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Published: 8/6/2012 | Updated: 6/17/2013
To The Herald-Whig: I noticed that Linda Reed from Barry posted the "10 Cannots" in her letter that you printed Aug. 2. I wholeheartedly agree with her that those were wise words written years ago and that we are not heeding them today. The actual author of the 10 Cannots was not Abraham Lincoln, but a Presbyterian minister from Erie, Pa., whose name was William John Henry Boetcker. Rev. Boetcker wrote them in 1916, 51 years after President Lincoln's assassination. He intially had these 10 Cannots printed on a leaflet, and on the other side of the leaflet were quotes from Abraham Lincoln about private property rights. With the passage of time and several reprintings of the leaflet, Rev. Boetcker's name was inadvertently deleted as the author of the 10 Cannots and President Lincoln's name was incorrectly applied as the author. Rick Tarzwell St. Louis
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