What most people don't know about Abraham Lincoln.

It's fairly commonly known that Abraham Lincoln was quite the wrestler in his youth. He's the only President enshrined in the Wrestling Hall of Fame, I believe, for instance. Some people even know that he only lost 1 match out of 300.

But no one seems to know anything about that one match... That fateful match that ruined what otherwise was a perfect record...

http://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-2947.html

Meet my 2nd-Great-Grandfather, Lorenzo Dow Thompson. I won't summarize the wrestling match itself here, it's in the link above. It's quite the read, I highly suggest reading it if you have any interest.

Later in life, Lorenzo served two terms in the Missouri State Senate, as an Anti-Benton Democrat (no, I don't really know what that means. ;) Local politics of the 1800s isn't my forte).

He died in 1875 in northern Missouri, after reportedly suffering several health issues and possibly mental degradation of some sort. His exact gravesite isn't known for sure, but one of my cousins thinks she knows where it is and has taken me to see it. There's just no way to prove it.

This isn't exactly my 14th favorite, this is based on my 5th, with additional information by me. This is, I think, far more interesting than my actual 14th. I hope you enjoyed the read.

Edit: I forgot to mention that some sources seem to think his name was Hank. I have no idea why, other than maybe the originator didn't have a first name and made it up, or thought Lorenzo was too weird or offbeat for their readers to accept. Lorenzo's father was a preacher, and named him after Lorenzo Dow, a famous traveling preacher of the times.

Edit x2: fixed it to "Anti-Benton", not Benson. Faulty memory, sorry about that.

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Edit x3: I've been asked to summarize the wrestling, so here it is. I will attempt to describe the holds, However, I make ABSOLUTELY no claim to them being historically accurate. I did look into them a few years ago, but don't have my sources handy - this is what stuck in my brain at the time.

Location: Beardstown, IL, May 2nd(?) 1832, The Blackhawk War. The weather was "cold and tempestous". Two companies of militia both come upon and claim the same ideal camping site simultaneously.

Captain Lincoln proposed to Captain Moore that "captain for captain, the matter should be settled by match." Apparently Captain Moore wasn't nearly as physically imposing as Lincoln, so he counter-offered a man from each company. Lincoln, of course, selected himself as his representative. Private Thompson was produced from the St Clair company, apparently of just above medium height and weight, and otherwise unremarkable. Lincoln's men were sure of their success and began wagering on the match, egged on by Lincoln, but the St Clair company was unusually sure of their man, and took those bets.

The match was 'Best Two-of-Three'. American wrestling was "Catch-as-catch-can", starting in a hold-position and trying to take your opponent to the ground.

The first hold was Thompson's choice: "Side-holt". (My personal reconstruction: stand facing your opponent, with them to your right. Put your right leg behind theirs, and your right hand on their waist. Left hand *probably* gripping their right arm.) After much see-sawing and spectator shouting, Lincoln was thrown down onto the ground on his back.

Lincoln wasn't hurt, although his pants were damaged a bit, his pride was possibly damaged worse. As he moved back to the center, he said, "Now Mr. Thompson, it's your turn to go down."

The next hold was the Indian hug, apparently Lincoln's favorite. (I believe this one is standing face-to-face, reach around with both hands and grasp the top of your opponent's pants, while opponent does the same to you.) Thompson appeared to be the stronger man at this hold as well, and Lincoln switched tactics.

This last one I've seen reported a few different ways. According to the link above, Lincoln tried a "crotch-hold", while I've seen at least one site claim that Thompson grabbed Lincoln's crotch to win this bout. Personally, here is what I think- one or both of them did do the crotch hold, but it's not what you're thinking of. That would have definitely been unsportsmanlike and probably been a forfeit. My guess it's grabbing your opponent by the upper thigh with both hands and trying to lift and throw them over backwards.

Anyways, this maneuver by Lincoln (if it was by him) also wasn't sufficient to do it, and once again he found himself thrown to the ground, but Thompson went down with him at the same time.

Lincoln's men called it a "Dog fall!" (a tie, I'm sure), while Moore's claimed it was fair.

Lincoln himself called it, springing to his feet, called out, "Boys! The man actually threw me once fairly; broadly so. And this second time - this very fall, he threw me fairly although not apparently so." His men had lost their goods and their camping site, but Lincoln retained his honor and integrity.

I've also seen different words claimed to Lincoln, essentially the same, but claiming that Thompson could "outwrestle a bear."

Edit #4: Most Viral! First time for me, thanks all for taking an interest!

#imgur14