Little did I think that I was looking at a boy who would one day be President of the United States!" An interesting personal sketch of Thomas Lincoln is given by Mr.George B.Balch, who was for many years a resident of Lerna, Coles County, Illinois.

Among other things he says: "Thomas Lincoln, father of the great President, was called Uncle Tommy by his friends and Old Tom Lincoln by other people.

His property consisted of an old horse, a pair of oxen and a few sheep--seven or eight head.

My father bought two of the sheep, they being the first we owned after settling in Illinois.
Thomas Lincoln was a large, bulky man, six feet tall and weighing about two hundred pounds.

He was large-boned, coarse-featured, had a large blunt nose, florid complexion, light sandy hair and whiskers.