The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1895-03-15
read without washing his bands.o Thi

OF him is made in this or any other his.
tory. He may have returned to Virginia
and become, for aught we know, one oil
the presidents ancestors ON the maternal
side of the house; but, if so, his illustrious
descendant was never able to establish the
TACT or trace his lineage satisfactorily be.
yond the first generation which preceded
him. He never mentioned who his ma
ternal 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
dams, mot in battle" as his distinguished
grandson tells us, but by stealth, when
he was laboring to open farm in the for
est The story of his death in sight oil
his youngest son, Thomas then only
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, hayins
hastily sent Josiah to the neighboring forj
after assistance, ran into the cabin and
pointing 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 deliber
ate aim at silver crescent which huns
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, a feeling from which he neye,
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, "a
whom was reserved the honor of an illus
trious paternity" are we alone interested
He was, we are told, feet 10 inches high,
weighed 1876 pounds, had a well rounded
face, dark hazel eyes, coarse black HAN
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 peaceab BILE, but
when reused to resistance a 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 be could neither read nor write,
but his wife, who was gifted with more
education and was otherwise his mental
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 Professionalism, as they wer
then called-and later united with the
Christian-vulgarly called Campbellite.a----
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
Ing he was singularly unsuccessful He
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 waa
0ne 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
)r unlucky in all his business ventures
f 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
ais own family, was unable to be present
1t his fathers bedside or witness his death.
To those who notified him of his probable
lemise he wrote: Il sincerely hope that
ather may yet recover his health, but at
Ill events tell him to remember to call
lpon and confide in our great and good
and merciful Maker, who will not turn
away from him in 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
% more painful than pleasant, but that ii
t be his lot to go now he will soon have
joyous meeting with the many loved
mes gone before, and where the rest of US,
through the help of God, hope ere long to
DIN them"
The Hanks Family.
Nancy Hanks, the mother of the presi-
ent, at very early age was taken from
er mother Lucy, afterward married to
Ienry Sparrow and sent to live with her
unit and uncle, Thomas and Betsy Spar
ow Under this same roof the irrepressi-
lie and cheerful waif Dennis Hanks
lso found shelter At the time OF
er marriage to Thomas Lincoln, Nancy
-as in her twenty third year. She WAS
bove the ordinary height in stature
eighed about 1870 pounds, was slenderly
uilt, and had much the appearance of ons
lclined 20 consumption. Her skin Was
ark, hair dark brown, eyes gray aid
nall, forehead prominent, face sharp and
ngular, with a marked expression of mel
ncholy, which fixed itself in the memory
every one who ever saw or knew her
hough her life was seemingly beclouded
y a spirit of sadness, she was in disposi-
on amiable and generally cheerful Mr..
lincoln himself said to me in 1851, on re-
living the news of his fathers death,
lat whatever might be said of his par
It's, and however unpromising the early
of his mother may have been,
e was highly intellectual by nature, had
strong memory, acute judgment and
as cool and heroic. From mental stand
lint she no doubt rose ahova har sur