A Week of Lincoln
by Chronicles
February 6th, 2009 • Related • Filed Under
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Thursday, February 12, 2009, marks the Bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln. To mark the occasion, ChroniclesMagazine.org will post at least one article each day of the week beginning February 9, and concluding with Friday the 13th. Up first on Monday is Daniel Larison’s View from the February issue, “Lincolnism Today: The Long Marriage of Centralized Power and Concentrated Wealth.” Check back regularly for updates, and be sure to leave your comments.
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1 Comment by Etienne Gervaise on 6 February 2009:
I’ll wear a confederate tie. I may even visit the Confederate Museum in Richmond.
2 Comment by Rick on 7 February 2009:
Sic semper tyrannus!
3 Comment by McCallum on 7 February 2009:
We North Carolina fugatives, banished to the hills of north Georgia, will attend the theater that night.
It isnt proper to speak poorly of the dead but for the life of me, through all my readings, it is difficult to recall one in more need of shooting THAN Lincoln.
Such to tyrants,
McCallum
4 Comment by Sempronius on 7 February 2009:
Could someone kindly detail for me Lincoln’s genealogical/religious background?Who were his ancestors?What were his antecedents?
5 Comment by Robert on 7 February 2009:
“Could someone kindly detail for me Lincoln’s genealogical/religious background.”
I don’t know where he came from but he has no direct line relatives alive today. Some Christians might view this as divine, evolutionists as “the inherent chances of living and dieing” and country singers as “that’s just the way things go.”
6 Comment by Etienne Gervaise on 7 February 2009:
@4 Sempronius
Tom Landess gave a speech in Charleston a couple of years ago about the town of Ellenton SC which was eminent-domained by the feds to build a heavy water plant along the Savannah River. Among the displaced was an idiot called Henry Todd — last name Lincoln. He was run over by a car after wandering into town to buy an ice cream, this happened in 1957. He was Honest Abe’s grandson.
7 Comment by Etienne Gervaise on 7 February 2009:
Henry Todd never managed to make into into the history books, but I’m assuming he was Robert Lincoln’s son, hidden away in shame. Robert himself was present at three assassinations — two of them presidents. Wow he attracted trouble like manure attracts flies!
8 Comment by James Kabala on 9 February 2009:
The first version of this post seems to have been marked as spam, probably because it had a link, so here is a second version without the link:
For what it’s worth, I did some Googling for “Henry Todd” + “Ellenton” and found this:
“George B. Todd, [nephew of Mary Todd Lincoln], left home at an early age and frequently traveled about the country. He was noted to have lived for a while with Robert Todd Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln, in Chicago, Ill. By trade George B. Todd, was an inventor, telegraph operator and Depot agent. He married Harriet Irene Ashley, Daughter of wealthy landowners, of Ellenton, SC area. Of this, union 5 children were known to have been born, Robert Todd, Lincoln Todd, Henry Paul Todd, Martha Todd & Margaret Todd….
Henry Todd was mentally handicapped and was cared for by several members of the Bush family, relations to his mother’s family. For many years Robert Todd Lincoln (Abraham Lincoln’s son), and family sent money for Henry’s support. According to Ellen Jenkins, the Barnwell county librarian, Henry died some time in the 1970’s, as she recalled attending the funeral. According to Gerald Swick, a Todd family historian[,] George B. Todd resided in Lexington, KY for a brief spell, and then moved away; whereabouts of him and the remaining family members is unknown.”
Source: The link cannot be provided for the aforementioned reasons, but you can find it pretty easily yourself. It seems to be a personal genealogical site.
This must be the Henry Todd in question. A few of the details don’t match (e.g., date of death of 1957 vs. the 1970s), but can there really have been two mentally handicapped kinsmen of Abraham Lincoln named Henry Todd in the same South Carolina small town at the same time?
Now, it is clearly not impossible that George Todd could have been passing off the secret son of as his cousin and friend as his own for some unknown reason, but if the chronlogical details above are accurate, it seems highly improbable. Perhaps this is a local legend, or a “Can you believe that mentally retarded man over there is related to Abraham Lincoln?” inflated by a game of telephone, so to speak, into the even more shocking “Can you believe that mentally retarded man over there is a descendant of Abraham Lincoln?”
9 Comment by Kirt Higdon on 10 February 2009:
Is it Friday yet? This week of Lincoln already seems like a month. Hope nobody gets the idea of doing this the next time MLK’s birthday rolls around.