01-15-2017, 07:51 AM
Thanks much, Roger, I tried to find info to no avail. It seems Abraham Lincoln visited his stepmother sometime later that year (after March 5, the latest date he wrote).
(01-15-2017 10:06 AM)Steve Wrote: [ -> ]This book says the pages with the vital information written by Lincoln were torn out of the Bible by Dennis Hanks with copies being made by John D. Johnston and a grandson of Lincoln's stepmother.My understanding is that it was John D. who copied, not v.v.:
https://books.google.com/books?id=wYmvvE...g=PA26&dq=
Although looking at the entries, it looks like John D. Johnston is where Lincoln copied most or all of the information in the Bible from.
(01-15-2017 03:47 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote: [ -> ](01-15-2017 10:06 AM)Steve Wrote: [ -> ]This book says the pages with the vital information written by Lincoln were torn out of the Bible by Dennis Hanks with copies being made by John D. Johnston and a grandson of Lincoln's stepmother.My understanding is that it was John D. who copied, not v.v.:
https://books.google.com/books?id=wYmvvE...g=PA26&dq=
Although looking at the entries, it looks like John D. Johnston is where Lincoln copied most or all of the information in the Bible from.
How/why should John D. have been the source of Lincoln's date of birth? Probably the bible entry was a joint venture, each adding his personal family data, Lincoln on the Lincolns, and John D. J. on the Johnstons.
Ed Steers (who wrote the book you linked to) is a forum member - maybe he could kindly comment?
(01-16-2017 10:33 AM)Ed Steers Wrote: [ -> ](01-15-2017 03:47 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote: [ -> ](01-15-2017 10:06 AM)Steve Wrote: [ -> ]This book says the pages with the vital information written by Lincoln were torn out of the Bible by Dennis Hanks with copies being made by John D. Johnston and a grandson of Lincoln's stepmother.My understanding is that it was John D. who copied, not v.v.:
https://books.google.com/books?id=wYmvvE...g=PA26&dq=
Although looking at the entries, it looks like John D. Johnston is where Lincoln copied most or all of the information in the Bible from.
How/why should John D. have been the source of Lincoln's date of birth? Probably the bible entry was a joint venture, each adding his personal family data, Lincoln on the Lincolns, and John D. J. on the Johnstons.
Ed Steers (who wrote the book you linked to) is a forum member - maybe he could kindly comment?
(01-12-2017 04:38 PM)Steve Wrote: [ -> ]Typically a sheriff would deputize somebody and they would go house to house taking the census. The date on the 1850 census is November 7th, so if he was on the circuit then presumably Mary would have given the information. If he was home, they could've given the census taker the information together.
(01-16-2017 11:56 AM)STS Lincolnite Wrote: [ -> ]In studying my own family history, the information (ages as well as other information) on the census can go from pretty accurate to wildly inaccurate from census to census.
(01-16-2017 10:40 PM)Steve Wrote: [ -> ]Looking at Lincoln's collected works for anything that mentions his age prior to 1850, I found this May 26, 1830 petition signed by Lincoln as a "qualified voter" in Decatur, Illinois. The voting age in Illinois at the time was 21.Good idea to ckeck this, and one valid argument! (Just curious - in order to qualify I wonder how age was proven in those days? If someone couldn't come up with a birth certificate?)
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/linc...w=fulltext
(01-17-2017 06:01 AM)RJNorton Wrote: [ -> ]Hopefully folks with younger eyes than me can tell what Deborah Smallwood looked like.Roger - I don't know but guess W.H. Mumler took the photo...
(01-17-2017 06:01 AM)RJNorton Wrote: [ -> ]Thanks, Ed. I have always found the "Minor affair" fascinating. Your book is terrific - I think my favorite character is "Coughdrop Joey" Ratto.
And thanks for finding that, Steve. I was curious who Parmenius Smallwood was as I had never heard of him. But I was surprised to find him, along with an old photo, in Find A Grave.
Hopefully folks with younger eyes than me can tell what Deborah Smallwood looked like.
(01-17-2017 09:02 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote: [ -> ]Good idea to ckeck this, and one valid argument! (Just curious - in order to qualify I wonder how age was proven in those days? If someone couldn't come up with a birth certificate?)Basically, it was just the word of the voter, maybe an affidavit in some jurisdictions. Even though there's an element of self-interest in that, I still think it's more reliable than the 1850 census record from twenty years later that's off by a year. Especially in an era when birthdays weren't usually celebrated and a census taker just shows up at your door. But that still doesn't explain how Lincoln obtained the non-Johnston dates to inscribe in his father's Bible after Thomas Lincoln's death.