The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1896-06-13
WHOLE NO., 289.

/ but it's not all the truth, and TO that ex-
tent is 70 far short Of it it might prop
erly be called falsehood Tell the
whole truth. 'Tildn, he added. what
ever happens and trust your good moth
er for the rest. ~
This incident years afterward was re-
lated to Mr.. Herndon by 'Tilda herself,
/ who meanwhile had grown to woman
/ hood and had become the mother of an
( interesting family.
Lincoln's life while in Indiana has
/ been generously enough portrayed when
one reflects on the dearth of material,
and vet the world will never tire of its
recital, for as each new incident or epi-
/ sode floats to the surface there seems to
follow demand more persistent than
| before for more matter of the same kind.
! There is i'll Lincoln's early career, it is
true. the same proportion Of romance
and reality one finds in almost every
boys life. and yet through it all there is
strange commingling of the grotesque
and pathetic Of frontier suffering and
| backwoods horse play of truthful his
tory and neighborhood tradition which
the student, though he has searched all
the annals Of biography will find no.
| where else.
To appreciate fully this strange life
we must see all its rugged lineaments.
We must not conceal shrunken limb
nor remove single wart. If there is u
mole on the right cheek we must not
turn the left one toward the camera.
There must be no color and no drapery.
II we expect TO produce a historic pic
ture OF the man posterity must take him
just as he was. To that end beg to
make contribution-the episode which
follows. As it is true in detail no apol-
ogy is needed for its appearance here.
1t is necessary, however. to present a
few antecedent facts.
After the death of Mr.. Lincoln's
mother his only sister, Sarah, married
Aaron Grigsby, member Of the leading
family of Gentryville, Ind Two years
later she died in childbirth. Her treat
ment by her husbands family both be-
fore and during her illness evoked from
the neighborhood more or less adverse
comment, in which her brother freely
joined. Remembering that his sister
had suffered the loss of her mother in
early girlhood and in consequence had
been subjected to the adverse fate
which falls to the lot Of an orphan child
it is not surprising that Abe was more
sensitive to the treatment she received
and more censorious in his criticism
than other people. His reflections were
SO severe he aroused the ire of all the
Grigsbys and thus erected between him
self and them social barrier Of no
mean proportions.
Soon after the occurrence related in
the foregoing paragraph Reuben and
Charles Grigsby, brothers Of Aaron Oh
the same day, April 16, 1929, mar
ried. respectively, Elizabeth Ray and
Matilda Hawkins. The following day
they, with their brides returned to the
Grigsby mansion, where their father
Reuben Grigsby, received them with "a
cordial welcome. Here an old fashioned
infare, with feasting and dancing and
the still older fashion Of putting the
bridal party to bed, took place When
the invitations to these festivities were
Issued the Grigsbys, not unmindful Of
Abe's reflection on the family name.
made plain their dislike of him by omit
ting his name from the list of invited
guests. The slight thus put upon him
led him to furnish the community about
Gentryville with what he was pleased to
term the First Chronicles of Reuben"
At this time he was in the habit Of com
posing ''pieces," in which he would
take off" certain conspicuous or sus-
ceptible persons in the neighborhood
who seemed to merit either his wit or
displeasure. These bits of rude, coarse
wit he called "Chronicles. - and tbev
served an admirable purpose, if he in
tended thereby to caricature or hold up
to public ridicule one Of his victims.
Written in an attempted Scriptural vein
and on variety of subjects, they might
well be called social ventilators Their
grossness must have been warmly ap-
preciated by the early denizens Of Gen
tryvllle, for certain descendants of the
latter have taken care that they should
not be buried from sight under the dust
of long continued forgetfulness
The original chapter of the FIRST
Chronicles Of Reuben came to light in
singular manner after having been ap-
parently lost for many years. A little
while before Mr.. Herndon's visit to In
diana in 1865 carpenter in Gentry
vile was repairing house that had
once been the property of a member of
the Grigsby family. While so engaged
his son and assistant had climbed
through the ceiling to the inner side of
the roof above to tear away some of the
timbers and there found tucked away
under the end of rafter bundle of
papers dust covered and yellow with
age Carefully withdrawing the pack
age from its hiding place, he opened and
was slowly deciphering its pages when
the father, noting the boys silence and
the suspension Of work overhead, in
quired what he was doing. Reading a
portion Of the Scriptures that hasn't
been revealed yet" was the response.
He had found the Chronicles of Reu-
ben. "
Babies Badly Mixed.
Mr- -