Lincoln Abraham Lincoln, A Rutherford County Native

cof

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Feb 20, 2005
Abraham Lincoln, our 16th president was said to have been born in Kentucky. But many people in Rutherford County, NC say he was born in a little log cabin that sat beside Puzzle Creek in Bostic, NC

It is a part of local legend, told for the last two centuries, that in the late 1700s and early 1800s an unmarried woman named Lucy Hanks, wandered from family to family in Rutherford County, seeking work as an itinerant spinner. In the course of her wandering, she bore two illigitimate daughters, Nancy and Amanda, called Mandy. Realizing that her girls needed more stable upbringing, they were "bound out for raising"-the practice of giving children with out fathers to families who could raise them. Mandy was sent to the Pratt family in Bostic, and Nancy was sent to the Abraham Enloe family, also from Bostic. Enloe was said to have stood over 6 feet tall, with dark eyes and hair. Enloe was the owner of a large amount of land, and also the father of 16 children.
Nancy was around 10 years of age when she began to live with the Enloe's. As she grew older, she was allowed to go to dances and visit other reputable homes with the Enloe children. After a few years of living on Puzzle Creek, Nancy moved with the Enloe family to a home near Oconoluffte, beyond Asheville. Shortly after the arrival at the new home, Nancy became pregnant. Mrs. Enloe accused Mr. Enloe of being the father. Mr. Enloe knew that he had to send Nancy away. He arranged for an old friend, Felix Walker to take Nancy back to Puzzle Creek in Bostic.

Once she returned to Rutherford County, Nancy moved back in the Enloe house with a family that had rented the home. It was in that house, in which Nancy had grown from a child into a young woman, that she gave birth to a son. It dosen't take too much of a brain to understand why she chose to name the child Abraham. Later after the Boy was born, Nancy became a member of Concord Baptist Church and was beginning her life over again. However, Gossip about the baby's parentage grew. When word reached Enloe that an increasing number of his former neighbors and friends were discussing his involvment in the child's conception, he realized that his reputation was at stake.

Enloe arranged for a man named Michael Tanner (believed to be Nancy's father) to bring Nancy and little Abe back to Oconoluffte, where Enloe came up with a solution to his predicament. Enloe arranged for an illiterate and shiftless sawmill worker named Tom Lincoln to marry Nancy and to provide her and the baby a new home in Kentucky. It is said that Enloe gave Lincoln a pretty good sum of money, a set of mules and a wagon and set them in the direction of Kentucky. A Methodist minister named Jesse Head, married Tom and Nancy in 1806. It is said that the minister testified that the Lincolns left their wedding with a little black headed boy.

Many people find it hard to believe that Tom Lincoln, who was stocky, of no more than medium height, low-browed, and no particular intellectual gifts was the father of Abraham Lincoln with his tall frame, high forehead and great intelligence.


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Very interesting, cof. It did always puzzle me, Abraham and his lunkheaded dad. Not that he was mean or miserable, but definitely a man of brawn and not of intellect. Though Abraham was reputed to be exceedingly strong, from all descriptions I've seen, father & son do not share body types.
 
This is a really cool thread!

I can't help but think DNA!! If they had a male Abe Lincoln descendant and a male descendant of Enlow's, they could easily test to see if they are related on their father's side, and prove once and for all if Lincoln was or was illegitimate.

Tina
 
Just one of the many myths that arose after Lincoln's death. Many thought such a great man could not have issued from such low parantage. Some even claimed that his real father was John C. Calhoun or Henry Clay!
 
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