As explained in The Ancestry of Abraham Lincoln, published in 1909 by J. Henry Lea and J. R. Hutchinson, Major George Chrisman was "a third cousin of the President, being son of George Harrison Chrisman and Martha Herring, daughter of Alexander Herring, only son of William, who was brother of Leonard Herring, the father of Bathsheba, wife of Abraham Lincoln, the grandfather of the President." 

This is almost correct, but there are two minor flaws.  At the time he was providing information for the book, Major George Chrisman was 76 years old; his brother Herring was 85 years old and living in Iowa.  It is possible that the major related these points incorrectly, or the error may have been on the part of the authors.  Regardless of the origin of the mistakes, they are corrected as follows:

Alexander was not the only son of William.  Alexander’s parents, William S. Herring, Sr. (b. 1744, d. 1806) and Elizabeth Stephenson (b. 1748, d. 1820/21) had two sons, Alexander and William S. Herring, Jr.  There were also six daughters.

Leonard Herring was not the father of Bathsheba Herring, Leonard was Bathsheba’s brother, and their parents were Alexander Herring (1708-1778) and Abigail Harrison (1710-1780).  William S. Herring, Sr., from whom the Chrisman brothers descend, was a brother to Leonard and Bathsheba.  

In the book’s preface and in footnotes (pages 79 and 108), author J. Henry Lea repeatedly praises and thanks “Major George Chrisman of Chrisman Post Office, Rockingham County” for his contributions as the Herring-Lincoln connection was not known until Major Chrisman brought the subject to light.Lea refers to the major as “my valued friend and correspondent,” “a venerable and respected citizen,” and as his “valued and venerable friend.”The author goes on to write, “It is a matter of regret that the tardy realisation (sic) of the great importance of this (Herring) family, the almost utter lack of co-operation of its living members, and the deplorable condition of the records of Augusta and Rockingham counties in Virginia, have conspired to prevent any but the most brief and unsatisfactory sketch…”

William and Elizabeth Herring had eight children, including Alexander (b. 1766, d. 1835), who in 1793 married Margaret Reed Smith (b. 1777, d. 1833).  One of Alexander and Margaret’s ten children was Martha Davis Herring (b. 1799, d. 1866) who married George Harrison Chrisman.Martha and George H. Chrisman had seven children, including Major George Chrisman, Dr. Burke Chrisman and Herring Chrisman, all great-grandsons of “our” Captain George Chrisman.

Bathsheba Herring (1746-1836) married Abraham Lincoln (b. 1744, d. 1786-8) who in 1777 became a captain in the Augusta/Rockingham County militia.Captain Lincoln was a neighbor of “our” George Chrisman.  When Captain Lincoln and his wife sold their Linville Creek property in 1780 prior to moving to Kentucky with their young son Thomas, George Chrisman was one of three men who went to the Rockingham County courthouse to sign the deed as a witness (George was not yet a captain).

Note: The Herring name may also be found as Herron or Herrin.

In 1786, while working on his farm in the Kentucky frontier, Captain Abraham Lincoln was killed by Indians (a stealth attack by all accounts).  Records vary on the birth date of Thomas Lincoln (from 1778 to 1782), but it is understood that he was a small boy when the family left Virginia, and less than 10 years of age when his father was killed in Kentucky in either 1786 or 1788.

In 1806, Thomas Lincoln married Nancy Hanks (b. 1783, d.1819), and from this union came our sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln (b. 1809, d. 1865).

The president’s great-grandfather was John “Virginia John” Lincoln (b. 1716, d. 1788), who had come to Virginia from Pennsylvania in 1768.  Captain Abraham Lincoln, grandfather of the president, was Virginia John’s son.  President Lincoln is quoted as saying, “My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families—second families, perhaps, I should say.”

The old Lincoln homestead still stands and can be easily seen from Route 42, just two miles north of George Chrisman House. The brick L-shaped house was built in two parts.  The rear part is the earliest section, built by Virginia John Lincoln, and the house that faces Route 42 and connects to form the L, was built by John’s son Jacob Lincoln (1751-1822) around 1790.  In one of the bedchambers at George Chrisman House is a walnut wardrobe that is attributed to the Lincoln homestead, reportedly purchased at an auction there in the 1960s.

TO SUMMARIZE:

Bathsheba Herring and Captain Abraham Lincoln were the paternal grandparents of President Lincoln. 

Bathsheba Herring’s brother William Herring and his wife Elizabeth Stephenson were the maternal grandparents of Martha Herring.

Among the children of George Harrison Chrisman ("our" George Chrisman's grandson) and Martha Herring were CSA Major George Chrisman, Dr. Burke Chrisman and Herring Chrisman.

AN ADDITIONAL CHRISMAN-LINCOLN CONNECTION

Virginia John Lincoln’s granddaughter Elizabeth, (her father Jacob was Captain Abraham Lincoln’s brother), married George Harrison Chrisman’s brother Joseph, another of “our” George Chrisman’s grandsons.