General Notes

Lincoln Teter and his twin Sherman, (both about 34 yrs. old) were living in the old brick house with their father, Abraham. After supper on 27 November 1900, Lincoln went to Lenzburg to get the mail. He was last observed by George Teter coming out of the post office with the mail in his hand. No one else ever reported seeing him again. Most people believed he was the victim of foul play. It was rumored that Lincoln had received payment of rather a large sum of money earlier that day. Interest in Lincoln's disappearance was revived twenty years later by a statement made by a St. Louis resident who had lived in Lenzburg at the time of Lincoln's mysterious departure. This man said that he knew where Lincoln Teter was buried. Additional rumors of three different burial places were also in circulation at the time, but no investigation is known to have taken place. Neither was there ever any confession. Members of Lincoln's family thought he had been mistaken for someone else.
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Lincoln Teter is Among the Living
From the Belleville News Democrat November 30, 1902

The Man Who Disappeared From His Home Near Lenzburg Has Been Heard From -- Wrote a Letter to His Father From Lincoln, Mo., Where He Now Resides -- Cause of His Disappearance.

Lincoln Teter, whose mysterious disappearance about a year ago created quite a sensation in St. Clair County, has been found. James Moye of North Illinois Street, who is a relative of the Teter family, received a letter from Lincoln's father, who resides on a farm near Lenzburg, in which he says that his son has written him a letter from Lincoln, Mo., where he is now stopping.

At the time of his disappearance, Lincoln Teter was living with his father, a twin brother and a sister on the farm, two miles north of Lenzburg. On Tuesday, November 27, at about 6 o'clock in the evening, he mounted his horse for the purpose of riding to Lenzburg to learn the market price of turkeys, of which he had raised a large number for Thanksgiving Day, and several hours later the horse returned home without its rider.

The brother started out afoot to look for the missing man, thinking that he might have bet with an accident. He called to his assistance a number of neighbors, but the researchers found no trace of him. Inquiry at Lenzburg also proved fruitless, and the search was finally abandoned.

His father and brother tried in every way to learn of the man's whereabouts through letters to relatives and through the press. But their efforts were in vain, and a short time later the relatives of the missing man concluded that he met with foul play and that his body had been done away with in the dense woods which abounds in that vicinity.

But the mystery has been finally solved by the letter from the son to his father. It is said that a woman was the cause of Lincoln Teter's disappearance from home. The nature of the woman's connection with the case could not be learned, but it is thought that he was disappointed in love.

Lincoln Teter is 31 years of age. The father, and brother and sister of the long-lost man were overjoyed to receive a letter from him telling them of his whereabouts. It is not known whether Mr. Teter will return to the home farm.