Betsey Johnston and Dennis Hanks

It was a complicated and sometimes confusing kinship.

Dennis Hanks: A Flotsam-Jetsam Childhood

Dennis Friend Hanks (1799-1892) was the illegitimate son of Nancy Hanks – an aunt of another Nancy Hanks, Lincoln’s mother.

Born in Hardin County, KY, a decade before his more famous relation, Dennis was raised by great-aunt, Elizabeth Sparrow and her husband Thomas. Since the Sparrows also helped raise Nancy Hanks (Lincoln’s mother, occasionally believed to be illegitimate as well), the family was closely connected. Once Nancy Hanks married Thomas Lincoln, they lived in proximity.

When the Lincolns moved to Indiana when Abe was around six, the Sparrows-plus-Dennis joined them. Three years later, the Sparrows died of the “milk sickness.” So did Nancy. Dennis Hanks, now nineteen, moved into the Lincoln cabin to help with the farm – and to look after the children, Abraham, aged nine and Sarah, aged eleven.

Managing a subsistence farm, with odd-jobs on the side and two youngsters to raise was a huge effort for Tom Lincoln. He left the children care-of Dennis, and returned to Elizabethtown, KY to renew his acquaintance with an old childhood friend, who he had learned was a widow with children.

Now It Gets Really Complicated

A composite of Lincoln’s father and stepmother.

Thomas Lincoln and Sarah Bush Johnston indeed married, happily for the Lincoln family. She came to Indiana with a wagon containing some real furniture, where she found Dennis Hanks and the Lincoln children who were, so she said “in sore need of bathing and mothering.”

Both necessities were tended to quickly enough, and Abraham Lincoln bonded affectionately with his new stepmother. She later commented that “they understood each other.”

An illustration of the rail-splitter.

Sarah had two daughters and a son, in that order. The son, John Johnston, was Abe’s age. The two girls, Sarah Elizabeth about two years older, and Matilda a little younger. Since three out of four females named Sarah in a two room cabin was a bit much, they decided to call Sarah “Betsey,” a name she used for the rest of her life.

Perhaps living in such close quarters gave rise to romance, but in 1826, Dennis Hanks married Betsey Johnston. This made Dennis not only Abe’s cousin, but now his step-brother-in-law.

Dennis and Betsey had twelve children – eight living to maturity. All of them referred to Lincoln as “Uncle” Abe. The young Hanks’ couple lived near the Lincolns until 1830, when a) they all moved to Illinois, and b) Lincoln reached his majority, and set out on his own.

Dennis Hanks in his mid-years.

Meanwhile, Dennis became a “pioneer” of sorts in a small village near Charleston, where the senior Lincolns had made their home. Hanks was a shoemaker, ran a tavern/inn/boardinghouse called the “Illinois House,” and ran a gristmill as well. He had several businesses, but was never wealthy.

Lincoln the circuit rider.

Thomas Lincoln’s cabin in Coles County, IL

Lincoln and Dennis Hanks went their separate ways for the most part, although they remained in touch. It is said that when Lincoln “rode the circuit” in Coles County, near Charleston, he occasionally visited his cousin-brother-in-law. In 1851, he even represented Hanks in some legal matters. But as Lincoln grew in maturity and stature, the correspondence was sparse, except as regarded “family matters” – i.e. Lincoln’s stepmother, an aging widow that Lincoln always remembered affectionately. Suffice it to say however, that while he had a pleasant relationship with his older cousin, he never brought his wife, the former Mary Todd, or any of his children, to meet his Lincoln-Hanks relatives.

Dennis Hanks Gets A New Pocket Watch

The White House circa Lincoln.

Dennis Hanks and Abraham Lincoln shared several family traits. Height and lankiness, yes. A similar speaking voice. Mostly however, a unique way with words. Dennis was a prominent citizen of Coles County – but mostly as a town “character.” Lincoln, of course, became a prominent lawyer and son of Illinois. And President of the United States.

Hanks was never one to let his light grow dim under the bushel. While he never sought any “presidential” preferences, he made his kinship to the top of the heap very well known.

A natty-looking Dennis Hanks.

In 1864, there were political riots in Charleston, IL, and a few citizens were imprisoned. The usual mechanisms for obtaining their release were being stymied. The town fathers decided that perhaps a “special envoy” might be able to persuade the kindly President to intercede, so they sent Dennis Hanks. Lore says they bought him a new suit of clothes and a train ticket to Washington. En route, he was robbed of his pocket watch.

Even during the Civil War, it was very easy to get into the White House to see the President. He had regular “office hours” for that purpose, for anyone who had the patience to wait until called. Dennis Hanks was not the usual visitor, however, and the President’s perceptive secretaries noted the tall, thin, sixty-something year old man, whose bearing and manner of speaking seemed vaguely familiar.

The silver pocket watch. POTUSES were expected to have GOLD watches.

Further lore says that the fairly loud conversation between the secretary and the “visitor” was heard by Lincoln himself, and he came to the door, saying “Dennis? Is that you?” He was quick to usher in the cousin he hadn’t seen in several years.

Lincoln promised to look into having the Charleston citizens released (although it took some time). Then, in conversation, Dennis mentioned that he had been robbed of his watch. Lincoln pulled a fine silver pocket watch from a drawer. It was a “William Ellery” watch, made by the American Watch Company. According to Dennis Hanks in later recollections, Lincoln gave him the watch. Then he pulled a gold watch from his vest pocket in comparison, noting that the President was expected to keep a gold timepiece.

Dennis was happy with his new silver watch. When he returned to Charleston, he had it engraved with his initials.

Sources:

Sandburg, Carl – Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years – Harcourt, Brace and World, 1926

White, Ronald C. Jr. – Lincoln: A Biography – Random House, 2009

https://www.theamerican.co.uk/pr/ft-Keeping-Time-With-Lincoln