The enterprise. [volume] (Harlem, Mont.) 1899-1926, 1911-02-09
cSAR4H RUSH LZIVlOZN - y


~ ~ declares well-known writer, be-
u ~ gins at his mothers knee Be-
hind every great endeavor and
~ ~ unselfsh deed, every noble ca
reer of every illustrious man
NzE1SM will be found woman-the fral
w VA and gentle creature whose name
& TX perhaps, remains obscured be-
@ kxeH hind the glory of her son, but
~ who began to teach him high
thoughts and ideals and to lisp
Tho words of "Our Father which art in heaven.
Abraham Lincolns career began at tne
,nea of Nancy Hanks Lincoln, his mother II
was she who taught him to read from an ola
Bihle he came to know so we'll, who told MN
the stories in Aesops fables and helped MIN
to study the Kentucky Perceptor.
# was she who taught him the letters OF
the alphabet and first trained his hand TO
scrawl them, It was she who instilled IN MIN
a hatred of slavery and by her own gentle
loneliness inspired a regard and esteem 1or
women which lasted throughout his me-
l,0 Nancy Hanks Lincoln, one OF the great
presidents historians declares, was stoop'
shouldered, thin breasted, sad-at times nls'
erable:" a gentle, kind, accomplishing WON
an whose life had been one of hard labor.
with few enioyments, and who died before her
prime. This was Nancy Hanks Lincoln, VINO
Law on her deathbed, tired and worn, her race
wan. her thin, bony hands clasp1ng those OF q
nine.year.old lad, whose deep-sunk eyes were
Allied with tears, and who when ne later pe'
came "a liberator of race of men, declared:
GAIL that am ever hope TO De owe
to INV mother Blessings on her memory
From his mother Lincoln once told his
friend and law partner, William H. Herndon'
he believed he inherited his power OF analy-
sis. his logic, his mental activity and MS am
bition. Her memory remained with him. one
of the dearest things Of his 1fe-"a noole ype
of good, heroic womanhood"
Nancy Hanks was nve years old when her
parents sold their farm In Virginia ana went
nioneering westward toward Kentucky. Nancy
was the youngest of family OF elght chll-
dren. Her father was Joseph Hanks and her
mother Nancy Shipley, a daughter OF Roper'
Shirley. Nancy was born February 5, 1884.
The Journey westward perilous one,
and it is said Nancy was stolen oy indians
while her parents were on the way ROADS
were bad; in fact there was only footpath
through the wilderness, where passed the long
nrocassion of women and children on horse
hack. men trudgng behind driving the cara
vans.
Picture to yourself the procession, de-
scrbed by Justice Observation-Disclosures pr1-
yaticns incredible and peyils thick, thousands
of men, women and children came IN success
.stve caravans, forming continuous streams OF
human beings, horses, cattla and other domes-
tic animals, moving OuWdTu diOA16 q Ao1A0AJ
and homeless path to wild and cheerless
land
"Cast your eyes back" he continues ON
that long procession of missionaries In the
cause of civilization; behold the men on foot'
with their trusty guns on their shoulders, drlv-
ing stock and leading pack horses; ana the
women, some walking with pals on the!i
heads others riding with children IN thelr
Ilans and other children swung in baskets on
horses. fastened to the tails OF others golng
'before: see them encamped at night, expect
ing to be massacred by Indians; behold them
IN the month of December in that memorable
season of unprecedented cold called the haro
winter travelling two or three miles day
And imagine little Nancy Hanks, sp1ndly-
legged and golden-haired, shlvering as she
Struggled under blankets, pursuing the road
of the pioneers In the child who was 10
become the mother of Abraham Lincoln was
now developed a courage and perseverance
which was to be inherited and which after
ward marked one of the greatest of men.
The family settled in Washington county,
Ky. in winter. Hard work confronted them'
even privation. Trees had be be felled, log
cabin built, and shelter erected for the stock.
Little Nancy, with her sisters, Elizabeth
and Polly helped their mother, cooking and
sewing and preparing the rude home, while
the brothers. Charles, Joshua, William, Thorn
lbs and Joseph, went about with the father,
clearing the land for cultivation in the spring.
They hunted animals and fshed in the cold