Show V P 5 A r we 17 r ILI W 1 4 r is tv mm I 1 t I 1 V 44 k of aa wr 71 Y 15 r Y and her shoulders baah BMW Z 4 ay 72 sr A HE history of every great man declares clarea de a well known writer begins at hla his smothers an others knee behind every great endeavor and tinsel unselfish disia deed every noble career caleer of every illustrious man will be found a woman acoman the frail A and gentle creature cro aturo whose nimo name perhaps remains obscured bo be hind bind the glory of 0 her son aon but who began to teach him high though td and ideals and to lisp the words of our father which art in heaven abraham Lincol ns career began at the knoo knee ot of nancy hanks lincoln his mother it was she who taught him to read from an old nible bible ho be camo came to know so BO well who told him the in aesoph tables and helped litin him study the he kentucky alte who licati tho letters ot of the alphabet and first trained his bis hand to scrawl thoin them it was waa sho she who instilled in him a hatred ot of slavery and by her own jentle loveliness inspired a regard and esteem for lasted throughout his life nancy na n ey hanks lincoln one ot the grout presidents historians declares was stoop abbul shouldered tiered thin breasted sadat sad at times miserable r a antle kind uncomplaining wom an W whose life had bad been one of hard labor 1 with faw and who died before her prime this was waa nancy hanks lincoln who lay idy 0 on her deathbed tired and worn her face wan hir her thin bony bour bands banZa clasping those of ol 01 a milne bear old lad whose deep sunk eis we oiled with tents tears and who when be later be a liberator of a race of 0 men declared t f all that I 1 am or ever hope to be I 1 owe ko do my mother blessings on her memory from hla his mother lincoln lincola once told hla fits fr irlen lenil dand and law partner william 11 II herndon lie he believed bel loveil lie he inherited hla his power of analar als Is hla hial aogle his mental activity and hla his am ain ibitson ifer her memory remained with him onn one of fihs ihs things thIng of his life a noble typo 0 of o good heroic womanhood manhood vo I 1 noncy nancy it hands ranfis was five years old when her parents sold bold their farm arm lit in virginia and went pioneering westward toward kentucky nancy wa w the youngest of a family of eight children iier her lather was joseph hanks and tier her nancy shipley a daughter of robert shipley nancy kancy was born february 6 1784 1781 the tha journey westward was a perilous one and it la 13 said nancy was waa stolen by indiana while her parents were on the way ray roads heads vere baill bad in tact fact there was only a footpath through tb roush the wilderness where passed the long procession tit of women children on horsa back men trudging behind driving tho the cars cara yang picture to yourself the procession do de inscribed by justice justtna robertson through rough arl rations vat lons incredible end and perils thick of tarn men women and children came in forming continuous streams ol of human burnan boldea horses homos cattle and ot other er domes tic animals moving onward along a lonely and home homeless levs path to a wild and cheerless lima land cast your eyes back he continues on that long ions procession of miss lo narles la in the causa of civilization behold tho the men on toot with their trusty guns on their shoulders driving stock block and lending leading pack horses and the tha women some walking with palls ou on their heads others riding with children la in their lap and other children swung la in bRal on bersee hoi sec fastened to the tails of others going before see them encamped at night lug to bo massa massacred cred by bit indians Ind lunn behold them in tho month ot december la fix that memorable beaton of unprecedented cold called the hard winter traveling two erthree cr three miles a day daya and li imagine little lettla hanks spindly legged legg ed and abd golden haired as allis ee smuggled under blankets pursuing the road of the pioneers in the child abo waa to become the moil molier lter of p abraham lincoln w ana 1 as now developed a courage and perseverance J which was waa to be ba inherited Inherit Pil and which alter after ward vard marked haq rne atthe c the great gre arat zat of men the farally settled fie Ud lu in washington county NY ky la in winder finier hard work tham even een april pr hatton won tretis had bp tn bo b felled a log cabin betit aad shelter erected for the stock cg little naicy Ni icy aith hor her ilsters elizabeth and aaa r cirod IB 0 heir cocking and bowing fl preparing 6 the rude home hom while the tha brothers bro arles hr les joshua willtz thom as and aia jose joae aji wont went clout father clear clearing aithel nd tor for I 1 ibe silar thoy the and ft fished in n tho the cold arf 1 Q coo V 4 IL rhuy streams and when spring came they dug the hard stony ground and planted wheat and corn thus four years passed tour four years of hard bard toll and hard bard living and joseph hanks died not IS lot long afterward te tb e mother worn with tod tell followed tho the brothers and nd daughters marr married Iod and nancy left alone wad tation taken in by her aunt lucy a sister of her mother who had married richard berry rry ahta homo home wnm ausa 4 amyy one up pt chooro cho nud pretty when nancys father died he be left a will it Is still on antha the records or of the bardstown Hards Bards town clerks office and as aa will ha be seen been nancy was tho the proud heiress of one ona heifer it a pet called beldy the tha quaint will which was probated may 14 1793 runs in the naina of god amen aden I 1 joseph branks of nelson county state of 0 kentucky boing being of sound bound mind and Ifie memory mory but weak in body and calling to mind the frailty of all human nature mature do make and demise this my last wilt and testament in the mauner manner and form following to wit 0 item I 1 give and bequeath unto my son on thomas one sorrel home horse called major item I 1 give giro and bequeath eath unto my son con joshus joshua one gray mare bonny item I 1 give and bequeath unto my eon william one gray horse called gilbert item I 1 give and bequeath unto my son con charted charles one roan horse called tobe item igloe I 1 give and bequeath unto my son eon joseph one horse horae called bald also the land whereon wb ereon I 1 now live co containing one hundred and fifty acres item I 1 give and bequeath unto my daughter elizabeth one heifer better yearling edited gentle item I 1 give and bequeath unto my lay daughter dau gher polly one heifer belter yearling called lady item 1 I give giro and bequeath unto my daughter nancy one ona helter heifer yearling called reldy item I 1 give and bequeath unto my wife nanny all and singular 11 my whole estate during her life afterward to be equally divided beti between veon sal ill ray my children it la Is also my wish and desire that the whole of nt the property Pr first above bequeathed thed should be the property ot of my wife alfa during her life here too can bo be found a record of the need which budded so eo nobly in joseph hanks grandson gran daon joseph hanks hanka unlike most of the pioneers owned lie ino slaves when nancy hanlo hanks later married thomas lincoln they bought no slaves and never ri ver owned any nancys life while able llcy with her aunt lucy was waa happy she grew into a 4 young miss of unusual beauty and became the belle of 0 the she lear learned ried to read and write and wan considered exceptionally accomplished vit shed whon she ehe married thomas thomaa lincoln she blie taught him to spell the letters of oe his bla name there are but few and add meager descriptions of nancy hanks 0 ono no learns learna that sho she was bost light of figure that her halt hair was waa pate pale golden afloat aalen and her eyes were blue her wit was nimble suitors thronged thron ged the parlor of aunt lucys bucys farm but nancy lost her heart to none she ho laughed sally rally at their protests parried their importunate proposals with jest and wats was so BO good natured to so af and funny about abbat it that sill alt remal remained ned her rl euda nancy often amit to the farm ot joseph hanks itt at where she saw her cousin thomas lincoln thomas was waa a carpenter pe riter and it if the records are true the beat in the tor for many miles ho wt ot only backed and hewed and chiseled wood with 1 but he ha did abat none otherl had succeeded in doing chiseled hla his way into the heart of nancy thomas thomaa lincoln had a varied career ile he was strong as aa an ox al temperate la in ills his lia habits bits au an attendant at church and wom bitterly opposed to slavery doth both hn he and nancy 1 la in thal couple entered a mar marriage riago bond no june 1800 on 14 attio couple were fold by a the tha rev jessu jes J hind who helstad hel tad ocliff a clergy an att was wan an editor cogut county y judge and car pen and a wedding it baj ath werry merrymaking makIng wl and fea cahuas casU sUns as there j tha willi ily cozzi 7 44 pleys and berrys barrys nancys cousins relatives and friends from the country roundabout in a pit near the house a great fire was waa built over which a sheep was placed and barbecued during the morning it roasted covered by green boughs and after the wedding it was cut and served for dinner thero there were venison too and wild turkey and ducks the tha wedding was waa remembered for years thore there was no hint of 0 future glory in th the e wedding or bringing brin sing homo home of nancy lincoln wrote nicolay and hay all accounts represent her as a handsome young woman of twenty three of appearance and intellect superior to her lowly fortunes she could read and waitea remarkable accomplishment in her circle and even taught her husband to form the letters of his name lie he had bad no such valuable wedding gift to bestow upon her he be brought her heir to a little house in Elizabeth elizabethtown town where he and ehe and want dwelt together in fourteen feet square for two happy but needy years the couple lived in a log cabin on the banks or of what was wag then known as mill creek picture to your self that haftie of the youns young bride a single room witha with a huge fireplace ure place where logs burned in winter an aix iron fron pot suspended su i from a abrano crano rough chairs hewn by the carpenter husband of logs a number of crude benches a bed made b bf rough trees from which the tha bark had not been rei removed noved a spinning wheel by which tho the industrious wit wife eat mid and kovei the material for clothing a room licking in hi comforts com forta typical of the pioneer cabins or of those days with an opening above into a lott reached by a ladder where things were stored there one day in 1801 nancys first baby was burn it was wan a little girl ani was culled called nancy after the mother later the little girls arr rume fmc WOO was chit ged to sarah that was whan ionna 4 on his second wife paran bush buah thomas thomaa lincoln owned a farm near buffalo which he had bought in 1803 during darius the two years yeara he be lived on mill creek he cultivated tho the farm improving the ground and there he moved the spring following the birth of sarali sarah in their life 0 of lincoln nicolay rind and liny hay writs write thomas thomaa lincoln settled down la in athla ate mat solitude Roll tude to a deeper poverty than any of hla his name had known and thore in the midst of tho the most unpromising circumstances that eyer aver witnessed witness ei the advent adient of a hero into this world abraham lincoln was born bora on february 12 1309 t the tha family however could not hv licen extremely destitute for we axe are told they IMI had a cow aud and ft calf milk and butter and a feather bed abat when abraham Abra limm was vaa four tha family moved again this time to a cabin situated on hill there a third child was orn which died when a few months oatha ro old ot of the ufa life of nancy lincoln at this tima nothing has beai written of hla lit boyhood r Lm eIf seldom spoke but one on can imagine tho the patient woman alone and unas unaa 9 aming the work of 0 her ber household hendla k th the i cows cowa and milking thera them maKII matins 39 butter cleaning the theW eagerly furnished cabin in which abo th family livid lived cooking and spin nine cloth cl th ota ot which nhe madei made the garments garme Afa tor for ler her husband little aarah and abe nancy lincoln beauty ahr roses rii Beit ber chicks her body be became carrie wasted happy spirit never left her she had a word ot of cheer for all her neighbors stories are told ol of how sho she visited the sick and comforted them theman ana how bow when her neighbors were in difficulty her ten der heart war waa moved and she helped them as best she could her life was hard but there was cause for joy in nancy Lincol ns life little abe was her con octant delight at night when her work was over ahe he would open the preceptor book and teach the two children tho the letters ol of the alphabet with what tenderness and love she must have hav e watched them as an they studied so ro hard to memorize the As AB its iss and Cs CB and with what doting fondness she must havo have trained little abes tiny hand band to trace tho the letters on a slate 1 dearly nancy lincoln loved the bible and there tyvr e were readings from the sacred book there was waa told the old old story and these e stories lincoln never forgot when in after life he electrified the world by his eloquence i his mastery of pure and perfect english and hla his tempestuous oratory he retold the hamd etorres the stories he ha heard at his mothers knee ahnee ufa life was not n prosperous oua with the father ile he left kentucky and went prospecting in illinois where he took up land on little pigeon creek tn in spencer county and again the hard worked worked wife was as called upon to move her home with their fum furniture iture packed in a wagon and their cow behind the family started on their long lone pilgrimage in isla ISIO during the tha winter of isla 1816 and 1817 the f faintly lived in a camp the winter was rigorous uncomplainingly the tender bentle gentle woman bore her lot but her health slow slowly I 1 y gave way her face became more wan A rough cabin w was as bagur in the spring and life opened anew land was was cleared thomas lincoln plied piled his bla trade among the scattered inhabitants of the solitary region they began to prosper but the life hild had been too hard bard for the tender loving wife and she sank tinder the burden bur derr one day in october 1818 as aa she tay lai in her bed 10 the little cabin she obe called her two children to her she took the hands oi 0 sarah and the thin serious faced boy be good to orie one another the she said bald brokenly with infinite tenderness tender nesa then she closed her eyes the wonderful smile deepened the sunlight faded into even ing iud ard little abe leaving sarah kneeling by tte tb ebed bed crept away and climbed the pegs pegg in the wall to the garret where he flung himself on the mattress of reaves leaves night fell and from the came a stifled sound bound of 0 sobbing bobbing repressed checked restrained yot BO 80 poignant so keen so eo heart forlorn that the father returning return lne home paused hearing bearing it t his heart araking lie he kney knew the sun light of 0 the boys life had departed many years afterward people wondered at the sorrow indelibly on the face of lincoln like agony graven on a figure of stone before tho the next Me december cember thomas lincoln married sarah bush buah J johnston I 1 anston a widow who 46 tt Is said bald had rejected ted him many years before in later years when Lluc oln again shrouded in sorrow borrow sat eat by the bedside of his little son aon willio who was dying he cried in despair thia la Is tho the hardest trial of my life why la IN it why Is att it A nurse |