Dayton daily empire. [volume] (Dayton [Ohio]) 1850-1865, 1860-07-19

CHAnLrs HANKS, "a brother Of he identical
Jom HANKs aud q cousin Of he Republican
nominee Cor Presidency which, a. orr readers
viii see, takes . different view ~ hat rail
splitting busiueas ~thirty years ago. rs we'll
As Of other things stated in his recent letter.
The letter rs copied from the Decatur u%liinois)
Magnet;
EpIroR or rHE MAaSEr-Den Sir In The
last weeks issue Of 1.-THE Chronicle ! noticed 4
letter signed 'John Hanks, which is SO ex-
'traordinary IN many Of It's features that / feel
called npon 70 give il a brief notice,
John Hanks Is my younger brother, and Abe
Lincoln is my cousin. | have known both
John and Abe from their earliest childhood
Since brother John has committed himself 10
the Decatur politician, who Is using him ~ n
tool TO speculate in certain old rails THAT !
know cousin Abe never madel ! have great
fears Thai brother John, like cousin Abe, has
fallen into bad hands, aud that a man BY ma.
ture made for n good man, but who always
needed protecting counsellors, may be by his
bad associations entirely ruined have
known the entire history Of both brother John
aud cousin Abe, and al thar stuff in tho letter
published in the Chronicle is stuff, miserable
stuff, and although poor brother Johns name
is signed to il, / know that he even yet does
not know what is in Il much less did he ever
write IL II Is the work Of men INSCRIPTIONS
In the means that they may use in quilting hon
est people.
In JohG' letter ] find a long aud pathetic
allusion 10 cousin Abe early and harl life
That may be p%oetical, but there u but little Of
Il true. In Abe's young days he was simply n
wild, hartm scdrltm boy, and jumping and
wreslling were his only accomplishments His
~laziness was chs cause OF many mortiacations
70 me; for, a. / was an older boy than either
Abo OF John, l often had TO DO Abe's work OF
%uncle,s, when the faulty were all sick with
the agne from eating awatermellons, and Abe
would be rollicking around the country neg
%lecting them In those early days we al saw
hard times yet q young man VIII was ener
getic and industrious could dress himself conn
fortably, and have plenty Of plain, good food
btoeakAl have oAea felt ashamed Of cousin
Abein seeing him ehlii grown man, gadding
around the Country barefoot, with bis toes
~outrageously spraddled out by the mud and
instead of his reading his books as brother
John, through the Decatur politician, SO poet
ically tells us, he would be rowdying around
with u pack Of wild, young men | well re-
member when he went counting one Of Major
~ W NV y hAnEn NlAN III NAAt NuAkilANt Elb UOONA
were so miserably bad that his feet we're FROST
ed, and he had to lay up at Major Warniek's
for two weeks, and have the old lady nurse
and doctor his feet
! an fully persuaded that brother John is
taking the strange course that he is now pur-
suing for the purpose Of making a little money
out of q rail speculation, and If | could for
one moment think that the Decatur sharpers,
in whose hands he has placed himself, would
not cheat him out of every cent Of money,
! would not spoil the speculation by telling
the facts.
The facts in regard to those rails are these:
The little farm that John and Abe made the
rails to fence contained ten acres. About Eve
years after this little farm was fenced, the en-.
tire fence was burned up; to my certain know
ledge, for | hauled the rails to fence il the
second time; Lewis II. Ward, who now resides
in this county, witnessed the FIRE that burned
the rails, and he is willing to make affidavit of
this fact.
| lived within two miles and n half of this
Lincoln farm from the time it was first settled
mp to 1857, aud during these early times our
farmers were subject to be visited by devas-
ting fires, and | kHoio that the fence around
the Lincoln farm was consumed at least three
times. And | know that after the Lincoln
family had left the farm that the fence was
again burned, and that Shelf Whitley and
Daniel McDaniels made the rails and re-
fenced it.
| think, and | am almost certain, that the
rails that are now being w~orshipped all over
the North MS Lincoln rails, were made by poor
Bill Strickland, who is now poor, blind, help
less, and in the Macon county poor-house.
And if these philanthropie Republicans would
allow me to make one suggestion, il would be
to help poor Bill Strickland, who really did
make the rails; and who is rs honest as Abe or
anybody else that ever mounted a rail, instead
of spending their money over his rails.
As to cousin Abe being the Honest Abe
politician, that is a new title for him. When
he first came to Illinois, ! know that he was a
strong Democrat, | always thought that he
turned Wing afterwards because he had set
tied in a Wing district. And when | heard him
in 1856, in the courthouse at Decatur, make a
speech, in which he asserted that he would
continue to 'agitate the subject of negro
slavery so long as was heard the crack of the
lash upon the yellow girls back / did not
feel like he was either very honest or very
patriotic, for | suppose that he said that for
the purpose of catching Abolition votes.
| know that cousin Abe cared nothing
about cutting the throat Of the old Wing party
the very moment that he could make any
thing by building up a new party. And |
never supposed that he cared one cent as to
What the principles Of the new party should
be only so 1t was fixed that he could get
Office.
Now, as to cousin Abe's running flatboots,
that amounts to just this Some young fell
lows had cut q raft to run down.to Jimtown,
and Abe, for the fun ofthe thing, went along,
instead of staying at home and attending 10
his own work, that was needing him very
much. That is the extent of his Aatboating.
II cousin Abe can honestly get a good Of
fee, | want TO see HIM do so; but these abom-
Unable lies which are being told 10 him by
politicians who pretend to be his friends, l
repel as a family insult.
In my own homely way, / have told the a.
bove as it occurred, for the benefit ofmy honest
%neighbors and acquaintance, aud / wish you
to publish 1t just as it is. Imay trouble you
again.
NuAuruu HANyo