Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1904 edition. Excerpt: ... AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIDEON LINCECUM.1 My father was a large, powerful man, six feet high and weighing in the prime of life 200 pounds.2 I saw him, when I was a little boy, lift a forge hammer at Byrd's Iron Works, that weighed 'This contribution has been compiled by the Editor from letters written by Dr. Lincecum to his grandson, from Tuxpan, Mexico, beginning November 3, 1871. No attempt has been made to recast many of the quaint sentences or to substitute words in good use for the many colloquialisms which appear in the manuscript, since these peculiarities will doubtless give additional interest to the narrative. From 1829 until the year of his death (1873) Dr. Lincecum spent much time gathering botanical specimens for his "Herbarium." This collection is now in the possession of his daughter, Mrs. S. L. Doran, of Hempstead, Texas. He also wrote the "Traditions of the Choctaws," first in the Choctaw language and then translated it into English. . This manuscript, containing 554 pages, with an appendix on the "Life of Apushimataha," containing 96 pages, is also in the possession of Mrs. Doran. It may be interesting to note in this connection some facts which are not brought out in his autobiography. Dr. Lincecum sent to Charles Darwin, --with whom he tells us he corresponded--forty-eight specimens of Texas ants, with an account of the habits of each. He also sent to the Jardins des Plantes of Paris six hundred specimens of the flora of Texas; and to the Smithsonian Institution various botanical and entomological specimens; and to the New York College of Science a very large collection of Texas butterflies. He also made elaborate collections of natural history specimens during his residence of five years at Tuxpan. These he also presented...