . The y was father the man I regard this story as quite the best of all the stories of his LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 9 1 formative years and perhaps as good a s any that has to do with his after years . I f Joseph Gentry invented this story , then Gentryville is entitled to additional honor in producing

f r two geniuses instead o one . Had Lawy er Herndon e it ported this incident , doubtless would have long since occupied a very ﬁne setting in our Lincoln lore . The Lincolns reached Gentryville sufficiently early enough

o f 1 8 1 6 o f e during late summer to raise a crop roasting ars ,

Irish potatoes and other garden vegetables . They spent the whole of that ﬁrst winter in the now historic half- faced

o f t camp . The entire south side this pole struc ure was open to the storms and winds ; fronting this open side was a per p et ua l bonﬁre o r log heap . The camp or cabin had a dirt On e ﬂoor , and in the northwest corner of this roomed build

o n . ing , Abraham slept a bear Skin cushioned with leaves Nancy Hanks never at any time in her li fe publicly o r “ " privately called but one woman Mother , and that woman was not Lucy Hanks , her rightful mother , but she did speak “ o f_ an d er address her Aunt Betsey Sparrow as mother . C t a in ly this was quite true o f her during her Indiana res

Old idence in Spencer County . The Gentryville neighbors asserted that Nancy Hanks was ever longing to see her “ mother , Betsey Sparrow , and during that ﬁrst winter in

- the half faced camp , she sent letters to Kentucky urging her “ t o mother come and live near her .

The Sparrows came t o Gentryville in 1 8 1 7 . Soon there t after ano her aunt , Nancy Hanks Hall , her husband , and

their children , reached Gentryville . The three families

resided upon the Lincoln farm . With the Sparrows came

e Dennis Hanks or Friend as he was sometim s called . Den nis Hanks was the illegitimate son o f Nancy Hanks Hall f o . and a man by the name Friend Her husband , William

Hall , had previously married the mother of Caleb Hazel , ’ who it will be recalled was one of Lincoln s teachers . 1 8 1 8 In October , , Nancy Hanks Lincoln called upon a 9 2 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

B r o o n e r very sick neighbor , a Mrs . , who resided near the

. B r o o n er Lincolns Mrs . had that pioneer ailment known as milk sickness . Nancy Hanks likewise was take n ill with that same disease o n the day following her visit to the

r o n r M r . r oo n r B o e home . s B e died and was buried in the same week that Nancy Hanks was buried , and the two were f o o n e . buried within a few feet another The Rev . Allen

B r o o n e r m . , son of this Mrs . Broo er , was a pioneer minister o When Mr . Studebaker desired to erect the m nument or ’ - e o n e m marker to Nancy Hank s grav , no save Allen Broo er ,

f . ou t o . then living , could point the grave Mrs Lincoln

T o t o the curious as well as perhaps yet others , it is inter m esting to know that Mr . Broo er likewise indicated the exact spot where Lincoln stood as the rude coffin holding ’ a e his mother s body w s being low red . He stood at the east

o f s h side the grave . Thoma Lincoln ( w o was a skilled workman and possessing the best kit o f tools in Spencer County ) and John Hanks whip -sawed the lumber to make the co ﬂin o f Nancy Hanks . While these men were prepar ing the boards , little Abraham sat upon the woodpile near ’ the Lincoln cabin and with his father s pocket kni fe whittled out and Shaped the wooden pins that held these boards together .

s o f Five day after the death Nancy Hanks , her Aunt

Betsey Sparrow and husband died , and they were buried

e near Nancy Hanks , her Aunt Betsey b ing placed by her

Side . Later William Hall and his wife , Nancy Hanks Hall , died and were buried at the feet o f Nancy Hanks Lincoln

B r o o n er and the Sparrows . Reverend Allen was yet living

o n when I ﬁrst visited Gentryville . Surely no e will have the hardihood to doubt his statements . I knew and interviewed a number o f men and women wh o were pr e sent at the burial

r s o f as well as at the fune al service Nancy Hanks .

f a s o f The poverty o the Lincolns w extreme , yet many the eulogists and older writers as well as the later writers

LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 93

and speakers appear t o go upon the supposi tio n that only

the Lincolns were poor . The truth is , save a very few of

e the Gentryvill population , all were obliged to pass through “ what Lincoln himself spoke of as pretty pinching times . I could detail a numb e r of incidents touching upon the

poverty , not to say extreme want , of the Lincolns . As

e w illustrative of this , I personally knew and convers d ith

three men , boyhood associates of Lincoln , who were present at the Lincoln cabin on the morning of the departure of the

e e . Lincolns for Illinois . Th y were int rviewed separately

They gave many interesting details . I knew one man , Wes

e ley Hall , son of the Santa Claus tanner , who often mployed both Thomas Lincoln as well as his son , Abraham , in the

- oh Tan Bark Mill . John Johnson and Abraham Lincoln t a in e d one yoke of oxen from the elder Hall . This was

the yoke driven by the future President . The three men ’ e described Lincoln s dr ss . All agreed as to moccasins , buck

e skin bre ches , altogether too short . Lincoln was then six

t n fee and four inches , coon skin cap and the tail hanging dow “ his back . He carried a hickory gad and walked by the

ox side of the team the entire distance to Illinois . James G entry informed me that he and Lincoln spent some considerable time on that last night making selection “ " o f notions , such as knitting needles , pins , combs , darning ’ two needles , etc . They retired at O clock but were out early

on that last day o f the Lincolns . Abraham spent that last

e night in the home of the lder Gentry , who kept a village

store .

e There w re thirteen people in that historic trek . As Lincoln reached a point in the woods immediately to the ’ o f h is west mother s grave , he left the wagon and ran up ’ the slope to have a last look at Nancy Hanks grave . He

was loath to leave . His stay was so long as to cause his " e " father , Thomas , to call out , Where has that boy gon

Having been informed that he was at the grave , he straight 94 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

o u t " way began to cry Hurry along, Abe , hurry up . Pres

ently Abraham came down the hill weeping .

Mr . Gentry informed me that somewhile after the Lin colns reached Illinois Abraham wrote him stating that the “ " thirty dollars purchase o f notions had netted him just

thirty dollars . Lincoln had stopped at farm house s on the “ way and , as he put it , sold out . Many of the later eulogists and biographer s of Lincoln have unhappily followed Herndon ’ s lead in asserting that

L in ln ~ f o n a co wa s proverbially lazy . The only possible u d

tion for this was a statement made to Mr . Herndon by

M z other Romine , who indicated that Lincoln was la y . I M knew other Romine , and she was a delightful personality . What she said and what she meant as to Lincoln ’ s laziness was just this " “ I think when a boy has his nose in a book ’ i z . o all the time , he s bound to be la y The unschooled p neer rarely appreciated intellectual hunger .

The religious , intellectual and social life at Gentryville was almost the same met with in nearly every frontier com

t n o t . muni y, only in Indiana but elsewhere as well Lincoln was a constant borrower of books and a reader

f . o newspapers He was given free access to a pretentious , private library near Boonville . I ascertained that the li

‘ br a r a s Sh ake y contained classics almost exclusively, such speare , Dean Swift , Gibbon , etc . The Allen home later obtained this collection , and I had it from the Allens at Boonville that these volumes contained marginal comment “ " over the signature A . Lincoln . This library was lost in a ﬁre . Certainly there is good proof that Lincoln borrowed law books from Judge John Pitcher at Rockport as well as Squire Pate and David Turnham . Not a few biographers and eulogists o f Lincoln have widely missed the mark relative to the religious phase in h i s . life From Herndon , the Deist , to John Hay , there was

9 6 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

to win the covenant favor o f Go d as evidenced by the bur

O f " Y den his prayer This is Your war , if ou will stand by "

o u r Yo . boys at Gettysburg, I will stand by u And Lincoln beli eving that the Almighty did in fact exercise Divine

o n e o f h i power that ﬁ ld carnage , he in turn kept s part o f

the covenant to the last .

o ld Like Jacob of , he had prior to Gettysburg covenanted with his Maker by promising the Emancipation Proclama

tion following success at Antietam . The teachings o f the unschooled Gentryville preachers were as seed sown in good ground , notwithstanding those teachings cau s ed Lincoln often to make a near approach to

fatalism . Many another would have gone into the abyss and this might have been true of Lincoln as his life prog r d f r e s s e o . , but yet other early inﬂuences It is a well estab ’ lis h ed fact that Lincoln s mother was possessed o f a simple c hildlike Christian faith . Nancy Hanks lived and died in this Indiana wilderness without the ben e ﬁt o f the church

s h e or clergy ; however , was painstakingly devout , much given to prayer and the reading o f the Bible . Aside from such well known statements handed down to us concerning

o f the beauty her life , we have that memorable tribute paid her by her illustrious son when he said " “ All that I am "

e e owe . and all that I v r hope to be , I to my angel mother Lincoln learned to pray at the knees o f Nancy Hanks and his unusual knowledge of the Bible was quite largely

attributable t o her example and inﬂuence .

When Lincoln walked down Sangamon River bottom , he

in t en had left behind him his school days , his youth and his

o f o f sive study the Bible , although he remained a reader

e the Bible to the last , but just as he had learned hon sty at Gentryville and later practiced its principles at Springﬁeld

' and at Washington in s u ch a manner so as to be called “ " Hone st Abe , so in like manner he had obtained such a ready use of the Scriptures at Gentryville he often later LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 97

confounded his opponents by telling quotatio ns memori z ed * in his youth . It has been the unfailing custom o f many writers and Lincoln eulogists to seek to disparage the character o f ’ Thomas Lincoln . These men and women dismiss Lincoln s

father with something akin to benevolent pity , disallowing to the elder Lincoln any single ennobling trait or purpose and thus denying t o him any contribution of especial moment . c c When it is but recalled that Thomas Lin oln be ame , in

c o f o f o n e the providen e God , the father whom millions

o ur regard as ﬁrst and greatest American , it would appear that his fame is s ecure . Had there been nothing else to say in favor o f Thomas Lincoln to have it proclaimed through the centuries that this man was the father of the Great

Emancipator , this is a great honor indeed . The president r e ceived from his father certain qualities o f mind as well as physical characteristics that were ever peculiar to the Lincolns and such as never distinguished h i the Hanks family . Among these may be mentioned s

s well known physical prowe s , his coarse black , unruly

r hair , his dark complexion , his unusual wit and humo as well as his well known gift at story telling , his uncanny cun

- ning , his mirth provoking mimicry , his ready and eager disposition to take the stump or mount the platform and , above all , his proverbial honesty and truthfulness .

Lincoln was greatly indebted to his mother in many ways .

C His face with its deep lines , high heek bones , rugged brow ,

* ’ If we ef e t o m n i t on ﬁle in th e o i et i v e en t i t e r r a a uscr p S c y s arch s , l d “ ’ o i t e of ion e e Li f e e i e ff o n t o n w e ﬁn d t o W rd P c ur s P r by D rdr Du J h s , a s ry “ re lat e d by Colon e l Fras er Jaq u e s ( lat er comm a n d er o f th e Pr e ach e r Reg i " m en t of Ci v il War f am e ) a n d a t t h e t im e r e sid en t M ethodist m i n ist er a t

n ﬁ a r t t h it x m n n in Spri g e ld . W e e old e spir ual e p e ri en ce t hat ca e t o Li col ’ ’ t h t f th m n t m a n d in h n D r e o e i i e o e t e e e of . e if e s udy s r s h e pr s c Jaq u s s w . He o e i n ti v e i th t h e em k t t if h e ev er een m a n cl s s h s arra w r ar , ha had s a i v i o t o i M k r A m Li n o n on o t e e e t . g h s s ul h s a , braha c l had d s , ha day 9 8 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

- gray blue eyes , deep set and small eyes , consti tuted a replic a ’ o f Nancy Hanks face . This held true even to the prom in en t nose and large ears .

t o Nancy Hanks was much given deep melancholy , yet in common with her husband , Thomas Lincoln , she possessed marked wit and humor . In her , this was merely occasional , while in Thomas Lincoln it was perennial . ’ Th e president s melancholy was congenital . His tempera

z ment , great good nature , forgiving spirit , characteri ed his mother . His well known high moral standard and freedom

o f f from all the rontier bad habits , were marked traits at

Gentryville . Thomas Lincoln failed t o understand his s o n

t o c while his mother did , and her he lung as long as she lived ; t o h e r memory he not o nly publicly made a ckn owl

e d m en t . g , but her spirit and presence were with him always It must n o t be forgotten t hat when Lincoln drove his ox

t o s t - wagon Illinoi , he was then in his twen y second year , and when he quit Kentucky for Gentryville , Indiana , he was but a mere child with only a few memories of the State of his

h o f a s birt . Thus while the State Kentucky w his birthplace

o f and Illinois was his burial place , it was the State Indiana that moulded and fashioned him with those elemental teach t t ings o f truthfulness , sobrie y and hones y , such as served him ’ t o life s close . His was an unusual career , and aside from the natural endowment s o f Heaven those traits of character later observed in him were t o no small extent made possible o f by the example , training and teaching those Spencer

County Hoosier citizens at Gentryville , Indiana .

1 00 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE becam e angry and threw a corn cob and hit Abe over the ’ "

. o n s eye The scar remained Lincoln face until his death . “ I interviewed Mrs . Crawford who had a wardrobe made ’ s by Thoma Lincoln , Abraham s father . This was a ﬁne o f h a piece work , proving t t Thomas Lincoln was a skillful f carpenter . The wardrobe was o black walnut inlaid in k white o a . Around the panels were small diamond shaped

o f o ak r bits white forming a wreath . In the cente o f the ‘ ’

. . on o n e panels were the letters , J C for Josiah Crawford ‘ ’ "

. f r o o n . door and E . C Elizabeth Crawford the other “ ‘ It was Josiah Crawford who owned the Life o f Wash ’ I . t o t ington that Abe borrowed g wet , and Abe shucked r f o r . s o f corn to pay it Ah , the Crawfo d were a mine i stor es which I have not time to repeat . “

f b . Locating the grave o Mrs . Lincoln was a hard pro lem ’ Br o o n er Mr . said he thought he could locate his mother s grave . They were side by side . Thomas Lincoln sawed ’ - o down a tree , whip sawed the b ards and made his wife s

n o coffin . That was t poor carpentry "Thomas Lincoln was

‘ n e o f hi a ﬁne workman . When o sees the pieces s workman " ship , you will decide that he did excellent work . “ I interviewed M r . Lamar . He said the ﬁrst time he saw young Lincoln wa s when as a little boy he was riding t o the mill o n a horse behind his father . Lincoln wa s letting the horse rest from plowing and was reading a book . ’ ‘ Lamar s father said , Son , look at that boy . He will make

o r . a mark in the world . He either works reads He never wastes a minute "’ “ in t o f I went to every city , village or hamlet the vicini y

o o n e o f Lincoln City . I interviewed pe ple in each these

bo . places , people who knew Abraham Lincoln as a y We ’ met p e ople that didn t seem inclined to talk t o newspaper ' cau s ed u s writers . This to get the name of the leading w person in each neighborhood . When at home we rote to

wh o w . that person , to get the news from those kne any facts LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 1 0 1

o t ( o f In this way we g a very good , reliable history his ’ b oyh o o d f “ In 1 8 44 Abraham Lincoln made three speeche s in Spe u cer County . Some people doubt it, but these facts were told

m r M . by Mr . Broo er , . James Gentry and Mr Redmond

Grigsby . They remember the speeches . One speech was made out at the Carter School where the Buffalo road

o n crosses . Lincoln stood the school house steps with his back t o the school house and talked t o all the people from the surrounding country . Many Of them knew him when a

o ld boy . We were told by the settlers that the second speech was made down in front o f the harness shop o n e hundred ﬁfty feet south o f Jones store ( locating it very closely ) . This time Abe talked to the neighbors and the people o f the vicinity and from Gentryville . His main speech was at the Rockport Court House . I obtained a picture o f

o ld . that court house , although it had been burned I have " it . The people I met there were like the men that we have

ff . here . Each face was di erent I found the mind and soul were what I wanted . Their faces and their clothing were

o u as varied as you ﬁnd in any gathering today . Did y ever

o o r o u o o n e o f g to a country fair , did y ever g to these little affairs where y o u get o ut and meet everybody "I found the h aristocrat , the intelligent , and I found the unlearned . W y ’ " n o t "Aren t they everywhere " I might be able to count a hundred o f the good people

t o to whom we talked , or whom we wrote letters . I saw ’ wh o many gave me something, and the others I saw didn t give me anything . Many a time I went home without any

thing at all , but still uplifted because we had met people

t o h who had nothing say , yet were kind t o us and were i

t e r es t ed ou r . Yo u t in work know that meant much o us .

I would have to tax my memory to give you all the names , is " but here a partial list General Veatch , Captain Green 1 0 2 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

B . Taylor , Mrs . Emma Bullock , Mrs . Mary Adams , Mrs .

ff . . . Ruth Hu , Mrs Jones , Mrs . Turnham , Hon H B .

B r o o n er . . , Capt Lamar , C . T . Doxey , Hon Alfred Mc

M r . . a r t Coy , N . S . Roberts , Capt . P . A Bruce , Capt . VV

C a t . , F . . . man , Capt . Burke , p J Charlton , Capt George

Riley , Ed . Royal Purcell , Editor Thomas Adams , Hon . H .

M c b . . C o . . W y , Mr Stude aker , Hon Schuyler Colfax , Hon A t William English , Capt . William Jones and his son , torney William Jones , Mr . Raymond Grigsby , Mrs . James

- M r o n er . . . r . B o Gentry , , Mrs Nancy Taylor Volke , Mr W

Ga h o n M . Daniel , S . H . Burton , Mr . Frank , Miss Mary

m em I co . Others there are who gave me inspiration and "

o r a em en t t o . c u g , them we are equally indebted “ In the gallery of my memory there hangs magnetic pictures of southern Indiana which is sacred t o the Boyhood

a s o f Abraham Lincoln , just is the Holy Land sacred to

Christ . Aye , southern Indiana will ever be the Mecca , the " holy land t o all patriots wh o love Lincoln .

1 04 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE who had loaned him books in that far away time o f his

o f boyhood ; Colonel William Jones Jonesboro , friend and employer ; and Josiah Crawford , near neighbor to the Lin colns , where he and his sister , Sarah , had both worked at various times .

t o e There was be a visit made to the grav of his mother ,

Nancy Hanks Lincoln , and to that of his Sister , Sarah Lin coln Grigsby , both of whom had died and been buried in o f the days the Indiana residence . Abraham Lincoln was n ow well established in his p r o fe s s ion s as lawyer , and had four time in succession been f T elected to the legislature o Illinois . wo years before thi s date o f his ﬁrst visit back t o the Indiana home he had been e marri d to Mary Todd , so there would be many things to discuss with Pitcher , Gentry , Crawford and Colonel Jones .

The speech making in Indiana , and the slow travel by horseback , took several weeks before he reached Spencer

County . He delivered addresses at Bruceville , Vincennes ,

Washington , Boonville and other points in southern Indiana before his arrival in Gentryville and Rockport . He was a forceful speaker and had always at hand a fund o f anecdotes and illustration s pleasing to all classes of hearers .

This campaign had the effect o f establishing Mr . Lin ’ coln s reputation as a political orator , and from this time forward he was widely known as one o f the soundest and most effective o f whig champion s in the west . In Spencer County are two o ld newspapers which tell

O f the story the visits and speech at Rockport , where he met o f his former fri ends and electioneered for Clay . One

Th e H er a ld o f these newspapers was Friday , November I ,

1 8 . . 4 4 , with James C Veatch as editor The only surviving

1 1 8 Her a ld copy ( so far as I know ) of this November , 44 , r o f is the property of Cha les Baker , editor the Grand

M o n it o r M r . view , and was photographed by George

Honig , well known sculptor of Rockport and Evansville . Pla t e 1 6

P ’ ho t ogr a phic copy of n ewsp a p er which t ells of Li n col n s visit t o R t in 1 ockpor 8 44. T he O ld in n in Rockport wh er e Li n col n w as a gu est in 1 8 44

T h e Sp en ce r Cou n t y Cour t Hous e wh er e h e m a d e a sp eech

T h e a t la n n on t h e O a t R t e e L n n old bo di g , hio ockpor wh r i col l eft on his first ﬂ a t bo a t t rip t o New O rlea n s

1 0 6 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

l ‘ year s o d . Speaking thi s week of the memory he said " It was along in the early fall when Lincoln came to town riding

s through from Illinoi horseback , stopping in the upper part o f the county before reaching Rockport . I remember very

o f a k well my ﬁrst sight him; he was so gangling , tall and w

o n l ward . He had a brownish suit of clothes and an o d . ’ fashioned cap Of course , he hadn t gotten famous then but attra cted attention . ‘ The afternoon o f the day he was here, he spoke in the Court House th a t stood in the corner o f the yard where the c annon rests . There was a good sized crowd to hear

o n . him , and he spoke Protection I was just a boy but went along with the rest o f the people . The next day he rode ’ away .

o ld o f The tavern spoken _ by Squire Stewart is still stand

o f 1 8 ing in this year 93 , and it was built by Daniel Brown

1 8 6 o n e 2 o a . in 3 , hundred years g Many visitors to Rock

o o ld t r t o port g to see the quaint place and y 3 visualize 1 Lincoln as he looked when a guest there in 8 4 4 . Squire ’ Stewart s description o f his looks and clothes makes a vivid picture o f this young man who later was to be the greatest ’ man o f all time i n o u r country s history Lincoln ’ s stay in Spencer County and the visits with all the old friends must have been both satisfactory and yet sad because it was after his return t o Illinois that he wrote the poem concerning thi s trip

’ My Childhood s home I see again , And sadden with the view ;

And still as memory crowds my brain , ’

t o o . There s pleasure in it , " O , Memory Thou midway world , ’ an d Twixt earth paradise ,

Where things decayed and loved ones lost ,

In dreamy shadows rise . LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 1 0 7

’ And , freed from all that s earthly , vile ,

Seem hallowed , pure and bright ,

Like scenes in some enchanted isle ,

All bathed in liquid light .

. s As dusky mountain please the eye , When twilight chases day ;

a s s m As bugle notes that , p g by , In distance die away ;

As leaving some grand waterfall ,

We , lingering , list its roar ; SO memory will hallow all ’ We ve known , but know no more .

Near twenty years have passed away , Since here I bid farewell

s To woods and ﬁelds , and scene of play , And playmates loved so well ;

Where many were , but few remain ,

Of Old , familiar things ; But seeing them t o mind again

The lost and absent brings .

The friends I left that parting day , How changed "as time has sped

Young childhood grown , strong manhood gray,

And half of all are dead . I hear the loud survivors tell

How naught from death could save ,

Till every sound appears a knell ,

e And very spot a grave .

I range the ﬁelds with pensive tread ,

And pace the hollow rooms ,

o f And feel ( companions the dead ) , ’ I m living in the tombs . 1 0 8 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Indiana people like t o think o f him as he was when a 1 8 boy here ; and also as he looked in 44 , riding into town

o ld horseback , and after the visit among the friends riding away .

We feel sure there wa s / a visit t o the home of Allen Gen o ld ﬂ a tbo a t try , near the landing, and together they must have walked there and remi n isced concerning that trip of

1 8 2 8 .

o f out Louis Gentry , grandson Allen Gentry , pointed to me the exact spot where his father told him the Gentry ’ tb a ﬂ a o t was loaded when Lincoln was Gentry s helper .

o ld Could the rocks talk , that tower so high near this

o f spot, what a tale interest would we hear of the hours

o f Lincoln worked nearby as a boy nineteen years .

I I O THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

The Inn at Rockport , in which he was a guest when he

o ld 1 8 returned to his home in 44 as a Clay elector , is still standing , as is the old building where he came as a barefoot boy to borrow books from the noted lawyer , John Pitcher Acros s the street is th e site o f the old time court house where he made his 1 8 44 speech before the friends o f his youth . ’ Long ago history wrote the record o f this man s birth in

Kentucky , his life in Illinois , and tomes have been written

his f concerning public life and the mystery o his greatness .

o f One part his life , however , has been lightly touched , those years when as a boy he roamed these hills and valleys o f O in Indiana , or worked on the banks the majestic hio , the river that played an important part in the formative years o f his li fe .

It has ever seemed a. strange fact that most historians , searching for information concerning this man , never deemed it of enough importance t o investigate the Indiana years in regard to the forming of character , the possible

o f birth ambition , or interest in book knowledge , yet most ’ people agree that th eformative years in a child s life are from s ev en ' t o twenty-one and that in those years the in

n ﬂ u e ces surrounding a child will leave indelible impressions . t ’ So , let us brush the dus of over a century from history s pages and look searchingly into those childhood years .

o f - As a boy seven , we see him round eyed with wonder as he ferries the Ohio River coming with his parents to the new home in Indiana . The river must have seemed an ocean to his childish eyes . When the family ﬁnally step on shore , we see Nancy , the mother , leading Abraham and

s h e ff o f Sarah t o one side where , kneeling, o ers up a prayer thankfulness f o r th eir safe arrival in the Indiana wilder r ness . Thus , at this ea ly age the religious atmosphere sur

rounds him . Later we see the family settled in the log

cabin that Thomas Lincoln built fo r his family . LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 1 1 1

We visualize all those pioneer hardships , the lessons of courage and endurance that such a life must necessarily teach

e a child . Here Abraham Lincoln lived those arly years , and here he suffered his ﬁrst great sorrow when his beloved mother died and was buried on a nearby hillside . We pic ture his poignant grief over the loss of the o n e who had ’ loved him so devotedly . The stepmother s coming, a year later , meant much to the growing boy and his sister , Sarah .

Sarah Bush Lincoln liked the homely , awkward stepson and ’ gave him a mother s devotion . ’ f e Lincoln s school days were w in Indiana , and yet it

o n e was in a rude log cabin that teacher , at least ( Andrew

bo Crawford ) , taught the y manners as well as the three ’ R s . Living on surrounding farms near the Lincolns were sturdy pioneers men and women who were upstanding

b o t o . and worthwhile examples follow Lincoln , the y , must have absorbed much information and knowledge from the observation of his neighbors . He , early in his teens , grew

in o f in stature until he was over six feet height , strong arm and renowned in the surrounding country as a wrestler .

o n At Anderson Creek , the Ohio , and not far from the

Lincoln home , James Taylor owned and operated a ferry and Lincoln became his helper . What a new world of ’ thought must have opened to this backwood s b oy as he met the travelers of that day who doubtless told him many interesting and strange things of the cities from whence they came .

o f Then there is the site the Jones store , at the place called Jonesboro , where Abe clerked as a boy . The brick residence o f Colonel Jones is still standing about o n e-half

o f mile west of Gentryville . The present towns Gentry ville and Lincoln City were the two early settlements best known t o the Lincoln family . Any o n e visiting all these spots Should see also the unusual town of Santa Claus and the German Camp Ground , 1 1 2 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

fo r it is a part of the Lincoln Country , and when Lincoln

1 8 o n e o f returned in 4 4 as a Clay elector , he made his speeches in front o f a school house that stood where the

i n o town of Santa Claus s w located . The Hammond tannery site near Grandview was the place where Lincoln often went as a boy , and in Grandview there stands a marker showing the o ld trail that was often traveled by the Lincolns . Each place mentioned here is now ’ o f a sacred shrine to the memory Lincoln s boyhood .

1 1 4 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

n mother of President Lincoln , was left unmarked a d u m

cared for in the forest near Lincoln City in this County . “ He immediately wrote to Mr . L . S . Gilkey , Postmaster

r e ei at Rockport , to know if this statement was true , and c v ing an answer that it wa s substantially correct he sent his

check for ﬁfty dollars to Mr . Gilkey asking him to procure the best tombstone that could be Obtained f o r that sum and

to have it set up at her grave . “ o f Mr . L . S . Gilkey contracted with Alfred H . Yates Rockport f o r a very neat marble slab with appropriate in

o n 2 th r 1 8 scription and the 7 day of Novembe , 7 9 , it was put up at the grave in the presence o f a large number o f people assembled t o witness this act o f honoring the mem

r o f o y the dead .

b . . A few days efore this time Mr R . T Kercheval wrote

o f C in cm n a t i to Henry Lewis , Ohio , Trustee of the owners o f the land at Lincoln City asking him t o make a donation f of a small plat o ground where the grave l s Situated . “ ff Mr . Lewis responded generously O ering to give half

f e an acre o the land embracing said grav . “ On the day the tombstone was erected Mr . W . W .

m ea s u r Wells , County Surveyor , kindly gave his services in ing and marking O ff the half acre o f ground and o n the f 1 o 8 . day 7 9 , Mr Henry Lewis as trustee

t ff . - . o . for . Conveyed John A Hu man , David F f Ax . o ton and John M Gwaltney , as a Board Commissioners o f Spencer County and t o their successors in o ﬂi ce the said half acre o f land t o be held by them in trust f o r the whole people o f the United States for the purpose mentioned in

said deed . “ Said deed is recorded in the record of Deeds of Sp encer

County Book , Page - and is now shown to the Court . “ On the same d a y the tombstone was er e cted James C . Veatch started a subscription o f each to procure an u r H er h i c a o C u r t es C . a on C o y L oop , g E n t r a n ce t o N a n cy H a n ks Li n col n Pa rk

t h n ln n t M a rker e rec ed W h ere t e home of t h e Li co s o ce s ood . Now r emoved t o Tra il of Rocks

C u r t es C a u r on H er o y . L oop

P e en t e a a t S t e lo a n e t he L n ln r s m mori l i of g c bi hom of i co s , 1 8 1 6 - 1 8 3 0 Pla t e 1 9

l H . n i n en e n t t n n ome of Col Willi a m Jo es Sp c r Cou y s i l st a di g . w a s employed a s a clerk in t h e Jon es st ore

a e N a n H a n s L n ln n n t I n a n a Gr v of cy k i co . Li col Ci y , di

1 1 6 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

And we further ask that Mr . J . D . Armstrong be made

a member of that committee . “ Very respectfully , “

ME . E T H JA S C V A C , L . . K EY L S GI ,

. . E H E L R T K RC VA .

Contributions from Citi z ens o f Spencer C oun ty fo r the purpose o f procuring and putting up an Iron Fence t o en close the grave o f Nancy Hanks Lincoln at Lincoln City in

e t . Spenc r Coun y, Indiana

VEM E 2 8 8 . NO B R , I 7 9

William Statler L . S . Gilkey

e . L vi E Riggs R . T . Kercheval

F a ir ﬁeld John Basye S . W .

Jame s C . Veatch James H . William

Daniel Hayford R . S . Hicks

John B . Chrisney C . L . Wedding

A . D . Garlinghouse J . W . Cunningham

G . E . Feltman Samuel Laird

W . H . Thomas E . F . Rogers

Allen Gentry S . W . Stocking

Willis Haynes Jas . G . Greathouse

Dr . I . L . Milner Dr . Jas . M . Daily

. . l . . W Dr A White C o . J S right Philip Eigen m a n Henry R o et z el

Z a ch r it z . . . E . H . Dr H L Ambrose

e R ibke W . T . Mason H nry y

. J . R . Dougherty Thos . R Hardy

Ge o . . C . F . Smith B Hibbs

r . J . C . Richa dson L Kahn L a n d s bu r Pr o c a s ke . G . W . y Thos y e Isaac Gillette H . C . Pent cost

e St John G . Krueger Nevill Ray hlbecker . Ko 81 . F . Weil Co A LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 1 1 7

J . D . Armstrong B . F . Bridges

Heich elba ch . . M . J H Walker Total amount collected Cost of iron fence Freight Paid labor in putting up Fo r trading lands

$4 94 0

60 Balance in Hands o f J . C . Veatch

Now come Jas . C . Veatch , L . S . Gilkey and Robert

Kercheval , and present a memori al showing that Henry

o f Lewis of Cincinnati , Ohio has conveyed by deed trust to the Board o f Commissioners of Spencer County o n e- half acre of land at Lincoln City in said County upon which the

o f grave Nancy Hanks Lincoln , the mother of Abraham

o f Lincoln is situated and that P . E . Studebaker South

Bend , Indiana has caused to be erected at said grave a suit ab le tombstone and that the Citizens of Rockport and vicin it y have enclosed said grave with a neat iron fence . “ And ask that this board accept the trust imposed on them

n d f o r by Henry Lewis a that the purpose of protecting , preserving and furth e r improving the grounds so conveyed t o them that a committe of ten citizens o f Spencer County including J . D . Armstrong , County Auditor , be appointed t o act under the orders o f the board in taking charge o f the

e said premises and protecting and improving the sam . “ It is therefore ordered that the trust conveyed to the Board o f Commissioners o f Spencer County in the deed of

e e o n o f 1 8 H nry Lewis xecuted the day 7 9 , and recorded in Book Page . in the Record of deeds of Spencer County , is hereby accepted and the request of the memorial granted by the appointments of the follow ing named persons t owit 1 1 8 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

David Turnham Joseph Gentry

Nathanial Grigsby John W . Lamar

J . D . Armstrong L . S . Gilkey

R . T . Kercheval Dr . I . L . Milner

James C . Veatch Henry C . Branham Who will act as a committee under orders and directors o f the Board in charge o f said grounds ; and they are au t h o r iz ed to receive voluntary contributions and expend the same in such manner as they o r ’ a maj ority of them may deem ﬁt in improving and protecting said grave and grounds . “ The members t o serve without compensation and all expenses must be paid by voluntary contributions and n o cost o r expense o f any kind touching said trust shall be paid by the County . ‘ Said Committee will be r equired to make report t o the " County Board at their June Term in each year .

It is thought that the news item read by Mr . S t udebaker ’ which interested him in marking the grave o f Lincoln s mother was the same article and poem published in many papers of 1 8 6 8 which called attention to the neglected co n dition of the grave . There has been some controversy as to f the author o the poem .

o f In our historical ﬁles , the true story this is recorded , which I do not believe is known elsewhere . This record

o f contains several letters from a Mrs . Columbia Wood

Evansville , Indiana , which tell the story of the poem pub f 1 6 o 8 8 . lis h ed in the Rockport Journal November , There is also a printed copy o f the poem and a letter of Mr . John

J o ur n a l Chewning , editor of the Rockport , concerning the poem . I quote the letters and poem here .

2 th 1 2 . May 4 , 9 7 N DEAR MRS . E HRMA N “ I believe you would be pleased to hear of an experience

o f I had in 1 8 6 8 . I enclose a copy some verses that were

1 2 0 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

’ Fo r Lincoln s mother here is laid m Far fro her son ,

0 o n o s N l ng procession , false parade

o r Of pride place was here displayed ,

No requiem sung .

N 0 summer friends were crowded round

Her humble grave . The summer bree z es bore no sound

u Save genuine grief , when this lone mo nd

Its echoes gave .

Her husband , and her children dear ,

o And neighb rs rude ,

Dressed in their hardy homespun gear ,

Were all that gathered round her bier ,

In this lone wood .

High -pile the marble above the breast Of Chi eftain slain ;

o f While in the wild wood the West , n In tomb by aught but Nature drest,

His mother is lain .

Her grave from art o r homage free Neglected lies ;

And pride and pomp , and vanity,

From this lone grave must ever ﬂee ,

As mockeries .

’ A nation s grief and gratitude , Bedecked his bier ;

Fo r her who sleeps in solitude ,

In this lone grave in western wood ,

' Have ye n o tear .

o f And shall the mother the brave , e And tru and good , LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 1 2 1

Lie thus neglected in a grave ,

f o r w o r Unﬁt menial , clo n knave , In this drear wood "

“ " o f Oh Nation the generous brave ,

Be this your shame , And let thi s grave without a name

No longer thus neglected be , " Beneath this forest tree .

June 1

DEAR MRS . E HRMANN

“ E n cl l h o o f . o . an d letter from sister o Will Q Corbin w ’ wrote the very ﬁrst protest on neglected grave o f Lincoln s mother . “ — I corresponded with Mr . Corbin for 5 yrs . Nov . ’ 1 8 6 8 1 . a 1 1 8 . 8 . s until Dec 73 I w married Jan y , 74 ’ I rec d that clipping from R . Jour in a letter . I have

ou o f had it printed several times . I sent t dozens proofs ‘ ’ t o n ews p ap er s long ago with Please pub . “ 2 o f Mr . Corbin 5 yrs . old with a crew young men was traveling selling maps and charts . They were in ’ — L wo r th about six weeks walked all over southern part o f Harrison and Crawford counties . Then , by boat to Rock port — walking over the county he found the “ low sunk grave . He was a very interesting correspondent 3 or 4 letters weekly , descriptions of events , people , etc . “ ’

2 0 . I haven t written to Mrs . Stone in yrs She is about — my age 7 7 . She did not tell me but I am sure he is

v . buried in a nameless grave in Jersey ille , Ill He is entitled t o a headstone as a U . S . soldier . But I do not suppose anything has ever been done to recognize and I knew he n ev er exp ect e d recognition fo r writing the ﬁrst memorial ’ t o Lincoln s mother . “ I can get in touch with his Ohio relatives and ﬁnd o t u anything y ou want t o know . 1 2 2 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

’ I‘ r ew L wo r th 1 8 1 g up in I was in 8 6 8 . I have lived ’ ’ o ld in E ville since 73 taught school in Canal St . Bldg . “ I have grown s o deaf that I d o not meet people live alone with my daughter . "Sincerely “ CO L UMBIA PA"TON WOOD .

0 574 Monroe Ave . “ Hyde Park “ Chicago , Ill . MY DEAR MRS . WOOD

How very kind o f you to take the trouble to ascertain my address ( or that o f my husband) and give me so much pleasure in doing just what my dear brothe r wished . He wanted me t o write in those days when he had ﬁrst the

o f pleasure your acquaintance , but I am not gifted in letter writing as he was and felt my limitation s keenly . “

e o f r . Yes , he oft n spoke you and you talents as well I

t o o f r think he said you wrote o some N . Y . paper at that

time . After all these years , my heart is very heavy when

I h in t k l . of my dear brother , the best any gir ever had I

have two boys , the eldest is very much like him in looks and

talents . He is a lawyer but is a student and has written ’ some lovely things , so he keeps my brother s memory fresh ,

i f anything were needed to do it . “ Let me thank you very much fo r your great goodness

r in this matter . You saw him later than I . I neve saw him

after he left home . I was married and had my little family and many cares and poor health and I let the rest of the

d o family the correspondence , and then he died suddenly

6 1 8 . with asthma , May , 7 5, was sick but one week If you

He remember he contracted the disease in the war . was so

h e young . The exposure had to endure resulted in that disease and he was always troubled with it after his return

from the war . Sometimes he would not be able to lie down

1 2 4 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

. 2 1 Aug 7 , 93 7

. . H MRS C D . E RMAN “ Rockport, Ind .

Dear Mrs . Ehrman

“ Will y ou please excuSe me f o r the delay in answering " your inquiry I misplaced your letter , but found it today . “ ’ My grandfather knew the location of Mrs . Lincoln s grave because his mother was laid to rest within on e week o f the death of Mrs . Lincoln and knew that they were laid

side byside . He did not remember howeve r who was buried on l n o d . the north side , and whe Mr Studebaker came here to locate the grave fo r erecting the monument my grand father suggeste d that the iron fence be placed around both

graves and a mound made between the two which was done . I enjoy knowing that my great grandmother is resting at ’ Mrs . Lincoln s side and within that fenced enclosure . “ m 2 2 My grandfather , Allen Broo er , was born Oct . ,

1 8 1 . 2 1 0 2 . 3 , and died Apr , 9 “ Sincerely ,

N R . . R OO E O I . B

f n Today the grave o Mrs . Lincol is in the beautiful Nancy Hanks Lincoln Memorial Park which is maintained

a n by the state d the Indiana Lincoln Union . Many acres o f ground have been added t o the park through the years ; acres are included in the park and

is memorial area . The site of the cabin home also within

the boundary lines of the park , and on this Site has been

o f built an unusual memorial , the outlines the log cabin

ﬁr e where the Lincoln family lived , and a replica of the Old

place . The original hearth stones were excavated , and they

are preserved now under glass . Spencer County erect e d a large marble shaft in 1 9 1 7 Old to mark the cabin site . It was placed over the hearth

stones , the exact place of which was located by Mr . John LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 1 2 5

" b o J . Brown Of Rockport and Indianapolis who , as a y , had often visited the spot with his parents . He said thi s marker

r e r e Should be placed over these Old hearth stones , as it p sented the heart o f the home . The committee appointed t o select the marker and have it erected was composed o f the

" . following persons Allen J . Payton , chairman , W . W

. B a um a er t Kellams , John Chewning, Sr , Helen Morgan g *

e s . ner , B s V . Ehrmann , Matthew Hirsch , John J . Brown The Lincoln Union removed this marker to the Trail o f " Rocks in the park , when the present memorial was erected . They likewise removed the large memorial headstone at Nancy Hanks Lincoln ’ s grave which had been presented to f o . the state Indiana by Illinois It , too , is to be found now “ " o n the Trail of Rocks , a most beautiful and historic winding trail where rocks from many places connected with Lincoln ’ s life have been secured and set in concrete with the history on bronze tablets . ’ Here o n e may learn much o f the Emancipator s li fe and feel that they are on hallowed ground as they walk along the tree Shaded paths where the boy Lincoln walked long ago .

* T i omm i tt ee oi nt e t h e en e o n t Hi t o i o ci t h s c was app d by Sp c r C u y s r cal S e y. T h e en e o n t om m i io n e oi n t e M r o n o n i n . m Sp c r C u y C ss rs app d J h Br w , cha r a of t e i ommi tt ee i t A en t n h . o a n d o n e n i n m em e o f t e h r c , w h ll J Pay J h Ch w g b rs mm t co i tee . SARA H L IN COLN ’ S G RAVE

’ Sarah Lincoln , Abraham Lincoln s only Sister ( who had married Aaron Grigsby , a Spencer County neighbor ) died

2 0 1 8 2 8 . January ,

She was a tragic little ﬁgure , known to the world only through the fame of the brother who had been her devoted playmate and companion in their childhood days . Her grave remained unmarked long after Studebaker had ’ marked the mother s grave .

2 0 1 1 6 o f On June , 9 , the state Indi ana erected a monu ment over her grave at Pigeon Creek Baptist cemetery , ’ o f s about a mile from the grave Nancy Hanks , Lincoln

h e mother . At t dedication of the monument Fred V a n Nuys

n o s of Indianapolis , w United State senator from Indiana ,

. o f delivered the oration Jessie Weik Greencastle , biog r a h e r o f p of Lincoln , gave the history , and Max Ehrmann Terre Haute read the following poem he had written for the occasion " The summer moon and sun have watched her sleep

T o Now foursco re y e ars and eight . him this place ’ Was ever dear with twilight s tender memories ; “ "" For here her laughing lips cried out , Halloo

o f A S up the path he came at close day .

o n A thousand times he bore her his back ,

e h e r With boyish str ngth abused lovingly ,

Provoked by playful taunts , by many j ests .

Then she , returning to her tasks indoors ,

Left him alone to brood upon the night .

h e m T sunset built fa ed cities in his brain ,

Forced from his breast the sigh for surging men ,

- o n e Welling up , like wind tossed rivers , great hope ,

LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 1 2 7

1 To force from life the promises of dream .

One round of toiling days , of peaceful nights .

He stood here once , a saddened boy , forlorn ,

And saw her form descend into the earth .

Thus early came the gloaming to his soul ,

- ff Into his boyish eyes the far o look .

That , yearning, seeks to see where death has trod .

He wandered forth , through darkened wilderness ;

Yet somehow ever wandered toward the light ,

Until he held a nation in his hand . He wa s a rock in storm "in milder days

A pliant branch bent down with mellow fruit . He was as tende r as the yellow leaves ’ r That autumn winds toss o e her grave .

e Through l aden days , through fevered ﬂaming nights ,

o f - Through hate and horror a blood smeared land ,

Thi s early sorrow made for love in him .

Here , then , was sorrow garnished , grief made great . ’ Here bloomed the balm that soothed a nation s wounds . " e And his dead s lf still makes for love and peace . TH E L IN CO LN PAG EANT

“ " As an outcome o f the Lincoln Inquiry in Spencer Coun t s a s y , the citizen becoming Lincoln minded , it were , decided ’ to honor Lincoln s fourteen formative years in their county

t o with a living memorial , as they called it , his memory .

1 2 6 O ld o n On July 4 , 9 , at the boat landing the Ohio

o n River in Rockport , where Lincoln had embarked his ﬁrst

ﬂ a tbo a t n trip to New Orleans , was staged a pageant , Whe " Fla tb a t in Lincoln Went o g From Rockport . This pageant portrayed the important incidents in Lincoln ’ s life in

Indiana .

The actors numbered about ﬁve hundred , and they came from all over the county and were largely the descendants of the friends and neighbors of the Lincolns during their residence in Spencer County .

o f Two performances the pageant were given , one at

. . M . . M . four P and one at eight P , each lasting two hours The pageant was under the auspices o f the Spence r Coun ty Historical Society and the Indiana Lincoln Memorial

Association . 1 2 8 This same pageant was given again on July 4 , 9 , and

1 0 . again on July 4 , 93 , with two performances each day 1 0 A moving picture of the pageant was taken in 93 , by the generosity of Mr . John L . Iglehart , cousin of Mr . John

n E . Iglehart of Evansville . Mr . Arthur E . Gress of Eva s ville did the ﬁlming . After being shown in numerous movie house s and schools in southern Indiana , the ﬁlm was used for two years by the

Iowa State School o f Visual Instruction . It is n ow in the poss e ssion o f the Museum o f Fine Arts and History in Evansville . The negative was presented to

LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 1 2 9

fo r the Indiana Historical Bureau at Indianapolis , safe

O f keeping, and will some day be historic value , to inquirers o f another generation . As a Living Memorial to the Memory of Abraham Lincoln ’ s Fourteen Years in Spencer

County, Indiana .

THE PAGEANT WHEN LINCOLN WENT FLA T BOA TING FROM ROCKPORT

R OC KYSIDE K K T PAR , ROC POR , INDIANA

H Author and Director BESS V . E RMANN Assistant Director LUCI LE RIC HARDS

This Biennial Hi s torical Pageant wa s produced by Spencer Count y Historical Society under the auspices o f

Indiana Lincoln Memorial Association .

OFFICERS SPENCER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Taylor C . Basye , President

Bess V . Ehrmann , Vice President

Laura Mercy Wright , Secretary

U . S . Lindsey , Tre asurer

OFFICERS INDIANA LINCOLN MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION

e Presid nt Professor L . N . Hines , Indiana State Teach ’ e r s College , Terre Haute .

S ta r Secretary Kate Milner Rabb , Indianapolis , Indian

a o li p s .

lo . G s b r en n r s e C o . Treasurer Harry W , Levey Printing ,

Indianapolis . 1 3 0 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

PAGEANT COMMITTEE

Taylor C . Basye , Chairman c Gra e Pattie , Secretary Winn Shrode

M o r a n h l . . t a er F S g , Treasurer Robert Miller

’ Bess V . Ehrmann , Director Jessie Heuring

MARS HAL OF PAGEANT Loney Parsley

FOREWO RD

o f The wind Heaven never fanned , The circling sunlight never spanned The borders o f a faire r land

o u r o n Than w Indiana .

In the year 1 8 1 6 Indiana became the nineteenth state o f o ur o f United States America .

h is In that same year Thomas Lincoln with wife , Nancy d Hanks Lincoln , and his two children , Sarah , age nine years , and Abraham , aged seven years , left their Kentucky home

n e and came to the wstate of Indiana . Here they lived in

Spencer County until 1 8 3 0 when they moved t o Illinois .

r The mothe , Nancy Hanks Lincoln , and the daughter ,

Sarah , both died and were buried here . ’ The formative years o f Abraham s life were spent in

. w Spencer County Here he worked , studied , played and gre ’ t o manhood . He witnessed his parent s struggle against the virgin wilderness and saw childhood fade with the death o f i h s mothe r . When he bade farewell to Indiana he went to

Illinois almost , if not entirely , equipped for the great work

s that lay before him . Kentucky gave him birth , Illinoi gave him his political career , but Indiana molded the man and here in Indiana he le arned from o u r forefathers the art o f living . As an act o f patriotism the citi z ens of Rockport and

1 3 2 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

The brilliant sun casts its rays over all and the ﬂowers lift

r a in d r en ch ed their heads and all nature smiles .

r o f o f The four seasons ente at close the dance the sun . Columbia advances with Liberty and Justice followed by her eighteen states .

Young Indiana Territory appears , followed by young women bearing the gifts that Indiana Territory offers to

- Columbia to join the states forests , fruits , corn , wheat , tobacco and minerals . Indiana and her maidens kneel b e C fore olumbia , who rises , approaches Indiana and takes her hand and accepts her as a state . Spencer County and

Rockport enter , bringing Progress , Education , Religion and

o f s u r Music . Then Columbi a advances to front stage , rounded by all the states , Liberty, Justice , gift maidens , “ " nymphs and other symbolic ﬁgures . All Sing America ,

after which all leave stage . “ H er a ld s A n n o un ce " The prologue will now be spoken ,

o n as the ferry boat , with the Lincoln family board , crosses " the Ohio river from Kentucky to Indiana . ( While the prologue is being read an old fashioned ferry is boat can be seen crossing the river . It timed to arrive at

the close o f the prologue . )

PROLOGUE

( Spoken by the Spirit o f History )

’ Deep from the long buried past of your father s father ,

o f Deep from the dim misty silence ages forgotten ,

o f Summoned am I , to the shore the winding Ohio ,

o f r To tell you a story , fragrant with names you loved ones ,

A pioneer story the tale o f the o ld lower landing . I

o f When the music water alone was heard thru the forest, LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 1 3 3

Here o n this bank were beached the canoe s o f the Indians .

Here , when the Indians had vanished in ominous silence ,

ﬂ a tbo a t s uh Our forefathers fashioned their , crude and wieldy ;

o n e Toiled with a song th ir lips and a gun by their side ,

o f - Thinking, dreaming far away Orleans , yet mindful — Of pioneer dangers o f wild beasts that lurked in the

bushes .

’ Here , when the wind blew chill o er the white capped river ,

Came James Gentry , Allen , his son , and Lincoln ,

Riding from Gentryville here in a wagon ,

Loaded with pork , with apples , meal and potatoes ,

Produce destined for market down at New Orleans .

O ld " Imagine the scene at this spot , the lower landing

James , cautioning his son , advising the other ; ’ o f Sure their judgment , yet fraid of the hazardous j ourney , While conﬁdent youth strained at the leash t o be o ff ;

F ﬂ a tbo a t rost in the air and water lapping the , Grandeur o f bluffs and Dawn in the heart of Abe L incoln "

Down Down the winding waterway

A thousand miles to Orleans , Leaving Indiana Where the Mississippi calls ;

- ﬂ a tbo a t s r oun d Past house boats , , and p white steamboats ,

- ff Sand bars , rocky blu s , and tinkling waterfalls . Up up the winding waterway A thousand miles t o Rockport Riding in a steamer Thru the Mississippi waves ;

e Visioning Frenchm n , Spaniards , and soft voiced Creoles , f " Sugar cane , cotton ﬁelds , and handcuf ed slaves 1 3 4 THE MISSING CHAPTE R IN THE

III

The historic voyage is ended . The Old lower landing

o f ou r Forever is hallowed , where feet ancestors trod .

n o t t o Reﬂecting only the glory that came Abe Lincoln ,

’ This port ( n ow forsaken fo r practical purposes ) harks Back to the gay panorama of river town li fe ;

B o f ack to the years when the calliope played an evening ,

And roustabouts sang as their barges glided down stream .

o f Lincoln is gone . Departed the founders Rockport .

la tb o a t s o ff F no longer shove from the old lower landing ,

s i Steamboat no longer cast anchor here at th s shore , Yet the memory of those who lived in the shade o f this bluff

a . Sh ll linger , as long as these rocks their permanence hold

S o " o f , come Let us conjure the past this pioneer people ,

Laugh with the merry , weep with the ones who shed tears . I call fo r your pleasure the scenes o f the past and second

An historic people . Listen , enjoy and learn ,

s While twilight descends , and the moon rise over the river ,

A n d oncoming night gently gives benedi ction . EPISODE I

“ H er a ld s A n n o unce " In the year 1 8 1 6 the Lincoln fam 3 ily arrive o n Indiana soil near Anderson Creek afte r cross " ing the Ohio River .

Thomas Lincoln and wife , Nancy Hanks Lincoln , and 1 8 1 6 two children , Abraham and Nancy , arrive in Indiana in

after their long trip from thei r Kentucky home . While

o f Thomas asks questions the ferryman , Nancy with her children kneels and offers prayer f o r their safe arrival in

the new state . EPISODE II

“ 1 8 1 8 H er a ld s A n n o unce " Two years later , in , Nancy

Hanks Lincoln dies and is buried o n a nearby hillside . This

1 3 6 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

f o r r Hammond tannery to have a hide tanned his fathe .

Here he Shows his strength as a wrestler . EPISODE V

H er a ld s A n n o un c e " The pioneer school where Abe Lin ’ " a coln was taught manners as well s the three R s . The boy Lincoln attended several schools in Spencer

County . One was taught by Andrew Crawford who taught manners as well as “ book He also taught the chil dren h ow to accept introductions and give them and to f understand the etiquette o the day . EPISODE VI

“ Her ald s A n n oun ce " Lincoln walks to Rockport to b o r " r ow a book from John Pitcher . ( Street scene in Rockport in wh o At Rockport lived the noted lawyer , John Pitcher , 2 was also postmaster from 1 8 7 to 1 8 3 2 . Lincoln walks

e from his home near Gentryvill to Rockport, seventeen miles , t o borrow a book from Pitcher . He ﬁnds Pitcher just leaving t o try a case at Boonville but he loans Abe the book . Later Lincoln , in a group of friends , tries to imitate

Pitcher as an orator and delivers an address on temperance . ( In this scene are a number o f descendants o f the found

O f ers Rockport , the first landowner , the first postmaster , the ones who selected Rockport as the county seat , the first couple married in Rockport , etc . ) EPISODE VII

“ H er a ld s A n n o un c e " The marriage of Ann Roby and " Allen Gentry .

o f Allen Gentry , son James Gentry , who employed Abra

' a t o ham Lincoln as farm hand , came Rockport to live about

1 2 1 1 8 2 8 8 6 . On March 9 , , Allen Gentry and Ann Roby were married in Rockport . Some time later in the year a t e 2 2

’ THOMAS LIN C OLN NAN C Y H AN K S LIN C OLN

A n d his s ec o n d wi f e as play e d by As play e d by Grace Hu ffm a n Pa t i u e e H e u i n a n d M r s . t e e en n t o f e n e o u n t J dg Fr d r g , d sc da Sp c r C y Fa n n i e Wright pio n e e rs

SARAH LIN C OLN T H E BOY LIN C OLN Pla t e 2 3

ALLEN GENTRY JUDGE JOHN PITC HER

' Ho n e A la ed b i e t n o n A t e . o n o s p y y h s gr a gra ds , s ac d by J h P s y Roby G e n try

A NDREW CRAW FORD ANN ROBY

1 3 8 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

In Rockport he is introduced by Colonel William Jones ,

o ld h o his friend , w tells the people that Lincoln will now

on o f address them the political issues the day . Lincoln “ " says " By what authority d o y ou say this " Colonel Jones “ strikes his own chest with his hand and says " By this " authority . Lincoln smiles , and then greets the people and invites them t o the court house where he will make a speech .

John Pitcher goes with them . FINALE

Columbia with Liberty and Justice and all the states a d vance onto the stage , followed by all actors . Columbia “ rai s es her ﬂag and the band plays The Star Spangled Ban " o ff ner . Then all slowly pass of stage , Columbia and the states being the last t o leave .

Re a t h e la t en e C n t e Of t h e n n plic of s Sp c r ou y hom Li col s , in n n P n ee V a e a t R t Li col io r ill g , ockpor

Replica of O ld Pigeon B a pt ist Church in Li n col n Pion eer Vill a ge

L og Cabi n L aw O ffice of Joh n Pi t ch er in Li n coln Pion eer V ill age in Rockport

1 4 0 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

speeches he had heard elsewhere by prominent men o f the

community in which he lived . SO this mural Shows Lincoln

and his friend , Grigsby , in the forest where Lincoln is read

ing some interesting book aloud . The mural was ﬁnished and a big celebration held for its

t o unveiling and noted speakers came from afar , voice their

n o t interest and approval , but still the artist was satisﬁed .

No ...... w, with F E R A and W P A assistance , his great “ o f est dream has come true , the building a Lincoln Pioneer " t o f t n Village , a ype village in Spencer Coun y, India a , 1 1 1 0 when the Lincoln family lived there from 8 6 to 8 3 . Unceasingly has the artist toiled with his helpers to ere ct m this unique memorial to the great E ancipator , and it is n o w s lo completed , thi village Of g houses , school , store and

lo church , surrounded by a high g stockade and set in a

forest o f century o ld trees . There are sixteen lo g cabins in this village 1 . Administration Buildings and Museum room .

2 P L e . ioneer cabin home . Maintained by Rockport

‘ gion Auxiliary .

3 . John Pitcher Law Oﬂice . ’ 4 . Jones Store . Maintained by Rockport Woman s Club .

5. Reuben Grigsby Home . Maintained by Silverdale

Home Economics Club .

6 . f th e Gentry Mansion . Maintained by descendants o

Gentry family .

7 . Replica . Old Pigeon Baptist Church . l 8 z o d . . A el Dorsey Home and fashioned garden Main t a in ed by Rockport Garden Club .

9 . Daniel Grass Home . Maintained by descendants of

the Grass family .

0 . 1 . Pioneer school house

L e h a M . 1 1 . Aunt p ackey home

1 2 e . . Replica of last hom of Lincolns in Spencer County ’ Maintained by James C . Veatch Women s Relief Corps . Pla t e 2 5

E H H GEORG . ONIG

A t i t a n d u t o e t o of t h e r s sc lp r , cr a r Li n col n Pio n eer Village

TH O M A S S PARROW ’ S WI LL

6 1 6 On July , 93 , a thin sheet of yellowed paper with Old fashioned script dimmed by years was found by Works Progress Administration women workers who were r en ov a t ing the court ﬁles in the Spencer count y court house at

Rockport . It looked like any of the hundreds of documents

they had been indexing and putting in order . But in the left hand corner they found something that made them

gasp . I t . read , Nancy Lincoln , her mark There , with a

o f a ﬂixed small x , the mother Abraham Lincoln had her

signature as witnes s to a will . It was the testament of

h o Thomas Sparrow , her uncle , w with his wife , Betsy Hanks t c Sparrow , had come to Spencer Coun y from Kentu ky in

1 8 1 . 7 , and made his home with the Lincolns They also ’ o D wh o br ught with them , ennis Hanks , Nancy s cousin ,

h o was the beneﬁci ary of the will , and w lived with the Lin coln family many years . 1 8 1 8 Shortly after the will was attested in September , , “ o f t e c o f Thomas Sparrow died , a victim h epidemi milk " His fever . wife succumbed to the same disease shortly

o f 1 8 1 8 thereafter , and in the middle October , , Nancy

Lincoln also died of the milk fever . The docum ent reads as follows “ -ﬁr b th 1 8 1 8 . s t October 9 , This twenty day of Septem er in the year Eighteen Hundred and Eighteen Thomas Spar r in o n ow is perfect senses this date above mentioned , that all the goods and chattels that the above mentioned Thomas Sparrow has is to belong to his wife Elizabeth Sparrow SO that she can d o as she pleases with until her death and after her death the whole o f the property above mentioned is to Pla t e 2 7

— Co u r t es y of Min a Cook

T he Thom as Sp a rrow Will

L IN COLN CAB IN ET M AKER It has been said many times that Thomas Lincoln was a good carpenter and cabinet maker and that his son had

learned the trade from his father . They both helped build the old Pigeon Baptist Church and assisted in the erection

own of other pioneer cabins besides their .

When they left Indiana for the new home in Illinois , they left behind them in the homes o f neighbors several c o f pie es their cabinet making . In the Lincoln Room o f the Museum o f Fine Arts and

History in Evansville , Indiana , is a cabinet which was made and used by Abraham Lincoln in h is youth in Spencer Co un

ty . It is a priceless treasure and was given to the Museum

by Miss Sara Wartman . The cabinet had been presented

many years ago to Mr . J . W . Wartman of the Superior ff S en Court in Evansville by John W . Lamar of Bu aloville , p

o f cer County , Indiana . It is made walnut and poplar boards whipsawed . The nails that Lincoln used were wood ,

but in later years metal nails were driven in . He used it

t o . keep his papers and books in , what few he had On top Of the cabinet is a little hollow which is said to have been ’ made by Lincoln s candle . It is a small cabinet measuring 1 6 1 inches in height , % inches in width and 4 % inches

in depth . When the Lincolns left Indiana for Illinois only the most necessary belongings could be taken with them in their covered wagon , so Abe gave the cabinet he had made

t o . and used his friend and neighbor , John W Lamar , and

it has been preserved through the years , showing the handi l work O f the boy L irico n . Many histories have mentioned

the corner cupboard made for Mrs . Josiah Crawford by

the Lincolns . Some say it was made by Thomas Lincoln

1 4 6 THE MISSING CHAPTER IN THE

1 1 8 In 9 , after his death , it was purchased from his estate by his daughter , Mrs . Maude Jennings Cryderman . In ’ 1 1 1 1 0 h February , 9 9 , on the occasion of Lincoln s t anni ver s a r y , it was shipped by special request to the National ’ S a t elle Old Soldiers Home at , California the ﬁrst time in its existence it had ever been taken out o f Spencer Coun t y , Indiana There it was placed on the stage of the Government thea a tre and most interesting talk given by the Chaplain ,

o l Reverend Kaufman , while d Civil War veterans ﬁled slowly by and lovingly examined the handiwork o f the martyred President . ’ From the Old Soldiers Home the priceles s old relic was

o f taken to the Museum History , Science and Art , Los Angeles o n e Of the largest museums of the United States where It was given the place of honor in the mezzanine o f the histori cal room where it received a special setting . Today i t is in the wonderful Ford Museum where thou

i t sands View every year when they visit Dearborn , Mich n iga . 1 00 Despite its more than years of existence , it is still in a perfect state o f preservation . It stands seven feet high

o f and weighs over three hundred pounds , being made solid f native walnut . There are two sets o doors ( four in all ) which are nicely paneled and there is a strip of hand carving across the front of the cupboard above the uppe r s et of doors . The entire front is put together with walnut pegs

- while the back is fastened with hand wrought iron nails .

Old fashioned brass hinges are on the doors .

It is still in its natural native walnut ﬁnish , as it was when Lincoln gave it to the Crawfords , more than a century ago . The great care with which it was made indicates

' a lab o r o f o n o f bo clearly that it was love the part the y ,

Lincoln , and it was something which he , as well as its reci

ien t s . p , might well be proud LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 1 4 7

These two examples o f cabinet making as done by

e Lincoln , show us that he l arned a trade while in Spencer

o f County , that cabinet maker and carpenter , the same train ing which was given another youth in Galilee long ago . HIS S PI RIT L IVE S

’ Lincoln s fame grows g reater with the years , and these places in southern Indiana that knew him as a growing boy o will have greater imp rtance in the future .

o f ou r Those generation , who have known s o intimately ’ o f the descendants Lincoln s friends and neighbors , will pass

a n d o f " away , many the stories o f pioneer days and friend ships will die with them .

c Each year , however , will ome those who search out the o f lives great men , and they will visit this land o f pleasant r rive s , great hills and forests , among a peaceful , toiling people , our Indiana . Traditions and memories o f other years shall cling t o

h o these places , made sacred by the great man w once lived

. b o here We walk over the paths his feet trod as a y , and

o f sitting under a great tree near the site his cabin home ,

o n we meditate his youth and his later achievements . ’ How does a life like Lincoln s help us "It gives us

ou r d o strength to bear trials , to the tasks before us with o ut ou r complaint , and to go way with quiet dignity .

o f Amid the confusion the present , we are able to keep

ou r o f peace in souls , to learn the lessons the years and know that he who shall come t o the best in life must give

m . to the world his best , as did Abraha Lincoln We learn from him to meet bravely whateve r comes ; t o f o r t o stand alone unafraid , God has sent each person serve His plan ; so we must do the right as we see it and be ourselves .

o f t o In closing this record his Indiana years , I wish

' quote the great poem o f Albion Fellows Bacon written f o r o r 1 2 u Southwestern Indiana Historical Society in 9 5, and published later by the Indiana Magazine o f History .

1 50 LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

They tell us how the eager lad , enrapt , ’ o e r ﬁr eli h t Bent the page the g ﬂashed upon ,

- And the ﬁrst sun shaft , through the cabin chink ,

Found him with open book , awaiting dawn .

’ h But twas the wilderness t at taught him most ,

Made him a mystic , seer ; drew him , at length ,

T o b greatness , y its dim , vast distances ,

Taught patience , Silence , fortitude and strength .

e z Far blu hori ons beckoned from these hills ,

Great visions mirrored in the shadowy stream .

The Gulf called through the creek , and overhead

r e- The wide spread heavens told the ancient dream .

o f The heavens declared to him the glory God ,

t o o - a But did they give him , , vague belief

( Standing , perchance , in moonlight mid the sheaves ) That all should make obeisance to his sheaf " III

Gr ee ting

o f Great Lincoln , neighbor an earlier time , The world your manhood claims ; t o us alone

Belongs your youth . We reach back eager hands

T o clasp your own . We send our loving thought to that grave lad

Whom all men loved kind , gentle , thoughtful , “ ’ "

. A S ou Our Nature s gentleman y were then ,

We honor you .

I' a m l rl C O

By E E R M B SS V . H ANN

Pu blish ed u n d er the a u spic es of the

Sou thwes t er n In dian a His toric a l

c iet So y .

P c ri e ,

IN R O C K PO RT IN A N H G C HO O B e H i S . G e H n , DI A , I H L y org . o g . — Co u r t es y of Min a Cook

' PH O TO O F TH E TH O M AS SPARRO W WILL .

' sent the work of the local artists Mary L e e Gabb e rt and

e e G org H . Honig . All Lincoln stud e nts will be inter e sted in this r emarkable ’ record of the forgotten years ‘ in the Emancipator s life and the many interesting facts thaihave be e n the outcom e of t h e

e Lincoln Inquiry in south rn Indiana . e lIllin o is Kentucky gav him birth , gave him his political h . T e career , but Indiana molded the man whole world treas ures his memory .

The undersigned her eby subscrib e s to cop of

T HE MISSING C HAPTER IN THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN ,

e E hr m a n . B s s V . n by , at per copy

Nam e

' Pl e ase detach and mail t his j s ub s cr ip t io n to i s s in a p t e r

in the

I' a a m Irl C O

By E E R M B SS v . H ANN

Pu blis h ed u n der the au spic es of the

Sou thwes t ern In dian a His t oric al

o ciet S y .

ic Pr e ,

C O N M"R IN R O C K PO RT IN N H G H SC O O . B Ge e H n i L AL , DIA A , I H H L y org . o g . — k Co u r t es y of Min a Coo

PH O TO O F TH E TH O M AS SPARRO W WILL .

s ent the work of the local artists Mary L e e Gabbert and

George H . Honig . All Lincoln students will be interest e d in this remarkable ’ r e cord of the forgotten years in the Emancip ator s lif e and the many int e r e sting facts that hav e b e en t h e outcom e O f the

Lincoln Inquiry in southern Indiana .

e Kentucky gav him birth , Illinois gave him his political

ma n . career , but Indiana molded the The whol e world tr e as ures his memory .

The undersigned hereby subscribes to cop of

T HE MISSING C HAPTER IN T HE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN ,

B e s E hr m a n n e r . s V . , at p copy

Name

Please detach and mail this subscription to