Biography: Politics and Government Stub‑class

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Nancy Hanks is supposed to be a relative of mine, yet this article states that not much is known about her childhood! Now I must do some serious research to understand why there isn't much known about her childhood!

Nancy Hanks, b 25 Mar 1780, d 5 Oct 1818 , m 12 Jun 1806 to Thomas Lincoln.

Nancy lived with her grandmother, “Nannie”, until she went back to Virginia to live with her “aunt “ [quite possibly her real mother] Lucy Hanks Sparrow, m 1790 to Henry Sparrow. She lived with Lucy until 1795 when her aunt Elizabeth married Henry’s brother, Thomas Sparrow, then she lived with Elizabeth and Thomas until she was married to Thomas Lincoln in 1806. [Footnote1: The Lincoln Family, History of Lee County, Virginia, Anne Wyche.]

It is not known whether Nancy was the daughter of Joseph Hanks (in wedlock) or his sister Lucy Hanks (out of wedlock)

Gary Boyd Roberts identifies several candidates for Nancy Hanks’ parents: putative fathers include James Hanks of North Carolina, Abraham Hanks of Fauquier, Prince William and Campbell Cos., Va., Thomas Hanks of Ross & Washington Cos., Ohios, and _____ Hanks of Virginia; another possibility is a gentleman planter of Richmond co., possibly Elisha Lingan Hall. Possible mothers include Lucy Shipley, Sarah Harper, Merry Berry, ____ Berry, and Lucy Hanks

{One author has proposed that Abraham Lincoln was the illegitimate son of Nancy Hanks and Abraham Enloe.}^[1] -Nunh-huh 03:15, 24 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

--The Broad Run Baptist Church (Fauquier County Virginia) has the Church records with Nancy Hanks baptism recorded. Local gossip says that she was father by a wealthy planter who simply spurned her once she became pregnant - hence Lincoln's hatred of southern aristocrats.

Nancy Hanks birth place is on the list of National Historic Places and is in Mineral County, WV. That information is correct. --71Demon 01:41, 3 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I have consulted numerous sources about the birthplace and there is substantial disagreement and numerous claims. The problem apparently originates with the widespread use of "Nancy" for Hanks' females. Deardoff 14:15, 28 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

How on Earth could Tom Hanks be a descendant of Nancy Hanks Lincoln? A distant relative, maybe, but Hanks would have had to be a Lincoln, and all of Lincoln's descendants are dead.--Idols of Mud (talk) 14:25, 9 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No trivia please. :)

7h3 3L173 (talk) 07:27, 26 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Large portions of the article have been changed this morning and really should have been discussed first and/or consensus reached. I have reverted the majority of the changes back to the original version - let's take it slowly, okay? Thank you. Lhb1239 (talk) 13:29, 1 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, since this appeared to be little more than a stub of an article, I added standard bio headers and tried to make content consistent with other bios. I did not think those would be considered major changes, as I made few substantive changes. WP discourages trivia, and incidental mentions of Hanks Lincoln in music or books are not in the same category of "Honors" as songs written specifically as tribute to her, or memorials or legislative recognition. I think these are classified more accurately as "Honors" rather than "Legacy". Parkwells (talk) 14:29, 1 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Items:

• It seemed unnecessary to devote more space in the section on Nancy Hanks' early life to the history of Mineral County, West Virginia than to her life, as the county has its own article. Its organizational history seemed to have little bearing on the events of her early life, which would have been the only reason to note it in such detail.
• Although she was born Nancy Hanks, by the time she moved with her husband and children to Indiana, she was known as Nancy Hanks Lincoln. It seemed appropriate to say "the Lincoln family" moved...
• Milk sickness is not a "disease" (defined by the dictionary as caused by infectious microorganisms or genetic causes), but an illness caused by drinking or eating products of cows that had eaten the white snakeroot plant, which contains the poison tremetol. I have corrected the milk sickness article so that it reflects this. We don't have to perpetuate errors in WP.
• If Nancy Hanks Lincoln was "living in Little Pigeon Creek at the time of her death," it seemed reasonable to say earlier in the content that the Lincoln family had settled in Little Pigeon Creek. Then the section on her death is limited to that and the milk sickness, and its other victims.
• Using the dab/wikilink is customary for people- I was trying to give each of her children their names at birth and while they lived in the Lincoln family (the surname does not need to be repeated three times), but also to mention Sarah's marriage to Grigsby. Using this kind of link directs people properly to the article on Sarah Lincoln Grigsby, but it does not seem appropriate to list her as a child that way.
• Material in the Lead is supposed to summarize the main content of the article, so Abraham Lincoln as president has to be mentioned below as well as in the Lead. She was first married before she was his mother, even thought that is why she is notable, so that's why I gave her the marriage first and mother of Sarah and Abe second; also kept the children in birth order.Parkwells (talk) 14:29, 1 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]