g in Lycoming county;
Lucy, the wife of William W. Potter, a leading politician in this
county, who died on the 15th day of October, 1888, while a member
of our national Congress.

Mrs. Potter continued with her mother's family in Lycoming county,
frequently visiting her two sisters, Mrs. Huston and Mrs. Burnside,
who resided in Bellefonte, where, in 1815, she was united in
marriage, by Rev. James Linn, with William W. Potter, a young and
rising lawyer, and son of General James Potter, one of the early
settlers of the county. Here, with her husband until his death, and
then, upon the marriage of her niece, Miss Lucy Alexander, with Mr.
Edward C. Humes, she made her home, living continuously in this
town since her marriage, and having survived her husband for the
long period of thirty-seven years, being that length of time a
widow.

The biographers of President Lincoln have none of them given these facts
because they did not know them, nor was the President himself aware of
them. Of their authenticity so far as the relationship of Mr. Lincoln
with the family of Winters is concerned, I have no doubt. His ancestry
in this country, paternal and maternal--Lincoln, Boone, and Winters--is
to be traced to the county of Berks, Pennsylvania.

A roving child of the forest, where there were not even village schools,
Abraham Lincoln had little early culture, but his vigorous native
intellect sought information wherever it could be obtained with limited
means and opportunities, and overcame almost insuperable obstacles. His
quick perception and powers of observation and reflection, and his
retentive memory were remarkable; his judgment was good, his mental
grasp and comprehension equal to any emergency, his intentions were
always honest, and his skill and tact, with a determination to always
maintain the right, begot confidence and made him successful and great.
Party opponents imputed his success under difficulties that seemed
insurmountable to craft and cunning; but while not deficient in
shrewdness, his success was the result not of deceptive measures or wily
intrigue, but of wisdom and fidelity with an intuitive sagacity that
seldom erred as to measures to be adopted, or the course to be pursued.
It may be said of him, that he possessed inherently a master mind, and
was innately a leader of men. He listened, as I have often remarked,
patiently to the advice