Another Lincoln Romance?

[Gene C]

The Newsletter of the Abraham Lincoln Association, "For the People" Winter 2020,
has an article by Guy Fraker titled "Lincoln's Curious String of New Salem Romances"

https://abrahamlincolnassociation.org/wp...0-2021.pdf page 7


In the article it mentions " Recent research by Kathy Bazzoli of the
Sharpsteen Museum in Calistoga, California, suggests a subsequent romance
with another New Salem charmer, Susan Reid. It provides evidence of the
extended reach of the story of Lincoln’s early life.......

"The courtship that ensued included horseback rides, and attendance at
church and Sunday school together. She noted Lincoln’s honesty and lack of guile, but said he was “homely,” “very awkward,” and “very bashful.” She
also called him a “queer fellow,” because he was so “superstitious.” Lincoln proposed to her twice, but she quickly rejected both.

So what's the source of this interesting detail of Lincoln's personal life?
An interview with Susan by the San Francisco Call in May 22, 1897.
She was 82 by that time. The only other newspaper that picked up the news was the Iowa Register on June 4. No other newspaper seemed to reprint the story.
(I'm wrong about the other newspapers - see Steve's post)

And according to Guy Fraker..."Contemporary evidence confirms that
they did know each other. Lincoln and Boyce had fought side-by-side in the
Black Hawk War. Later they joined in signing petitions related to roads in the
area. In July 1837, Lincoln represented Susan’s father, Louis Reed (sic), in the
case of Reed v. Fleming, in which Reed sought money damages. The case ended in a hung jury. Both Susan Boyce and William P. Boyce were listed as witnesses
(Susan had married William on June 18, 1837)
Mr. Fraker does not reveal what the contemporary evidence is.

I was skeptical about this part of his article. How could this important detail about Lincoln's life have remained hidden for so long. So I turned to our New Salem expert, the author of "New Salem - A History of Lincoln's Alma Mater" written by forum member Joe Di Cola. Joe noticed she's not mentioned in 'Herndon's Informants", nor is she mentioned in Benjamin Thomas's book "Lincoln's New Salem." Joe didn't mention her or her parents either in his book.

I checked "Lincoln Day By Day" by William Baringer for July, 1837 and the law case of Reed vs Fleming isn't mentioned. That may not mean much, but it would have been nice had it been listed.

I also noticed the newspaper refers to Susan 'Reid', but Gut Fraker refers to her father as Louis 'Reed (sic)'

So I've gone from being skeptical to highly skeptical.
I'm still open minded to listen to something that might verify the newspaper's story interview.
Maybe someone can find the newspaper article that the researcher Kathy Bazzoli found, the one Guy Fraker refers to.
What's your opinion on this?