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NOTES
I。THECHILDOFTHEFOREST。
1。Herndon,1-7,11-14;1,anon,13;N。andH。,1,23-27。
ThisistheversionofhisoriginacceptedbyLincoln。HebelievedthathismotherwastheillegitimatedaughterofaVirginiaplanterandtracedtothatdoubtfulsource“allthequalitiesthatdistinguishedhimfromothermembers“ofhisimmediatefamily。Herndon,3。Hissecretariesaresilentuponthesubject。Recentlythestoryhasbeenchallenged。Mrs。
CarolineHanksHitchcock,whoidentifiestheHanksfamilyofKentuckywithalostbranchofaNewEnglandfamily,hascollectedevidencewhichtendstoshowthatNancywasthelegitimatedaughterofacertainJosephH。Hanks,whowasfatherofJosephthecarpenter,andthatNancywasnottheniecebuttheyoungersisterofthe“uncle“whofiguresintheolderversion,themanwithwhomThomasLincolnworked。NancyandThomasappeartohavebeencousinsthroughtheirmothers。
Mrs。HitchcockarguesthecasewithcareandabilityinalittlebookentitledNancyHanks。However,sheisnotaltogethersustainedbyW。E。Barton,ThePaternityofAbrahamLincoln。
ScandalhasbusieditselfwiththeparentsofLincolninanotherway。Ithasbeenwidelyassertedthathewashimselfillegitimate。Avarietyofshamefulpaternitieshavebeenassignedtohim,somepalpablyabsurd。Thechiefargumentoftheloversofthisscandalwasoncethelackofaknownrecordofthemarriageofhisparents。AroundthisfactgrewupthestoryofamarriageofconcealmentwithThomasLincolnastheeasy-goingaccomplice。ThediscoveryofthemarriagerecordfixingthedateanddemonstratingthatAbrahammusthavebeenthesecondchildgavethisscandalitsquietus。N。andH。,1,23-24;Hanks,59-67;Herndon,5-6;LincolnandHerndon,321。
ThelastimportantbookonthesubjectisBarton,ThePaternityofAbrahamLincoln。
2。N。andH。,1-13。
3。Lamon,13;N。andH。,1,25。
4。N。andH。,1,25。
5。Gore,221-225。
6。Herndon,15。
7。Gore,66,70-74,79,83-84,116,151-154,204,226-230,forallthisgroupofanecdotes。
TheevidencewithregardtoalltheearlypartofLincoln’slifeispeculiarinthis,thatitisreminiscencenotwrittendownuntilthesubjecthadbecomefamous。Dogmaticcertaintywithregardtothedetailsisscarcelypossible。Thebestonecandoinweighinganyoftheversionsofhisearlydaysistoinquirecloselyastowhetherallitspartsbangnaturallytogether,whethertheyreallycohere。Thereisabodyofanecdotestoldbyanoldmountaineer,AustinGollaher,whoknewLincolnasaboy,andthesehavebeencollectedandrecentlyputintoprint。Ofcourse,theyarenot“documented“evidence。
Somestudentsareforbrushingthemaside。Butthereisoneimportantargumentintheirfavor。Theyarecoherent;theboytheydescribeisarealpersonandhispersonalityissustained。Ifheisafictionandnotamemory,theoldmountaineerwasaliteraryartist——farmoretheartistthanonefindsiteasytobelieve。
8。Gore,84-95;Lamon,16;Herndon,16。
9。Gore,181-182,296,303-316;Lamon,19-20;N。andH。,I,28-29。
II。THEMYSTERIOUSYOUTH。
1。N。andH。,I,32-34。
2。Lamon,33-38,51-52,61-63;N。andH。,1,34-36。
3。N。andH。,1,40。
4。Lamon,38,40,55。
5。Reminiscences,54,428。
III。AVILLAGELEADER。
1。N。andH。,1,45-46,70-72;Herndon,67,69,72。
2。Lamon,81-82;Herndon,75-76。
3。Lincoln,1,1-9。
4。Lamon,125-126;Herndon,104。
5。Herndon,117-118。
6。N。andH。,1,109。
7。Stories,94。
8。Herndon,118-123。
9。Lamon,159-164;Herndon,128-138;Rankin,61-95。
10。Lamon,164。
11。Lamon,164-165;Rankin,95。
IV。REVELATIONS。
1。Riddle,337。
2。Herndon,436。
3。N。andH。,I,138。
4。Lincoln,I,51-52。
5。McClure,65。
6。Herndon,184。185。
7。Anon,172-183;Herndon,143-150,161;Lincoln,1,87-92。
8。GossiphaspreservedamelodramatictalewithregardtoLincoln’smarriage。Itdescribesthebridetobe,waiting,arrayed,intenseexpectationdeepeningintoalarm;theguestsassembled,wondering,whilethehourappointedpassesbyandtheceremonydoesnotbegin;thefailureoftheprospectivebridegroomtoappear;thescatteringofthecompany,amazed,theirtongueswagging。Theexplanationofferedisanattackofinsanity。Herndon,215;I,anon,239-242。AsmightbeexpectedLincoln’ssecretarieswhoseehimalwaysinahalogivenohintofsuchanevent。Ithasbecomeacontroversialscandal。Isitafactoramyth?MissTarbellmadeherselfthechampionofthemythicalexplanationandcollectedagreatdealofevidencethatmakesithardtoacceptthestoryasafactTarbell,I,Chap。XI。Stilllateraverysanememoirist,HenryB。Rankin,whoknewLincoln,andisnotatallanapologist,takesthesameview。HismosteffectiveargumentisthatsuchaneventcouldnothaveoccurredinthelittlecountrytownofSpringfieldwithoutbecomingatthetimethecommonpropertyofallthegossips。Theevidenceisbewildering。Ifindmyselfunabletoacceptthedisappointedweddingguestsasestablishedfacts,eventhoughthelateststudentofHerndonhasnodoubts。
LincolnandHerndon,321-322。ButwhetherthebrokenmarriagestoryistrueorfalsethereisnodoubtthatLincolnpassedthroughadesolatinginwardexperienceabout“thefatalfirstofJanuary“;thatitwasrelatedtothebreakingofhisengagement;andthatforatimehissufferingswereintense。
TheletterstoSpeedarethesufficientevidence。Lincoln,I,175;182-189;210-219;240;261;267-269。Thepromptexplanationofinsanitymaybecastaside,oneofthosefoolishdelusionsofshallowpeopletowhomallabnormalconditionsareofthesamenatureasallothers。LincolnwrotetoanotedWesternphysician,DoctorDrakeofCincinnati,withregardtohis“case“——thatis,hisnervousbreakdown——andDoctorDrakerepliedbutrefusedtoprescribewithoutaninterview。Lamon,244。
V。PROSPERITY。
1。Carpenter,304-305。
2。Lamon,243,252-269;Herndon,226-243,248-251;N。andH。,201,203-12。
3。AgreatmanyrecollectionsofLincolnattempttodescribehim。Exceptinalargeandgeneralwaymostofthemshowthatlackofdefinitevisualizationwhichcharacterizesthememoriesofthecarelessobserver。Hisheight,hisbonyfigure,hisawkwardness,therudelychiseledfeatures,themysteryinhiseyes,thekindlinessofhisexpression,thesearetheelementsofthepopularportrait。Nowandthenacloserobserverhasaddedadetail。WitnessthemasterlycommentofWaltWhitman。
Herndon’saccountofLincolnspeakinghastheearmarksofaccuracy。Theattemptbytheportraitpainter,Carpenter,torenderhiminwordsisquotedlaterinthisvolume。Carpenter,217-218。Unfortunatelyhewasneverpaintedbyanartistofgreatoriginality,byonewhowasequaltohisopportunity。Myauthorityforthetextureofhisskinisaladyofunusualclosenessofobservation,thelateMrs。M。T。W。CurwenofCincinnati,whosawhimin1861intheprivatecarofthepresidentoftheIndianapolisandCincinnatirailroad。AnexhaustivestudyoftheportraitsofLincolnisinpreparationbyMr。WinfredPorterTruesdell,whohasavaluablepaperonthesubjectinThePrintConnoisseur,forMarch,1921。
4。Herndon,264。
5。Ibid。
6。Ibid。,515。
7。AvitalquestiontothebiographerofLincolnisthecredibilityofHerndon。HehasbeenaccusedofcapitalizinghisrelationwithLincolnandproducingasensationalimageforcommercialpurposes。ThoughhisLifedidnotappearuntil1890
whentheofficialworkofNicolayandHaywasinprint,hehadbeenlecturingandcorrespondinguponLincolnfornearlytwenty-fiveyears。The“sensational“firsteditionofhisLifeproducedastormofprotest。Thebookwaspromptlyrecalled,workedover,toneddown,andreissued“expurgated“in1892。
SuchbiographersasMissTarbellappeartoregardHerndonasamereromancer。ThewellpoisedLincolnandHerndonrecentlypublishedbyJosephFortNewtonholdswhatIfeelcompelledtoregardasasounderview;namely,thatwhileHerndonwasattimesrecklessandattimesbiased,neverthelessheisinthemaintobereliedupon。