South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1922-01-15
Sister Of Lincoln'S Sweetheart
Relates Love Romance Of Leader
Aged Woman Says Noted
Presi d ent Was Not a
Ladies Man: Just ABE.
SIS DIR. WILLIAM r. BARTON.
Greatest Authority on Abraham
Lincoln

By DIR. WILLIAM r. BARTON. /
Greatest Authority on Abraham
Lincoln.
LOMPOC. Calf. Jan. IA - Con- 4
fined 90 her bed bv - broken hip. +
Hut otherwise bearing lightly the /,
weight o. her % years, the one sur /
living sister OF Ann Rutledge sat I
propped up among her pillows and /
talked TO me about the youthful I
Iaee Of her sister and Abraham Lin |
coin.
Her mind is perfectly clear She I
told me of life in New Salem when |
Lincoln rav-boned young fellow
~ one-and- twenty, came into town /
on his fatboat
She told how tho boat became 4
stuck on the dam al Rutledge's mill. |
how Lincoln moved about TIA the wet I.
and finally got the boat over the |
dam. how he came ashore and liked
Sew Salem So much he returned and /
made Il his home.
She talked 90 me freely and III
wrote 90 down as she talked Then /
read her what i had written and /
she signed St without glasses. Sarah I
Eutledge Saunders is young at 90.
Baby OF Family.
"T have read an extended news /
paper account OF AIMS funeral, in
which 7 am reported 20 have said /
that I sat In Lncoin's lap during /
the funeral and that he sobbed and |
rs frame shook with grief AS a
matter OF fact I have no recollec- |
ton or the funeral
Put II ] did not sit In Lincoln's |
lap at the funeral 7 sat there many
other times 7 was the baby OF the /
family and ne was kind TO the
baby
II was born IN the Rutledge Tav-
ern in New Salem. oct. %, 1929 the
youngest child Of James Rutledge
and Ann Miller Rutledge. I am the /
only child OF the family now sur
wing. I was not quite six years
old when Ann died. Aug %. 1885.
IT have little personal knowledge
OF the love affair OF Lincoln and my
sister. But I have heard much of
II from my older sister, Nancy
Prewitt. and from my mother, who
spent her last years with Nan. 1 ]
can see Sister Ann as she sat sew
ing from day TO day, for she was
tbs other girls, Nancy and Margaret,
aided mother IN the general house
work and care OF the tavern.
she taught me TO sew, and re-
member her patience with me. as
we'll as her industry and kindness.
All Liked FdncOln.
Lincoln was a big. tall kind /
hearted boarder and we all liked |
him He could not sing very well, /
but liked some songs very we'll. We
had. and my nephew still has, a copy
OF the old Missouri Harmony. There |
was a song i'm IL called Legacy /
which always excited LincOln's
mirth
He was friendly with all OF us
girls and while 1 knew that he
cared especially for Ann. have had
10 interpret what saw and knew
Of their relations in the light of
what my mother and my sister. Nan,
later told me
zone thing that has been told is
wrong and I should like 70 correct
IT, That Is that Ann died Of a
broken heart or that she was torn
between her affection for Abraham
Lincoln and the love she IS alleged
TO have pIighted previously 10 John
McNamar.
There - not a word OF truth IN
it. Whatever affection Ann ever had
for McNamar. and that may have
been less than has been represented,
enied when she learned that he had
come 70 New Salem under a false
name. Mcneil. Ny father never
trusted him. though he had business
dealings with him.
The story that Ann continued 10
love him during the three years OF
his unexplained absence. a,d so gave
only half her heart 70 Lincoln and
died because she was grlef-etricken
by the conflict OF opposing affections,
81 wrorC
IT she ever loved McNamar. that
love was ended before she gave her
rscrl'sc 20 Lincoln Lincoln loved
her sincerely, and she gave 20 him
ur divided affection.
Lincoln No ladies Man.
You ask why Lincoln. who first
o1 his arrival l1 New Salem boarded
at the Cameron home. did not make
match with one Of the Cameron
g.r.s Perhaps one reason was that
Lincoln was not a man whom all
women liked. The Cameron .lrls
made fun Of his awliwardness and
el,led him old plain Abe
y do not know That their father
shared their feelings hut they were
all democrats. while VIC. a cir col-
sans where wings. We liked Lin
co.n the better FOR some uoHtic3
reasons for which the Cameron girls
disHked him.
Ann was light conp;exioned. her
h6lr auburn During nsr sickness.
her hair was cut and mother kept
it for many years After time the
moths got into 20 and we had to
destroy IT,
She had blue eyes. and was slen-
der. and not very robust All our
memories and traditions OF her are
OF a sweet and beautiful character
Ann did not die at New Salem.
Before her death. my father and
mother moved from the tavern 70
their farm on Sand Ridge. seven
miles from New Salem, and n mile
from the Concord cemetery where
Ann was buried. Business at New
salem did not prosper, as had been
expected. NY father and his
nephew. John Cameron. had invested
heavily in the future OF that httle