Thomas Lincoln

[Susan Higginbotham]

There is a biography of Thomas Lincoln due out later this month. Looks interesting:

https://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Lincoln-Da...way&sr=8-2

[Gene C]

Thanks, this could be interesting.
I have always felt that Herndon's treatment of Thomas was overly critical and misleading, but at the same time there seemed to be some strain in their relationship.

[Steve]

Thanks for alerting us to this book! Looks interesting. Wasn't there an earlier biography of Thomas?

[RJNorton]

Steve, there's this:

https://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Lincoln-Fa...op?ie=UTF8

Also, Charles Coleman (same author as above) wrote this

https://www.amazon.com/Sarah-Bush-Lincol...rt+Coleman

and this

https://www.amazon.com/Abraham-Lincoln-C...rt+Coleman

[Gene C]

The book about Thomas Lincoln seems to be a newer editon, but I have yet to find the earlier work
from Amazon comments -
"Mary Coleman took the earlier work of Charles Coleman and did a slight rewrite to publish this book. The original by Charles Coleman is much better. If you're looking for detail regarding Abraham Lincoln's family and background, look for Charles Coleman's earlier work."

But, I did find this on Internet Archive - Thomas Lincoln by D M Coleman (from 1956 and 36 pages), with this comment on the fist page
(This short life of Thomas Lincoln
is based on a manuscript by Dr.
Charles H. Coleman, of Eastern State
College, Charleston, Illinois, who is
writing the definitive life of Thomas
Lincoln.)
https://archive.org/details/thomaslincol...as+lincoln
"
The book about Sara Lincoln is about 30 pages, but the other 2 are bigger.

The book on Lincoln and Coles County was originally published in 1955 and also available on Internet Archives
https://archive.org/stream/abrahamlincol...5/mode/2up

[LincolnMan]

Wasn’t there a question as to whether the one photograph of Lincoln’s father-actually his father?

[RJNorton]

Wasn’t there a question as to whether the one photograph of Lincoln’s father-actually his father?

Yes, Bill. I do not believe the authenticity of the photograph of Thomas Lincoln has been established with absolute 100% certainty. For a discussion of this issue, please see Michael Lynch's article entitled "Putting a Face to the Name: Another Look at the Thomas Lincoln Photo" in the Winter 2008 edition of the Lincoln Herald. This entire edition of the Lincoln Herald can be read/downloaded here:

http://cdm15995.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/c...st/id/2092

[Susan Higginbotham]

Thanks for the information about the Coleman books and the photo!

[Steve]

For anybody that's interested, this is the supposed photograph of Thomas Lincoln referred to above:

[Steve]

According to my eyes the inscription reads

"Thomas Lincoln Born 1779 Died 1851"

Most of what I read about the photograph say the born date should be read as 1778, so maybe there's a little loop on the 8 at the bottom that I can't see in this image.

[RJNorton]

I have seen Thomas Lincoln's birth year listed as early as 1776. Mark Neely "skirts" the issue by writing "1776 or 1778." I have also seen it listed as 1779. Usually I go with William E. Barton on questions like this, and Rev. Barton lists the birth date as January 5, 1778. I think I have seen 1778 more often than any other single year.

[Steve]

If this is Thomas Lincoln, then he would have had his hair dyed since he would've been in his early 70's when this photograph was taken. I also think the looser-fitting jacket, especially the sleeves, might indicate the photo was taken later in the 1850's after Thomas had died. Though, I don't know if Thomas Lincoln, living in rural Illinois, would be following the fashionable tighter-fitting jackets of the late 1840's - especially if they weren't as comfortable.

[RJNorton]

If this is Thomas Lincoln, then he would have had his hair dyed since he would've been in his early 70's when this photograph was taken. I also think the looser-fitting jacket, especially the sleeves, might indicate the photo was taken later in the 1850's after Thomas had died. Though, I don't know if Thomas Lincoln, living in rural Illinois, would be following the fashionable tighter-fitting jackets of the late 1840's - especially if they weren't as comfortable.

Steve, IMO, the provenance is certainly not 100% conclusive. The story goes --> During the Civil War a relative of Thomas Lincoln approached O.V. Flora, a soldier from Ohio who was stationed in Illinois, with an offer to sell him a photo of Thomas Lincoln. The relative told Flora the photo was genuine and he needed the money badly and was willing to sell it. Under the photo was written "Thomas Lincoln. Born 1778 Died 1851." The exact date and nature of the transaction is unknown. R. Gerald McMurtry researched Flora and found that Flora was indeed assigned (for a short time) to service in Charleston, Illinois, only a few miles from Thomas Lincoln's home.

I would assume the image was taken c.1845 - c.1850 because Thomas Lincoln died very early in 1851. Was there a daguerreotypist in Charleston at that time? McMurtry found one as early as 1854, but this would have to be earlier for Thomas Lincoln to have posed. I also wonder why the family of O.V. Flora never contacted Robert Lincoln about what they said they had in their possession. In 1918 Robert Lincoln said he "never heard of any picture of my grandfather."

The photo eventually ended up in the hands of Flora's daughter, Mrs. E.J. Shafer of Franklin, Indiana. In 1932 she loaned the photo out for display in Ft. Wayne. In 1933 McMurtry got her permission to publish the photo in Kentucky Progress magazine.

Although scholars disagree on the photo's authenticity, Charles Hamilton and Lloyd Ostendorf wrote, "Many scholars doubt its authenticity, but the rugged, angular features of the subject, so dramatically Lincolnesque, match contemporary descriptions of Thomas Lincoln." McMurtry speculated that the family member who sold the photo to Flora was probably "a member of the Johnston family, a descendant of Sarah Bush, the second wife of Thomas Lincoln."

In writing about the image Michael Lynch notes, "To argue that someone defrauded O.V. Flora requires a forger who successfully pulled some difficult and improbable stunts: locating a suitable picture to match Thomas Lincoln's appearance, discovering the correct dates, and passing himself off as a Lincoln relative in a community near where the family lived."

Lynch's conclusion: "Perhaps someone scammed Flora, and many Lincoln students through him. But the simplest explanation is usually the most likely. In this case, the simplest explanation is that O.V. Flora stumbled across a genuine historical treasure. The eyes that gaze back at us from this photograph are probably the same eyes that watched Abraham Lincoln crawl, play, work, study, and finally turn his back and walk away at age twenty-one."

There is more information in Mr. Lynch's article on the image in the Winter 2008 Lincoln Herald.

[LincolnMan]

Is it just me? I don’t think Abraham looks like Thomas at all.

[Steve]

Here's a link to Orlando V. Flora's Find A Grave page:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/51598164

I checked and the 10th Ohio Light Artillery was the only unit Flora was a member of. He enlisted on 08 Feb. 1864 and was mustered out on 30 May 1865.

Here's a link to the unit's military record:

https://www.ohiocivilwarcentral.com/entry.php?rec=757