Semi=weekly graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1895-1902, 1897-05-05

tthnt to q certain degree is the truth,
but it's not all the truth, and to that ex-
tent is so far short of it it might prop
erly be called a falsehood. Tell the
whole truth, 'Tilda, 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 1ilda herself,
who meanwhile had grown to woman
hood and had become he mother Of an
interesting family.
Lincoln's life while in Indiana has
i been generously enough portrayed when
one reflects ON the dearth of material,
and vet the world will never tire Of lts
recital, for as each new incident OF cpl
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 Lineoln's early career, 1t is
true. the Same proportion Of romance
and reality one finds III almost every
bey'a life, AND yet tllrorggll It all there IS
a strange commingling of The grGtesque
and pathetic Of frontier suffering and
backwo0ds horse play of truthful his
! tory and neighborhoed 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 shrunl1en limb
nor remove q single wart Il there ~
mole Oh the right cheek we must not
turn the left ono toward the camera.
i There must be 10 coler and 10 drapery.
! If we expect to produce a historic pic
ture of the man posterity must take him
i lust as he was TO that end beg to
make a contribution-the episode which
follows As it is true in detail no apol-
ogy is needed fer its appearance here.
1t is necessary, however, to present a
! few antcceGeut facts.
After the death CT Mr.. Lincoln's
mother his only sister Sarah, married
Aaron Ctrigsby, Il member of the leading
family Of Gentryville, Ind. Two years
later she died inehildbirth. Her treat
ment by her husbands falnily both be-
fore and during her illness evoked from
the neighborho6d more CT less adverse
! comment, in which her brother freely
joined. Remembering that his sister
had suffered the loss ef her mother in
early girlhood and III consequence had
been subjected to the adverse fate
which falls to the lot # an orphan child
it is not surprising that Abe was mere
sensitive 10 the treatment she received
and moro ccnsorious in Lis criticism
than other people His reflections were
SO severe lie aroused the ire Ct all the
Grigsbys and thuS erected between him
self and them a social barrier Ct no
mean proportions.
Soon after the occurrence related in
the foregoing paragraph Reuben and
Charles Grigsby, brothers of Aaron, on
the same day, April Is. 1929, mar
ried, respectively, Elizabeth Ray and
Matilda Hawkins The following day
they, with their $, returned to tho
Ciliasby mansion, where their father
Reuben C5rigsby, received them with a
cordial welcome. Here an old fashioned
infuc, with fcasting and dancing and
the still older fashion af putting the
bridal party to bed, look place. When
The invitations to these festivities were
f-@ettNl tilt N'tlFSoLf IIt3t ti1iiiiIjb III III
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
Countrywide 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 on sus-
ceptible persons ill the neighborhood
who seemed to merit either his Wit on
displcasurc These bits of rude, coarse
wit he called Chronicles and they
served an admirable purpose, If he in
tended thereby to cGTicature or hold uE
to public ridicule one Ct his victims
Written in an attempted Scriptural vein
and on IL variety CT subjects, they might
well hc called social yentilators. Their
grossnCss must have been warmly APP
preciated by the carly denizens Of Gen
tlyville, 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
a singular manner after having been ap-
parently lost for many years. A little
while b. fore Mr. Hernden's visit to In
diana in 1865 a carpenter il Gentry
Vile was repairing Il house that had
once been the property of a member of
the Giigsby family While SO engaged
his son and assistant had climbed
through the ceiling 10 the inner side Of
the roof above to tear away some Of the
timhers and there found tucked away
undsl 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
portion Of the Scriptures that hasn't
been revealed yet, was the response.
He had found the Chronicles Of Reu-
ben. "
Babies Badly E.txad