The Story Of Nancy Hanks

Originally Aired: May 7, 1940 In Cavalcade of America #186, "The Story Of Nancy Hanks," Agnes Moorhead stars as the mother of Abraham Lincoln in this Mother's Day tribute to frontier women. Nancy Hanks recounts her life story, beginning with her courtship by Tom Lincoln. Though she feels a mysterious yearning for something beyond the hardships of frontier life—something as elusive as the purple light in the distant hills—she accepts Tom's proposal of marriage. Tom promises her a simple life in a cabin near Elizabethtown, where they can see the hills, offering only his home and his love. After their wedding celebration featuring a traditional Kentucky "inn fair" with a whiskey-bottle race that Tom wins, the couple settles into their modest cabin. Nancy finds beauty in the wild crab apple blossoms and distant hills, while Tom works the rocky land with its stubborn clay. She spends her days scrubbing, washing, and patching, often sitting by the rock spring and gazing at the hills. It is there that Nancy realizes her time is coming—she will soon bring a child into their frontier home.