The true northerner., 1895-04-05

party and were lost in the mountains
for two days.
In crossing stream Abraham $ sad
die turned over and his load all fell in
Indian creek. Finally they meet their
brethren from whom they have been
separated and then pursue their way
without further interruption. Return
ing emigrants whom they meet, accord.
ing TO the journal of Calk, tell such
news of the Indians that certain mem
bers of the company are ''afrade to 60
aney further The following day more
or less decentralization takes place among
the members of this pioneer party when
the announcement is made, as their
chronicler so faithfully records it, that
"Philip Drake bakes bread without
washing his hands. " This was an un-
pardonable sin, and at il they revolted. A
day later the record shows 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 history. He
may have returned TO Virginia and be-
come, for aught we know, one of the
presidents ancestors OH the maternal
side of the house; but, if so, his illus
trious descendant was never able TO es-
tablish the fact or trace his lineage sat
isfactorily beyond the first generation
which preceded him. He never mention
! ed who his maternal grandfather was,
if indeed he knew.
An Indian Tragedy.
His paternal grandfather, Abraham
Lincoln the pioneer from Virginia, met
his death within two years after his set
tlement in Kentucky at the hands of the
Indians, mot in battle, rs his distin-
guished grandson tells u.s. "but by
stealth, when he was laboring to open a
farm in the forest. The story of his
death in sight of his youngest son,
Thomas, then only 6 years old, is by no
means new one To the world. In fact,
| 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 hastily
sent Josiah To the neighboring fort after
assistance ran into the cabin, and point
ing his rifle through 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 delib-
crate aim at silver crescent which
hung suspended from the Indian breast
and brought him to the ground. Josiah
returned from the fort with the desired
relief, and the savages were easily dis
persed, 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.
LincoIn's Father.
IN Thomas, rowing and shiftless, TO
whom was reserved the honor of an
! illuStrious paternity, are we alone in
terested. He was, we are told, feet 10
inches high, weighed l95 pounds, had
well rounded face, dark hazel eyes,
coalse 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 proverbially slow of
movement, mentally and physically,
was careless inert and dull was sinewy
and gifted with great strength, was in
Extensively quiet and peaceable but
when reused TO resistance dangerous
/ antagonist. 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 aversion 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 re.
ligious belief he first affiliated with the
Free Will Baptists. After his removal
to Indiana he changed his adherence to
the Presbyterians-or Predestinarians,
as they were then called-and later
united with the Christian-vulgarly
called mpbellite-church, in which
latter faith he is supposed to have died.
He was carpenter by trade and essay
ed farming, too, but in this, as in al
most every other undertaking, he was
singularly unsuccessful. He was placed
III possession of several tracts of land at
different times in his life, but was never
able 10 pay for single one of them.
The farm on which he died was one his
son purchased, providing life estate
therein for him and his wife. He never
fell in with the routine of labor was
what some people would call unfortu-
nate or unlucky in all his business ven
tures-if in reality he ever made one
and 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 unab1e 70 he present at