The Handwriting Style of Abraham Lincoln

[Eva Elisabeth]

As far as is known this is probably the earliest example of Lincoln's handwriting. His stepmother, Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln, preserved it and gave it to William Herndon. I am not sure of the date, but I think c.1823-1826 would probably be the proper timeframe.

In M. Burlingame's "A Life", the poem is dated [1824-1826].