The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1895-03-29
SKETCHES OF LINCOLN.
Nancy Hanks Passes Over the
Dark River.
LITTLE ABE's DISMAL EXPERIENCE.

LITTLE ABE'S DISMAL EXPERIENCE
Thomas Lincoln's Brief Widowerhood-Hs
Marries Sally Bush Johnston-Two Set,
of Children In the Lincoln Household
Abe at Dorsey's School.
from 1.-THE Life of Lincoln" by William H
Herndon and Jesse W. Weik. Copyright 1888
by Jesse W. Weik. Copyright, 1892, by d. APP
pleton q Co.
In the fall of 1918 the scantily settled
region in the vicinity of Pigeon creek,
where the Lincolns were then living, suf-
fered visitation of that dread disease
common in the west in early days and
known in the vernaoular of the frontier as
"the milk sick" 1t lowered like a specter
over the Pigeon creek settlement for over
ten years, and it's fatal visitation and in
roads among the Lincolns, Hankses and
Sparrows finally drove that contingent
into Illinois. To this day the medical
profession have never agreed upon any def
mite cause for the malady, nor have they
In all their scientific wrangling determin-
ed exactly what the disease itself is.
EARLY in October of the year 1918 Thorn
as and Betsy Sparrow fell i'll of the disease
and died within few days of each other
Thomas Lincoln performed the services OF
undertaken With his whipsaw he cut out
the lumber and with commendable prompt
ness nailed together the rudest of collins
to inclose the forms of the dead. The bod
les were borne to scantily cleared knoll
in the midst of the forest, and there, with
out ceremony, quietly let down into the
grave Meanwhile Abe's mother had also
fallen victim to the insidious disease.
Her sufferings, however, were destined to
be of brief duration Within week she,
too rested from her labors.
aq"She struggled on day by day." says
one of the household, "a good Christian
woman, and died on the seventh day after
she was taken sick Abe and his sister
Sarah waited on their mother and did the
little jobs and errands required Of them.
There was no physician nearer than 81
miles. The mother knew she was going to
die and called the children to her bedside
She was very weak, and the children lean
ed over while she gave her last message
Placing her feeble hand on little Abe's
head, she told him to be kind and good to
his father and sister. To both she said,
BE good to one another, expressing a
hope that they might live, as they had
been taught by her, to love their kindred
and worship Cod Amid the miserable
surroundings of home in the wilderness
Nancy Hanks passed across the dark river.
Though of lowly birth, the victim Of pow.
erty and hard usage, she takes place in
history as the mother of a son who lib
Grated race of men. At her side stands
another mother whose Son performed
gimilar service for all mankind /, 800 years
before.
81 After the death of their mother little
Abe and his sister Sarah began a dreary
Mfe-indeed one more cherries and less
inviting seldom falls to the lot of any
child. In a log cabin without floor,
scantily protected from the seventies Of
the weather, deprived of the comfort of a
mothers love, they passed through a win
ter the most dismal either one ever ex
perienced
A Matter Of Fact Courtship.
Thomas Lincoln's widowerhood was
brief He had scarcely mourned the death
of his first wife year until he reappeared
In Kentucky at Elizabethtown in search
of another His admiration had conferred
for second time on Sally Bush, the wild
ow of Daniel Johnston, the jailer of Har-
din county, who had died several years
before of disease known as the "cold
the Kentucky neighborhood is that Lin
coin had been a sutton for the hand of the
lady before his marriage to Nancy Hanks
but that she had rejected him for the hand
of the more fortunate Johnston. However
that may have been, it Is certain that he
began his campaign In earnest this time,
and after brief siege won her heart "He
made avery short courtship," wrote Sam
uel Haycraft to me in letter on Dec. z,
1856. HE came to see her on the 1st day
OF December, 1919, and in a straigbtfor-
ward manner told her that they had |
known each other from childhood. Miss |
Johnston, said he, Il have no wife and |
you no husband. l came a purpose to
marry you. l knowed you from a gal, and |
you knowed me from boy I've no time |
to lose and if you re willin let it be done |
straight off. She replied that she could |
not marry him right off, as she had some |
little debts which she wanted to pay first
He replied, Give me list of them. He |
got the list and paid them that evening |
Next morning l issued the license, and
they were married within go yards of my
house,
In the eyes of her spouse she could not
be regarded as a poor widow. She was
the owner of a goodly stock of furniture
and household goods, bringing with her
among other things a walnut bureau val
ued at $50, What effect the new family,
their collection of furniture, cooking uten-
sils and comfortable bedding must have
had on the astonished and motherless pair
who from the door of Thomas Lincoln's
forlorn cabin watched the well filed wag
on as it came creaking through the woods
can better be imagined than described.
Surely Sarah and Abe, as the stores Of
supplies were rolled in through the door
less doorways, must have believed that
golden future awaited them. The pres
ence and smile of motherly face in the
cheerless cabin radiated sunshine into
every neglected corner. If the Lincoln
mansion did not in every respect CORE
spond to the representations made by its
owner to the new Mrs. Lincoln before
marriage, the latter gave no expression |
OF disappointment or even surprise. With |
true womanly courage and zeal she set
resolutely to work to make right that
which seemed wrong. Her husband was
made to put floor in the cabin, as well
as to supply doors and windows. The
cracks between the logs were plastered up.
A olothespress filled the space between
the chimney jamb and the wall, and the
mat of corn husks and leaves on which
the children had slept gave way to the