Lincoln, Davis and Booth: Family Secrets

[Joe Di Cola]

Regarding the literacy of Nancy and Thomas Lincoln, no one seems to know for sure about Nancy's literacy. A person who knew Bible stories and passages could have learned them from someone who read to him or her, and that person could do the same while holding the Bible open and thus appear to be reading while not actually being able to read. I believe that was one interpretation I read one time about Nancy reading the Bible to Sarah and Abraham. Secondly, on the marriage bond between Thomas and Nancy, Thomas' signature appears whereas Nancy made her "mark." This neither attests to Thomas' literacy nor to Nancy's illiteracy, but it is probable that Thomas could do some basic writing. After all, he did hold some positions of trust and prominence (albeit frontier prominence) in a few of the communities in which he lived.