Excerpt from The Early Life of Abraham Lincoln: Containing Many Unpublished Documents and Unpublished Reminiscences of Lincoln's Early Friends (Classic Reprint)IT has been only within the last ten years that the descent of Abraham Lincoln from the Lincolns of Hingham, Massachusetts, has been established with any degree Of certainty. The satis factory proof Of his lineage is a matter Of great importance. In a way it explains Lincoln. It shows that he came Of a family endowed with the spirit Of adventure, Of daring, Of patriotism, and of thrift that his ancestors were men who for nearly two hun dred years before he was born were active and well-to-do citizens Of Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, or Virginia, men who everywhere played their parts well. Abraham Lincoln was but the flowering Of generations Of upright, honorable men.