Lincoln Part 70

30 "for his age": Ibid.

31 "men struggled for": CW, 4:235236.

31 in elementary mathematics: The following paragraph is based on an excellent article by Maurice Dorfman, "Lincoln's Arithmetic Education: Influence on His Life," LH 68 (Summer 1966): 6180. Lloyd A. Dunlap, "Lincoln's Sum Book," LH 61 (Spring 1959): 610, is also valuable.

31 "go on again": Mrs. Thomas Lincoln, statement to WHH, Sept. 8, 1865, HWC.

32 "Lincoln's s.h.i.+n bone": Nathaniel Grigsby, statement to WHH, Sept. 12, 1865, HWC.

32 began to deteriorate: For a sensitive interpretation of Lincoln's difficult relations with his father, see Charles B. Strozier and Stanley H. Cath, "Lincoln and the Fathers: Reflections on Idealization," in Stanley H. Cath et al., eds., Fathers and Their Families (Hillsdale, N. J.: a.n.a.lytic Press, 1989), chap. 14.

32 sight in the other: Hidden Lincoln, p. 367.

32 "doing nothing great": Nathaniel Grigsby, statement to WHH, Sept. 12, 1865, HWC.

32 "hoeing, making fences": Beveridge, 1:67.

32 "it himself first": Mrs. Thomas Lincoln, statement to WHH, Sept. 8, 1865, HWC.

32 "work by reading": Dennis Hanks to WHH, June 13, 1865, HWC.

32 "of his sensations": Ibid.

33 boy got older: It is possible that Abraham Lincoln doubted that Thomas Lincoln really was his father. There was a strong undercurrent of gossip in Kentucky that mumps, or perhaps an accidental castration, rendered Thomas Lincoln impotent. That left the door open for speculation that Abraham's father was one Abraham Enlow, who bore more of a physical resemblance to the future President than Thomas Lincoln did. These legends have long ago been exploded, and the story of Lincoln's b.a.s.t.a.r.dy is utterly groundless. See William E. Barton, The Paternity of Abraham Lincoln: Was He the Son of Thomas Lincoln? (New York: George H. Doran Co., 1920), for a sober, but unintentionally funny, examination of allegations that Abraham Lincoln was fathered by Enlow, Chief Justice John Marshall, John C. Calhoun, and others. The point here, however, is that the story about Enlow (sometimes spelled "Inlow") was circulated at least by the time of the Civil War. For instance, John J. Joel wrote to William H. Seward on July 22, 1863 (Seward MSS, UR), that the President's "real name is Abraham Hanks.-He is the illegitimate son by a man named Inlow-from a Negress named Hanna Hanks." Such rumors may well have reached Abraham Lincoln's ears when he was a boy.

33 John D. Johnston: A. H. Chapman to WHH, Sept. 28, 1865, HWC.

33 "he ever did": Mrs. Thomas Lincoln, statement to WHH, Sept. 8, 1865, HWC.

33 "him to work": Matilda Johnston Moore, statement to WHH, Sept. 8, 1865, HWC.

33 "ciphering-writing Poetry": Dennis F. Hanks, statement to WHH, Sept. 8, 1865, HWC.

33 "like killing snakes": John Romine, statement to WHH, Sept. 14, 1865; Elizabeth Crawford to WHH, Sept. 7, 1865-both in HWC.

33 "ambition for education": CW, 3:511; 4:61.

33 about his father: Strozier, Lincoln's Quest for Union, p. 14, strongly makes this point.

34 "of all kinds": Beveridge, 1:79.

34 "Abe and listen": Dennis F. Hanks to WHH, June 13, 1865, HWC.

34 "owned or worn": Jesse W. Weik, The Real Lincoln: A Portrait (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1922), p. 25.

34 "made to do": Herndon's Lincoln, 1:52.

34 he slaughtered hogs: Green B. Taylor, statement to WHH, Sept. 16, 1865, HWC.