In 1952, Eastern Illinois University Professor Charles H. Coleman published an article in the
Abraham Lincoln Quarterly on the half-faced camp. Coleman had long died before I started attending EIU, but as a history major I was very well versed in Coleman's work. In fact, just off the front entrance to Booth Library was a room housing Coleman's books on Lincoln, which I grew very familiar with utilizing it for various projects.
Coleman holds to the view that the camp was a myth. However, he gives credence to the possibility that Thomas Lincoln built the camp for himself when he traveled alone to Indiana. Then the family lived in it for a week until the regular cabin was completed.
Here is a link to the article.
Best
Rob
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/a/alajournals...view=image