Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Who was the Father of Abraham Lincoln? The Lexington Historian An? swers His Critics And Furnishes Circumstantial Evi? dence Connecting Calhoun and Nancy Hanks. To the Editor of the State : I have read the criticisms in your paper and others on the Calhoun and Lincoln tragedy which- you copied from the Lexington Dispatch. I have reviewed calmly and dispas? sionately, aud I hope unselfishly what those gentlemen m their rage and temper have seen proper to sny and have considered deliberately the harsh and abusive terms used by them to express their indignation. I am sorry the critics have allowed their vehemence and sarcasm to get the better of their judgment and better sense so far as to use such un? called for and needless sentiments Because these gentlemen do not know these things is no reason they are untrue.; and because they 6eem wil ling to be satisfied with the situation and go on believing a falsehood themselves, because they have con? tented themselves with what the en? cyclopaedias have said, is a lame ex? cuse to try and lessen and berate men who believe they know better and are willing to state the reasons for their belief. There are many men who believe they know all that is written and believe ali the history of the past has been written and that nothing can be added thereto. These articles from myself and the views expressed in the papers will go to the discriminating public and from that great tribunal from which there is no appeal each one will receive his due consideration for the full value of his worth and the fiery, severe, viodictive manner will not be con 8idered argument nor good grounds of appeal, and to that great tribunal, in ail the sincerity of which I am capable. I reaffirm ray sincerity in making the statement contained in the extracts from the Lexington Dis? patch. The part copied was from an article in a series written for the Lex: ington Dispatch on "The Handwrit? ing- of God in the Government of Men/7 and was intended to show from the inspired historians of the interferences of Providence in the -civil and political governments of the world. Io the series I went on to show how great spirits had been raised up at various times of the world's history on great occasions, such as Joseph, Moses, David, (Queen Esther, Daniel, &c, among the Hebrews, and Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus the Great, Alexander the Great among the Gentiles, and said that the indications were that Abra? ham Lincoln was a great man on a great occasion, and how any sane man made it a personal attack and a .slanderous assault on Abraham Lin? coln and his mother is to me an un? explained mystery. To say that John C Calhoun ever did or thought wrong is an unpardon able crime against the history of the State and the one who does it is a greater sinner than the Gallileans, whose blood Pilate mingled with the sacrifices, and a more guilty wretch than the eighteen on whom the tower .of Siloam fell. 1 was fully aware of all the American, Britannica and Cathcart's encyclopaedias had to say about it, but did not believe them. The first got erroneous information and each one copied. It was the best they had in reach at the time. Encyclopaedias are not infallible any more than other human informa tion. I believe it is a settled, fact for some time that Abraham was not the son of Thomas Lincoln, but was an illigitemate child and who the father was has been the dispute. His parentage has been claimed from several directions, but I believe the paternity of Calhoun is the only one that is correct I have known of these facts for several years and the .first impression of mine on that issue is as far back as 24 3'ears And ibis is no theory in Anderson county, and there are living, responsible men there whose fathers gave them the tradition and with some of them it comes direct from the Calhoun fara iiy The letter of Jas. F. Tribbie in the News and Courier shows very plainly that Judge Orr had this nonsense in his head before our civil war and be? fore Mr. Lincoln was President. I have letters in my possession show? ing that to be the impression of many responsible citizens of Ander suii and Abbeville counties to-day. The names of two men in Anderson are mentioned by Mr. Tribbie in his article. He stated that the Hon. B. F. Crayton stated that James L. Orr, who was congressman, governor, judge, and died as minister to Rus? sia, when he met Mr. Lincoln before the war in Kentucky saw the favor of the Hanks family in the person of Mr. Lincoln. The likeness was so strong that his inquiries led himto find out that Lincoln, wfio was a ris? ing young man, was the son of a Miss Nancy Hank6, who had married Thomas Lincoln. On his return he narrated the fact and learned from the Hanks family that about the be? ginning of this century Nancy \ ; flanks, the sister of Luke Bani \ had gone to Kentucky and had be? ! lost to history-had never been se< I since by any of her family. Jud< ! Orr in accounting for this at the tin to Senator drayton, said that abo that time several families had gone Kentucky from "this country. Judge Orr ?aid all this, kuowi? nothing of the under current of tl Calhoun trouble, it is certain ar beyond controversy that a Nani Hanks, a young lady, did about tb; time leave Anderson county and d go to Kentucky ; that she nev? came back and was never located b any of the family afterwards at) that her brother, Luke Hanks, ri mained here,, raised a family an died here. It is certain that tl] mother of Abraham Lincoln was Miss Nancy Hanks and came to Kei tucky when a young woman. Th one difference being, the encyclopai dias said she came from Virginia an the troth says she came from Andei son, S C This is also strengthened by the fae that while this is a very noted woma her family can't be located io Virgini i or Kentucky. Why do they Dot local the Hanks family in Virginia or Kee rocky? Everyone who has read the lil of Lincoln feels astonished that no mor is known of the Hanks family in Vii gioia ; and the scarcity of materu about Nancy Hanks is very significan to any one who will impartially view th situation. How do these men accour. for rbexe two ladies going at the sam time to the same place and one disap pearing entirely from history-bu strange that the one who disappears i from ?his State and yet the child an man is a perfect reproduction of he brother and kindred in Anderson, S C How strange it is for a stranger from distant State (no kin that any one cai say) should thus give a lad to th world the very likeness and image c men hundreds of miles away, whom sh never saw and of whom she neve beard. And why should he b so far ahead the rest of the Lincoln Hanks family, if any are these? Bu is it strange or hard to account for hi likeness or his brain and intellect if w take the others aod suppose bim ti have beeo the child we are searcbio{ out. and the son of Nancy Hanks o Anderson? Does not reason point ti the reasonable conclusion that unde such circumstances the situation ma] be very innocently misstated? It is mon thao natural that she aod young Cal houn would both be interested in mis directing the mind of the public. Jus at this crisis she is in Kentucky like ; meteor fallen from the sky, and no fara ily record either in history of fiction except in these encyclopedias, and thei have been exploded long since. Thi conditions oan all be fulfilled by taking the truth as history will some day state viz : that Nancy Hanks left Anderson S. C, and went to Kentucky and raisec a sou whose oame was Abraham Lin coln This accounts for his favor, bil birth in Kentucky, his ability of mind etc.. etc She was the daughter of i tavern-keeper in Anderson county, neai CraytoDville, and near where bott Judge Orr aud Senator Crayton were born, whose name was Hanks. It wac at this tavern that young Calhoun fre? quently stopped when traveling by the old dirt road in the old line stage in the early days. John C. Calhoun had finished bis ed? ucation at Yale college, bad completed his law course at Fitchfield, Conn., and had settled down to practice at Abbe? ville, C. H. He was just commencing life, was ambitious and active and gift? ed. It was under these circumstances that he became acquiauted with the j young girl and daughter of the tavern keeper. She was several years younger than bo was. It was about this time Bhe went to Kentucky. And why go to Kentucky? She went under the con? trol of a horse drover from that State, who, too, was accustomed to take his board while in that county at Hanks' tavern, and carried her off fully aware of the situation. She never again came to her native land, but was lost to history till after her death aud her resurrection in her gifted son. And if it is still "in poor taste and less truth," I will still say that "thus poor Nancy Hanks leaves her native land and makes her home among strangers." And will I further say (he history of her country i is a monument to her's and her son's j memory. To me it is clear that this Nancy ! Hanks is the Nancy Hanks Lincoln of j Kentucky, and how and why she waa j there is the darkest page in the history of John C. Calhoun. ; * The Calhoun part in this tangled web I will notice in a future article. Since writing the above, ? have just read fn the News and Courier of March 15, two articles, one from H. S. H. re j thrashing the same old encyclopedia j tale over again and with a strained ef j fort to be at the same time ? historic, literary and sarcastic, thinks that through ignorance and j a desire for cheap notoriety I have j entirely gotten up a mixed medley of one John Calhoun of Massachusetts : and some information in fictions and ! articles in McClure's Magazine. And I the News and Courier, in its headlines, ! strains at a gnat also with H. 8. H., I and iti doing so they both have to swal : low camels to digest this same old story that has been discarded ii. S. H. j seems to be better adapted to writing :i:agazine stories than to catching on i j to historical connection. I don't like to see a man sail uoder a false maintop : ito shield his cowardice. Another is ! from a mao i'Sigma," who relates a conversation jilt h a Kentuckian in j 1S86, who Jjftd near Mr. Lincoln's | birthplace io Kentucky He rel?tes that this Kentuckian told him Nancy Hanks was '"a very pretty backwoods girl" who waa poor and ??literate, and i a man of means took advantage of her | and hired Thomas Lineolu to marry her | and gave hun tour negroes. That ; afterwards he sold those negroes und j moved to Illinois. That Lincoln was a mao of little force, and tha5 this mar? riage occurred just before or very short ly after Abraham Lincoln's birth, and probably he uever knew any better but adds very truthfully, "but be ibis as it may, Lincoln was not the farber of | Abraham Lincoln " These statements, : ' Sigma" says, came from a native Kentuckian who lived near the birth- ! place of Abraham Lincoln, and said he "knew many oid people who were well acquainted with thc facts." This is a statement from his- birthplace and shows that encyc'.ooaedias are not int"* 1 - Hole. That Nancy Ha-oks was a ''very pretty backwoods country giri" is true, and as he adds, "possessed of many amiable qualities," is also true, and that advantage was taken of her coo?dence I believe is equally true, but will the.io custodians of the "mighty dead" and those hero worshippers al? low me to state by whom *? I shall try to run the fiery gauntlet and will eveu dare to say hy wb-om ! This is a part of unwritten history, but some day will be true history and accepted by the sin? cere seekers of the truth. It is conceded on all sides that Lin? coln was brutally unkind to little Abe and for him ??ade Jordan a hard road to travel, and his severe treatment run j him from home about nine years old. ! Why was he so especially unkind to ? little Abe? The readers of youri papers have seen enough of this cold world to know whv and ere I say so have answered this question already. Yours for truth. D. J Knotts. Swansea, S C., March 18, 1896. Senators by Direct Vote. Favorable Report on a Con? stitutional Amendment. Washington,. March 20 -The senate committee on privileges and elections this morniog made a favorable report on the amendmen: to the Constitution providing for the election of United States senators by a direct vote of the people. The report is very voluminous. Among other things it says : "In the judgment of your committee any move? ment that looks to the right of the people to be beard directly in the election of senators cannot but re? sult beneficiary to all concerned. The adoption of this proposed amendment will, in the judgment, of your commit? tee, bring the senate into more amicable relations with the people It will re? lieve prejudices now existing which are deeply and dangerously becoming fast? ened upon the public mind. It will invoke a spirit of mutual forbearance and respect as between the senate and the people which unfortunately does not now exist to that degree that is de? sirable. It will restore confidence. It will tend to elevate the character and dignity, increase the usefulness, extend the influence and justly magnify ;he power of the senate, and, at the same ?me, promote the welfare of all the people of the republic. The tendency of public opinion is to disparage the senate and depreciate its dignity, its usefulness, its integrity, its power. If there is any cause for this tendency in the public mind, it should be re? moved without delay. Although the senate of the United States should be, and in fact is, the most dignified as well as the most important legislative body in the world, the tendency in pub? lic jourDalism and popular mind, is in a large degree to detract from its import- | ance, mimimize its d.ignity and power and cast the spirit of obloquy over and around it and its members While the committee is of the opinion that the impression which leads to all this is to ! a very great extent, at least not well | founded, yet it is a fact that cannot be j ignored, that it exists." "One weighty and principal objec? tion to the present system ot electing senators by the legislatures of the re? spective States," the report continues "is that the power and right of the in- j dividual voters are hedged about and circumscribed, his will is manacled, his ! volition paralyzed, he cannot vote for j bia choice. He cannot, in fact, vote directly at all, but must content him self with casting a vote for members of! the legislature who may or may not properly represent his wishes in the vote they may cast for senator. It car- ! ries with it thc implication that the people, the qualified voters of a State, are, for some reason unfit for the full exercise of the elective franchise, ex cept io a qualified aod largely restricted j sense. The present system is iu prac tice, purpose and effect, a declaration I that for some occult reason which is in 1 no way made manifest, it is unsafe and i unprejudicial to the public interests to commit the election of senators lo thc : vote of the people. Thc Committee j points out that the material interest- of the State suffer by reason of protracted senatorial contests that are frequent oc? currences. Instances in New York, Oregon, Washington, Moutaua, Idalu? ' Wyoming and Kentucky art.' cited. The recent contest before the legisla- ! ture of the State of Delaware, says the : report, "is fresh in thc public mind,: resulting in the claim *aow pending of j Mr. Dupont to a seat in the senate, j while the daily reports of the iutermin able contest in the legislature of the State or' Kentucky with no results, many weary months of fruitless ballot? ing, adds strength to file proposition ot your committee Uouiinuin;: on this line the report says : ."Bot another vital objection to the election of senators hy the legisla? ture and in /aver of the change pro? posed must be apparent to all. How frequently is ii true that in the elec? tion of members of a ?'ai? legislature at a time whet* such legislature has as one of its duties the election of a sen? ator, every consideraron is lost sight of, except tb? solitary one as to how can? didates, if elected, wiil vote on the question of the na'orshtp. The question, as to the canaidate'a qualifi? cations for the business of general leg? islation OF the views he entertains witto reference to the great, material interests of the State are wholly lost sight of. Popular opinion has, the committee says taken hord of the subject and the de? mand for this change is loud and em? phatic;. The belief in the public mind is rapidly gaining that proper deference is not given by the senate tht; Unit? ed States to the demands and interests pf the people and that is largely doe to the fact, that senators do not owe tbeiir positions to the people who are permaneut. but to the "legislatures, which are transient.1' ?D conclusion, the committee says : "The people demand a voice io the election of seuators and such demand in the judgment of your committee &bould be respected. So, whatever , may be said to the contrary,, whatever j may be thought of the sanctity of the ; Constitution as it stands, it must be ad? mitted by all that the people are be ; coming restive under its restraints on ! the rights of those entitled under the I Constitution and laws to exercise the ! elective franchise. The movement of the people in the interests of the peo pie, as on many other questions, is stalwart and ui iversal and the sooner this great fact is recognized by the rep? resentatives of the people the better." Dehorning Milk Cows. Dehorniog milk cows is becoming a general practice. The results are satis? factory, but the operation is cruel. Be? sides being dreadfully painful, it must be a severe shock to the cow's system^ However, in the opinion of mo9i dairy? men, the end justifia? the means. As many of our dairymen raise their cows we suggest to them the experiment of preventing horns from coming as being preferable to cutting them off after the cow is grown. We note in a bulletin from the Georgia Experiment Station the following : ''The germ or embryo horn of a very young calf mav be easily and quickly destroyed. Take a stick of caustic pot? ash, dip the enos io water, rub it for about ten seconds on the spot where one horn is to appear. Then wet git again and apply in the same manner to the other horn. Repeat the application immediately. Nothing more will be necessary. The calf will never have a horn if the operation be performed be? fore it is three days old.'' Sewing Machines and Organs cleaned and repaired at the Sumter Music House. In going to get a drink stop and t\ink what bargains in Pianos, Organs and Sewing Machines are to be bad at the Sumter Music House, in the Masonic Temple building. Shortens labor, lessens pain, ~;- '*'. diminishes danger to life of both mother and child and leaves her in condi? tion more favorable to speedy recovery. "Stronger after than before confinement" says a prominent midwife, ls the best remedy FOR RISIN6 8RE?ST Known and worth thc price for that alone. Endorsed und recommended by midwives and all ladies who have used it. Beware of substitutes and imitations. Makes Ciiild-Birtii Easy, Sent bv Express or mail cn receipt of price, $1.00 per hattie. Book "TO MOTHERS" mailed free, containing voluntary testimonials. BRADFIELD REGULATOR CO.? ATLANTA, GA. SOLU BY ALL DRUGGISTS. Blaster's Sale. State of South Carolina, | COUNT? OF SUMTER. IN THE COUUT OF COMMON PLEAS. IF. Moultrie DcLorme, Plaintiff, against Sarah \ Adams, Louisa Gadsden, Rebecca Hamilton, j John Adams, Mack Adams, an infant under ? the age of fourteen years : George Montgom? ery, Mark Montgomery, Aaron Montgomery, and Sarah Montgomery. Defendants. BY VIRTUE of a decretal Order ir. the above entitled action, dated March 14. ' \8'J6. I will as Master tor Sumter County, : sell, on tbe Sftlesday to wit : the first Monday j in April next, 1S9G, being the sixth day of i said month, between the hour? ot' ll o'clock . in the forenoon and 5 o'clock in the arter- ! noon, at Sumter Court House, in the .City cf ; Sumter : All that parcel or tract of land situate in i Sumter County, in the Stute aforesaid, cor.-! taining thirty-four'.nd one-half acre?, more ; or less, conveyed to George Adams, deceased, by James D. Standing, by deed, dnted 15th Marri-.. 1875, and recorded itt the office ot the Registi-r of Mesi.c Conveyance for Sumter County it. Rook V . Mt page638: bounded on . th'/ North hy the purre; of land conveyed to John Adams : on thc East by ?anns, now or formerly, ot Janus I>. B'.anding : on the: South by lands conveyed by James I). Bland, lng, and Weft by land formerly of Dr. J. M. Puts. Terms, cash. Purchaser to pay for papers. . W . H. INGRAM, Master for Sumter Countv. ! March 16th, 1895. The largest piece of ?good tobacco ever sold for io cents and The 5 cent piece is nearly as large as you ^get of other high grades for io cents Webster's Unabridged FOR $2. In Full Leather Binding. For $1.5?, In Heavy Cloth Binding. These prices are offered only to Subscribers to the Watchman and Southron V V ho pay one year in advance. It is an unprecedented offer anti was never approached in this section. -FOR I* You obtain the best weekly paper in the ^^9o^9^W State-eight pages of the latest news and miscellaneous reading and a Leather Bound Webster's Una? bridged Dictionary, former price of Dictionary ?10. I have bought a lot of them at a reduced price and offer them at a still greater reduction as a premium. Remember that it is the UNABRIDGED WEBSTER and not a cut edition. Come at once before the stock of Dictionaries is exhausted. Clubbing Rates : The Watchman and Southron has been able to make special Club Rates with the following named, well known papers and periodicals. The prices enumerated are in addition to the reg? ular subscription ($1.50 a year) of ,The Watchman & Southron: Home and Farm, 30c. Washington Post, 30c. Womankind, 15c. Cosmopolitan, 90c. Farm News. 15c. Munsey's Magazine, 85c. Atlanta Constitution, 80c. Standard Delineator, 85c. N. Y. Thrice-a-Week World, 60c. These prices are strictly cash in advance in conjunction with subscription to the Watchman & Southron. Se:.d remittances to SUMTER. S. O. NO YANK EE! . Order Your Tbaok God ! I was born near Edgefield, S. C. PROVISIONS ?ND GROCERIES I have invented ihe FROM BES%?OT7TrEST m. I. STEFFENS & SON, OlUUJY nilwlM Wholesale Agents, Charleston, S C timi has ever been invented. Agents wanted, -Agents for Address MOTT'S CIDER WGreen^l';?la. ? RED SEAL CIGrABS, Feb. 26th. AND DOVE HAMS