On one occasion Lincoln said, Judge, somebody told me that a youngster in the neighborhood broke his arm yesterday and you set it. Jonathan laughed and nodded. It's a fine life you're leading here, judge, mending anything that breaks. Looks funny at first glimpse to see a man welding a broken gun part for a farmer one day and the next day setting a bone for the farmer's son. Bonesetting's a lot easier.
Nature does most of that welding.
But if it's two pieces of iron, you've got to blow up the forge and pound. Nature won't help with that. His position as judge also brought him into contact with exiled Mormons who were daily arriving in Quincy in the winter of 1839 from Missouri. These exiles had been subjected to an Extermination Order issued by the Missouri governor stating that The Mormons must be treated as enemies and must be exterminated or driven from the state. 10 Curious about Mormonism and his Mormon neighbors who were settling 43 miles north of Quince in the dismal swamp they called Nauvoo, Jonathan boarded a steamboat to venture up river.