“I take it that it is best for all to leave each man free to acquire property as fast as he can.” Perhaps Abraham Lincoln’s words were taken a bit too much to heart by one of the 16th president’s less-reputable namesakes, Lincoln Towing Service, in the 1960s and ’70s. Lincoln Towing spread fear and loathing throughout the North Side for allegedly damaging cars, towing legally parked cars, towing cars with their drivers inside them, even roughing up car owners. When the Illinois Appellate Court ruled that vehicles could not be held hostage for a $50 cash-only towing fee, Lincoln said fine, better have the car’s title handy.
Number of businesses with “Lincoln” in their name listed in the Chicago White Pages: 117.
Ratio of Abes to Mary Todds available from the Association of Lincoln Presenters: 3 1/2 to 1.
Miles from Lincoln Towing to the International Towing and Recovery Museum in Chattanooga, Tenn.: 485.
Official rank of Abraham Lincoln on an Internet “Ugliest President” poll: 2. Rank of George Washington: 10. Rank of Richard Nixon: 1.
Fruit depicted in a monument to Abe in Lincoln, Ill.: watermelon, which Lincoln used to “christen” the town named for him in 1853.
