Los Angeles herald., 1908-02-23
THE HANKS.

ly, her last resting place.
1t seems strange that so little should have been
known of her, and yet, when one considers how
sparsely the country settled, how strenuous
and perilous the lives led by the pioneers of that
early day in the wilderness of Kentucky, it is
not strange.
Only the most meager details have ever been
given to the public and those of widely conflicting
nature. She did not escape the breath of calumny,
when her son arose to the grand eminence of
occupying the first place in the gift of the people
Neither did Cornelia escape the fierce rays which
beat upon throne, but her sons "the Gracchi,"
who came to the deliverance of Rome in her dark
est hour of trial, were her silent defenders.
What better refutation of ISLANDERS could the
mother OF Abraham Lincoln have than the life,
the character, and the testimony of her son?
In the absence of all details of her history one
would think that her early years had been uneyent-
full barren of incident, and scarcely worthy of
record On the contrary, her story is full of inter
est and romance, and reading between the lines
one sees love, sefsacrifice, courage, energy, firm
ness of character, heroism, answering faith in
God, and all of the elements of greatness with
which she endowed her son.
She came of good old Puritan stock, for it is
recorded that benjamin Hankes and his wife,
Abigail, from London Oct. II, 1699 and
landed in Plymouth, Mass" He seems to have had
considerable means, wealth in those days was
reckoned for it is recorded that he bought thirty
in Pembroke township and built him house,
where his eleven children were BORN their names
and the dates of their birth all to be found in the
parish records
Later, in 1886, it is shown that he bought of
Robert Bartlett seven-eighths of the Island of
Saguish, lying in Plymouth harbor for seven
hundred pounds, and nine years later for eighty
pounds he obtained the remaining one-eight a
considerable fortune for those days
This island historic ground-the home Of
the most prominent of the first pilgrims William
Brewster, John Alden and Miles Standish. There
may be seen now, the house that sheltered John
Alden and his Bible.
The cliff from which Miles Standish looked out,
frOD Of viii he was he rd
and dreamed perhaps of the great empire of which
he was founder, are shown to the visitor. This
was happily alluded to by Judge Russell in his
speech made at the banquet concentrating the
laying of the French cable from Fort Standish,
July 81 1869, thereby establishing successful com
municaton with the whole habitabe world.
1t seems strange that it was to this same little
island that the footsteps of Benjamin Hanks, the
greatgreat-grandsire of Abraham Lincoln,
should have been guided more than century and
a quarter before.
The origin of the Hanks family in England,
very ancient and full of interest is easily traced,
for they came from Malsmesbury where Alfred
the Great defeated the Danes, A. d. S7S. The
Malmesbury were all rewarded with land,
each receiving a tract of five hundred acres, and
these lands are held to the present day by their
descendants.
The Hanks brothers were of these Malsmesbury
and received their charter from King Athel-
stane, grandson of King Alfred, and their charters
were renewed by King John.
1t is an easy matter to keep track of them down
to the sixteenth century, for they never changed
their abode. In 1850 the first move was made
when Thomas and George Hanks with their sister
moved to Stow-on-the-wold, where Thomas mar
ried and had children. The succession from
Thomas to Benjamin Hanks only four genera
tons is perfectly clear, and easily traced upon the
records. His grandson, Thomas was a soldier
under Cromwell, and his grondson Benjamin, with
his wife, Abigail, came from London October II,
1899 to Plymouth Mass, and bought Saguish
Island.
From Benjamin Hanks the first American an
Lie