SPRINGFIELD, Ill., June 6 (UPI) -- U.S. historians' claims that a young Abraham Lincoln lived on hand-outs in and around New Salem, Ill., have been dispelled by new artifacts and documents.
Tom Schwartz, Illinois' state historian and interim director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that evidence now refutes claims Lincoln relied on townsfolk for a place to sleep, as it appears he had his own property.
He said accounts the country's eventual 16th U.S. president routinely took meals with townsfolk are also wrong, as the newest material found indicates he was a terrible cook, the Post-Dispatch reported.
"It immediately roots him, makes him a gentleman of property," Schwartz told the newspaper.
"He's not this living this Bohemian life where it's kind of carefree, no property, no worries, where he can sit under the trees and read."
