While it is said in this post that Nancy Hanks father is not known, there are many families that do claim her. One of those is the family of John Hanks who was born in Maryland in 1765 and died in Loudoun Co., VA in 1805. His widow and sons Jeremiah, Stiles and Cephas Hanks and Daughter Elizabeth Hanks moved to Muskingum Co., OH and they married into other lines that had come to Muskingum from Loudoun Co. like the Adams, Mocks and Shiveleys to name a few. The Loudoun Adams are not to be confused with the Fauquier Adams that also moved to Muskingum Co., OH. John Hank's parents were William Hanks born 27 Apr 1739 in Annapolis, VA and Sarah Rolfe. John's family history has it that Nancy was his sister however, the obituary for Eliza Ann Starkey Sutton, the granddaughter to Jeremiah Hanks states the following: "Mrs. Sutton's grandfather, Jeremiah Hanks, was a first cousin of Abraham Lincoln. Abner Hanks, Mrs. Sutton's great grandfather, was a brother of Lincoln's mother, Nancy Hanks. The Jeremiah Hanks branch of the family moved from Virginia to Ohio, instead of Kentucky, as did the branch that became allied with the Lincoln family." This states that Jeremiah's father was Abner and not William as stated in other accounts of the family. Jeremiah's daughter Elizabeth married Haley Wilson Shirer, my 1st cousin, 4x removed. So according to the Muskingum Hanks clans, either William or Abner Hanks was the father to Nancy Hanks Lincoln. I'm sure many families can claim some relationship to Lincoln, it seems mine had a few if only by proximity. My 5x great grandmother, Elizabeth Kirby Shirer/Scheurer, was born and married in Berks Co., PA. The Kirby's were Quakers and belonged to the Exeter meeting of which was the same meeting that included the Lincolns and Boones as members. Abraham Lincoln's grandfather, Capt. Abraham Lincoln was a member there as was Daniel Boone's parents and the latter was born in Berks Co., PA as well before moving to the Carolinas. This is just one of those fun facts that make delving into our family history interesting and colorful. Denny Shirer - drdx@neo.rr.com - Canton, OH Shirer Family Genealogy - http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mysong Muskingum County, OHGenWeb - http://www.rootsweb.com/~ohmuskin/ > Subject: > Lincoln's Fauquier Roots > From: > BobKamman@aol.com > Date: > Wed, 20 Oct 2004 11:40:03 EDT > To: > VAFAUQUI-L@rootsweb.com > > > Sunday's Washington Post had a lengthy article by historian and cartographer > Eugene Scheel about Fauquier and Loudoun counties in the 1860 election. See > excerpt below -- you can read the complete story by going to the Post's website > (registration required, but it is free) and searching for "Fauquier." > (Stories are available only for a couple weeks, so this is one you will want to > print out.) > > Scheel notes, later in the article: > ==Lincoln had a family connection to Fauquier, though it was not then > considered one to boast about. David Herbert Donald, in his 1995 biography "Lincoln," > quotes Lincoln as telling his law partner, William H. Herndon, in the early > 1850s that Lincoln's mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, was "the illegitimate daug > hter of Lucy Hanks and a well-bred Virginia farmer or planter." > Donald quotes Lincoln as saying in 1860, when his friends asked him for > autobiographical information that might boost his chances for the presidency: "My > parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families -- second > families, perhaps I should say." > Nancy Hanks's father remains unidentified, but she was baptized in 1778 in > the waters of Broad Run close to Broad Run Baptist Church. The church then stood > atop Saint's Hill, a mile north of present-day New Baltimore. == > > Lincoln Was No Favorite at the Polls > Sunday, October 17, 2004; Page PW06 > In the 1860 presidential election, Fauquier and Loudoun county voters cast > only 12 ballots for the winner, Abraham Lincoln. The previous year, an > unexpected revolt had frightened or worried many people who might otherwise have voted > for the man who saved the Union and brought an end to slavery. > Loudoun and Fauquier were at the time the wealthiest counties in Virginia. > Agricultural land sold for $20 an acre and more, the most expensive in the > state. Corn, wheat and grain harvests were unsurpassed in the commonwealth and > commanded high prices at the seaport of Alexandria, linked to the hinterlands by > three well-kept toll roads. > Prosperity continued after John Brown's Oct. 16, 1859, raid on Harper's > Ferry. Brown's aim was to liberate and arm area slaves and set up an autonomous > realm for them in the mountains of Maryland and western Virginia, where there > were few slaveholders. > That such an insurrection could happen only a half-mile from the Loudoun > border -- even though it lasted just 2 1/2 days and involved 22 insurgents -- led > to an abrupt change in the county's political climate, from apathy to > uncertainty. There was outright fear in the Between the Hills and Lovettsville areas, > a few miles from the ferry. > Fauquier's reaction was more subdued, being 25 miles from the ferry at its > closest point, the village of Paris. Furthermore, Fauquier's military companies > were commanded by such experienced leaders as Brig. Gen. Turner Ashby and > Capt. John Scott Jr. > Gov. John A. Wise ordered three Fauquier and two Loudoun companies (about 250 > men total) to the ferry. They spent most of their time drilling and on guard > duty until their tour ended in mid-December with an oyster and champagne > supper at Charles Town, where Brown had been tried and imprisoned and hanged Dec. > 2. When the Fauquier companies returned home, they were feted by the women of > Warrenton with a pre-Christmas ball at the old Warren Green Hotel.