Abraham Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life

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Chapter I

Date and place of Lincoln's birth. — The interview with J. L. Scripps. — Lincoln's reference to his mother. — The BiUe record.— The jonmai of WiUiam Calk.— The death of Abraham Lincoln, the President's grandfather. — Mordecai's rerenge. — Thomas Lincoln, his marriage and married life. — Nancy Hanks, the President's mother. — Her sadness, her disposition and mental nature. — The camp-meeting at Elizabethtown. I-I2

Chapter II

Sarah Lincoln. — She attends school with her brother Abraham. — The tribute by Helm to Abe, the little boy. — Boyhood exploits with John Duncan and Austin GoUaher. — Dissatisfaction of Thomas Lincoln with Kentucky. — The removal to Indiana.— The ''half-faced camp." — Thomas and Betsy Sparrow follow. — How Thomas Lincoln and the Sparrows farmed. — Life in the Lincoln cabin. — ^Abe and David Tumham go to mill. — ^Appearance of the "milk skk ** in the Pigeon Creek settlement — Death of the Sparrows. — Death of Nancy Lincoln. — The widowerhood of Thomas Lincoln. — He marries Sarah Bush Johnston. — The Lincoln and Johnston children. — 'Tilda Johnston's indiscretion. — ^Attending school. — ^Abe's gallantry toward Kate Roby. — ** Blue-Nose " Crawford and the book. — Schoolboy poetry. — ^Abe's habits of study. — Testimony of his stepmother. 13-41 xii CONTENTS.

Chapter III

Abe reads hit first law-book. — The fight between John Johnston and William Grigsby. — Recollections of Elizabeth Crawford. — Marriage of Sarah Lincoln and Aaron Grigsby. — The wedding song. — More poetry. — Abe attends court at Booneville. — The accident at Gordon's mill. — Borrowing law-books of Judge Pitcher. — Compositions on Temperance and Goyemment. — The journey with Allen Gentry to New Orieans. — Return to Indiana. — Customs and superstition of the pioneers. — Reappearance of the "milk sick." — RemoTal to Illinois. — ^Abe and his pet dog 49-59

Chapter IV

The settlement in Illinois. — Splitting rails with John Hanks.— Building the boat for Offiit.— The return to Illinois.— New Salem described. — Clerking on the election board.— The lizard story. — Salesman in Offut's store. — The wrestle with Jack Armstrong. — Studying in the store. — Dis> appearance of Oflfut. — The Talisman, — 01iphant*s poetry. — The reception at Springfield. — The Captain's wife. — Return trip of the Talisman. — Rowan Heradon and Lincoln pilot her through.— The navigability of the Sangamon fiilly demonstrated. — ^The yeisel reaches Beaidstown. 6o-8a

Chapter V

The Black Hawk war.— Lincoln elected captain — Under arrest.— Protecting the Indian. — Recollections of a comrade. — Lincoln re-enlists as a priyate.— Return to New Salem. — Candidate for the Legislature.— The handlnll.— First political speech.— The canyass. — Defeat. — Partnership in the store with Berry. — The trade with William Greene. — Failure of the business.— Law studies. — Pettifogging.^ Stories and poetiy.— -Referee in rural sports. — Deputy surveyor under John Calhoun.— Stadying with Mentor Graham. —Postmaster at New Salem.— The incident with Chandler. — Feats of strength. — Second race for the Legislature. — Election 83-118

CONTENTS. xiii

Chapter VI

linoolii ftUs in lore with Anne Rutledge. — ^The old Atory.— Description of the giri.— The affidr with John McNetL—Departure of McNeU for New York.— Anne leims of the change of name. — Her faith under fire. — Lincoln appears on the scene. — Courting in dead earnest. — Lincoln's proposal accepted.— The ghost of another love- Death of Anne. — Effect on Lincoln's mind. — His suffering. —Kindness of Bowlin Greene.—" Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud ? "—Letter to Dr. Drake.— Return of McNasutf. I19-133

CHAPTER VIL

An amusing courtship. — Lincoln meets Maiy S. Owens. — Her nature, education, and mind. — ^Lincoln's boast — He pays his addresses. — The lady's letters to Hemdon. — Lincoln's letters.— His avowals of affection.— The letter to Mrs. Browning.- Miss Owens' estimate of Lincoln. . 134-15S

CHAPTER VIIL

l«i«coln a member of the Legislature at Vandalia. — First meeting with Dougbs.— The society of Vandalia.— Pioneer legislation. — Deputy surveyor under Thomas M. NeaL — Candidate for the Legislature again. — ^Another handbill ■— Favon "Woman's Rights."— The letter to CoL Robert Allen.— The canvass. — The answer to George Forquer.^ The ^ectkm, Lincoln leading the ticket— The *'Loag Nine."— Reckless legislation.— The ** DeWitt Ointon " of Illinois. — ^Internal Improvements. — The removal of the dental to Springfield. — The Committee on Finance. — The New F-wgi^nH Importation.— -The Lincoln-Stone protest — Return of the " Long Nine '' to Springfield. — Lincoln removes to Springfield. — Licensed to practise law. — In partnenbip with John T. Stuart— Eariy practice.— Generosity of Joshua F. Speed.— The bar of Springfield.— Speed's •toie. — Political discussions.— More poetry. — Lincoln adthe '* Young Men's Lyceum."— The debate in the xiv CONTENTS.

Presbyterian Church.— Elected to the Legislature again.— Answering Col. Dick Taylor on the stump. — Rescue of Baker. — Last canvass for the Legislature. — The Thomas " skinning."— The Presidential canvass of 1840. . 153-190

CHAPTER IX.

Lincoln still unmarried. — The Todd family. — Mary Todd. — Introduced to Lincoln. — The courtship. — The flirtation with Douglas. — The advice of Speed. — How Lincoln broke the engagement. — Preparations for marriage.— A disap-> pointed bride. — ^A crazy groom. — Speed takes Lincoln to Kentucky. — Restored spirits. — Return of Lincoln to Illinois. — Letters to Speed. — The party at Simeon Francis's house. —The reconciliation. — The marriage. — The duel with James Shields.— The "Rebecca" letters.— ** Cathleen " invokes the muse. — ^Whiteside's account of the dueL — Merryman's account. — Lincoln's address before the Washingtonian Society. — Meeting with Martin Van Buren. — Partnership with Stephen T. Logan. — Partnership with William H. Hemdon. — Congressional aspirations. — Nomination and election of John J. Hardin. — The Presidential campaign of 1844. — Lincoln takes the stump in Southern Indiana. — Lincoln nominated for Congress. — The canvass against Peter Cartwright. — Lincoln elected. — In Congress. — ^The " Spot Resolutions." — Opposes the Mexican war. — Letters to Hemdon. — Speeches in Congress. — Stumping throu^ New England. — A Congressman's troubles. — ^A characteristic letter.- End of Congressional term igi-tSo

CHAPTER X.

Lincoln takes part in the campaign in Massadiusetts in 1848. — The account of Edward L. Pierce. — Report of Boston Advertiser. — Speeches in Boston, Dorchester, Chelsea, Dedham, and Cambridge. — Lincoln's impression on the Whigs. — Meets Governor Seward. — Editori&l in Lowell Journal and Courier, — Reminiscence of ex-Governor Gardner.— Recollections of George H. Monroe. . 281-394

CONTENTS. XV

CHAPTER XI. ^

whcaA

Eiriy married life.— Boarding at the "Globe Tarem."— A plncky little wife.— Niagara Falls.— The patent for lifting Tends orer shoals. — Candidate for Commissioner of the Land Office. — The appointment of Batterfield.— The offer of Territorial posts bj President Taylor. — ^A jonmey to Washington and incidents. — Return to Illinois. — Settling down to practice law. — Life on the circuit — Story-telling. — Habits as lawyer and methods of study.— Law-office of Lincoln and Hemdon. — Recollections of Littlefield. — Studying Ettdid. — ^Taste for literature.— Lincoln's first appearance in the Supreme Court of Illinois.— Professional honor and personal honeity.— The juror in the dirorce case. . 995-33I

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

VOL. I.

FACINO PAGB

Chicago, 1858 FfwUitpUct

The Lincoln family record 5

Sarah Bush Lincdn 28

Lines vmtten by Lincoln on the leaf of his school-book in his foarteenth year 37

House near Farmington, Coles County, Illinois, in which Thomas Lincoln died . . 61

Mary S. Owens 138

Springfield Court-Honse. Stuart and Lincoln's office, in 1839 • '7^

Items from Lincoln's fee-book, in his handwriting . . 177

First Presbyterian Church, Springfield 183

Joshua Fry Speed and wife 195

The Edwards residence, Springfield, in which Lincdn and Mary Todd were married, and in which the latter died . . 215

General James Shields 237

U. S. Coart Building, Springfield, i85o-i86a Lincoln and Logan's office 250

Lincoln and Hemdon's law-office in 1S60 257

Mary Todd Lincoln, Rev. Peter Cartwright, Stephen T. Logan . 271

The Globe Tayem, Springfield 29s

Introduction

I WAS called upon during the lifetime of Mr. Herndon to write for the second edition of this work a chapter on the Lincoln-Douglas campaign of 1858. After this had been done and the book had been revised for the press, I was requested by the publishers to add something in the nature of a character sketch of Mr. Lincoln as I knew him before his fame had spread much beyond the confines of Illinois, and to tell what were those qualities that made him so attractive then. Of course, they were the same qualities which made him attractive afterward on a wider scale. The popular judgment of him is, in the main, correct and unshakable. I say in the main, because there is in this judgment a tendency to apotheosis which, while pardonable, is not historical, and will not last.

At the time when he was preparing himself unconsciously to be the nation's leader in a great crisis the only means of gaining public attention was by public speech. The press did not exist for him, or for the people among whom he lived. The ambitious young men of the day must make their mark by oratory, or not at all. There was no division of labor between the speaker and the

INTRODUCTION,

editor. If a man was to gain any popularity he must gain it by talking into the faces of the peo* pie. He must have a ready tongue, and must be prepared to meet all comers and to accept all challenges. Stump-speaking, wrestling, story-telling, and horse-racing were the only amusements of the people. In the first three of these Mr. Lincoln excelled. He grew up in this atmosphere, as did all his rivals. It was a school to develop all the debating powers that the community possessed, and to bring them to a high degree of perfection. Polish was not necessary to success, but plainness of diction was. The successful speaker was he who could make himself best understood by the common people, and in turn could best understand them.

Among the earliest accounts that we get of Mr. Lincoln we find him talking to other boys from some kind of a platform. He had a natural gift, and he exercised it as opportunity came to him. When he arrived at man's estate these opportunities came as often as could be desired. Other young men gifted in the same way were growing up around him. Douglas, Baker, Trumbull, Hardin, Browning, Yates, Archibald Williams, Josiah Lambom, and Lisle Smith were amongthem. All these had the same kind of training for public preferment that Lincoln had ; some of them had more book learning, but not much more. We have his own word for it that he was as ambitious of such preferment as Douglas was ; and this was putting it in the superlative degree.

INTRODUCTION, xxi

.Xhe popular conception of Mr. Lincoln as one not seeking public honors, but not avoiding public duties, is z.postbeUum growth, very wide of the mark. He was entirely human in this regard, but ^ii N desire for political preferment was hedged about by a sense of obligation to the truth which nothing could shake. This fidelity to truth was ingrained and unchangeable. In all the speeches I ever heard him make — and they were many — he never even insinuated an untruth, nor did he ever fail when stating his opponent's positions to state them fully and fairlyj He often stated his opponent's position better than his opponent did or could. To say what was false, or even to leave his hearers under a wrong impression, was impossible to him. Within this high inclosure he was as ambitious of earthly honors as any man of his time. Furthermore, he was an adept at log-rolling or any political game that did not involve falsity. I was Secretary of the Republican State Committee of Illinois during some years when he was in active campaign work. He was often present at meetings of the committee, although not a member, and took part in the committee work. His judgment was very much deferred to in such matters. He was one of the shrewdest politicians of the State. Nobody had had more experience in that way, nobody knew better than he what was passing in the minds of the people. Nobody knew better how to turn things to advantage politicaBy, and nobody was readier to take such advantage, provided it did not involve dishonorxxii INTRODUCTION,

able means. He could not cheat people out of their votes any more than out of their money. The Abraham Lincoln that some people have pictured to themselves, sitting in his dingy law office, working over his cases till the voice of duty roused him, never existed. If this had been his type he never would have been called at all. It* was precisely because he was up and stirring, and in hot, incessant competition with his fellows for earthly honors, that the public eye became fixed upon him and the public ear attuned to his words, rf'ortunate was it for all of us that he was no shrinking patriot, that he was moved as other men are moved, so that his fellows might take heed of him and know him as one of themselves, and as fit to be their leader in a crisis^

Let me repeat and emphasize what I have here said. Mr. Lincoln never gave his assent, so far as my knowledge goes, to any plan or project for getting votes that would not have borne the full light of day. At the same time, he had no objection to the getting of votes by the pledge of offices, nor was he too particular what kind of men got the offices. His preference was always for good men; but he could not resist pressure where persons were concerned, even though his conscience told him that he was doing wrong.

We have seen what kind of debating school Mr. Lincoln grew up in. It was the best possible school for him, and it was an advantage to him that he had able men for his competitors. Among them was Stephen A. Douglas, the most versatile,

INTRODUCTION. xxiii

indomitable, and unscrupulous of all of them. He was Lincoln's rival, as is shown in these pages, for almost everything, from the hand of Mary Todd to the presidency of the United States. He had the strength and presence of a lion, with all the cunning of a fox. He possessed every quality which wins popular favor and high station except veracity, and I know of nothing in the pages of history more cheering to pious souls than the eventual triumph of Honest Abe over the Little Giant

It was by restless competition and rough-andtumble with Douglas and others that Mr. Lincoln acquired that rare power of expression, by mouth and pen, which drew to himself the attention of the State and afterward of the nation and the world. He rarely used ornament in his speeches. Although gifted with the power of humor to an extraordinary degree, he seldom employed it in his later years except in private circles. Thus it came about that this growing master of logic, this profound and earnest debater of the most serious questions of the day, was the most popular of tavern loungers, and could draw more people together and hold them longer by mere drollery and cameraderie than any other man I ever knew. Mr. Lincoln's nature was one of almost child-like sweetness. He did not '' put you at your ease " when you came into his presence. You felt at your ease without being put there. He never assumed superiority over anybody in the ordinary intercourse of life.

xxiv INTRODUCTION.

A good test of this trait in his character was furnished in my own experience. When I was first thrown into his society I was just out of college, and was as callow and as self-confident as boys usually are at that time of life. Mr. Lincoln was at the maturity of his powers. I was often with him when he had no other companion. In our intercourse he always paid marked deference to my opinions, and if we differed he would argue the point with me as earnestly as though I had been the opposing counsel in a lawsuit. And this he would do with anybody, young or old, ignorant or learned. I never heard him express contempt for any man's honest errors, although he would sometimes make a droll remark or tell a funny story about them. Deference to other people's opinions was habitual to him. There was no calculation, no politics in it. It was part and parcel of his sense of equal rights. His democracy was of the unconscious kind — he did not know anything different from it. Coupled with this was a habit of unselfishness and kindly temper most engaging to all who knew him or had any dealings with him. At the same time he knew when he was imposed upon, and it was unsafe for anybody to presume upon his good nature or to take him for a flat

But more than intellectual g^fts, more than goodfellowship, did the sense of justice give him his hold on others. That was a magnetic field whose influences could not be escaped. He carried it as unconsciously as he carried his hair. The Atheni-

INTRODUCTION, XXV

ans would never have ostracized him — indeed, they would never have called him the Just They would have taken him as they took the bees on Hymettus — as one naturally searching after sweet things.

UCe^ say that Mr. Lincoln was a man who had the courage of his convictions would be rather an under-statement. This was part and parcel of his sense of justice. He wore it as he wore his clothes, except that it fitted him much better than his garments usually did. At the time I first knew him it was irksome to very many of his friends to be told that there ought to be an efficient fugitive slave law. But it was his conviction as a lawyer that there ought to be one, and he never failed to say so when interrogated, or when occasion required that that subject should be touched upoi^. ' And it is a fact that abolitionists like Lovejoy and Codding would take this from Lincoln without murmuring, when they would not take it from anybody else3 He never would echo the popular cry, " No more slave States ! " Whenever this subject was discussed he would say that if a Territory having the requisite population and belonging to us should apply for admission to the Union without fraud or constraint, yet with slavery, he could not see any other disposition to be made of her than to admit her. And when he had said this, even to an audience of radical antislavery men, there would be no protestations. Those who were not convinced would observe a respectful silence. Mr. Lincoln's facial expression when in repose xxvi INTRODUCTION,

and when animated presented most remarkable contrasts. I have before me a photograph of him taken at Pittsfield, Illinois, during the campaign of 1858. It looks as I have seen him a hundred times, his lantern jaws and large mouth and solid nose firmly set, his sunken eyes looking at nothing yet not unexpressive, his wrinkled and retreating forehead cut off by a mass of tousled hair, with a shade of melancholy drawn like a veil over his whole face. Nothing more unlike this can be imagined than the same Lincoln when taking part in a conversation, or addressing an audience, or telling a story. The dull, listless features dropped like a mask. The melancholy shadow disappeared in a twinkling. The eye began to sparkle, the mouth to smile, the whole countenance was wreathed with animation, so that a stranger would have said : " Why, this man, so angular and somber a moment ago, is really handsome."

What more can be said of the qualities that first made Mr. Lincoln attractive to his contemporaries? These were debating power, honesty of purpose, a child-like temper, purity of life, and courage of conviction. All these traits will be seen in the following pages, rising, unfolding, expanding in a regular, orderly, human way as the young Lincoln grew to mature years.

What Mr. Lincoln was after he became President can be best understood by knowing what he was before. The world owes more to William H. Hemdon for this particular knowledge than to

INTRODUCTION. XXVU

all other persons taken together. It is no exaggeration to say that his death, which took place at his farm near Springfield, Illinois, March i8, 1 891, removed from earth the person who, of all others, had most thoroughly searched the sources of Mr. Lincoln's biography and had most attentively, intelligently, and also lovingly studied his character. He was generous in imparting his information to others. Almost every life of Lincoln published since the tragedy at Ford's Theatre has been enriched by his labors. He was nine years the junior of Mr. Lincoln. Their partnership began in 1843, ^^^ ^t continued until it was dissolved by the death of the senior member. Between them there was never an unkind word or thought. When Mr. Lincoln became President, Mr. Hemdon could have had his fortunes materially advanced under the new Administration by saying a word. He was a poor man then and always, but he chose to remain in his more humble station and to earn his bread by his daily labor.

Some six years ago Mr. Herndon conceived the project of writing a series of magazine articles intended to portray the youth and early manhood of Lincoln. Being somewhat infirm, he called Mr. Weik to his assistance, as he has explained in his preface. The magazine articles expanded insensibly to the present volumes. Lincolniana is increasing and is destined to increase. It has been enriched within recent years by the indispensable but too massive work of Nicolay and Hay, by the masterly essay of Schurz, and by the posthumous xxviii INTRODUCTION.

lecture of Greeley, which latter, being in reality if not in terms a hearty, ungrudging confession that he had underestimated Lincoln in his lifetime, is doubly welcome. As a portraiture of the man Lincoln — ^and this is what we look for above all things in a biography — I venture to think that Mr. Hemdon's work will never be surpassed.

Horace White.

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THE LIFE OF LINCOLN.

Chapter I

Beyond the fact that he was bom on the 12th day of Febniaryy 1809, in Hardin county, Kentucky, Mr. Lincoln usually had but little to say of himself, the lives of his parents, or the history of the! family before their removal to Indiana. If he mentioned the subject at all, it was with great reluctance and significant reserve. There was something about his origin he never cared to dwell upon. His nomination for the Presidency in i860, however, made the publication of his life a necessity, and attracted to Springfield an army of campaign biographers and newspaper men. They met him in his office, stopped him in his walks, and followed him to his house. Artists came to paint his picture, and sculptors to make his bust. His autographs were in demand, and people came long distances to shake him by the hand. This sudden ele- J ration to national prominence found Mr. Lincoln inprepared in a great measure for the unaccusomed demonstrations that awaited him. While he easy of approach and equally courteous to all,

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• • •• • • yet, as he said to me one evening after a long day of hand-shaking, he could not understand why people should make so much over him.

Among the earliest newspaper men to arrive in Spring^eld after the Chicago convention was the late J. L. Scripps of the Chicago Tribune^ who proposed to prepare a history of his life. Mr. Lincoln deprecated the idea of writing even a campaign biography. " Why, Scripps," said he, " it is a great piece of folly to attempt to make anything out of me or my early life. It can all be condensed into a single sentence, and that sentence you will find in Gray's Elegy,

' The short and simple annals of the poor.*

That's my life, and that's all you or anyone else can make out of it."

He did, however, communicate some facts and meagre incidents pf his early days, and, with the matter thus obtained, Mr. Scripps prepared his book. Soon after the death of Lincoln I received a letter from Scripps, in which, among other things, he recalled the meeting with Lincoln, and the view he took of the biography matter.

'' Lincoln seemed to be painfully impressed,** he wrote, " with the extreme poverty of his early surroundings, and the utter absence of all romahti^

and heroic elements. He communicated some facts to me concerning his ancestry, which he did not wish to have published then, and which I have never spoken of or alluded to before."

What the facts referred to by Mr. Scripps wen we do not know ; for he died several years ago withouty so far as is known, revealing them to anyone.

On the subject of his ancestry and origin I only remember one time when Mr. Lincoln ever referred to it. It was about 1850, when he and I were driving in his one-horse buggy to the court in Menard county, Illinois. The suit we were going to try was one in which we were likely, either directly or collaterally, to touch upon the subject of hereditary traits. During the ride he spoke, for the first time in my hearing, of his mother, dwelling on her characteristics, and mentioning or enumerating what qualities he inherited from her. He said, among other things, that she was the daughter of Lucy Hanks and a well-bred but obscure Virginia farmer or planter ; and he argued that from this last source came his power of analysis, his logic, his mental activity, his ambition, and all the qualities that distinguished him from the other members and descendants of the Hanks family.

In only two instances did Mr. Lincoln over his own hand leave any record of his history or family descent. One of these was the modest bit of autobiography furnished to Jesse W. Fell, in 1859, ^"^ which, after stating that his parents were bom in Virginia of " undistinguished or second families," he makes the brief mention of his mother, saying that she came " of a family of the name of Hanks." * The other record was the register of marriages, births, and deaths which he made in his father's Bible. The

* If ftnyone will take the pains to read the Fell autobiographj they will be struck with Lincoln's meagre reference to his mother. He even £fuls to give her maiden or Christian name, and devotes but three lines to her liunilj. A history of the Lincolns occupies almost an entire page.

latter now lies before me. That portion of the page which probably (:ontained the record of the marriage of his parents, Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, has been lost ; but fortunately the records of Washington county, Kentucky, and the certificate of the minister who performed the marriage ceremony — the Rev. Jesse Head — fix the fact and date of the latter on the I2th day of June, 1806.

On the loth day of February in the following year a daughter Sarah * was bom, and two years later, on the 1 2th of February, the subject of these memoirs came into the world. After him came the last child, a boy — named Thomas after his father — who lived but a few days. No mention of his existence is found in the Bible record.

Abraham Lincoln, the grandfather of the President, emigrated to Jefferson county, Kentucky, from Virginia, about 1780, and from that time forward the former State became an important one in the history of the family, for in it was destined to be bom its most illustrious member. About five years before this, a handful of Virginians had started across the

* Most biographer* of Lincoln, in speaking of Mr. Lincoln's sister, call her Nancy, some — notably Nicolay and Hay — insisting that she was known by that name among her family and friends. In this they are in error. I have interviewed the different members of the Hanks and Lincoln families who survived the President, and her name was invariably given as Sarah. The mistake, I think, arises from the fact that, in the Bible record referred to, all that portion relating to the birth of " Sarah, daughter of Thomas and Nancy Lincoln," down to the word Nancy has been torn away, and the latter name has therefore been taken erroneously for that of the daughter. Reading the entry of Abraham's birth below satisfies one that it miist refer to the mother.

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M mountains for Kentucky, and in the company, besides their historian, William Calk, — whose diary recently came to light, — ^was one Abraham Hanks. They were evidently a crowd of jolly young men bent on adventure and fun, but their sport was attended with frequent disasters. Their journey began at '' Mr. Friges' tavern on the Rapidan." When only a few days out " Hanks' Dog's leg got broke." Later in the course of the journey, Hanks and another companion became separated from the rest of the party and were lost in the mountains for two days ; in crossing a stream '' Abraham's saddle turned over and his load all fell in Indian creek " ; finally they meet their brethren from whom they have been separated and then pursue their way without further interruption. Returning emigrants whom they meet, according to the journal of Calk, " tell such News of the indians " that certain mem* bers of the company are *' afrade to go aney further." The following day more or less demoralization takes place among the members of this pioneer party when the announcement is made, as their chronicler so faithfully records it, that '^ Philip Drake Bakes bread without washing hb hands." This was an unpardonable sin, and at it they revolted. A day later the record shows that ** Abram turns Back." Beyond this we shall never know what became of Abraham Hanks, for no fur. ther mention of him is made in this or any other history. He may have returned to Virginia and become, for aught we know, one ot the President's ancestors on the maternal side ot the house ; but if