The herald., 1895-03-17

/ that "Abram turns back Beyond this
| we shall never know what became of
| Abraham Hanks for no further mention
! Of him is made in this or any other his
| tory. He may have returned to Virginia
and become, for aught we know. ono Of
( tho presidents ancestors on the maternal
side of the house; but, il SO, his illustrious
descendant was never able to establish tho
fact or trace his lineage satisfactorily be-
yond the first generation which preceded
him. He never mentioned who his ma
tornal grandfather was, if indeed he knew.
An Indian Tragedy.
His paternal grandfather Abraham Lin
coin, the pioneer from Virginia, met his
death within two years after his settle
ment in Kentucky at the hands of the In
dians mot in battle, " as his distinguished
grandson tells us, but by stealth, when
ne was laboring to open farm in the for
est. The story of his death in sight of
his youngest son, Thomas, then only 8
years old, is by no means new one to the
world. In fact, 1 have often heard the
president describe the tragedy as he had
inherited the story from his father. The
dead pioneer had three sons, Mordecai,
Josiah and Thomas in the order named.
When the father fell Mordecai having
HdStllN Stul JOSIsau w tIlt utlSnDOllnS lOIU
after assistance, ran into the cabin, and
pointing his rifle through a crack between
the logs prepared for defense. Presently
an Indian came stealing up to the dead
fathers body. Beside the latter sat the
little boy Thomas. Mordecai took deliber-
ate aim at silver crescent which hung
suspended from the Indians breast and
brought him to the ground. Josiah re-
turned from the fort with the desired re-
lief and the savages were easily dispersed,
leaving behind one dead and one wounded.
The tragic death of his father filled
Mordecai with an intense hatred of the
Indians, feeling from which he never
recovered. 1t was ever with him like an
avenging spirit From Jefferson county
he removed to Grayson, where he spent
the remainder of his days.
LincOln's Father.
In Thomas, rowing and shiftless, to
whom was reserved the honor of an illus
trious paternity" are we alone interested.
He was, we are told, feet 10 inches high,
weighed 1875 pounds had a well rounded
face, dark hazel eyes, coarse black hair
and was slightly stoop shouldered His
build was so compact that Dennis Hanks
used to say he could not find the point of
separation between his ribs. He was pro-
verbally slow of movement, mentally and
physically, was careless, inert and dull,
was sinewy and gifted with great strength,
was inoffensively quiet and peaceable but
when reused to resistance dangerous an
tagonist. He had liking for jokes and
stories, which was one of the few traits he
transmitted to his illustrious son, was
fond of the chase and had no marked aver
sion for the bottle, though in the latter
case he INDUCED no more freely than the
average Kentuckian of his day.
At the time of his marriage to Nancy
Hanks he could neither read nor write
but his wife, who was gifted with more
education and was otherwise his mental
superior, taught him, it is said, to write
his name and to read-at least he was
able in later years to spell his way slowly
through the Bible. In his religious belief
he first affiliated with the Free Will Bap-
fists. After his removal to Indiana he
changed his adherence to the Presbyte-
rians-or Predestinarians, as they were
then called-and later united with the
Christian-vulgarly called Campbellite-
church, in which latter faith he is sup
posed to have died. He was carpenter by
trade and essayed farming, too, but in
this, as in almost every other undertake
ihSi IC was QllSuOCtsSlul. 1lo
was placed in possession of several tracts
of land at different times in his life, but
was never able to pay for single one of
them. The farm on which he died was
one his son purchased providing life es-
tate therein for him and his wife. He
never fell in with the routine of labor; was
what some people would call unfortunate
or unlucky in all his business ventures
If in reality he ever made one-aud died
near the village of Pennington in Coles
county, Ills, on the 18th day of January,
1851. His son, on account of sickness in
his own family, was unable to be present
at his fathers bedside or witness his death.
To those who notified him of his probable
demise he wrote: Il sincerely hope that
father may yet recover his health, but at
all events tell him to remember to call
upon and contide in our great and good
and merciful Maker, who will not turn
away from him III any extremity. He
notes the fall of a sparrow and numbers
the hairs of our heads and he will not for
get the dying man who puts his trust in
him. Say to him that if we could meet
now it is doubtful whether it would not
be more painful than pleasant, but that il
1t be his lot to go now he will soon have
a joyous meeting with the many loved
ones gone before, and where the rest of us,
through the help of God, hope ere long to
join them"
The Hanks Family.
Nancy Hanks, the mother Of the presi-
dent, at "a very early age was taken from
her mother Lucy, afterward married to
Henry Sparrow, and sent to live with her
aunt and uncle, Thomas and Betsy Spar
row Under this same roof the irrepressi-
BILE and cheerful waif, Dennis Hanks,
also found a shelter. At the time of
her marriage to Thomas Lincoln, Nancy
was in her twenty third year. She was
above the ordinary height in stature,
weighed about 100 pounds, was slenderly
built and had much the appearance of one
inclined to consumption. Her skin was
dark, hair dark brown, eyes gray and
small, forehead prominent, face sharp and
angular, with a marked expression of mel
ancholy, which fixed itself in the memory
of every one who ever saw or knew her
Though her life was seemingly beclouded
by spirit of sadness, she was in DISPOSE
tion amiable and generally cheerful. Mr..
Lincoln himself said to me in 1851, on re-
cciVlng the news of his fathers death,
that whatever might be said of his par
ents, and however unpromsing the early
surroundings of his mother may have been,
she was highly intellectual by nature, had
strong memory, acute Judgment and
was cool and heroic. From a mental stand
point she no doubt rose above her sur.