The "ten mothers" of Abraham Lincoln

[loetar44]

Who was Nancy Hanks, mother of President Lincoln? If we believe vicious and unclear fabrications and slanders, tradition, and gossip, if we don’t rule out mixture of memory, and if we rely on information found in books, magazines, newspapers, family correspondence, accurate or not, than Abraham Lincoln must have had more “mothers” than any other human who ever lived.

Past weeks I spent some time reading various books and literature, relating to Nancy’s parentage, I surfed the Internet and compiled a chart (sort of flow chart), in which “ten mothers” of Lincoln are shown. It took me some time to compile the Dutch version, but to make an English version of the chart was easy (only some minor translations needed). The “explanatory text” (a lengthy paper, in which I have described why a certain “route” is more false than another) unfortunately is in Dutch.

Maybe you are interested in the chart to pick a mother by simply using your expertise or imagination to try to figure out which mother is most likely Lincoln’s or not. Or maybe your conclusion is simple by saying, that it is impossible to trace accurately the ancestral line of Abraham Lincoln’s mother.

Please feel free to give me any feedback. Do you see mistakes, faults? Do you have additions? Any comment will be greatly welcomed and highly appreciated!

Click here to download the chart

https://app.box.com/s/k9tbjl5n60otbklxr0wgoryryzvt5ujf

Please let me know if you also want the (rough) Dutch “explanatory text” (maybe you can read it by using google translate), by sending me a private email message.

   

[Eva Elisabeth]

Kees, you never chease to amaze me! Although I cannot comment on correctness (but know how carefully you research) it's in any case a great job and endeavor - and I'm a great fan of visualization (i.e. diagrams etc.)

[RJNorton]

Wow, Kees, I sure second Eva. Your reseach is terrific! Kudos! Personally I have always found Hanks' genealogy too confusing, and I just end up getting frustrated. So I leave the topic to others.

I have a copy of William E. Barton's The Paternity of Abraham Lincoln: Was He the Son of Thomas Lincoln? The book was written in 1920.

Barton's book examines most of the various rumors - (1) that Lincoln was the son of Abraham Enlow, a farmer from Hardin County, Kentucky; (2) that Lincoln was the son of George Brownfield, another Hardin County farmer; (3) that Lincoln was the son of Abraham Inlow, a miller from Bourbon County, Kentucky; (4) that Lincoln was the son of an alleged foster son (named Andrew) of Chief Justice John Marshall; (5) that Lincoln was the son of Abraham Enloe of North Carolina; (6) that Lincoln was the son of John C. Calhoun of South Carolina; (7) that Lincoln was the son of Martin D. Hardin of Kentucky; and (8) that Lincoln was the son of Thomas Lincoln (which is Barton's conclusion after researching the other 7 stories).

So (in theory) I guess we have 80 possible combinations?

[L Verge]

Ed Steers has done quite a bit of research on Lincoln's lineage. I hope he chimes in here.

[loetar44]

(07-05-2015 02:20 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Kees, you never chease to amaze me! Although I cannot comment on correctness (but know how carefully you research) it's in any case a great job and endeavor - and I'm a great fan of visualization (i.e. diagrams etc.)

Thank you for your kind words. I will send you the text today!

---

(07-05-2015 04:13 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  Wow, Kees, I sure second Eva. Your reseach is terrific! Kudos! Personally I have always found Hanks' genealogy too confusing, and I just end up getting frustrated. So I leave the topic to others.

Thank you Roger ! I've read Barton's book and all the "lines of gossip" he and you mentioned are in the “explanatory text”.

[Ed Steers]

The genealogy of Lincoln is not all that complex. William Barton is as good a researcher as there is/was on the subject. Louis Warren also wrote an excellent book, "Lincoln's Parentage & Childhood (New York: The Century Company, 1926). Two major works exist in addition to Barton's and Warren's works: J. Henry Lea and J. R. Hutchinson, "The Ancestry of Abraham Lincoln" Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1909), and Waldo Lincoln, "History of the Lincoln Family," (Boston: reprint: Goodspeed's Book Shop, Inc, 1981). Another excellent source are the publications of Louis Warren titled "The Lincoln Kinsman." These are a series of 54 pamphlets published between 1938 and 1942 covering every aspect of Lincoln's ancestry as well as that of the Hanks and other peripheral individuals. The research is solid in my opinion because it is supported by primary sources, and the counter claims are easily disproved by documentation. The history of Lincoln's parentage is much like the assassination story - filled with nonsense claims supported by a complete lack of serious research into the available primary documents. As James O. Hall liked to tell us: "Tell me what you want to believe and I will tell you what you will believe."
For those interested, I wrote an article titled "Nancy Hanks. West Virginian?" published in The Lincoln Herald,vol. 100, no. 2, p.61. I republished an edited version in my most recent, "Essays in History" (available from Amazon.com). The only controversy I see in the story of Lincoln's ancestry is the question of Nancy Hanks's alleged illegitimacy. Warren claims her mother Lucy was married to James Hanks who died shortly before Nancy Hanks was born. Young nancy was then deposited with the Berry family in Washington Co., KY where she grew up, met, and married Thomas Lincoln. Warren makes a good case for his claim in my opinion.

[Vicky Reany Paulson]

I've written Abraham Lincoln's Hanks Family Genealogy, Vol. 1 and 2, using only documented material, and am working on the third.

Caroline Hanks Hitchcock wrote the first book on Nancy Hanks, using Berries, Shipley's, and Hanks, and Lincoln's to connect herself to both the Lincoln's and Hanks families. When Ida Tarbell, and Louis Warren asked to use her documents, she admitted, she had none. I did a study on the four main authors of Hanks genealogy, Hitchcock, Tarbell, Warren, and Barton, not realizing they were all alive, at the same time. These four people fought like bears! Hitchcock found the Will of Joseph Hanks, and incorrectly first used his daughter, Nancy, as his wife, declaring her Nancy Shipley! His documented wife is Anne Lee, daughter of William Lee III. Shee married Thomas Sparrow to Elizabeth Shipley, and his documented wife was Elizabeth Hanks, Joseph Hanks daughter. Richard Berry was also given a Shipley wife, and his documented wife was Rachel Head, sister of Jesse Head, who married Nancy and Thomas Lincoln. Yes, the license still exists. And Capt. Abraham Lincoln was married to a Shipley, too, when his documented wife is Bathsheba Herring. No second marriages, as all these wives outlived their husbands. Rev. William Barton finds the Indictment papers of Lucy Hanks, and her marriage license to Henry Sparrow. Warren claims it says "widy", meaning she was a widow. He changes which Shipleys were married to who, and creates "James Hanks" as a son of Joseph and Anne Lee Hanks. Barton frames the document, so it cannot be altered, which Warren is steamed about, to put in nice terms. When Tarbell sees the license, she confirms, it says no such thing. Barton finds the Hampshire County census records of 1782 and 1784, Joseph Hanks appears on only the 1782 census, which reads Joseph Hanks, wife, 5 sons and 4 daughters. A "James Hanks" is impossible, and Lucy cannot be removed from the family, or this too, would be wrong. No one seems to notice that you have a mother and her son, set up to marry his aunt? Why did they do this? To make her an orphan. They were not kind to Barton, because he claimed Lincoln's mother to be "baseborn", but only he interviewed living Hanks relatives, and Lincoln's stepmother, to confirm the fact, that she was.

Now the DNA studies are confirming this is true, as well. The Shipley and Benjamin Hanks lines are no match, missing the "Y" chrom. The New England Hanks also are no match. The North Carolina Hanks are no match with any of the other Hanks branches. Only the direct descendants of Joseph Hanks are a perfect match. Science has verified Barton is correct.

I am a direct descendant of Joseph Hanks, a descendant of Thomas Hanks, his oldest son. I've studied my genealogy since the age of 16, with a few living Hanks to ask questions of, myself. They had no idea how we were related, and made up no facts to pollute my research. I am now 59 and have over 50 binders of Hanks research. Personally, if you don't have a document to prove something, it's hearsay. My cousins wanted me to write a book, because of how large my collection is. The documents tell the truth, and the truth is there are no Shipleys in the Hanks genealogy, no James Hanks, and we will never know who Nancy Hanks Lincoln's father was. But we do know who her family was. She was the daughter of Lucy Hanks, and granddaughter of Joseph Hanks and Anne Lee Hanks. Vicky Reany Paulson

[loetar44]

When researching family history you generally use two resources to nail down facts: oral history and actual records, such as birth records, census records, marriage records, etc. Sometimes they complement each other. An oral tradition passed down in the family is sometimes a good starting point. But in the matter of Lincoln's mother Nancy Hanks the oral history couldn't be more conflicting with the documented facts. Even actual records are not always 100% reliable. I agree with Vicky Reany Paulsen : no source, no proof. I also agree with her: if the source is a person, then it is hearsay. The only thing we do know exactly is that the Hanks/Lincoln connection has been a source of controversy and misinformation for more than 150 years and therefore it seems/is an impossible task to provide the (most) correct genealogy for Nancy Hanks based on oral and recorded history. My diagram therefore does not present the correct line. It only shows the lines according to oral history, collected by different individuals, and recorded history, based on actual records found by researchers. But what is the correct genealogy? I don’t know, and with respect, nobody does know (right at this moment). There are still competing, irreconcilable, and unsupported claims about the lineage of Nancy Hanks Lincoln. However, now we have the instrument of modern DNA research and I’m sure that scientific research via DNA will give us the most correct genealogy and will show us the lines of former and present day Hanks, Hancks and variants and, together with genealogy research, determine how they are related to one another. We already know that Luke Hanks and John Hanks who lived on the Northern Neck in or near Richmond County did not have the same father as William Hancks of North Farnham Parish. Also the Hanks who lived in New England have "no match" with Luke and John. I wonder: has someone in the forum figured out a genealogical line (and is willing to share) of Nancy Hanks Lincoln, based on a mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA study (direct female to female), because DNA points to Lucy Hanks (dau of Joseph Hanks & Nancy Lee) married with Henry Sparrow as the mother of Nancy Hanks? And what about the whole Hanks line based on the Y-chromosome which is passed from father to son to son, etc. I agree with Vicky Reany Paulsen that Barton is correct.

[Vicky Reany Paulson]

We are very close to the monumental, with Nancy Hanks Lincoln. Family Tree DNA has eliminated all the "theory" and only Joseph Hanks direct descendants are hitting perfect matches. We now are going to do the descendants, female line of Lucy Hanks Sparrow. They all believe she was a Shipley, however, so we hope to test at least two. Then it will be complete.

In all my research, I found that Thomas and Joshua Hanks did not remain in Hampshire County, but were in Hardy County. What census records I found, it appears that Lucy may have lived with Joshua Hanks, there. Charles, Elizabeth, and Joseph Hanks Jr. were all taken to Hardy County, when Joseph Hanks Senior died. Anne Lee Hanks went to Rockingham County, right below Hardy, to stay with her Lee relatives. Hardy County records are sparse. Combing church records, at present, for a record there. I have several good ones for Joshua Hanks, from Hardy County. Will keep you posted. I think the day has come, when we can put those orphan stories to rest. Thank you, Vicky Paulson

[loetar44]

(07-10-2015 03:57 AM)Vicky Reany Paulson Wrote:  We are very close to the monumental, with Nancy Hanks Lincoln. Family Tree DNA has eliminated all the "theory" and only Joseph Hanks direct descendants are hitting perfect matches. We now are going to do the descendants, female line of Lucy Hanks Sparrow. They all believe she was a Shipley, however, so we hope to test at least two. Then it will be complete.

In all my research, I found that Thomas and Joshua Hanks did not remain in Hampshire County, but were in Hardy County. What census records I found, it appears that Lucy may have lived with Joshua Hanks, there. Charles, Elizabeth, and Joseph Hanks Jr. were all taken to Hardy County, when Joseph Hanks Senior died. Anne Lee Hanks went to Rockingham County, right below Hardy, to stay with her Lee relatives. Hardy County records are sparse. Combing church records, at present, for a record there. I have several good ones for Joshua Hanks, from Hardy County. Will keep you posted. I think the day has come, when we can put those orphan stories to rest. Thank you, Vicky Paulson

I think you know of the research of Colleen Fitzpatrick, PhD, Zach Spigelman, MD, Ann Stone, Adrian Briggs, PhD
Please note:

http://www.promega.com/~/media/files/res...atrick.pdf

----------------
They wrote:

Two possible candidates for Nancy Hanks’ mother are Sarah Harper, wife of Abraham Hanks of Virginia, and Lucy Hanks, who lived in Mercer Co. KY at the same time the President’s mother lived there and who later married Henry Sparrow. Since Nancy Hanks’ line is extinct, mtDNA samples were collected from the descendants of one other daughter of Sarah Harper Hanks and two other daughters of Lucy Hanks Sparrow. These samples were compared to the mtDNA obtained from two Lincoln assassination relics.

The mtDNA signatures of the maternally-linked Harper-Hanks and Hanks-Sparrow descendants were found to be identical, indicating a maternal link between the candidates, and making it impossible to distinguish the two Nancy Hanks’ through mtDNA. Furthermore, the mtDNA profile did not match the mtDNA obtained from either of the two relics. This can likely be attributed to the high level of contamination that the relics have experienced over the last 150 years.

The genealogy of the Hanks family is very incomplete, but not incompatible with the existence of a large maternally linked group within the historical community to which the President’s mother belonged. The rarity of the X1c mtDNA haplogroup observed for the group will help identify additional maternally-linked family members whose genealogies may help build a more comprehensive family history and indicate where the President’s mother fits into the structure.
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I wonder, and I think you can adequately answer my question, do Sarah Harper and Lucy Hanks Sparrow (since the mtDNA signatures of their female descendants, daughter to daughter to daughter etc, are identical) have a common female ancestor?

Thank you so much for keeping me / us posted about your research. I’ve great respect for all your findings, and as I earlier said / ment: scientific DNA research does not lie! It’s the only key in which we can fully trust.

Am I right that the Joseph Hanks Y-DNA- line has the R-M517 SNP signature?

[loetar44]

What about Lincoln’s DNA? The National Museum of Health and Medicine, the National Park Service and the Chicago History Museum all have established policies prohibiting destructive testing on nonrenewable historical specimens. I’m not sure if the Grand Army of the Republic Museum in Philadelphia rejected DNA research on the bloodstained pillowcase they have in possession. But as far as I know testing was done on Laura Keene’s bloodstained dress, a piece of bandage, some of Lincoln’s hair, swabs and samples from Lincoln’s deathbed, and a bedsheet. But I wonder, is there proper Lincoln-DNA existing to test ??? How many people (in 150 year) have touched the samples or even sneezed on them, destroying the material for proper DNA-testing.

[RJNorton]

(04-03-2015 01:11 PM)LincolnToddFan Wrote:  I saw the NatGeo special where Dr. Sotos tried desperately to obtain a sample of AL's blood. No stone was left unturned!

(07-14-2015 08:05 AM)loetar44 Wrote:  What about Lincoln’s DNA? The National Museum of Health and Medicine, the National Park Service and the Chicago History Museum all have established policies prohibiting destructive testing on nonrenewable historical specimens. I’m not sure if the Grand Army of the Republic Museum in Philadelphia rejected DNA research on the bloodstained pillowcase they have in possession. But as far as I know testing was done on Laura Keene’s bloodstained dress, a piece of bandage, some of Lincoln’s hair, swabs and samples from Lincoln’s deathbed, and a bedsheet. But I wonder, is there proper Lincoln-DNA existing to test ??? How many people (in 150 year) have touched the samples or even sneezed on them, destroying the material for proper DNA-testing.

Hi Kees. I have had past email contact with Dr. Sotos regarding his Lincoln/MEN2B theory. I will write him about any updates he might have regarding Lincoln and DNA testing. If he replies I shall post his response.

[loetar44]

(07-14-2015 08:52 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(04-03-2015 01:11 PM)LincolnToddFan Wrote:  I saw the NatGeo special where Dr. Sotos tried desperately to obtain a sample of AL's blood. No stone was left unturned!

(07-14-2015 08:05 AM)loetar44 Wrote:  What about Lincoln’s DNA? The National Museum of Health and Medicine, the National Park Service and the Chicago History Museum all have established policies prohibiting destructive testing on nonrenewable historical specimens. I’m not sure if the Grand Army of the Republic Museum in Philadelphia rejected DNA research on the bloodstained pillowcase they have in possession. But as far as I know testing was done on Laura Keene’s bloodstained dress, a piece of bandage, some of Lincoln’s hair, swabs and samples from Lincoln’s deathbed, and a bedsheet. But I wonder, is there proper Lincoln-DNA existing to test ??? How many people (in 150 year) have touched the samples or even sneezed on them, destroying the material for proper DNA-testing.

Hi Kees. I have had past email contact with Dr. Sotos regarding his Lincoln/MEN2B theory. I will write him about any updates he might have regarding Lincoln and DNA testing. If he replies I shall post his response.

Thanks Roger. For years I’ve been a great fan of Dr. Sotos’s website “Medical History of US Presidents,” where he posts as Dr. Zebra and provides many fascinating tidbits about the physical health of US Presidents. I've not read his book "The Physical Lincoln", but it is on my shortlist.

[Steve Whitlock]

(07-10-2015 08:26 AM)loetar44 Wrote:  

(07-10-2015 03:57 AM)Vicky Reany Paulson Wrote:  We are very close to the monumental, with Nancy Hanks Lincoln. Family Tree DNA has eliminated all the "theory" and only Joseph Hanks direct descendants are hitting perfect matches. We now are going to do the descendants, female line of Lucy Hanks Sparrow. They all believe she was a Shipley, however, so we hope to test at least two. Then it will be complete.

In all my research, I found that Thomas and Joshua Hanks did not remain in Hampshire County, but were in Hardy County. What census records I found, it appears that Lucy may have lived with Joshua Hanks, there. Charles, Elizabeth, and Joseph Hanks Jr. were all taken to Hardy County, when Joseph Hanks Senior died. Anne Lee Hanks went to Rockingham County, right below Hardy, to stay with her Lee relatives. Hardy County records are sparse. Combing church records, at present, for a record there. I have several good ones for Joshua Hanks, from Hardy County. Will keep you posted. I think the day has come, when we can put those orphan stories to rest. Thank you, Vicky Paulson

I think you know of the research of Colleen Fitzpatrick, PhD, Zach Spigelman, MD, Ann Stone, Adrian Briggs, PhD
Please note:

http://www.promega.com/~/media/files/res...atrick.pdf

----------------
They wrote:

Two possible candidates for Nancy Hanks’ mother are Sarah Harper, wife of Abraham Hanks of Virginia, and Lucy Hanks, who lived in Mercer Co. KY at the same time the President’s mother lived there and who later married Henry Sparrow. Since Nancy Hanks’ line is extinct, mtDNA samples were collected from the descendants of one other daughter of Sarah Harper Hanks and two other daughters of Lucy Hanks Sparrow. These samples were compared to the mtDNA obtained from two Lincoln assassination relics.

The mtDNA signatures of the maternally-linked Harper-Hanks and Hanks-Sparrow descendants were found to be identical, indicating a maternal link between the candidates, and making it impossible to distinguish the two Nancy Hanks’ through mtDNA. Furthermore, the mtDNA profile did not match the mtDNA obtained from either of the two relics. This can likely be attributed to the high level of contamination that the relics have experienced over the last 150 years.

The genealogy of the Hanks family is very incomplete, but not incompatible with the existence of a large maternally linked group within the historical community to which the President’s mother belonged. The rarity of the X1c mtDNA haplogroup observed for the group will help identify additional maternally-linked family members whose genealogies may help build a more comprehensive family history and indicate where the President’s mother fits into the structure.
-------------

I wonder, and I think you can adequately answer my question, do Sarah Harper and Lucy Hanks Sparrow (since the mtDNA signatures of their female descendants, daughter to daughter to daughter etc, are identical) have a common female ancestor?

Thank you so much for keeping me / us posted about your research. I’ve great respect for all your findings, and as I earlier said / ment: scientific DNA research does not lie! It’s the only key in which we can fully trust.

Am I right that the Joseph Hanks Y-DNA- line has the R-M517 SNP signature?

The mtdna results for the X1c haplogroup shown above are fine, and are supported by the results of the Nancy Hanks Lincoln mtdna study released in Oct 2015. The difference is the genealogy used that somehow incorrectly involved Abraham Hanks and Sarah Harper, who was not the wife of Abraham Hanks Sr of Prince William County, VA. That wife was Jemima (Million) Hanks, whose daughter, Nancy Hanks, m: Peter Jones in Henry Co., KY in 1804. From a document written by Nancy Royce we have:

"Abraham Hanks I was born in the latter part of 1743 or early 1744 to have been under age 21 when he was apprenticed to his brother Turner in June 1763. He was married to a daughter of Robert Million by October 1771, most likely Jemima who was born in 1750. He went with Calk to the Montgomery/Madison Counties area of Kentucky in 1775, and is of record in Pr. Wm. Co. Va. from 1771 when he is noted as the son in law of Robert Million to Spring/Summer of 1783 when he is on the 1783 tax lists of Pr. Wm. Co. He died sometime between that date and 9 May 1785 when William Million one of the witnesses to the Sept. 1783 will of George Tolson declared “he saw William King now out of the state and Abram Hanks since deceased attest the same” as witnesses to the will.

Based on the available information it appears Abraham Hanks I was deceased between September 1783 and Spring/Summer of 1784. If Jemima was pregnant then the child could have been born as late as April 1785. Records in Henry Co. Kentucky show a marriage between Peter Jones and Nancy Hanks in April 1804 with her mother Jemima Hanks granting permission and Abner Ford as surety."

Abner Ford was a nephew of Jemima. Abraham Hanks Jr was a son of Jemima, and Fielding Hanks, usually mentioned as a son of Abraham Hanks Sr, was actually a son of Abraham Hanks Jr, whose first wife appears to have been a Sarah, possibly Harper, per Fielding's death record that shows his mother as Sarah Hanks. Abraham Jr's 2nd wife was Mary "Polly" Combs, but by that time Abraham had two sons with him, according to records. Fielding Hanks also named a son Cuthbert Million Hanks. Jemima (Million) Hanks had a brother named Cuthbert Million.

Be that all as it may, and more, but the results of the Kirkpatrick study and those of the NHL Mtdna Study are in agreement on results, differing in the genealogy used. More descendants were tested in the NHL Mtdna Study to support the results. Also, as you know, Rachel (Shipley) Berry and Naomi (Shipley) Mitchell were tested to confirm that they have a different mtdna line, and are NOT a match to Lucy Hanks, who was NOT Lucy Shipley.

Abraham Hanks and Sarah Harper should not be in the lines used for the Kirkpatrick study. The Sarah Hanks line used was not Sarah Harper Hanks, rather, it was Sarah Hanks, a daughter of Lucy Hanks, and half-sister of Nancy (Hanks) Lincoln. Sarah Hanks was aka Sally Sparrow, and she was living with Henry Sparrow when he died, testifying in a court case involving the Sparrows.

[LincolnMan]

Kees: I was not able to get to the site you originally linked us to. Any possibility of a new link to it?