The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-11-05
EARLY SWEETHEART
OF ABRAHAM. LINCOLN.
Woman Who Might Have Re;n.
Vile Of the President.
DIED RECENTLY IN INDIANA
She Was the Belle of he Town; He
Its Homelest Man-otore Where
Honest Abe Worked Stu Stands
by he tta"ro.u Track.
DIED RECENTLY IN INDIAN
by he ka,ro.u Track.

a Gentrysv,le. Ind. special to the Chi
casu BCn.UiIcle says:
rvur Yeas a.o. at the age OF eighty
ruur 1Mls. E..lAauetn IuIy deSsUn u.vd
Helt aiau nel Ic.ndlnS were inferred III.
the village cemetery Sne neu iseu mere
4Or Iudiiy years. anu ~ was only recent
~ tuuL she %utsl.laru 10 Tier intimate
Ar4eIluS one tact III ue. nlStOIy tnaL aud
ca peru.ar amer rel 10 ner personauty.
she Wa, ali eatly sweetheart u Abianam
"a .cu.n, anu ul.S iiel preference loi eln-
,t.4lcr prevcuteu the marriage Ul the cuu-s
PIE III the Gays vi liieti youtn. - utuSn-
leI uI Mis-. l.eSSon, SItS. Racuel Rtsant,
now seventy yeats uld, lives mere and
TOR more lnau my years Ter husband
MS pracuccu iueu. ellie IN the country
vOuilu about. Sne IS highly esteemed,
a,lu 10 her many years ago der nioLner
coutided the story of her youthful luve.
ailllr.
i nave heard my mother talk of Lin
coin many and many TINE. SAID Mrs.
Bryant. My mothers nl;nuen name was
h.izaDeth Iuiy. ana SIC was considered
the most peauutui woman IN southern
Inu.alla. IN tnose days. Lincoln WAS con-
5 u.. Ell the nomellesl man. Ny mother
ne,er cared anything for him, and tried
/ 10 stop ms coming 10 see ner. put ne
me coming around to see you. he used
to say, but cannot help It.
There was no question in my mothers
mind but Lincoln was deeply in love with
her. but she wuuiu not marry him. Ihcy
used TO go to spelling schools and such
meel ngs as they hau IN this country IN
those days, and he would come tea miles
on hon senack after my mother. l know
she has told me many times how she
useu to Try and run away from him, PIT
10 would come after her ca his big, raw
boned horse. his arms iiappirg like pair
Of wings, anu his long legs pointing out
# PREFERRED A HANDSOME NAN.
AT that time, of course, she had no
idea that llo would ever be President of
tho United States. but even if she had
known it she would never have married
him She was in love with Ben &Hesson,
and she married h.D after Lincoln had
gone with his parents to Illinois. OF
late years my mother never talked much
about the Lincoln family. She SAID tnat
when she was a little girl she saw Nancy.
Hanks. who was Mr.. Lincoln.s mother,
but did not remember very much about.
her She was better acquainted Win
Mr.. Lincoin's stepmother.
FL Gentryy.ile is a town of about $50 peo-.
pie. It has one long, struggling street,
witt, one or two cross roads. is built
on the side Of hill. one part OF II being
in the hollow and the other on the hill.
From the station to the hill part OF the
town It is more than half a mile. and a
long board walk leads to the summit
AT the bottom of the hill. close to the
railway station, stands the old building IN
which Lincoln used to be 4 clerk At sslas
time. however. the store was on the mn
When the railroad came the building
was moved down the hill. and the place
where II stood is now a TOBACCO patch
STORE WHERE LINCOLN @NNOtltAED.
This store was kept by William Jones.
Who was afterward killed at the battle OF
Atlanta, while serving as ieutenant-coi-
onel Of the Fifty-thifd Indiana. Lincoln
USED to drive around the country Tor.
Jones. and of evenings would act as clerk
in the store. He was great faEorite
with the people around there, and they
used to go up to Jones store to hear
Lincoln speak pieces and argue politics.
Several debates were held in the room
above the store-a room that is now the
town hall--and IN all of these Licnoln
took an active part. Mr. Jones was very
proud of young Lincoln. and used 70 say
frequently that he wanted To- TO I'VE iohs
enough to vote for him for President
In those days there We're no other
towns close by and Lincoln used to come
here frequently. It is said of him that
h,7# was long. awkward boy. full OF fun
and mischief who could hit harder, Jump
further, run faster and ride better than
any other boy of his crowd. He was con-
Siderable of tighter TOO ana naa
nrml,er of SCRAPS but is is declared
that in every instance. he got into tins
fights to protect some one else. Nnlle
he had friends. he also had enemies, Dut
after he got into Jones' store he settled
down. and when not attending to busl-
ness or debating he was reading any oooh
he could get hold of or writing poetry.
Until a few years ago there vas IN zen,
try-ville an old wooden fire shovel on
which Lincoln had traced these lines:
Time: What an empty vapor us,
And days, how swift they arc;
Swift as an arrow speed our lives
Swift as a shooting star.
The present moment
The stanza was not finished, but@lt was
kept for many years until the OLD llre
shovel disappeared. and It's Wiefsiit t'' We
are unknown to this dav.
SAVED a TOPPER FROM FREEZING.
There used. to be a character around
Gentryville i'll It's early days known as
"O!d Holmes" who was a, chrome cruhk-
ard. One winter night Old Holmes
would have frozen but for Lincoln, Who
found him and carried lin nome sltuhS
IN all night to- rub the life back. ms m
ciGent started q temperance VIZ . w e
Spencer county and the debates We're
startling and interesting.
Halt way Up the long wandering street
for many years stood an old blacksmith
shop III front Of 1t wa q WIDESPREAD irS
tree that still waves its boug,a but every
sign of the old Stop is gone. The ground
an which stood the smithy for re Is was
owned by Rev. F. A. Hsuring, past conf
nander of the Indiana G. 4. r.. but IS
now the popertv Of Jacob Dendinger. the
town marshal This old blacksmith shop
was a famous place in the lie OF Gentry
VILE, and was a iavorite resort 70 the
pec,,le of Spencer county. The cd black
smith twhose name every one seems TO
have forgotten) was natural story
teller. and he had around tim crowd
Of as good story tellers as himself.
Abraham Lincoln was at this shop a
great deal and it was a common resort
for his father. Thomas Lincoln and Al,ra-
ham uncles. John and Dennis Hanks.
The shop was the county newsstand. the
lecture platform. and it was here that
Abra ham Lincoln learned many Of the