Much of history based on folklore

To the editor:In regard to your editorial, "Lost history": Folklore, legend, tradition or unsubstantiated beliefs can all be applied to Dred Scott's having been imprisoned in one of the Thebes courthouse cells.

Way back when, it was found in Alexander County records, so I was told, that a black man was imprisoned at Thebes sometime before 1857, and he was supposed to have escaped from the cell and went over the Devil's Backbone (a high place on Highway 3 near Jaco City) to safety.

Please take into consideration that the person or persons who found this and associated it with Dred Scott has long since passed away. But the story lingered, hence the folklore.

It is quite probable that no one thought it necessary to re-check this information. The story was handed down from generation to generation.

When the family names of Lightner and Marchildon were lost from Thebes, much of the history was lost with them. There is no written proof that Abraham Lincoln was in Thebes, but this is another piece of handed-down folklore. How much of any history is based on folklore?

Should you want proof that Heinrich Arnholdt Barkhausen was contracted to design and build the Thebes courthouse, this information is readily available, complete with specifications. I am his great-great-great-great-granddaughter.

LOUISE P. OGG, Unity, Ill.