Forgotten History | Abraham Lincoln's Wrestling Hall of Fame

Abraham Lincoln was born near Hodgenville, Kentucky. On February 12 1809 Abraham Lincoln was named after his Grandfather who was Capt. Abraham Lincoln was killed by the Indians in 1786. Lincoln grew up in difficult times he experienced a lot of losses in friends and family in his early years. His mother died when he was 9 years old and his sister died of Childbirth when he was about 18 years old. And his First lover died of Typhoid Fever when he was in his 20s, Lincoln spent only 12 months in any kind of formal schooling most of what he learned he learned by himself. As a young man, Lincoln described himself as lazy, reading, scribbling, writing, cipher, poetry, etc. His grandmother said that Abraham did not like physical labor but instead loved to read. He was a lawyer, a soldier, a state legislator, a US Congressman, and twice elected president of the United States. The stories of his successes and failures are known in history as the finest. What is not known is Abraham Lincoln's love of Wrestling, standing at 6 feet and 4 inches tall with long arms perfect for grappling his opponents, Abraham Lincoln was in his teens and continued in his twenties with only one loss of over 300 recorded matches. Lincoln had a reputation among the new Salem Illinois locals as an elite fighter. While earning his county's wrestling championship. Knowing how good he was Lincoln was known for Trash talking with the best of them after one victory he reportedly looked at the crowd and said: "I'm the big buck of this lick if any of you want to try come on and whet your horns." And no one performed. Lincoln's most memorable contest came against Jack Armstrong who was a local group of ruffians a gang known as the clary's Grove boys. When Armstrong heard Lincoln's boss bragging about his wrestling prowess he challenged the future US President to a match. a crowd huddled with money, liquor, and other possessions were wagered. The fight began and it was almost immediately clear that Lincoln would dominate his opponent some versions of the story claimed that Lincoln Challenged every member of Armstrong's gang individually fight after they attempted to intervene in the match. Armstrong finally admitting defeat reportedly called off his friends afterward and became a lifelong friend of Abraham Lincoln. Biographer William Stoddard wrote the match "The episode was full of important consequences to Abraham Lincoln his courage and prowess had been thoroughly tested and he made a deep impression on the minds of his rough neighbors, he was in no danger of further challenges from any of them and Jack Armstrong avowed himself the fast friend of the man who given him so good a shaking." In this modern era Historians only have found one instance when Lincoln lost a match. It happened in the Black Hawk War of 1832 when a man named Hank Thompson defeated Lincoln by a bout for the regimental championship. Lincoln's Reputation as a wrestler was rewarded in 1992 when he was inducted into the outstanding American wing of the national wrestling hall of fame and there he was joined with the other three US Presidents.

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