[Non-Sequitur]

Only insomuch that the southern states, rather than outlaw slavery and then, say, continue to lease slaves from Haiti or somewhere, chose to take a stand on the issue rather than be two-faced and dishonest about it.

It's interesting that you want to claim that Lincoln "new" about it. One article you posted says evidence indicates Lincoln stayed with Crenshaw in 1840. The other one claims that Hickory Hill wasn't started until 1842. So which was it?

[Knitebane]

According to the other information posted on the site, construction on the Hickory Hill house itself was begun in 1833.

The 1842 date is consistent with the first public documents associated with the house, mostly having to do with Crenshaw's trail in the kidnapping case of Maria Adams. However, records also exist that state that Crenshaw first hired a contractor to begin construction on the Hickory Hill house in 1833.

This is entirely consistent with the young Whig state representative Lincoln dropping by to call on a wealthy local resident while participating in debates in Shawneetown in 1840.