Rob & Abe: Kentucky's Finest

By Nina Pierce Baker '77

Reconnecting with old friends is such a great benefit of this website. Making new ones is one as well. In the past few weeks, I’ve gotten to do both. As I wrote to Mirenda Robertson ‘77 to get her After Wagner story for the site, I discovered a multi-talented lady who doesn’t let age stop her from going after her passion – riding motorcycles! I’m looking forward to seeing her at the next reunion – maybe she’ll teach me how to ride – hmmm, I wonder if she’ll sacrifice that cycle of hers to a novice...

Just before the Thanksgiving holiday, I reconnected with my cross country bud, Rob Barnhill, ’75. My daughter is interested in Centre College in Kentucky, which is just an hour away from Hodgenville, where Rob and his wife, Kathy, now live. Naturally, a visit was in order! It had been 20 years since we’d seen each other at the ’87 reunion in San Francisco, and we’d lost touch over time. We had some catching up to do!

Rob and Kathy treated us to a nice visit and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves – yakking over old times, checking out old pictures (doesn't matter how many times you see those 70's outfits, you still cringe!), watching football (Kathy’s a huge WVU fan & they won that weekend) and touring Hodgenville, which just also happens to be the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln. Rob’s last assignment with the Army was at Fort Knox. After living on base for a few years, he and Kathy discovered they really liked the area, and with Kentucky being equidistant from both sets of in-laws, they decided to make it their home base. They wanted their two boys to finish high school in the same place (can’t we all relate!), so they settled in Hodgenville.

No visit of Hodgenville could be complete without a tour of The Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site and a stop at the Lincoln Museum, and we did just that. And I can say that on this visit, I learned a lot about both Rob and Abe Lincoln. And since Rob will be submitting his After Wagner story shortly, I won’t give away any state secrets and will let him do the talking. I will however say that although retired from the Army, he still works at Fort Knox as a civilian contractor and in his spare time is very involved with Hodgenville’s Lincoln Days Committee.

This coming February marks an important date in Hodgenville, because it will be the official opening of the Lincoln Bicentennial Commemoration. In fact, President George W. Bush has been invited to Kentucky to launch a two-year national commemoration of the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth, which occurred Feb. 12, 1809. The national kickoff begins in Louisville on Feb. 11, 2008, and continues with a ceremony in Hodgenville on Feb. 12th.

President Bush is expected to deliver the keynote address at the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site. The American Spiritual Ensemble and Saxton's Cornet Band will provide music. Sam Waterston, best-known for his television role as an attorney on Law and Order, will deliver a dramatic presentation of Lincoln's words.

And here are some interesting facts that I learned about Abe Lincoln (see, Rob, I was paying attention!)

Abe Lincoln was very close to both his mother and his stepmother, but not his father. He looked very much like his mother. He had no formal schooling during his formative years.

His mother died when he was seven from “milk sickness”, a disease contracted from drinking the milk of a cow that has eaten the poisonous white snakeroot.

It is sometimes debated whether Lincoln had Marfan syndrome, an autosomal dominant disorder of the connective tissue characterized by long limbs and great physical stature.

He had four sons. Only one, Robert, reached maturity and had children. Abe has no direct descendents - his great grandson Robert died in 1985 leaving no children.

One of the more obscure and fun facts that I learned was that an eleven year old girl, Grace Bedell, influenced Abraham Lincoln to grow his now-famous beard. On October 15, 1860, a few weeks before Lincoln was elected President of the United States, Grace sent him a letter urging him to grow a beard to improve his appearance. Lincoln responded in a letter on October 19, 1860, making no promises. However, within a month, he grew a full beard.

Click on the attached document to read Grace's letter to Abe and his reply as well as some interesting facts about Abe’s early life in the Hodgenville area. More info can be found at these web sites as well. www.kylincoln.org and www.lincolnbirthplace.com

Look for Rob’s After Wagner story soon – And thanks to Rob and Kathy for a wonderful visit!

Pictures: #1 - My husband Keith, Rob, myself and Kathy at The Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site. #2 - A view of downtown Hodgenville including the Lincoln Museum. #3 - Keith, Caitlin, Kathy & Rob on the steps of the Lincoln Birthplace (The cabin Lincoln was born in is inside the fancy building). #4 - A young Abe Lincoln pre-beard. #5 - Nancy Hanks Lincoln, Abe's mother. #6 The Knob Creek cabin that Abe lived in from age two to seven.