(Conspiracy Nation, 09/03/06)
-- "Amid the miserable surroundings of a home in the wilderness,"
writes William H. Herndon, "Nancy Hanks [Abey's mom] passed across the
dark river [died]. Though of lowly birth, the victim of poverty and
hard usage, she takes a place in history as the mother of a son who
liberated a race of men. At her side stands another Mother whose son
performed a similar service for all mankind eighteen hundred years
before."
Amen, brother. (Or Amun, brother, if you go by
the theory that Jesus was King Tut. See "Jesus Was King Tut?" http://www.shout.net/~bigred/JesusTut.html)
Herndon, Abey Lincoln's law partner, relates several Abey stories in
his Life Of Lincoln.
These yarns are more hilarious than even Old Abey's crackerbarrel
humor, now eroded by time.
Here is one from Abey as a lad. A clerk in a Kentucky store used to
see the fledgling rail splitter when Nancy Hanks went shopping. John B.
Helm, in June of 1865, recalled how, as a small boy, Abey "came
sometimes to the store with his mother. He would take his seat on a keg
of nails, and I would give him a lump of sugar. He would sit there and
eat it like any other boy; but these little acts of kindness so
impressed his mind that I made a steadfast friend..."
In "Mary Killed Abe?" (http://www.shout.net/~bigred/MaryAbe.html),
Conspiracy Nation had reported
prevalent rumors that Nancy Hanks gave birth to Abey out of wedlock.
This aspect is doubtful due to older sister Sarah having already been
born. However some question remains about Grandma "Wild Lucy" Hanks.
Herndon recalls a conversation in which Abey confided that his mother
"was the illegitimate daughter of Lucy Hanks and a well-bred Virginia
farmer or planter."
A farmer lived in a log cabin with his wife, Nancy. The year was
1782. The couple had four daughters: Betsy, Polly, Nancy, and Lucy.
One evening in September, a stranger arrived at the cabin. He got
down from his horse, and asked the farmer if he could stay overnight.
("Okay, but you will have to sleep with my daughters.")
The four sisters had never seen a high-class, Virginia gentleman
before. They were "wowed" by the man.
Months later, the unknown Virginia planter was long-since gone and
Lucy was pregnant. A daughter, Nancy, was born. She, in turn, later
became the mother of Abraham Lincoln. ("A Mountain Girl and her Baby"
by Clarence Edward Noble. http://www.melungeons.com/articles/mar2005.htm)
So who was this mysterious Virginia planter? Was he related to the
House Of Rothschild? Was Abey Lincoln, "Our
American Cousin"?
Reportedly, The Melungeon DNA Surname Project by Dr. Elizabeth
Hirschman and Dr. Donald Panther Yates states that Abraham Lincoln was
of Jewish ancestry. Which is okay. There are many fine Jews. But were
Lincoln distantly related to the Rothschild dynasty, that would alter
the Abey Lincoln equation.
Melungeon is a term traditionally applied to one of a number of
so-called "tri-racial isolate" groups of the Eastern United States,
found mainly in Appalachia, especially Eastern Tennessee, Southwestern
Virginia, and Eastern Kentucky. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melungeon)
The Melungeon factor is complex. There are reportedly various
strange tales of the Melungeons, involving shipwrecked sailors, lost
colonists, hoards of silver, and ancient peoples such as the
Carthaginians. ("Melungeon," Wikipedia reference)
One aspect of "Melungeon-ism" is identification as "mulattos" and
"blacks" in early records. (Ibid.)
It is generally accepted by most Melungeon researchers that
Lincoln's Melungeon ancestry comes through the lineage of his mother,
Nancy Hanks, reports Helen Campbell. (http://www.melungeons.com/articles/mar2005.htm)
Developing here we have an Abey Lincoln story of an octaroon
Rothschild-twice-removed who freed the slaves. What would he say? Known
for his humorous quips, Abey might respond, "That reminds me of a
story. A traveling magician needed a hat to cook eggs. I delayed
offering mine, out of respect for the eggs, not care for my hat."
Listeners would roar with laughter, nudge each other, and say, "That
Abey Lincoln will go far. Mark my words."
Like Hercules cleaning the stables, federal deities possess
prodigious strength. George Washington could heave a silver dollar
across the Potomac River. Abey Lincoln, in the legends, "could throw a
cannon-ball or a maul farther than anyone else in New Salem [a village
in Illinois]." (Herndon, op. cit.)
In 1828, James Gentry hired Lincoln to float a boat of grain and
meat down the Mississippi to New Orleans. He and some companions had an
uneventful journey, until they tied the boat near the plantation of
Madame Duchesne, near Baton Rouge. They "were fast asleep when aroused
by the arrival of a crowd of negroes bent on plunder." Abey of the
Prodigious Strength and his shipmates "set to work with clubs, and not
only drove off the intruders, but pursued them inland..." (Ibid.)
But little did the marauding negroes suspect they had done battle
with The Great Emancipator himself!
Look for more amazing Abey Lincoln stories in future reports from Conspiracy Nation.
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