Lincoln and Ann Rutledge

[Lewis Gannett]

Lewis, I don't have anything new to offer you about your theories that you haven't heard before, but then you haven't offered us anything new either. To me, your like the Booth Mummy. Nobody believes it's real, the story behind it doesn't add up, but its odd so I kind of want to see it. After you see it, you come away disappointed, mostly in yourself for wasting your time, money and attention on it. Your theories that Lincoln was a homosexual, are like that, it's "carnival side show" history. And then you have the gall to whine and comment that no one will do a systematic rebuttal. Sorry, but I've seen this kind of side show before, and as others have noted, there's nothing of substance to it.

Some of the other things you've commented on have merit, but not this.

Hey, call me a whiner if you like. But keep in mind that William Hanchett, not me, first challenged the Lincoln profession to either disprove the Tripp thesis or rewrite Lincoln history. Other senior scholars agree with Hanchett, by the way. John Stauffer, Chair of American Studies at Harvard, endorsed the Tripp book. So did Jean Baker. Do those names mean anything to you? "Nobody believes it's real," you say. Gene: You have some reading to do.