The incredible Mr. Linc

The Poplar Bluff Museum tells many unknown tales of our community. I want to tell you some of those hidden tales found within the museum walls.

Abraham Lincoln Hinrichs was born in 1894. He didn’t go by the traditional nickname of “Abe,” but liked to be called “Linc.” He lived a long, fantastic and storied life similar to the modern fictional character of Forrest Gump.

Linc’s adventures started when he joined the Navy. He served on the new dreadnaught-class battleship USS Nebraska during the First World War. When he left home, his devoted dog Chew was lost without him. He died before Linc returned home. His family said Chew died from a broken heart. Linc was also sad. He had his dog exhumed and preserved his bones in a sculpture.

Still restless after the war, Linc traveled the world, visiting all of the continents with the exception of Antarctica. When he got back home, he walked from Missouri to California just to meet a girl. It took him 63 days to walk 1,876 miles. He was now quite the hometown celebrity.

When he returned home, Linc began a travelog of his adventures. He wrote articles for the Daily American Republic for the next 44 years. One of Linc’s many columns were “Interesting Excerpts from the Travelogue of a Poplar Bluffian Who Has Toured the World.” He wrote hundreds of articles about the community, their people and everything outdoors.

Linc didn’t settle down until he married at the age of 46. He and his new wife, Mary Dalton, poured all their energy into their hometown. Since they had no children, Linc and Mary started a Boys Club for underprivileged kids. The club was formed in their back yard on the east side of town. Linc and Mary took in boys from the ages of 8 to 15. Their numbers soon reached 60 kids. The only price of admission was a requirement to memorize the Ten Commandments. In 1954, Linc and Mary donated their land to the city to create Linc’s Park, still located on D Street.

Linc was fascinated with Butler County history and the early Native Americans. He made wood carvings and totem poles depicting them. He made concrete busts of Native American heads. Recently, these concrete heads mysteriously began to reappear in the City Cemetery.

Retirement wasn’t an option for Linc. He swam three miles in the Black River every year. On his 73rd birthday, Linc went on a walkabout, a 270-mile hike through the woods and countryside of Butler, Wayne, Stoddard and Ripley counties. He was dismayed to find that the habitats of the small creatures were depleted. Linc began a four-year quest to plant 10,000 pecan and walnut trees along the banks of the Black, Current and St. Francis rivers. He became known as a modern Johnny Appleseed. You can still see these trees along our river banks, monuments to the man called “Linc.”

In 1987, Linc passed away at the age of 92. I’m sure he is still just as busy in Heaven. His nephew Charles Hinrichs donated a portion of Linc’s memories to the Poplar Bluff Museum. Historian Kati Ray collected these treasures and meticulously displayed them in the People Room. Among these artifacts are his biography, the complete writings of Abraham “Linc” Hinrichs, the mysterious Native American busts, and the bones of Linc’s beloved dog Chew. The shovel of 10,000 trees, used to plant the pecans and walnuts, was donated by Michael Kearbey and on display.

We are proud to be the caretakers of this incredible man’s legacy.

The museum is open free of charge and handicap accessible. It is open 1-4 p.m. Sunday at 1010 N. Main St. Tell them Mike sent you.