, 1923-02-12
CONTINUED from Page one.)

ouu not one but two. All the
biographies of Abraham Lincoln arc
incorrect as to his p~aternal grand
mother. She was not Mary Shipley.
rs Nicolay and Nay, on the authority
Of j. r. Hall have told US; nor was
she Of the Boone family, as Gideon
Welles, Lincoln's secretary of war
- intained. Nor was the pioneer
Abraham Lincoln twice married, once
to Mary Shipley, mother of his two
eldest sons, and later to Bathshebn
Harring, mother of Thomas. The
marriage licenses Of Virginia some.
times gave the name of the groom
and omitted that of the bride. So
was it with the record of Abraham
Lincoln. the presidents grandfather.
His license to marry WINS issued IN
Rockingham county, Virginia, June 9.
1870, II the bride is not named.
When Abraham Lincoln was selling
his farm in Virginia, February Is, |
1880, preparatory to removal to Ken
lucky, his wife B~athsheba signed the
deed, and on September 8, 1881, re-
linquished her dover rights. She was
not well Mt the time n could not
rid twelve miles to the court house,
so n commission was Sent TO aCknowl- |
edge her REIMBURSEMENT. 1t has been
supposed that Bathsheba was n second
wife. Mary Shipley being the first.
Then, when it was found that this
could not be, il was supposed that
B~athsheba died in 1881 and Abraham
Lincoln married Mary Shipley as his
second wife. Last summer, in a pile
of old tax lists in the basement OF
the old capitol at Frankfort. the see,
rotary OF the kentucky H storlca'
society discovered n list OF Washing
ton county for 1895, which shows that
B~athsheba Lincoln survived her hus.
band, Abraham Lincoln, grandfather
of the president, was murdered by In
dams. not in 1884, as the president
thought, but in May. 1856, and his
widow long survived him. Here,
then is the paternal grandmother of
President Lincoln, Bathsheha, whom
the pioneer Abraham Lincoln married
in Rockingham county, Virginia m
1770, the mother of all his children.
his one and only wife. All the books
are in error: they must henceforth be
corrected. This is the first announce
mont of the discovery.
But Bathsheba Whose name may
mot have beer IIarring) is not the
grandmother we are setting out to
discover. We include her for good
measure. We are after the mother
OF Nancy Hanks. Here we confront
n historical problem of the very great,
est difficulty, and one which many
books nave darl,ened by words with
out knowledge.
THE Hanks tradition, rs given by
Lemon, Herndon, and accepted by
N!colay and Hay. is thus given:
Mrs. Lincoln's mother was named
Lucy Hanks her sisters were Betty,
Polly and Nancy. who married
Thomas Sparrow. Jesse Friend and
Levi Hall. The childhood of Nancy
was passed with the Sparrows, and
she was oftener called by their name
than her own. The whole family
connection was composed of people
so little given to letters that it is
hard to determine the proper names
and relationships of the youngs
members because of the tanEle of ira
d~itional neutrality-suspicious. Lin.
coin, a History: by Nicoley and Hay,
vol. 1, p. "a.
h statement was undisputed
until 1909, when Lea and Hutchinson
published their Ancestry OF Lincoln"
and Mrs. Caroline Hanks Hitchcock
published her Nancy Hanks" These
produce the will of Joseph Hanks.
presumed to be the father of these
daughters. and there was no Lucy
mentioned in II. A. very elaborate
family tree was published changing
all the sisters excepting Polly. she
sti.l was as the wife of Jesse Friend.
Elizabeth vas declared to be the wife
OF Levi Hall. Thomas Sparrow was
married to Elizabeth ShipIey AMI
these were declared to have been the
parents of Nancy Sparrow. who mar.
RED Charles Friend, brother Of James,
and these are alleged to have been
the parents OF Dennis Friend, whose
subsequent adoption Of the name Of
Hanks" was responsible for no end
Of confusion. Miss Tarbell accepted
this theory, IND proclaimed 1t widely.
AS fer Lucy there was no such sister:
and Nancy was declared to have been
the mother Of Abraham Lincoln.
The motives OF those who attempted
to substitute this theory for the
Hanks tradition were wholly good,
though some ono who furnished some
part of the information cannot he
held guiltlass OF something worne
than cnre,eBsncas."
DR., Barton thon proceeded to nm
intricate and detailed analysis OF the
evidence ns preserved IN the Hanks
family, md declared that there must
have been n fourth md older dHugh-
ter, married and away from home, ut
tho time OF tho making OF tho will
Of Joseph Hanks, md FOR some rca.
son emitted from II. Joseph Hanks
wnB an illiternto and II dying man.
and tho will was made by n lawyer,
who, Cithor by mistake or for some
reason not stated gave tho MINES OF
only throo daughters, and devised n
'theifrg TO each Of them. He continued:
In al obscure corner OF Kentucky,