Dispelling the myths about Lincoln’s wrestling days

Photo: Mike Chapman published his book, “The Sport of Lincoln” in 2003.

By Mike Chapman

Well, it’s happened again. I recently read a story online that claims Abe Lincoln wrestled 300 matches and lost just once. As a huge fan of Honest Abe, I was disappointed that such a ridiculous claim keeps popping up from time to time.

One can also read some places that Lincoln not only won hundreds of matches but was a state and regional wrestling champion. But none of that is true. It is a part of the myth or folklore that has been built up around this great man for decades.

Lincoln was born on Feb. 6, 1809, and raised in Kentucky. When he was seven, the family moved to Indiana. He grew into a strapping young man nearly six-foot, four-inches tall and weighing about 180 pounds. He developed a strong, lean physique from years of splitting logs and hard work on a farm.

He first strolled into the tiny village of New Salem, Ill., in 1831 as a 22-year-old looking for a new start in life. And soon after his arrival, he was entangled in an event that was destined to play a very important role in his career. It was called scuffling or grappling, and in modern terms … wrestling.

This story appeared in the late-November issue of WIN Magazine. Click on the latest cover or call 888-305-0606 to subscribe to WIN Magazine.

First of all, we need to define what type of contest Lincoln and others would have participated in back then. There were almost no rules, no time limits and no referees, which are the three basic requirements for any type of official wrestling match today.

It was just a good, old-fashioned scuffle with each man trying to throw the other to his back and make him quit. Foot stomping was a frequent tactic as was hair pulling and thumbing of the face. It was a wild and ruckus engagement with little resemblance to wrestling as we now know it.

In that summer of 1831, Lincoln wound up in a scuffling contest with Jack Armstrong, an older man who was considered the toughest fellow in the area.

They tangled on a small slice of grass between two small buildings, and by all accounts Abe got the better of it. I have stood on that very spot many times through the years and have conducted two seminars there about the event. I even appeared on a national radio show several years ago to talk about it.

The most thorough discussion of Lincoln’s wrestling background comes in the book “Honor’s Voice: The Transformation of Abraham Lincoln,” written by historian Douglas L. Wilson, in 1999. The book offers an entire chapter – nearly 32 pages — devoted to Lincoln’s wrestling prowess, appropriately entitled “Wrestling with the Evidence”.

Here is the key part: “Abraham Lincoln’s election to the presidency and his eventual elevation to the pantheon of American heroes have transformed his wrestling match with Jack Armstrong from a rowdy initiation rite in an obscure pioneer village into a notable historical event.”

Wilson then quotes John T. Stuart, who knew Lincoln as well as anyone and brought him into his law firm in Springfield, Ill., after Lincoln left New Salem: “This was the turning point in Lincoln’s life,” Stuart claimed after the death of his longtime friend.

There are just a few brief references to Lincoln using his grappling skills after the Armstrong encounter. And there is also one report of Lincoln losing a contest. It took place in Beardstown, Ill., and the foe was Lorenzo Dow Thompson.

Years later, Lincoln talked about the struggle and said up to that time he had never been thrown and neither had Thompson. They grabbed hold of each other before a large group of soldiers and struggled valiantly, but Lincoln said he was thrown twice, declaring Thompson was strong enough to whip a grizzly bear.

In the nearly 160 years since the death of Abraham Lincoln, many stories have grown up about his wrestling prowess. And, like all legendary figures – from Hercules to Davy Crockett and even George Washington – exaggerations loom large in such stories.

Thomas Schwartz, a former curator of the Lincoln Collection at the Illinois State Historical Society, in Springfield, Illinois, says Lincoln was a grappler of some renown, but he says there is scant evidence of any wrestling matches beyond a mere handful.

“Lincoln didn’t do sports per se,” said Charles Strozier, a noted Lincoln scholar and college professor. He adds that Abe was a noted wrestler, however.

So, what’s the bottom line when it comes to Lincoln’s standing as wrestler?

He certainly did some grappling and scuffling in his youth, and that is similar to what we now call wrestling. But it is also very different. He was not a recognized champion on any level, other than in the small frontier village known as New Salem.

And there is certainly no reason to believe that he participated in anywhere near 300 matches.

But whether we call it scuffling, grappling, or wrestling, that activity played a huge role in the life of the man destined to become the nation’s 16th president and one of the most celebrated and important figures in world history.

P.S., if you want to learn more about this historic event, you can read my booklet “The Sport of Lincoln”, which also has some vivid artwork and very rare photos of Abe and Jack at about the time of the great encounter.

(Mike Chapman is the founder of WIN Magazine, the Dan Hodge Trophy, the National Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum, author of 30 books and is a member of 11 halls of fame.)