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

IS THE CABIN AUTHENTIC?

145

was stated to be the cabin in which Lincoln lived when he was
four years old-in other words, the Knob Creek home of the
Lincolns. Its general appearance was that of the reconstructed
Davenport cabin, but without a window. That this cabin
was a hoax seems evident from the testimony of artist Rowbotham, who was at Knob Creek, the site of the second boyhood home of Lincoln for the purpose of sketching this cabin
in 1865. His investigation there, as at Rock Spring, revealed
that the Lincoln cabin was gone. It had been torn down in
1838 to make way for a new road.85
When Dennett filed his petition in bankruptcy in November, 1901, he scheduled more than $90,000 in claims, the
smallest of which was $71 for linoleum bought for 39 Bowery in January, 1900. His schedule of assets consisted of one
item, "Clothing $2o." Unless the transfers of the Lincoln
farm and the cabins to Crear were bona fide, he should have
also scheduled them, but he did not do so. The day this petition was filed, November 25, 1901, Dennett made a statement, published in the San Francisco papers, in which he
said, "among my assets is a farm known as the Abraham Lincoln farm." It was not necessary for Dennett to publicly announce that the farm was still his, for his swarm of creditors
were after it in full cry.
Typical of these was Richard H. Jaeger, of New York City,
who on March 31, 1902, filed a motion opposing the granting
of Dennett's bankruptcy discharge. Jaeger claimed Dennett
was knowingly and fraudulently concealing his assets, among
which were the birthplace farm, shares in Dennett Surpassing Coffee Parlor Company of the California chain, real estate at Mountain Lake Park, Maryland, and "a certain barn"
also at Mountain Lake Park.36
8Rowbotham to Herndon, June 24, 1865, Herndon-Weik Collection, Library
of Congress.
36 Bankruptcy File, Opposition to Discharge, filed by R. H. Jaeger, March 31, 190x.