Who is this person?

[RJNorton]

One lady claimed to be Abraham Lincoln's first sweetheart when she was a young girl. She said Abraham wanted to marry her, but she refused. She added that if she had known he would someday be President she would have accepted. Her father said that Abe was very strong. The man said a chicken house was being prepared to be moved, and single-handedly Abe picked it up and carried it. He went on to say that the chicken house weighed 600 pounds and possibly more.

Who was this lady?

[Eva Elisabeth]

As for the father - one who told incredible stories about Lincoln's strength was Daniel Green Burner. But I don't know if he had a daughter (nor would I know her name).

[RJNorton]

That is a wonderful and very logical guess, Eva, but what I am asking allegedly happened earlier in Lincoln's life.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Polly Warnick?

[Rob Wick]

Ann Roby Gentry?

Best
Rob

[Anita]

Was it Joseph Richardson's daughter?

[RJNorton]

Yes, indeed. Kudos, Anita!! It was Polly Richardson Agnew who said this. The source I used says the man was named William Richardson. Part of Polly's story is also in Louis A. Warren's book on Lincoln's Indiana years.

Here is what I used:

https://archive.org/stream/lincolninindi...r_djvu.txt

Scroll down and the story of the chicken house is on p. 56.

You win one chicken house to be used or given away....as you please!!

[Anita]

Thank you Roger. Does it come with chickens? And thanks too for the link. Interesting info-some new and some I'd forgotten.

But I'm confused. Can you please clarify. There is a Mary "Polly" Richardson Egnew buried in Little Pigeon Creek cemetery. It said her father's farm was next to Thomas Lincoln and his name is John Richardson.
http://image2.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg....d=47060354

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&...3115,d.aWc
states Polly was a neighbor of Lincoln in both Kentucky and Indiana.

So is "Polly" Richarson Agnew who's father is William, the same Mary "Polly" Richardson Egnew who's father is John?

[Eva Elisabeth]

This photo was taken by Alexander Gardner in 1863. Sitting/lying on the ground in the front row are (from the left): Major Ludlow, Lieut. Colonel Dickinson (with the straw hat) and Lieut. Rosencranz. Standing is Capt. Ulric Dahlgren. Who is the man squatting in the center?
   

[Hess1865]

Looks like Phil Sheridan to me

[Eva Elisabeth]

Good guess, Mr. Hess, but it's not him.
One hint so far: Herr Beckert will probably call this a "Stump the German"-question!

[BettyO]

Graf von Zepplin?

[Eva Elisabeth]

Betty, you stumped me! I didn't expect someone would guess it so quickly.

You win a Zeppelin flight:
http://www.zeppelinflug.de/zeppelin-flights.html

Graf (Count) Zeppelin was first lieutenant of the Prussian Engineering Corps and acting as an observer for the troops of the Army of the Potomac. In May 1863, he met with Abraham Lincoln to get a pass to move freely within the Union lines.

For those who haven't read the fascinating article in the latest Surratt Courier, here's the NYT-article of January 14, 1914, which was one of the sources:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.ht...5B848DF1D3

One tidbit mentioned that in America, due to the climate, Graf Zeppelin had changed his stiff, embroidered collar to a light, turndown one, on which he had his first lieutenant stars sewn, and as a result was mistaken for an American lieutenant general, on which he commented:"Not even in America did I expect such rapid promotion."
Above you can see the "American version" of his collar, and here's the original one:
   

Here:
http://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussio...t#pid23648
...we once discssed how comfortable the McClellan saddle might have been. "Uncomfortable" was the majority's assumption. Graf Zeppelin's opinion was the following:
"Instead of the ordinary English saddle I chose an American wooden saddle, such as was used by the American soldiers. These saddles were so excellently made as to cause scarcely any discomfort. The stirrups were of thick wood, like those in Mexico, with a leather covering over the front part. They had the double advantage of protecting the foot from cold and preventing twigs from getting caught in the stirrup during a ride through the underbrush. Later on I turned over this saddle to the Prussian Ministry of War for experiments, which were quite successful."

Here, finally, is a unique picture of another meeting of Lincoln and Zeppelin in 1936:
   
[Lincoln Zephyr with Graf Zeppelin. Gelatin silver print by Grancel Fitz (1894–1963), Metropolitan Museum of Art]

[BettyO]

Eva -

Remember I think I told you that I'm also a WWI buff - and my forte is German Aviation and Baron Manfred von Richthofen and his Jasta 11....

Thanks!

[J. Beckert]

German 1
Yanks 0