430 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1952 



(Angle, 1949, pp. 12-14; Hertz, 1940, pp. 353-354). These figures 

 (in inches) compare with the Old Americans as follows: 



Average for Old Average for Old 



Thomas Lincoln Abraham Lincoln American males Nancy Lincoln American females 



(727) (211) 



70 76 68. 6 67 63. 7 



Range Range 



60. 5-76. 57. 3-69. 7 



111 addition we have the stature figures for 364 Civil War soldiers 

 from the then Fourth Congressional District of Kentucky, which 

 includes Larue County where Lincoln was born (Baxter, 1875). 

 These soldiers, born about 30 years after Lincoln, averaged 68.2 inches 

 and were among the tallest in the northern army. Unfortunately the 

 range of their statures is not given. We are justified in concluding, 

 however, that Lincoln's stature was at the upper end of the range of 

 his fellow Old Americans. 



Another interesting, but less direct, comparison is provided by 

 the Old American members of the National Academy of Sciences 

 (Hrdlicka, 1940). The Academy was established by President 

 Lincoln during the Civil War to advise the Government on scientific 

 matters. Between the years 1926 and 1933, Hrdlicka, himself a mem- 

 ber of the Academy, measured 150 members, including 100 who met 

 his requirements, quoted above, for Old Americans. These 100 sci- 

 entists had a mean stature of 68.4 inches, with a range from 61.7 to 

 74.7 inches. Lincoln's height would not have been very conspicuous 

 among the taller members of this select company ! 



Weight. — Lincoln's usual weight was around 180 pounds (Oldroyd, 

 1883, p. 482). Like most people of slender build, he did not get much 

 heavier than his usual weight, although, as we have seen, he lost 

 weight under stress. His father is described as having a "compact 

 build" and is said to have weighed 195 pounds in the latter part of 

 his life. His mother, from whom he seems to have inherited his 

 slender build, weighed about 130 pounds at the age of 23 years when 

 she married (Angle, 1949, pp. 12-14 ; Hertz, 1940, pp. 353-354) . Here 

 obviously our comparison is complicated by the fact that individuals 

 may put on weight with age. However, of the three Lincolns probably 

 only the father, Thomas Lincoln, was of a build subject to considerable 

 weight change. Here again is how they compare (in pounds) with 

 the Old Americans: 



Average for Old Average for Old 



Thomas Lincoln Abraham Lincoln American males Nancy Lincoln American females 



($82) (SOS) 



195 180 150. 3 130 127. 3 



Range Range 



111. 0-219. 5 86. 0-206. 



Weight-height (gram-centimeter) index 

 497. 5 453. 6 390. 8 346. 5 356. 8 



