Wichita eagle., 1889-01-19
TWO NOBLE WOMEN.
Sketch Of the Mother and Step.
Mother of Abraham Lincoln.
Heroic Women Who Have Never Re-
ceived tho Credit They Deserve
Their Struggles, Loneliness, and
Great Mental Fortitude.
Indianapolis Sentinel

Previous to his birth she had fallen into {
hopeless state of mind, induced by loneli
ness of heart and long suffering. She wa!
the wife of a man who, if all accounts o.
him do not lie, was destitute Of energy and
any sense OF responsibility.
1t is said that any msntion of his mother
brought over Lncoln's face an expression
Of sadness almost spproximating anguish
The cause lay deeper than any knowledge
he ever gained. 1t was an anti-natal i'm
press. She was q strangely sad woman
During the latter years Of her life she be-
came reserved and shrinking in decided
contrast 70 the joyous sociability of her
| girlhood Her maiden name was Nancy
Hanks. DR.. Holland said of her: ''She had
| much in her nature that was truly heroic,
and much that shrank from the rude life
| around herr
From his father Lincoln inherited his
conversational habit and love Of anecdote.
Thomas Lincoln was brilliant as store
box whittier and leader of grocery store
dialogues. His chief earthly pleasure was
| to crack jokes and tell stories IN a group of
chums who paid homage to his wit by Civ
| ing him the closest attention and loudest
| applause "His son possessed this accom-
| plishment" says Laura c. Holloway, in
her book entitled Mothers OF Great Men
and Women" but in his case it was in
| dulged in more to mask deep feeling and
to avoid unpleasant subjects than for the
pleasure the telling OF stories gave him.
All his life ne put barriers between the
world and himself through the medium of
humor"
Thomas Lincoln was rolling stone. He
changed his residence whenever the mood
seized him, a feasible undertaking any
time since his worldly goods were never
bulky. He was carpenter ostensibly, but
worked only at hunting He could scarce
ly have been greatly addicted to his trade,
when the bedsteads in his cabin we're made
of saplings with the bark on Nancy Hanks
married him on the 23d of September, 1906,
and probably regretted it ever after
In comparison with the people about her
Mrs Lincoln was a learned woman. She
could read and write, though her husband
could not She taught her little son to
read and write in their scanty cabin, and
the few books she possessed was a CONTEXT
to her otherwise dismal existence. She
died of what was then called the milk
Sickness" after a long illness, when
Lincoln was ten years old. How pathetic
were those last days when she saw herself
fading out of life, leaving her children in
pinched poverty to the care of a careless
fatherl Lincoln had sister named Sally,
two years older than himself, who married
in her eighteenth year and died less than
year later. How earnestly she tried to
make her son understand that he must
set himself some particular task in life and
do it well! He could write fairly when she
died A year later he wrote to the minis
ter who had married his parents request
ing him TO come and preach his mothers
funeral sermon, since there had beea no
service at the time Of her death. Three
months later the minister came, and the
grave in the Western wilderness, in the
presence of the children their father and
about twenty of the neighbors. To this
day no stone marks her resting place.
No words can describe the loneliness and
misery of LincolnS life in the year that
followed In the brightest days of his
manhood he could not look back upon that
time without agony and humiliation A
few months more than year after the
death of his mother fate blessed him with
a step-mother, who was to him mother,
friend and companion. She was a widow
when Thomas Lincoln married her-Mrs.
Sallie Johnson Kentuckian, with kind
heart and agreeable person
When Lincoln first saw her she was
young, good-looking, cheerful and full of
From Tha ma ba cot
the cabin she took a liking TO the lonely,
motherless boy-a liking whit soon rip
ened into love on both sides ana endured
until death.
She, too, was one of Thomas Lincoln's
victims. He had represented that be was
farmer in comfortable circumstances in In
diana. She found his home a poverty
stricken cabin, his only support an occas-
ional odd fob which he did for the thrifty
farmers OF his neighborhood She made
the best Of her unfortunate bergain, and
found In the son the mpanionship and
help which were lacking in the father
Great was her influence upon the
lonely life of the future great man.
The furniture She brought with her gave
the Indiana cabin an air of comfort,
ohN Aof WV oauB uAOI9 anu plc son
eued ii with their childish pleasures. The
little family lived afectionateIy together.
Lincoln was devoted TO his step-sister, and
step mother, and they were in turn deeply
attached TO him. In later years when
they were married and had homes of their
own, nobody was welcomed more ioyfully
than Brother Abe" After his tragic
death they often spoke of his affection for
their motaer and of hers for him.
After Lincoln left home to work for him.
self he sent her share of the first money
he earned, and, as long as she lived, he
continued to provide for her comfort
When his father died he was unable to at
tend the funeral. on account of illness in
his own family. After ne was elected |
President of the United States he went to
see his s1ep-mother. Their meeting and |
parting was most affectionate. They |
never met in this world again. After the |
in an Interview with Mr.. |
Herndon, with OVERCOMING eyes Mrs. Lin |
coin said: 8 can say what scarcely one |
mother in q thousand can say. Abe never
gave me cross word or look. and never |
refused in fact or appearance, TO do any |
thing I requested l never gave him |
cross worI in my life. His mind and mine |
what little I had-seemed to run |
together"
a WOMAN'S CURSE.