Today is February 12, 2008. For those of you without a sense of history, this is Abraham Lincoln's 199th birthday. Born in a log cabin with oiled skins for windows and a wood burning fireplace for heat, we can only hope that it was a mild Winter for Nancy Hanks Lincoln that day. I suppose she may have been the only one that was warm that day.
She didn't live much past his birth. I am not sure when she passed away, but I know it was when her famous son was still a young boy.
Abraham Lincoln could have just been another example of the fairy tales where the evil stepmother reeks havoc on the stepchildren. Fortunately, his stepmother apparently was a good substitute mother and gave him the love, nurture and encouragement he needed to go from small, one room cabin in the hills of Kentucky to the White House.
Ironic, is it not, that his opposite, Jefferson Davis, was born in an inn made of logs in Christian County, Kentucky, just about 100 miles away. His 200th birthday will be celebrated in June of this year.
Lincoln's parents were from New England and his father lost two different farms in Kentucky, because of title issues. It is no wonder that Abraham Lincoln grew up to be the man that he did. He was naturally intelligent, compassionate, and ambitious. He became an excellent lawyer, a citizen soldier with a brief career, and a predominately failed politician. He would have been known for his work as a famous trial lawyer, if not for the fact that his Presidency fell during the most traumatic time in the history of this country.
Davis's parents were from Georgia. His father was an innkeeper. Davis's older brother studied, attended college, and made a fortune. He became his younger brother's idol and patron over the years. Davis was also intelligent, but very harsh, and developed an agricultural fortune in Mississippi. He was a cadet at West Point, a professional soldier, a planter and a successful politician. He lobbied for purchase of the island of Cuba and for the extension of a southern route for the east/west line of the railroad. He was voted President of the Confederacy even though he really didn't want to serve as such. If not for the lack of sobriety of Robert Toombs during the convention, he might not have so served.
It is ironic though that they both were born one hundred miles apart. The concept of 'Brother against Brother' perhaps is no stronger than when you consider their common stories.
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