The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1930-01-31
MAncYAAMHSLWc0GnyG 1AE

Southern Indiana was then wild
region, and the settlements back of
the Ohio river were few and sparse.
There were at first no regular church
services, no physicians, no schools.
Perhaps Thomas Lincoln did not re-
greet the absence of schools so much
as Nancy did. There is no reason to
believe that he opposed such educa-
ton as his children were able to Sc
cure, but apparently the mother was
more intent on the securing of an ed
ucation for her children than was the
father. Abraham and Sarah had at
tended school portions of two terms
in Kentucky. They had learned to
spell and had begun to read But there
were no schools in their neighborhood
in Indiana during Nancy's lifetime. If
Abraham and Sarah learned anything
more, they learned 1t from Nancy, or
from Dennis Hanks, whom the Spar
rows had sent to school in the old Bap-
fist Westinghouse on Nolin, and who
claimed, with some apparent reason, to
have grounded Abraham Lincoln in the
elements of his education. There were
very few books in the home Of Thomas
Lincoln and Nancy Hanks. and the
same condition prevailed in all other
homes in the neighborhood.
For two years Nancy Hanks Lincoln
dwelt in Indiana, and saw some ap-
proach to comfort in the conditions of
her home. Gradually the cleared area
of land and "deadening" around the
cabin widened, and the acreage of corn
increased. The stock OF poultry and
of bacon grew, and the "pinching
times" while not pushed far back into
the woods, were not at the door as
they were at the beginning. Condi-
tions appeared to promise reason
ably comfortable future for the family.
Abraham Lincoln was old enough
now to look with more possibility OF
appreciation on this mother of his, and
to estimate somewhat her qualities.
She was now approaching the age OF
thirty-five. She was above medium
height and had slight stoop as
though predisposed to consumption.
She weighed about a hundred and thir-
ty pounds. Her complexion was dark,
and her face was thin and sallow. Her
forehead was unusually high. and all
her relatives commented on this feat
ure of her appearance as belonging to
and exhibiting her intellectual nature.
She was usually cheerful, but her face
in repose was sad. At times she dis
played a marked tendency to mirth.
but she had moods of melancholy.
Abraham had a boys limitation Of
Judgment; perhaps he did not appreci-
ate these qualities so fully in his youth
as he did later, but we have no reason
to suppose that he was wholly blind
to them. She was good mother to
him, and he knew it. She was ambi-
tious for him, and desired that he
should have the opportunities which
both she and her husband had missed.
The autumn of 1918 brought to south
ern Indiana q terrible sickness, afflict-
ing both man and beast. The cattle
were first to suffer from It, contract
ing the disease from eating the foliage
of snake-root, and as it was found to
have been their milk that carried the
illness to their human owners. it was
called "the milk-sickness." A number
Of the people in the neighborhood
where the Lincoln lived contracted the
disease and died. Levi and Nancy Hall
died. and SO did Thomas and Betsy
Sparrow. Two uncles and aunts, one
couple being her foster parents, were
swept away as with a food.
Then Nancy herself contracted the
disease. There was no physician with
in IS miles. We have the testimony Of
a neighbor who was an eyewitness,
that Abraham and his sister were
faithful IN waiting on their mother,
and doing what they could for her.
"She struggled on" says this neigh
Dor "a good Christian woman, and died
on the seventh day after she was TAX
en- sick. The mother knew that she
was going to die. She was very weak,
and the children leaned over her while
she gave her last messages. Placing
her feeble hand on Abe's head, she told
him to be kind and good to his father
and sister. To both she said BE good
to one another expressing hope that
they might live, as they had been
taught by her, to love their kindred
and worship God" Thus. at the age
of thirty-five, on October 5. 1918, died
this madonna of the backwoods. the
mother of Abraham Lincoln.
Doctor Barton then tells how Abra-
ham assisted his father In saving out
the planks from which he made the
coffin, how they buried her on the hill
beside her foster-parents and how no
funeral sermon was preached over her
grave until months later, when Rev.
David Elkins came that way and con-
Quoted services. First there was an
opening hymn with David Elkins ''lin-
ing out, two lines at a time," then a
simple and heartfelt eulogy Of the
dead and stern admonition to the
living" and finally closing hymn
with 1t rose the courage and faith of
those who sang"
Thomas Lincoln took the hands of his
back to his desolats home. The feet