The final part of Don Cosby’s three-part series on Abraham Lincoln’s journies through Daviess County includes affidavits by those who helped document the former president’s trips.

Following are parts of original affidavits of reputable Daviess County residents, presented as evidence.

Affidavit of John W. Connelly — August 6, 1930

“I am 64 years of age, was born in Daviess County, Ind., and I own the farm formerly owned by Jerry Allen. I resided in the neighborhood of this farm for 23 years and learned from statements made by older men that there was formerly a log cabin on this farm, in 1830, in which Mr. Allen lived, and that the Lincoln party camped overnight at this place on their migration from Indiana to Illinois.

“I was intimately acquainted with Elliott Chappell. He state(d) in my presence a number of times that one day in March, 1830, he and his father were coming home from Washington, and that southeast of my farm a short distance they met a moving party; that after they had reached their own home and done up their work they went to the Allen cabin and visited awhile and found the same moving party camped for the night. Mr. Chappell further stated that there was a very tall young man in the party about Mr. Chappell’s age and that he and this young man became acquainted and sat down on a log near the cabin to talk. They talked a good while and he learned the young man’s name was Abe Lincoln and that they were moving to Illinois.

“In addition to the facts which I have state(d) about Mr. Chappell, when I was a young man there were many old men who had heard the account of the Lincolns camping at the Allen place and it was a matter of common knowledge that these reports were well known all over the county.

John W. Connelly

August 6, 1930

Affidavit of Arsula Itskin (nee Ragsdale).

“My name is Arsula Itskin (nee Ragsdale). I am 49 years old. My mother was the daughter of Elliott Chappell who died at the age of 79 years.

F or the last 12 years of his life, Grandfather Chappell made his home with my father and mother. It was his frequently repeated statement to me and many others that in 1830 the Lincoln-Hanks emigrant party had camped one night on the Jerry Allen farm, now the Connolly farm, near the village of Glendale and that he met the people in the party and had sat down on a log with a tall young man and talked to him and learned that his name was Abe Lincoln.

Grandfather said they were nearly of the same age and he liked the young man and after their arrival in Illinois they corresponded with each other. I saw two of these letters from Abe Lincoln and read them and had them in my hands often.

When Grandfather died, he left them with my mother and before her death she gave them to me. The Lincoln letters, when she gave them to me, were with other papers in a small tin box. In December, 1916, my home in Alfordsville, Ind., was destroyed by fire with all its contents including the small tin box.

I distinctly remember these letters. They were signed “A. Lincoln,” in the style of penmanship that I have often seen in reproductions of the President’s signature.

I have a very clear recollection of one statement in one of the letters that the Lincolns were dissatisfied with their home in Illinois and wished they had stayed in Indiana or Kentucky. I have no recollection of other statements in either of the letters except about getting a letter from Grandfather Elliott Chappell about the crops and weather and that Abe was at work.