Lincoln's mother

[RJNorton]

Excellent article, Steve.  Thank you for posting the link.

The author's reference to the words "angel" or "angelic" did not actually come from Abraham Lincoln himself.  
Herndon reported that Lincoln said of his mother, "God bless my mother; all that I am or ever hope to be I owe to her."  According to Herndon, Lincoln made this comment while the two men were out riding the circuit c.1850.  The reference was to his birth mother, not his stepmother.  I realize some sources insert the word "angel" into the quote, but that is not the way Herndon recalled it.  I am not sure why some Lincoln biographers added "angel" to Lincoln's wording.
H