Monday, January 9, 2012

Did George Washington Father Nancy Hanks Lincoln?

Nancy Hanks was born the illegitimate daughter of Lucy Hanks in what was then part of Hampshire County, Virginia. Today it is Mineral County, West Virginia. Years later, her son Abraham's law partner William Herndon reported that Abraham told him that Nancy's father was "a well-bred Virginia farmer or planter."
Nancy Hanks Lincoln (February 5, 1784 – October 5, 1818) George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732 - December 14, 1799)

2 comments:

  1. A friend of mine from Mineral county told me this story back in 1950..with no documentation, just word of mouth. That's 70 years ago... but a hundred fifty years of oral history

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  2. The image representing Nancy Hanks Lincoln is merely an artist's conception. The museum at the Lincoln Boyhood National Park has this portrait on display with this explanatory placard ...

    "Although no one living today knows what Nancy Hanks Lincoln looked like, this interpretation of her by artist Lloyd Ostendorf can help us imagine her appearance when she lived in Indiana. Ostendorf based the portrait on contemporary descriptions of her and on 'the Hanks family look' as seen in a large collection of Hanks photographs, tintypes, and daguerreotypes [all of later generations of course]. Adin Barber -- a historian, Hanks family genealogist, and a descendant of Nancy's sister -- commissioned Ostendorf to create this unique impression of Abraham Lincoln's mother."

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