What is this controversy regarding Nancy Hanks Lincoln, mother of Abraham Lincoln and what is the park’s position?
There is some thought that Abraham Lincoln’s mother was illegitimate. The National Park Service gives these details about Nancy Hanks. She was the only daughter of James and Lucy Shipley Hanks and was born February 5, 1784 on Hat Creek near Brookneal, Campbell County, Virginia. She married Thomas Lincoln, June 12, 1806 in the home of guardian Richard Berry of Beech Fork, Washington County, Kentucky. Nancy Hanks died of milk sickness October 5, 1818 at age 34 in Little Pigeon Creek, Spencer County, Indiana. Nancy Hanks was buried in a private cemetery near her home. That cemetery is now included in the Abraham Lincoln Boyhood Home National Memorial.
