Lincoln, Davis and Booth: Family Secrets

[Gene C]

Anyone heard of this-----

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lincoln-...1483601755

Anyone want to waste $3.47 ?

[Rob Wick]

Ah, the joys of publishing with a vanity press. Amazing how these types of stories will never die.

Best
Rob

[BettyO]

I just read the first half of the first chapter......

WHAT in the world is THIS about??!?!!



Be afraid....be VERY afraid!

[LincolnMan]

So what are some of the family secrets???

[Troy Cowan]

Lincoln, Davis, and Booth: family secrets tells of the sad, sad life of Abraham Lincoln and his mother. For over a century people have described Lincoln's melancholy and wondered why. After reading this book, it is easy to understand.

LincolnMan asked, "what secrets?"

Lincoln's secret
Nancy Lincoln had an affair with another man and it resulted in Abraham's birth. When Abraham grew up, he wanted a life in politics. If it became known that he was a bastard and had an adulterous mother, he could not become president. His families history had to be kept secret.

Davis family secret
Joseph Davis (Jefferson Davis' older brother) discovered his father's adultery with Nancy Lincoln. He and the older Davis children had to keep their father's adultery a secret from their mother. If their father's affair became known to their mother, it would breakup the family. The children had to keep this family secret from their mother.

Booth's family secret
John Wilkes Booth's mother knew John was not killed in the Garrett barn. She had to keep this information from authorities and the public.

[LincolnMan]

Wow, thanks for sharing some of the secrets. How could anyone write such false things? Scary to think some readers might believe them.

[Eva Elisabeth]

...and the earth is a disk...

[Troy Cowan]

LincolnMan,

I wonder if those stories are false? They originated from the Davis family's oral history. Why would the Davis family tell lie after lie from one generation to the next, unless they believed it? Jane Davis first told the story in 1969 and few people believed it then. Because only a few people believe it, that does not make it false. I read the book and I believe it to be true.

[LincolnMan]

My initial reaction is that one can't prove it happened. I know of no credible source that documents with evidence such a thing. Oral family histories are often incorrect. Speaking personally, I busted a family myth a few years ago by doing research and finding solid evidence that proved the myth to be incorrect.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Mr. Cowan, several biographies and other works by respectable scholars were published after 1969, like Bill, I never came across any mentioning these "groundbreaking" secrets (after 148 years of intense research or 104 in 1969!). Why do you think is that?
I tried to google the author's reputation, but drew a blank (exept for facebook and twitter...), so I'd second Bill's last post.

[RJNorton]

(05-23-2013 04:11 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Mr. Cowan, several biographies and other works by respectable scholars were published after 1969, like Bill, I never came across any mentioning these "groundbreaking" secrets (after 148 years of intense research or 104 in 1969!). Why do you think is that?
I tried to google the author's reputation, but drew a blank (exept for facebook and twitter...), so I'd second Bill's last post.

Hi Eva. Just to let you know....Troy Cowan is the author of the book. So he is talking about his own book.

[Gene C]

On the Amazon web site for this book, there is a short biography on Mr. Cowan, and a sample of the contents of the book (the table of contents, introduction and a few pages of chapter 1)
http://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Davis-Boot...1483601730

There are 2 points I have not heard before and was hoping someone could confirm.
On page 12 of the intro "Nancy married Thomas Lincoln. Neither could read or write,". I was of the understanding that Nancy read from the Bible to Abraham and his sister when they were little.
The second item is about Thomas Lincoln and his inability to father children. I think if I had read this before I would have remembered it. (ouch) A reference is made to "the Hidden Lincoln". Can anyone verify the reference, and has any one heard of this claim about Thomas before. Since Nancy had three children, it cast dispersions on her character, if true.

---

To answer my own question #2 above about Thomas Lincoln, the book "The Hidden Lincoln" is on line. I could not find the reference referring to Thomas Lincoln
http://archive.org/details/hiddenlincolnfro00hern

[RJNorton]

Gene, Dennis Hanks told William Herndon, "Lincolns mother learned him to read the Bible —study it & the stories in it and all that was moraly & affectionate it it, repeating it to Abe & his sister when very young. Lincoln was often & much moved by the stories. This Bible was bought in Philadelphia about 1801."

Regarding whom Lincoln's father was please see Chapter 2 of forum member Dr. Ed Steers' book titled Lincoln Legends: Myths, Hoaxes, and Confabulations Associated with Our Greatest President. Ed concludes this chapter by writing, "Like so many of the myths associated with Lincoln, the myth of his illegitimate birth refuses to die in spite of the facts." William E. Barton devoted an entire book to this subject and concluded that was no question that Thomas Lincoln was Abraham Lincoln's real father. David Herbert Donald wrote that the theories of Thomas Lincoln not being the real father "have long ago been 'exploded by professional research." It is "utterly groundless" according to Donald.

[Liz Rosenthal]

I've gathered that Dennis Hanks was also one to spin some tall tales. He may have been the only one to suggest that Nancy Hanks read the Bible, or anything else, to her son. Dennis Hanks also claims to have helped Abraham with his writing, and Dennis Hanks was illiterate, or nearly so.

[Laurie Verge]

My apologies to Mr. Cowan, but the "book of secrets" reminds me too much of other speculative and spurious works that I have dealt with in the past (and trust me, working with Surratt House Museum for nearly forty years, there have been many such pieces). The late-Charles Bauer was famous for producing such books. Robert Mills has produced a similar piece.

I was glad to see that Bill Hanchett's book was on your short list of favorite books, however. It is the only one on the list done by a professional historian and well-researched and written. Primary source citations are very important. And, of course, oral histories always have to be taken with a grain of salt...