The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1891-10-29
DID LINCOLN SPLIT RAiLS7
No Evidence That He Used the Maui
When lie Lived In Indiana.

Lincoln CITY, small village In
Spencer county. was for four years the
home of Abraham Liucoln'a parents
when he was growing mp. says Mar
tinsville Und.) correspondent OF the
Indianapoiis Journal. 1t was there
that his mother died in 1918. The log
cabin. the home of the Lincolns. was
of rough oak logs. about 15x2J feet IN
size. the crev;ccs flied in with mud,
the door of split slabs with wooden
hinges, and but one window, with no
glass. There was no chimney, large
opening in the roof being left for the
smoke to escape. The roof was OF
split slaves peggcd down by cross
poles. The beds were Il few blankets
on the dirt floor. while the table was
two split slabs set on skids. President
Liucoln's father was a river man and
worked on flat boats on trips down the
Ohio and Mississippi To New Orleans.
and was at home only part Of the year.
The Lincolns moved. after three or
four years. To- Illinois. The mother of
Abraham Lincoln had previously died
and was buried on 4 hill near this
cabin.
At the time he was IL years old Lin
coin was an awkward, indolent. and
apparently unambitious boy. There
was nothing in his appearance that in
dictated more than ordinary intelli-
gence. The stories of his great in
dustry, and particularly of the immense
number of rails he split. are fiction.
He did not split rails here. The Liz
coins had no fences and had no need
of them then as the country was an
almost uubrokeu wilderness. After
Lincoln became president a thriving
business was done in the manufacture
of canes and various other articles
from rails said to have been split by
him. A log cabin, said to be the
original home of tie Lincolns, was
transported bodily TO Illinois, when,
in fact the original cabin had been
torn down and all traces Oft destroyed
years before. The burial ground on
the hill was grown up with briars and
bushes. The identity of the graves was
lost. No one living can positively say
which was the grave of Nancy Hanks
Lincoln. One was selected which was
supposed to be her grave. The Stude-
bakers Of South Bend donated money
to erect plain slab and placed an iron
fence about the lot. The ch-heralded
monument erected in mcmory of the
mother of President Lincoln does not
exist.
Twenty-Five years ago company Of
Boston capitalists conceived the idea
or building up city on this historic
spot. Five hundred acres of land. in
Guiding the ground on which the Lin
coin cabin stood and the graves on The
hill. were laid out in lots. and III
artificial lake was made. Maps ant
illustrated circulars were scattered
broadcast throughout the United
States. Auction sales were held. ant
hundreds of lots were sold at hl9l
prices. Scores of cottages were built
and most liberal inducements were of
fered TO attract people. A large mum
Der of families moved there and thu
scheme promised to be a success bu
sickness soon pcrvaded the town. NJ
remunerativc employment was pro
yided for the citizens, consequently il
few years the town was deserted ant
the enterprise proved failure. Fol
twenty years the town was virtually
abandoned. The lots and cottages re
verted to the company or were sold FOL
taxes aud the land was again on thu
market ut $50 TO $40 an acre.