At different forums, I often see three glaring errors regarding Lincoln County. 1. The community of Hamlin was named for Abraham Lincolns vice-president, Hannibal Hamlin. This is incorrect. Hamline (originally spelled with an e) was established in the early 1850s, years before Hamlin (of Maine) was a nationally-known politician, much less Lincolns vice-president. This historical fact is easily proven. Fred B. Lambert interviewed many people at the turn-of-the-century who recalled the true story of the towns formation -- people with firsthand knowledge of the event. He also documented official records regarding the naming of the town. If you examine early Lincoln County newspapers, you will see stories every so often from old-timers who were EVEN THEN trying to dispel the myth that Hamlin was named for Lincolns vice-president. Somehow, the false story continues today. If you are publishing history of our county PLEASE NOTE THIS. Please do not say that our county seat was named for Hannibal Hamlin. 2. When I drive to Hamlin, there is a beautiful sign that greets me saying that Hamlin was established in 1867. NO. The town is much older than that -- it was established in the early 1850s. I have much documentation to prove this, if needed. I can retrieve the exact date from my files. I notified the county commission of the error so the sign might be changed but I received no response. 3. Lincoln County was created in 1867 but its boundaries underwent MAJOR changes until 1869 and, really, even after that up until the early 1890s (mostly involving the border with Wayne and Logan counties). My area of the county, the Harts Creek District, was established in 1869 following two boundary changes, mostly involving the acquisition of territory from Logan County. Many histories do not even reference that Lincoln County included territory from Logan County. This is also a serious error. I think Logan County would like to know if it did not in fact lose a large chunk of its northern territory to Lincoln. Many readers of this site may know this history; some may not. But these are three serious errors that I have noted and I continue seeing them put forth so I thought it might help if I posted something here.
Posted on: Sun, 27 Jul 2014 19:18:57 +0000
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