The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1910-02-17
How the HodgenviIIe Place Was
Bought and Preserved for
Memorial to War .
President.

Hodgenville. KY, Special: Hodgen-
vile, which is near the geographical
center of the state OF Kentucky. and
not far from the center, OF population
of the United States, promises to be-
come a new mecca in America and the
Lincoln farm a second Mount Vernon.
Although Abraham Lincoln had other
homes. there Is q sentiment about his
birthplace that does not attach to any
Of them. He lived here for eight years,
and before he left knew very much
of what Mark Twain calls 1.-The model
little farm that raised a nan He Went
swimming in the nearby creek and by
the light from the huge fireplace in the
little one-room cabin he learned his
t.rst lessons. 60
1t was in 1906 that Thomas Lincoln
brought his bride, Nancy Hanks, and
established the rude little home here
that three years later was to welcome
into the world the future president.
Theirs was the rough life of pioneers;
the farm was then as it is now. a sterile
piece of land, and to make both ends
meet the elder Lincoln did odd jobs of
carpentry in the vicinity, besides work
ing the farm. The actual necessities
of life were seldom lacking, but 1t was
a life Of sever poverty. For some
county supervisor Of public roads. an
important position in that time. Land
owners, paid their poll tax with pick
and shove then, n on road mending
days he used to take little Abe along
both for company and for help. There
are old-timers here now who claim that
there is not q section of the old pike
within several miles Of his home along
which Abraham Lincoln has not played
or on which he has not driven his OK
team.
Remembered Old Home. !,
H A. a. A-- 49,
allurements to a poor man and in 1914
the Lincolns sold the little farm and
moved to Indiana. Subsequently Abra-
ham Lincoln moved into Illinois and
the rest 10 history. But through all the
years that followed he never forgot his
first home. He rarely referred to it.
but after he had become president of
the United States he Is known to have
said: When h war is over I would
very much like to visit my old Ken
lucky home. I remember it WE'LL"
Blu he never did return and the farm
and h little log cabin had a varied
history. Thomas Lincoln sold the place
to a family named Creal and 1t re-
NAMED in their hands for over 70 years.
Its beautiful rock spring was apparent
|.ly its n redeeming feature, and only
recently has anyone awakened to the
realization hat those Ito acres had any
value beyond their yield in corn and
sorghum. From time to time news
papers have announced that the Lin
coin birthplace farm was to be sold, but
as a matter Of fact 1t has only changed
hands twice since Thomas Lincoln's or
iginal transfer. A fewsyears ago it was
given into the management Of a Rev.
J.. w. Bingham, who removed the log
cabin to the exhibition at Nashville,
and later sold 1t to some exhibitors who
took 1t about the country as a travel
ing show. But a year or two ago the
logs We're found In q cellar at tColleKe
Point. Long Island, where It was
stored, and with ceremony was restored
to its original site.
The farm itself has been the subject
Of litigation for several years and eff
forts have been made by various inter-
ests to use 1t for one purpose or an
other. Many schemes have been sug.
gested from time to time, but none OF
them have borne any large national
Significance. Finally. in 1905, 1t was
advertised that ION August % the Lin
coin farm was to be sold between the