The Jefferson Lemen Compact - Was it True

[RJNorton]

(01-29-2016 06:26 PM)maharba Wrote:  Now, I'll ask you the same sort of question, Anita, as I did Roger: is all this "we were good friends with Lincoln" stuff entirely just made-up?

Maharba, IMO most, if not all, was created entirely, or at the very least, embellished and exaggerated. Historians have researched every detail of Lincoln's life, and Lemen is not included in the books I rely on for research. I think that lack of attendance at Lincoln's funeral in Springfield, the lack of any mention in The Abraham Lincoln Encyclopedia, the lack of an interview with Herndon, the lack of inclusion in the most detailed Lincoln biographies, the fact that the 1857 alleged Lincoln letter to Rev James Lemen Jr. has been found to be a forgery (and thus there are no letters), the lack of inclusion in Lincoln Day By Day, and Ida Tarbell's doubts are all most telling. Maharba, I have given time to try to prove you right on this...I have looked in many sources...but I have drawn a blank.

I don't doubt Lemen met Lincoln in Vandalia in 1837, as he (Lemen) said, but the rest of his story about the close friendship that developed is apocryphal, IMO.