Interesting read about Abe Lincoln, Clemson and Abbeville

Feb 17, 2009, 11:13 AM

I'm sure this has come up before in the lounge but for those who have'nt seen it. Who's to say Obama was actually born in Hawaii?

THE MYSTERY OF NANCY HANKS CALHOUN, LINCOLN: ENIGMA STILL INTRIGUES HISTORIANS

Who was Abraham Lincoln?

His true origin becomes lost in a sea of folklore, myths, half-truths and biographical confusion when one attempts to take a hard appraising look into his parental background. But stick to it long enough and look hard enough and out of the perplexities emerges a pattern that seems to make sense, albeit a pattern, which millions profess not to see.

That's the dilemma when it comes to dealing with the true Lincoln. He has been made a saint, a martyr and the symbol of the Republican Party. Lincolnophites have done a good job of raising him on high and placing him on a pedestal as the personification of wisdom, justice, humility and human principles.

The real Lincoln is virtually unknown to the American people of this era. This is not to say he was not a man of great mental ability. He was. But to enshroud him in the cloak of a saint is pure blasphemy. Lincoln was no holy man, even though that huge statue of him in Washington depicts him in a prayerful mood. He was an agnostic to put it mildly and when a young man wrote pamphlets espousing the cause of atheism. This was his privilege. He is to be admired for giving utterance to his true thoughts instead of locking them in a mental closet and posing as a worker in the vineyard. We merely mention this angle to show how far wrong most people are in their appraisal of Lincoln.

Lincoln was a shrewd lawyer. What's more, he charged some of the highest fees of his era. He was well heeled when elected to the presidency. When he died he left a small fortune to his trouble making widow, who promptly squandered it and as far as freeing the slaves, he only freed those behind the confederate lines over whom he had no control. Slaves in territory occupied by Federal forces weren't affected by the emancipation proclamation. Lincoln wasn’t concerned so much with liberating the Negroes as he was with creating confusion within the Confederacy.

BUT WHO WAS THIS LINCOLN? FROM WHENCE DID HE COME?

There are those who say, and not without reason, that Lincoln was the son of John C. Calhoun, whose home still stands on Fort Hill at Clemson, and Nancy Hank of Craytonville. Conclusive proof is lacking but there is proof enough to lend substantial credence to the theory. Lincoln never claimed to be of legitimate birth. To the contrary, William H. Herndon, Lincoln's law partner, claims that Lincoln told him on more than one occasion that he, Lincoln, was an illegitimate. Herndon also said that Lincoln was a he-man, not a melancholic sentimentalist and when occasion demanded could swear in a most eloquent manner.

If Lincoln was an illegitimate, this is not to be held against him. Some of the greatest men in history were illegitimates. Still, the story that he was the son of John C. Calhoun and Nancy Hanks is intriguing enough to justify placing the evidence on exhibit for all to see.

In the beginning, to lend further strength to the illegitimacy theory, we refer to the memoirs of the late Harold Ickes, Secretary of the Interior during the Roosevelt administration. Ickes tells of a conversation he overheard between Roosevelt and the Librarian of Congress. The subject was the purchase of a private collection of Lincoln letters and other papers. The Librarian of Congress quibbled, "Mr. President, " he said, “if these letters are purchased they will become public property and will prove beyond doubt that Lincoln was an illegitimate. Shall we decline to purchase the collection, or shall we purchase it and suppress or destroy papers relating to Lincoln' s paternity?” To this Ickes quoted Roosevelt as replying, “Purchase it and destroy nothing. Whether or not Lincoln was an illegitimate has nothing to do with his greatness.”

What happened to the collection is questionable. As for the Lincoln-Calhoun angle, today is presented what may be termed a “synopsis of facts.” They were gathered by an Independent writer after much research and or the first time the South Carolina angle is tied to the North Carolina angle as presented by the late Judge Felix Alley in his “Random Thoughts and the Musings of a Mountaineer.”

Those readers who wish more than just an assemblage of words should visit the Ebenezer cemetery, south of Anderson and near the Abbeville county line. Here they will find a tombstone erected to Luke Hanks, born October, 1774, died April, 1856. He was the son of Ann and Luke Hanks, and brother of Nancy Hanks. Nearby are ancient tombstones erected to other members of the Hanks family. Parents of Nancy Hanks are buried in the original Hanks graveyard, now deserted to grass and brambles. Their graves are unknown, for native rock slabs protrude here. They bear no inscriptions.

A few miles southward from the Ebenezer community, is Craytonville, a thriving town in the early years of Anderson county and the site of Orr’s tavern. It was operated by Jehu Orr, a veteran of the Revolution. The same tavern had earlier been operated by Ann Hanks.

The tavern had a bar. Nancy Hanks was a barmaid. Orr took over the tavern in 1817. Mention of the tavern introduces into the picture John C. Calhoun, South Carolina’s greatest statesman.

Calhoun returned to his home on an Abbeville county farm from the law school in Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1807 and commenced the practice of law. He had frequent business in Pendleton, seat of government for the Pendleton District. Craytonville was midway between Abbeville and Pendleton. Calhoun often stopped at this tavern for the night. He found the food there quite satisfying, and a certain maid good to look upon. Her name was Nancy Hanks.

This brings up the question. Who were the Hanks? The family history of this stalwart pioneer tribe was long ago carefully traced by the late J.D. Knotts, of Swansea, well known South Carolina historian. He conducted considerable research in Amelia county, Virginia; Hardin and Washington counties, Kentucky; Buncombe county, North Carolina, and Anderson and Abbeville counties in this state (SC).

In brief, Benjamin Hanks came from England, settled in Massachusetts, raised a large family. The Hanks boy were skilled workmen. During the Revolutionary War they made cannonballs for the continental army. After the war, they cast a bell to replace the famous Liberty Bell at Philadelphia, cracked while being rung too violently.

Luke Hanks came to Anderson county in 1778 in company with three other brothers. The brothers went west. Luke stayed, married and became the father of several children. Some of Luke's offsprings married and intermarried with children of Benjamin Harris, who got a number of land grants from 1765 to 1808 in what is now Anderson, Abbeville, Oconee and Greenville counties.

The will of Luke Hanks, dated May 14, 1789, was found on file in the Abbeville court house in, 1910 by B.F. Gary, well known Abbeville attorney. The deceased gave all his land to his wife, Ann Hanks, for life, then to her children. No one knows when Ann Hanks died, but in 1835 the heirs of Luke Hanks commenced a kind of friendly suit to divide up the 210 acres of land he had owned.

For some unknown reason there are two lists of heirs. In one list, a girl, Scilla South, is omitted; in another list, she is included. The same goes for a girl by the name of Susan Hanks, who married a Haynie. Litigation continued until 1842, when all heirs agreed to throw down all the past because of improper, awkward groupings of the heirs. Peter Vandiver, of Anderson, a cautious and able lawyer, then proceeded to straighten things out.

Thomas Hanks, Luke Hanks Jr., and John Hanks were still alive; George and Robert dead; Martha, Elizabeth, Sudie and Judith, who had married four sons of John Haynie, were dead, and Scilla, who had married a South, also dead. Lucretia, who married a Pruitt, was alive. In as much as children of the deceased were to the shares of their parents, there were 57 heirs, 27 of whom had moved out of the state. All were given a legal citation in the Highland Sentinel, a newspaper published at Anderson by I.P. Reed.

Among the descendants beyond the state was one Nancy Hanks. There are five Nancies in the 57 heirs, two Nancy Haynies, one Nancy A. Hanks, Nancy McDonald, and this Nancy Hanks. Nancy A. Hanks was a grandchild and represented by "Guardian ad Lit em". Her skirts are cleared. Then who was the other Nancy Hanks?

She had gone beyond the borders of the state for she never made a showing; never claimed her share in the estate. She was called but chose not to answer.

Now it is known that Luke and Ann Hanks had a daughter by the name of Nancy who disappeared when a young woman. She was the same Nancy Hanks who worked at the Craytonville tavern; the girl who appealed to John C. Calhoun, the young lawyer.

Shortly after the close of the War Between The States in the historic Burt home in Abbeville, General Armstead Burt confided to friends the story of Nancy Hanks. Along about the same time, James L. Orr, of Anderson, then Governor of South Carolina related the same story. In earlier years, John Hanks, grandson of Luke and Ann Hanks, confirmed in the presence of witnesses all that was said in later years.

General Burt married John C. Calhoun's niece. He was a lifelong friend of the Calhoun family. It was at his house that Jefferson Davis and the Confederate Cabinet met for the last time. Following Lincoln's assassination, General Burt told a group of friends in the utmost secrecy that the greatest trial in Calhoun's life was caused by a young woman named Nancy Hanks and when things came to the worst he hired a young man named Lincoln to take her away. This Lincoln was a hog drover, a native of Kentucky. In 1809, Lincoln arrived in Pendleton District with a number of other men and a drove of Tennessee hogs. After selling the hogs, Lincoln was hired to go to Charleston (or Ninety Six) to bring back a cannon for an artillery company which had been organized in proximity of Craytonville. In due time he returned not only the cannon but a keg of rum in addition. This is now known as "The Old Reformer". It stands on the plaza in Anderson. The rum vanished long ago.

Lincoln was not exactly a freelancer. At times he worked for a man named Abe Enloe, a large cattle and slave dealer. Enloe lived in what is now Buncombe county, North Carolina and maintained quite a bit of livestock at Craytonville. Following the expedition to secure the cannon,

Lincoln remained in Craytonville to look after Abe Enloe's interest.

Here he made the acquaintance of John C. Calhoun, who was in quite a "picklement”. He had discovered that Nancy Hanks was well along the way toward giving birth to a child of which he was the father. On learning that Lincoln planned to return to Kentucky within a short time, Calhoun employed him to carry her to the home of her uncle Joseph Hanks, who lived in Elizabethton, Kentucky.

Nancy left Craytonville on horseback, riding behind Lincoln. Nancy's child was born in North Carolina, where Lincoln stopped to talk business with Abe Enloe.

Thus goes the story as related by General Burt; also by James L. Orr, who served as a speaker of the House of Representatives; as Governor of South Carolina, and who died while ambassador to Russia. Orr was especially in position to know about Nancy Hank's situation. He was born in over the tavern there from the Hanks family. When Orr entered politics the Hankses were among his best and most loyal supporters. They confided in him family secrets.

Mrs. Fannie Calhoun Marshall, of Abbeville, who died some 30 years ago at the age of 102, always maintained that Abraham Lincoln was the son of John C. Calhoun and Nancy Hanks. She too, was in a position to know. Was she not a Calhoun herself? On the other side of the fence the Hankses never denied Lincoln's mother was a native of Anderson county. For years they were silent on the matter, however, possibly because of sectional animosities aroused by the War Between The States.

An interesting sidelight is furnished by a letter written in 1860 by James R. Hanks, son of Luke Hanks' brother, Joseph, who migrated to Kentucky, after pausing briefly in Anderson county. James R. was a hatter by trade, a Republican politically. The letter in question he addressed to J. P. Martin, a kinsman in his county, requesting that Martin and other members of the Hanks clan support Lincoln for president "for he is our kinsman”.

The late Jesse McGee and Tillman Hanks say such a letter did come but they did not see it. Mrs. Laura Hanks said she heard Col. Martin say he had received it. J.L. Tribble said Samuel Emerson told him he had seen and read the letter. It made Col. Martin mad and he refused to answer it.

In 1910, in the presence of J.D. Hanks and John F. Martin, Laura Hanks, then an aged woman (having been born in 1841) said that since her marriage into the Hanks family she had heard of Nancy Hanks' affair with John C. Calhoun and Nancy’s subsequent escape into Kentucky. She knew most of the Hanks boys and girls. Some left South Carolina and died in the west. Luke and George died in Anderson county. She could tell all about their burying and where and who preached Luke's funeral. Mrs. Hanks' statement was written down by Motte Barns, of Anderson. Also in 1910, Jesse McGee, then 85, made the following statement to Knotts: “I married Squire James Emerson's daughter in 1852, and settled down and have lived all these years right here in the midst of the Hanks family. Squire Emerson took great interest in tracing out the connection between the Hanks family in this county and Abraham Lincoln. He found that there was no doubt about Nancy Hanks being the mother of Lincoln."

The late Mrs. A.B. Byrd, of Belton, whose first husband was Dr.W.C. Brown, brother of the late Governor Joe Brown, of Georgia, made an interesting statement throwing much light on the Lincoln tradition, of which the following is a synopsis:

In 1856, Mrs. Byrd married Dr. W.C. Brown, who was practicing medicine at Belton, and along about that time Abraham Lincoln became prominent as a candidate for the presidency. One day “Uncle Johnnie” Hanks, for whose family Dr. Brown was physician, came for some medicine.

In Mrs. Byrd's presence, Dr. Brown asked Hanks if all those reports about Nancy Hanks, Lincoln and Calhoun were true. He replied, "I am sorry to tell you, Doctor, that they are. Nancy was my father's sister and I know what I’m talking about.” Hanks then related how Calhoun frequently stopped at the tavern at Craytonville two or three days at a time and hunted and fished with the Hanks boys. When the family found out about Nancy’s condition, Nancy asked the privilege of staying until she could communicate with her uncle in Kentucky and procure a home. Calhoun, who had caused her sorrow, had promised to give her $500 to carry her where she wanted to go.

William Hanks, of Belton, a grandson of Luke, told D.J. Knotts in the presence of H.F. Hanks, a merchant of Belton, and also in the presence of the Rev. W.T. Tate, that in about 1890 Col. B.F. Crayton, of Anderson, asked him if he knew he was a kinsman of Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Hanks replied that he had heard such. Mr. Crayton then added that there was no doubt about it as the facts had been related to him by his father, from whom Craytonville was named.

There is a striking resemblance between Lincoln and Calhoun. In 1872, President U.S. Grant appointed James L. Orr, of Anderson, as ambassador to Russia and personally proceeded to make out his Masonic credentials for him. While this was being done, Mr. Orr turned to a group of his fellow Masons, pointed to Calhoun and Lincoln's pictures, called attention to the resemblance and commented that some day history would say that Calhoun was Lincoln's father.

In his Random Thoughts and Musings of a Mountaineer, Judge Felix writes, "Hon. Thomas G. Clemson was John C. Calhoun’s son-in-law. His private library is in the possession of Clemson College. It has, for a long time, been rumored that in the library there are documents that prove beyond all preadventure that John C. Calhoun was the father of Abraham by Nancy Hanks. The rumor is also that these documents are not open to the public, and that notwithstanding such rumor, no one has been heard to deny the existence of the documents referred to.”

Shortly after close of the War Between the States, Lincoln's old law partner, William H. Herndon, wrote a biography of the late president. Herndon stated that several times Lincoln told him that he (Lincoln) was illegitimate. When the first edition of the biography was placed on the market, Lincoln-loving fanatics frantically sought to buy up the books and destroy them. They also brought great pressure to bear on Herndon. This resulted in the first edition being withdrawn. The book was then "toned down" to omit all references to illegitimacy. There still are, however, at least half a dozen copies of the original edition in existence.

Judge Felix Alley produces a tremendous amount of evidence that Tom Lincoln carried Nancy Hanks from Craytonville to the plantation of Abe Enloe in North Carolina; that Lincoln was born there and named Abraham after Abraham Enloe. Later, Tom Lincoln carried Nancy on to Kentucky to the home of her uncle, Joseph Hanks. Meanwhile he formed an affinity for the unfortunate girl and later married her, thus providing the infant Abraham with the surname of Lincoln.

It was not until long after Lincoln's death, that any record evidence of the-marriage of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks was found. Herndon and Ward H. Lamon in the biographies of Lincoln had each asserted that after the most diligent search, no records could be found. However, in 1878, W.F. Booker, Clerk of Court of Washington county, Kentucky, found what purported to be a certificate of Jesse Head, a Methodist Deacon or minister, setting forth that he did perform a marriage ceremony for Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks on the 22nd of September, 1806. The authenticity of this and other records has been questioned by several authors. They are believed to be clever forgeries. Marriage certificates were virtually unknown until about 50 years ago.

Just when Lincoln was born is a matter open to question. Many years after the death of his mother and the death of Thomas Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln made an entry in his stepmother’s Bible that he was born February 12, 1809. Truth is, he probably didn't know when he was born; just selected this date at random, considering it to be "as good as any".

Some years later Herndon made this comment, "What the facts referred to by Mr. Scripps were, we do not know; for he died several years ago without, so far is known, having revealed them." Thus it will forever remain a mystery what it was that Lincoln wished suppressed about his ancestry.

In only two instances did Lincoln, by his own hand, leave any record of his history or family descent. One of these was a modest bit of biography furnished Jesse W. Fell, in 1859, in which he makes brief mention of his mother, saying, "She came of a family of the name of Hanks."

After Lincoln's death, his personal papers were impounded and placed in trust of his son, Robert Todd Lincoln, who became president of the Pullman Sleeping Car Co. and who survived until the late 1930s. One day in about 1932 a friend called on Robert Todd Lincoln and found him busily engaged in burning a portion of his father's papers. When the friend protested, Lincoln said, "History has been written and there is no point in changing it at this late a day".

Only two writers ever saw the papers in their entirety and that was more than 80 years ago. John Nicolay and John Hay, Lincoln's presidential secretaries, had access to the documents when they prepared their great ten volume "Life of Lincoln".

Herndon accused these historians of portraying Lincoln "with silken gloves and camel-hair brush, not with an iron pen.” He maintained they suppressed Lincoln's all but jilting of Mary Todd on the night of their marriage and "maternal facts of Lincoln's paternity".

David C. Mearns, the Congressional Library's authority on Lincoln's life, was asked some 20 years ago if Nicolay and Hay suppressed what they alone knew, he replied: "It was the Victorian age, not only in England but in America as well. The Victorian mode was cupids, lillies and blue birds; to write was to gild."

And there the matter rests -- "to write was to gild." In all probability, Lincoln's true paternity has been gilded over. All of which really makes little difference insofar as Lincoln the man is concerned, but contributes nothing toward satisfying the curiosity of quite a few people in this section of the country.

John Locke Scripps, of the Chicago Tribune, is said to have been Lincoln's first biographer. He obtained from Lincoln in person, the information for a campaign biography in 1860 after he had been nominated for the presidency. He gave Scripps the facts necessary to enable him to prepare his book; and soon after Lincoln's death, Scripps wrote as follows to William H. Herndon, who had commenced to gather material for his biography of Lincoln, "Lincoln seemed to be painfully impressed with the extreme poverty of his early surroundings and the utter absence of all romantic and heroic elements. He communicated some facts to me concerning his ancestry, which he did not wish to have published and which I have never spoken or alluded to before".

Copied at Abbeville Courthouse, South Carolina District of Abbeville:

This agreement made and entered into on the 19th day of February 1809. I John C. Calhoun of the said state and district, of the first part and Nancy Hanks of the second part, for and in the consideration of the sum of $100.00 per year, to be paid to Nancy Hanks, for the support of an illegitimate son born February 12, 1809. The said sum of money to be paid to Christopher Orr, who shall act as guardian for said child.

John C. Calhoun Signed in the presence of, and on the above mentioned date. Witness Christopher Orr, Robert Brown Norris, Thomas Lincoln.

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When you've finished reading this account, explore these links holding other views of Lincoln's parents:

Glenn Gohr's Home Page with Kanks Genealogy http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gohrpage/hanks.html

ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S PARENTS: a site created by Roger Norton http://home.att.net/~rjnorton/Lincoln81.html

If you know of oither resourecs to explore this topic, please send and email .

- - -

This account of THE MYSTERY OF NANCY HANKS CALHOUN, LINCOLN: ENIGMA STILL INTRIGUES HISTORIANS, has been copied word-for-word (with a minimum of obvious spelling corrections) from an earlier typewritten copy included with genealogical records of a Greenville SC family. The originating source is not known by this transcriber.

This account is posted on the internet at www.greenvillesouth.com/abe.html

Thank you.

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"The one who thinks we can and the one who thinks we can't are both right! Which one are you, son? Which one are you, son?"

Interesting read about Abe Lincoln, Clemson and Abbeville

If Lincoln was a South Carolinian I would throw up a lil

That would be crazy. He was just voted greatest president

Why???? I just don't understand why...***

I don't know . . .

That means Clemson U should really be Lincoln U

And Barack would have had to take the train

No, from Abbeville. Start at the beginning, homey.***

Alas---no passenger train service from the ville anymore*****

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