Lincoln Part 68

20 "and absolute darkness": W. D. Howells, Life of Abraham Lincoln (facsimile ed.; Springfield, Ill.: Abraham Lincoln a.s.sociation, 1938), p. 18. Howells's biography carries unusual authority because Lincoln, at the request of a friend, read it and corrected what errors he found in the margins.

21 of public service: This account of the Lincoln family relies heavily on Thomas L. Purvis, "The Making of a Myth: Abraham Lincoln's Family Background in the Perspective of Jacksonian Politics," JISHS 75 (Summer 1982): 148160, an important interpretation. Ida Tarbell, In the Footsteps of the Lincolns, offers excellent sketches of these early Lincolns. Those interested in the more technical aspects of Lincoln genealogy should consult J. Henry Lea and J. R. Hutchinson, The Ancestry of Abraham Lincoln (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1909); Marion Dexter Learned, Abraham Lincoln: An American Migration (Philadelphia: William J. Campbell, 1909); and Waldo Lincoln, History of the Lincoln Family (reprint ed.; Boston: Goodspeed's Book Shop, 1981).

21 "mind and memory": CW, 2:217.

21 "of the family": Francis F. Browne, The Every-Day Life of Abraham Lincoln (Chicago: Browne & Howell Co., 1913), 1:4. See also "Uncle Mordecai Lincoln: Only Lincoln Relative with Whom the President Was Familiar," Lincoln Kinsman, no. 12 (June 1939).

22 a difficult time: My account of Thomas Lincoln and his property holding derives princ.i.p.ally from Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood.

22 "and good natured": Samuel Haycraft to WHH, Aug. 1, 1865 [?], HWC.

22 "the creek bottoms": E. R. Barbee to William H. Herndon, May 25, 1866, Lamon MSS, HEH.

22 a shadowy image: Betty J. Atkinson, "Some Thoughts on Nancy Hanks," LH 73 (Fall 1971): 127137, reviews the historiography. The only attempt at a biography is Harold E. Briggs and Ernestine B. Briggs, Nancy Hanks Lincoln: A Frontier Portrait (New York: Bookman a.s.sociates, 1952).

23 his "angel mother": Joshua F. Speed, Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln and Notes of a Visit to California: Two Lectures (Louisville, Ky.: John P. Morton and Co., 1884), p. 19.

23 "owe to her": Herndon's Lincoln, 1:3

23 "off the field": Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, p. 143.

23 "would learn much": Dennis F. Hanks, statement written by A. H. Chapman, Sept. 8, 1865, HWC.

23 was a Catholic: Roger H. Futrell, "Zachariah Riney: Lincoln's First Schoolmaster," LH 74 (Fall 1972): 136142.

23 "to his school": Samuel Haycraft to WHH, Hardin Co., Ky., [Aug. 1, 1865], Lamon MSS, HEH.

23 "somewhat wild nature": Dennis Hanks, statement written by A. H. Chapman, Sept. 8, 1865, HWC.

24 "land t.i.tles in Ky.": CW, 4:6162.

24 opposed to slavery: Warren, Lincoln's Parentage and Childhood, chaps. 14 and 18, offers an excellent account of the Lincolns' religious views.

24 "think, and feel": CW, 7:281.

24 age of sixteen: Mark E. Neely, Jr., The Abraham Lincoln Encyclopedia (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1982), p. 188.

25 on the swine: CW, 1:386.

25 proper log cabin: Charles H. Coleman, "The Half-Faced Camp in Indiana-Fact or Myth?" ALQ 7 (Sept. 1952): 138146, demolishes the myth that the Lincolns remained in the half-faced camp for the entire winter.

25 "all the time": Dennis F. Hanks to WHH, June 13, 1865, HWC.

25 "any larger game": CW, 4:62.

25 "and harvesting seasons": Ibid.

26 no permanent damage: Herndon's Lincoln, 1:5152.