[ABRAHAM LINCOLN] * DENNIS HANKS Who Taught LINCOLN to Read Autograph SIGNED

SCARCE SIGNATURE OF LINCOLN'S COUSIN & BOYHOOD COMPANION, DENNIS HANKS

Offered here is a remarkable November 1841 appearance bond filed in the Coles County Circuit Court, Illinois, on behalf of Ann Mullen and Elizabeth Higgins, charged with petit larceny. The document is executed before the court clerk and signed by a panel of guarantors, including Dennis Hanks — the famed cousin and boyhood companion of Abraham Lincoln. Hanks signs twice – at top center and lower right as, "D.F. Hanks".

Born in Kentucky, Dennis Friend Hanks (1799–1892) was the illegitimate son of an aunt of Lincoln’s mother, Nancy Hanks. After the death of his guardians, young Dennis moved in with Thomas and Nancy Lincoln, growing up alongside Abraham in Indiana. The two shared a close familial and personal bond: Hanks helped teach Lincoln to read and write, moved with the family to Illinois in 1830, and later married Lincoln’s stepsister, Elizabeth Johnston. Hanks remained a lifelong supporter of Lincoln, their families remaining intertwined for decades — their daughter even boarded with Abraham and Mary Lincoln in Springfield while attending school, and Lincoln represented his cousin in an 1851 lawsuit.

This original court bond places Hanks directly within the legal orbit of mid-nineteenth-century Illinois — the same circuit system that would soon become Abraham Lincoln’s own professional world.

Condition is as shown. Document measures appx. 7.5" x 12.5". Foxing at left edge and along right fold, otherwise beautifully preserved with strong ink contrast and crisp paper tone.

A historically resonant legal document — signed by Abraham Lincoln’s cousin and boyhood companion, emerging from the very county where the future President’s family settled upon their arrival in Illinois.

UNCONDITIONALLY GUARANTEED GENUINE — CERTIFIED AUTHENTIC BY SIGNATURIST-INK.