Abraham Lincoln quarterly. [Vol. 5, no. 3]

IS THE CABIN AUTHENTIC?

131

Associated with Dennett in a number of promotional
enterprises was the Reverend James W. Bigham, a Methodist
preacher and evangelist, who first met Dennett in New Albany, Indiana, in 1893. According to Dennett's testimony in
the United States District Court in San Francisco, and his
correspondence, it was Bigham who first interested Dennett
in the Lincoln farm on "No Lynn" Creek.' Bigham was
quite a prominent figure in western Kentucky in the nineties. These same sources indicate it was Bigham's fertile brain
that created the idea of displaying two cabins at the Tennessee Centennial Exposition which was held at Nashville in
1897. One of these cabins was the alleged birthplace of President Lincoln and the other building was purported to be the
structure in which Jefferson Davis first saw the light of day.
The so-called Lincoln cabin was purchased from John A.
Davenport in 1895, and was originally a two-story cabin in
5 In the Matter of Alfred W. Dennett, Bankrupt, No. 374o, U. S. District Court
for the Northern District of California, filed November 25, 19o1, transcript of
(hereafter referred to as Bankruptcy File):
Direct Examination [in part]
"Mr. Linforth [Trustee]
Q. Do you know one J. W. Bigham, of Marion, Kentucky?
Mr. Dennett [Witness]
A. Yes, Sir.
Q. Has he at any time represented you in connection with that property
[Lincoln birthplace farm]?
A. He was the agent through whom I was induced to purchase it some eight
years ago; and he acted as a sort of agent for me and helped me with a settlement with the heirs, of the purchase money-what I bought was through him
considerably."
This voluminous bankruptcy file of approximately forty-six documents contains over two hundred pages. It includes information concerning the Lincoln
birthplace farm and the two exhibition pieces, the "Lincoln" and "Davis" cabins,
unobtainable elsewhere. I have 151 pages of this file, in photostat, in my collection of material on the farm and cabins.
The name of Nolin Creek, in Larue County, has its origin in the pioneer
designation, "No Lynn." A party of explorers camped on this creek about 1779
and a member named Lynn became lost. Searching parties returned to camp each
night with the brief announcement, "No Lynn." It was repeated so many times
during the search that it became the name of the creek. (Otis M. Mather, "Explorers and Early Settlers South of Muldraugh Hill," The Register of the Kentucky
State Historical Society, January, 1924, Vol. XXII, No. 64, p. 31.)