This is interesting. I’ve run across something similar. But the misinformation was actually set in motion by a historian who got it wrong. My husband’s ancestor, Alexander McConnell and his oldest son Matthew, settled a piece of land in Western Pennsylvania that was part land grant and part purchased. Alexander’s youngest son was also named Alexander. When old Alexander passed, he left his portion of the property owned with Matthew to young Alexander. (His will tells us this) However, historian Boyd Crumrine believed the two Alexanders were the same person. So in his History of Washington County, he writes the story as two brothers who settled a piece of land. The father is never mentioned, with the son getting credit for his life as well as his own. Crumrine also gives the younger Alexander a first wife I can find no other documentation for. I can’t decide yet if she was killed by natives, or never existed at all!
Also, they civil experiences of Mr. Lincoln might not mean he wasn’t also a soldier. In a biography I read on Mad Anthony Wayne, it notes that when his troops weren’t fighting, he was often in Philadelphia looking for clothing donations, etc for his men. Perhaps this was a common practice among the Army?
This is interesting. I’ve run across something similar. But the misinformation was actually set in motion by a historian who got it wrong. My husband’s ancestor, Alexander McConnell and his oldest son Matthew, settled a piece of land in Western Pennsylvania that was part land grant and part purchased. Alexander’s youngest son was also named Alexander. When old Alexander passed, he left his portion of the property owned with Matthew to young Alexander. (His will tells us this) However, historian Boyd Crumrine believed the two Alexanders were the same person. So in his History of Washington County, he writes the story as two brothers who settled a piece of land. The father is never mentioned, with the son getting credit for his life as well as his own. Crumrine also gives the younger Alexander a first wife I can find no other documentation for. I can’t decide yet if she was killed by natives, or never existed at all!
Also, they civil experiences of Mr. Lincoln might not mean he wasn’t also a soldier. In a biography I read on Mad Anthony Wayne, it notes that when his troops weren’t fighting, he was often in Philadelphia looking for clothing donations, etc for his men. Perhaps this was a common practice among the Army?