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(X)
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
^
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS
'
FROM THE LIBRARY OF
GEORGE H. SARGENT
LONG "the bibliographer" OF
THE BOSTON TRANSCRIPT
I 93
I
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2008 with funding from
IVIicrosoft Corporation
http://www.archive.org/details/abrahamlincoln00coff2
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
[From his first photograph, taken in Chicago in 1857.
The original iu possession of Mrs. Harriet Chapman,
Charleston, 111.]
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
BY
CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN
AUTHOU OF
'THE BOYS OF '76"
• DRUM-BEAT OF THE NATION" "MARCHING TO VICTORY
"REDEEMING THE REPUBLIC" "FREEDOM TRIUMPHANT" ETC.
3llu0tvate&
NEW YORK
HARPER & BROTHERS, FRxVNKLIN SQUARE
1893
^
\^
THE NE'W YORK
,KY
[
ASTOR, LENOX AND
TILDEN FOQNDATIONS
R
1931
DNS
I
Copyright, 1892, by Harper & Brothers.
All rights reserved.
S)e&icatet)
TO
MY SISTER AND BROTHERS
APPHIA
C. LITTLE, FREDERICK W. COFFIN
AND
ENOCH COFFIN
AND TO THE MEMORY OF
MARY K. CARLETON and ELVIRA AMES
SISTERS WHO HAVE PASSED TO
THE LARGER LIFE
INTRODUCTION.
A
LITTLE more than a quarter of a century has passed
since the
death of Abraham
Lincohi,
Much has been written concerning
him, and doubtless much more will be written.
My acquaintance with
him began in his Springfield home the night following his nomination
as candidate for the Presidency.
It was such an acquaintance as a cor-
respondent of a leading journal was privileged to have with pubhc men.
I saw him frequently during his Presidential term met him socially on
several occasions, and Avalked with him through the streets of burning
Richmond.
In preparing
this work
I have visited the scenes
of
his
early j^ears— the spot where he was born, the sites of his Kentucky and
Indiana homes, also that
at
JN'ew Salem,
111.
From playmates of his
childhood, and from those who knew him in later years, I have obtained
information which may be accepted as authentic.
I am especially in-
debted to Joseph Gentry,
of Gentryville, Ind.
;
William G. Green, of
Tolula, and Mrs.
Hill, of Petersburg,
III, for
information
relating to
Mr. Lincoln's early years
; and to Mrs. Harriet Chapman, of Charleston,
111., for a copy of the first photograph ever taken of him.
. This volume
is to be regarded as a sketch
of the
life and times of
Abraham Lincoln rather than
as a biography.
His mteUectual and
moral qualities will be seen far better in the historic narration than by
any analysis that might be given.
The Muse of History has recognized him as the liberator of a race,
redeemer of a republic, and one of the great benefactors of
all time.
It
is to be hoped that eulogy never will place him upon a pedestal or
smooth out the lines that make up tlie true portrait of this man of the
people, appointed by divine Providence to render inestimable
service
to his fellow-men.
Charles Carleton Coffin.
Boston, July,
1892.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
I.
PAGE
Ancestry
CHAPTER
II.
Early Years
CHAPTER
III.
Life in Indiana
CHAPTER
IV.
A Citizen of Illinois
CHAPTER V.
Life at New Salem
CHAPTER VI.
In Public Life
CHAPTER
VII.
Riding the Circuit
103
CHAPTER VIII.
Seven Years of Active Life
115
CHAPTER
IX.
Beginning of the Conflict Between Freedom and Slavery
134
CHAPTER X.
Kansas-Nebraska Struggle
151
CHAPTER XI.
Nominated for the Presidency
183
CHAPTER XII.
The Election, 1860
304
X
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIII.
PAGE
Outbreak of the Rebellion
233
CHAPTER XIV.
First Months of the War
256
CHAPTER XV.
AuTTjiiN OF 1861
274
CHAPTER XVI.
Winter op 1862
290
CHAPTER XVII.
Preliminary to Emancipation
312
CHAPTER XVIII.
Emancipation
333
CHAPTER XIX.
Darkness Before the Dawn
354
CHAPTER XX.
Gettysburg
378
CHAPTER XXI.
Spring of 1864
392
CHAPTER XXII.
Summer of 1864
411
CHAPTER XXIII.
Peace Democracy
437
CHAPTER XXIV.
Re elected President
455
CHAPTER XXV.
The End of Slavery
472
CHAPTER XXVI.
Second Presidential Term
487
CHAPTER XXVII.
In Richmond
496
CHAPTER XXVIII.
The Closing Scene
511
CHAPTER XXIX.
Apotheosis
527
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
Abraham
Lincoln.
(From
his
first photo-
graph, taken in Chicago in 186^) . Frontispiece.
Norwich Cathedral
Public Square, Norwicli
Tlie Meadows of Norfolk
Hingham Meeting-house
Freehold Meeting-house
Daniel Boone
Captured by the Indians
The Site of Bryant's Fort
Defending the Fort
The
Spot
once
occupied
by the
Cabin
in
which Abraham Lincoln was Born.
(From
a photograph taken by the
author, 1890)
A
Dutch-oven.
(From a photograph taken
by the author, Nolin's Creek, Ky., October,
1891)
The
Listening
Boy
Hears
the
Wonderful
Story
Little Mound
Meeting-house,
Hodgensville,
Ky.
(From a photograph taken by the au-
thor, October,
1891)
Site
of Thomas
Lincoln's Home
on Knob
Creek.
(From a photograph taken by the
author, October, 1891)
Points of Interest in the Early Life of Abra-
ham Lincoln
Junction of Salt River with the Ohio, where
Thomas
Lincoln's
Boat
was
Capsized.
(From
a photograph taken by the
author,
1890)
Grave
of
Nancy
Hanks
Lincoln,
Pigeon
Creek,
Ind.
(From
a photograph taken
by the author, October, 1890)
Site of Thomas Lincoln's Indiana Home. ...
PAGE
Learning Arithmetic Under Difficulties
Sarah Bush
Lincoln.
(From
a photograph
in
possession
of
Mrs. Harriet Chapman,
Charleston, 111.)
Site
of
Jones's
Store
at
Gentryville, Ind.
(From
a photograph taken by the author,
1890)
Dennis Hanks.
(From a photograph taken
in
1889)
Two Shining Half-dollars
Planter's Home
Homes of the Slaves
Flat-boats
Making a Camp for the Night
" I cannot bear to see even a puppy in
dis-
tress"
Places
in
Illinois
Frequented
by Abraham
Lincoln
Sangamon River near New Salem.
(From
a photograph taken by the author in 1890)
" He stood
in the auction-room where they
were
sold"
A Creole Home in New Orleans
The Lincoln Home, Farmington,
111.
(From
a photograph taken in 1890)
Rutledge's Mill. (From a photograph by C. S.
McCullough, Petersburg, 111.)
Oak-trees Standing near the Site of Berry &
Lincoln's
Store.
(From a photograph by
C. S. McCullough, Petersburg, 111.)
William G. Green, October, 1890
George D. Prentice
'.
.
Grave of Ann Rutledge.
(From a photograph
by C. S. McCullough, Petersburg, III). ....
William Lloyd Garrison
Xll
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
Presbyterian Church, Springfield
Edward Dickinson Baker
100
Court-house, Petersburg.
(From a
photo-
graph taken by the author, 1890)
104
William Henry Harrison
109
Lucy Gilman Speed.
(From a painting by
Bush, in possession of the family)
113
Seeing Slavery at its Best
117
Negro Cabins on a Kentucky Plantation.
.
.
119
General
James
Shields.
(From
a
photo-
graph taken in 1861)
121
Martin Van Buren
123
Globe Tavern.
(From a photograph)
124
Henry
Clay
126
John Quincy Adams.
(From a painting by
G. P. A. Healy, in the Corcoran
Gallery,
Washington)
129
Lewis
Cass
131
Oliver Wendell Holmes
138
Mr. Lincoln's Home.
(From a photograph
taken by the author in 1890)
140
Franklin Pierce
141
John
G. Whittier
143
John Brown
144
Representatives' Chamber
146
Norman B. Judd
149
John Charles Fremont
152
Roger B. Taney
154
James Buchanan
155
Horace
Greeley
159
Abraham Lincoln's Inkstand
164
Leonard Swett
165
Harper's Ferry
'
174
William Cullen Bryant
176
Elihu B. Washburne
,
177
Democratic Convention, 1860
185
Benjamin F. Butler
187
Seceders' Convention, St. Andrew's Hall. ...
188
Richard Oglesby
'
189
David Davis
191
Edward Bates
193
Republican Wigwam, Chicago, 1860
194
Thurlow Weed
.195
WiUiara H. Seward
197
Hannibal Hamlin
198
Mrs.
Lincoln,
1861.
(From a photograph
in possession of the author)
199
William D. Kelley
200
Desk upon which
President Lincoln wrote
his first Inaugural
201
Lincoln & Herndon's
Office
in
the
Third
Building from the Corner.
(From a pho-
tograph taken by the author in October,
1890)
202
The State-house, Springfield, 111., 1860
203
Wide Awakes
205
Fac-simile
of
Lincoln's
Letter
to
Grace
Bedell
,
209
Buchanan's Cabinet
213
The Chapman House, Charleston, 111. (From
a photograph taken by the author in Oc-
tober, 1890)
,
216
Jefferson Davis
218
Railroad
Station, Springfield
219
John Pope
221
David Hunter
223
Raising the Flag over Independence Hall.
.
228
Andrew G. Curtin
230
Edwin V. Sumner
231
Inauguration of President Lincoln
237
Salmon P. Chase
241
Montgomery Blair
243
Henry Wilson
245
Gideon Welles
247
Robert E. Lee
249
John A. Andrew
251
Administering the Oath to Citizen Soldiers.
253
Reverdy Johnson
257
Thomas H. Hicks
259
Marshall House
261
Douglas Monument
266
George B. McClellan
269
Last
Meeting
between
General
Scott, the
Cabinet, and President
271
Ulysses S. Grant
275
A Contraband Coming into Camp
281
Henry W. Halleck
291
Edwin M. Stanton
296
Francis Vinton
300
General Wadsworth
315
Hampton Roads
319
William A. Buckingham, War Governor of
Connecticut
325
Edwin D. Morgan, War
Governor
of New
York
327
William Dennison, War Governor of Ohio.
.
329
ILLUSTRATIONS.
xiu
PAGE
War Meeting in Wasliiugton
336
Charles F. Browne ('' Artemus Ward ")....
343
President
Lincoln
at
McClellan's
Head-
quarters
347
Ambrose E. Burnside
352
Cliarles Smrinef
357
Henry J. Raymond
360
Joseph Hooker
364
Benjamin F. Wade
368
Owen Lovejoy
371
John Bi'ough
384
Edward Everett
387
Gettysburg Monument
389
Thaddeus Stevens
393
General Grant Receiving His Commission.
.
397
Sunday Afternoon
407
Andrew Johnson
414
Clement L. Vallandigbam
417
William P. Fessenden
419
Zachariah Chandler
422
Reuben E. Fenton
433
Horatio Seymour
440
George H. Pendleton
443
Pliilip Sheridan
447
David R. Locke ("Petroleum V. Nasby").
•
451
Soldiers Voting
459
Oliver P. Morton
462
I'AGE
President Lincoln and Cabinet Receiving the
Cannon Captured by Sheridan
465
Passage of the Amendment to the Constitu-
tion Prohibiting Slavery
474
Alexander H. Stephens
479
R. M. T. Hunter
481
General Grant's Headquarters
492
Key of the Richmond Slave Prison.
(In pos-
session of the author)
498
Military Railroad, City Point
499
Parke Station
502
President Lincoln in Richmond
507
Confederate Presidential Mansion
510
House in which Abraham Lincoln Died.
.
.
.
516
John Wilkes Booth.
(From a photograph
taken in 1864)
519
Mrs. Surratt's House.
(From a photograph
taken in 1865)
522
Diagram of the Box Occupied by President
Lincoln
524
Ford's Theatre, as Draped After the Presi-
dent's Death.
(From a photogi'aph taken
at the time)
525
Monument to Abraham Lincoln, Oak Ridge
Cemetery, Springfield, 111.
(From a photo-
graph taken by the author in 1890)
529
Statue by St. Gaudens, Lincoln Park, Chicago 533
"To front a lie in arms and not
to yield
This shows, methinks, God's plan
And measure of a stalwart man."
James Russell Lowell.
"There are no mistakes in the
universe
of God."
Charles Sumner.
"That God
rules in
the
affairs
of men
is
as
certain
as
any
truth
of
physical
science. "
George Bancroft.
"The great master-spirits of the world are not so much distinguished, after
all, by
the
acts they do
as by
the
sense
itself of some
mysterious
girding
of
the Almighty
upon them, whose behests they are
set
to
fulfil."
Horace Bushnell.
" I claim not
to have
controlled
events, but confess
plainly that events have con-
trolled me."
"No human council has devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out, these great
things.
They are the gracious
gifts of the Most High God."
Abraham Lincoln.
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
CHAPTER
I.
ANCESTRY.
FAR back in the centuries the
river AVitham, which winds through
the lowlands of eastern England, was known
as the
Lindis.
The
town which the Romans built on the bank of the stream received the
name
of Lindum.
"When
the
ISTormans made
themselves masters of
England they built a castle on the top of the hill that overlooks the
town and changed the name to Lincoln. (')
In the course of years
it
became the name
of
a
family.
Possibly there were
several
families
bearino; the name
in Norfolk and Lincoln counties.
We know
16'iO
that one such family had its home in Hingham, and that Samuel
Lincoln was an infant on
that day when the
Pilgrims, in
December,
1620, established
a government
of
the
people
in America.
We
also
know that there was an older
brother, Thomas
; but
it
is not
certain
tliat we shall ever learn much about their parents.
It seems probable
that they were obliged to work hard to obtain a living for themselves
and their children.
We may conclude that their home was a cottage
thatched with straw.
We may think of the brothers as playing in the
streets, or going into the green fields and gathering daisies, listening to
the larks and nightingales.
They could look across the meadows and
see the
tall spire of Norwich Cathedral, and
in the hush and
stillness
hear the great bell sending forth its music.
Quite likely they heard their parents say that King James had died,
and
that
his
son, Charles
I., was
King.
Then
the
talk was
about
troublesome times.
The Kina; maintained that he was ordained
1(525
°
by God to rule the nation, and tliat
it was the duty of the peo-
ple to obey.
The bishop preached that the King could do no wrong.
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Mm..-
WW
W
'I iiill
iiii
5^ ::(]« Ifcj'ftftfS^
NORWICH CATHEDRAL.
Charles wanted money, and levied taxes without consulting Parliament.
The Puritans who Avould not pay, together with those who would not
accept the ritual prepared by the bishop, were arrested—so many that
the
jail and the Guildhall
in Norwich were
filled.
When the officers
undertook to
collect the tax
in Lincoln the people pelted them with
ANCESTRY.
stones.
The Puritans all over England were resisting the demands of the
King.
Possibly it was the desire of Charles to get rid of them that led
him to grant a charter for a government of their own in America.
The
persecution of the bishop and the arbitrary acts of the King made life so
bitter that thousands of Puritans were ready to quit England forever.
Many of the people of Korfolk and Lincoln counties had sailed for
Massachusetts
;
others were ready to join them.
The ships Rose
arid
the Johi and Dorothy were
at
Yarmouth, preparing
to
sail.
Francis Lawes resolved
to become an emigrant
; and
it seems
probable that Samuel Lincoln was ready to join
his
brother, who had
settled
in Hingham, near Boston. C)
We
see them
travelling across
the meadows and lowlands, with others, to Yarmouth town.
Together
the ships sail across the Atlantic, to drop their anchors in Salem Harbor,
It
is probable
that Samuel
Lincoln, for
lack of wool, did
not do
lesr
PUBLIC SQUARE, NORWICH.
[The Guildhall in which the Puritans were imprisoued
is seen iu the centre of the picture.
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
'
much weaving in the town of Ipswich, where his master settled.
The
only sheep in Massachusetts were a few which were pastured on the
islands in Boston harbor, where the wolves could not get at them.
When the apprentice became of age he joined
his brother Thomas
in Hingham.
He had learned a trade
;
it
is not certain that he
fol-
lowed
it, but probably he became a farmer.
A maiden named
Martha became his wife; her parental name is not known.
Their
children were Samuel, Daniel, Mordecai, Mary, Martha, Sarah, and Ee-
becca.(')
Startling news came that the Indians were murdering the
settlers
of Swanzev.
It was the beginning of the war with the Pequots, under
their chief, Philip.
Samuel, the oldest son, seized his father's gun
and powder-horn and became a soldier.
A year passed, in which
more than
six hundred of the
settlers were
killed
; but the chief was
dead, and his head was hanoino^ on a g-ibbet in Plymouth.
The
le'ze.
.
o
o
fe
J
captured Indians were sold as slaves to the Spaniards.
Mordecai Lincoln, the while, was blowing the bellows and making
the anvil ring in a blacksmith's shop.
When he became of age he set
up his own forge in Hull.
Perhaps Sarah Jones may have influenced
him in settling there, for she soon became his wife. (*)
The year 1686 was a memorable one to the blacksmith, for a son
was born to him—Mordecai, junior.
Just before
his birth the frigate
Ibose sailed
into Boston harbor, brinD-inff
Sir Edmund Andros,
1 P ^ A
who had been appointed Governor of Massachusetts, Plymouth,
Phode Island, and Connecticut.
He had brought over two companies
of troops
to aid him
in upsetting the government
of the people.
It
seems that Mordecai Lincoln could
look from
his shop door and
see
the frigate running out
its guns and firing a salute, and the cannon of
the castle replying.
James II. had determined to overthro^v the Puri-
tan commonwealth.
The people were no longer to assemble
in town
meeting or make their own laws.
We may be sure that the farmers
who came to have their horses shod or their ploughshares sharpened,
or fishermen who wanted work done, expressed their minds freely upon
public
afi'airs, and
that
the
blacksmith had something
to
say while
making the anvil ring
b}^ his sturdy blows.
Three years passed, and
Sir Edmund Andros saw the streets of Boston suddenly swarming with
armed
men, who came
from
Cambridge, Koxbury, Hingham,
Hull,
and other toAvns, put an end
to
his
government, and re-established
their own.
Blacksmith Lincoln thought the time had come when the people of
ANCESTRY.
Massachusetts
should no
longer be dependent on England
for
iron.
There was an abundant supply of ore in the bogs and meadows of Scitu-
ate and llino-ham.
Throuofh his efforts a farnace was constructed,
1V04
and the ore dug from a bog and smelted.
It was the beginning
of an industry which lasted many years.
His enterprise went further.
He
built
a
mill on Bound Brook, where the water tumbled over the
rocks on its way to the sea.
The brook at the
falls was the boundary
THE MEADOWS OF NORFOLK.
between the colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts.
It was of great
service for a large section of the country in both colonies. (')
Mordecai Lincoln helped
build the Hingham meeting-house.
The
elders decided just what seats people- should occupy, and they assigned
an honorable seat to him in the front gallery.
He wanted
his grandchildren
to
be well educated, and
in
his will
bequeathed £10 to
aid them
in Harvard College. (')
"We do not know
in what year the
blacksmith's
oldest
son,
Mordecai,
junior, married
;
neither
is the maiden name
of his wife
to
be found
on any
record.
We
only know that
after the
birth
of a son
the
husband became
a
widower.
Although Massachusetts was sparsely settled, peojDle were emigrating
from the province.
Mordecai Lincoln, with his son John, made his way
to Freehold, Monmouth County, X. J.
The
citizens of that county re-
garded him as being worthy of their esteem.
Hannah
Saltei-, daugh-
ter of Eichard and Sarah Bowne
Salter, gave him her hand
in mar-
riage.
Mr. Salter was a lawyer, judge, and member of the Provincial
Assembly.
Hannah's
uncle, Captain John Bowne, was
rich.
He
re-
membered Hannah
Salter Lincoln
in
his
will, giving her £250.
Her
husband was
so
greatly
esteemed
that
in
title-deeds
he was
styled
"gentleman."
He was
thrifty, and purchased
several hundred
acres
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
of land. (')
He wanted more, and visited the A^alley of the
Schnylkill,
in Pennsylvania, to see for himself whether or not the lands there were
as
fertile and beautiful as reported.
He was
so well pleased that he
resolved to become a citizen of Pennsylvania, and removed
to Amity
township.
It seems conclusive that John did not go with
his
father, but
re-
mained
in
Freehold, and married
there.
We
shall
see him, toofether
with his sons, further on.(')
Mordecai Lincoln became near neighbor to George Boone, who came
from England with eleven children.
He had such pleasant memories
of his old home
in the valley
of the Exe
that he named
his
1717. new home Exeter, after the old town whose cathedral bells had
charmed him with their music.
He found that many of his neighbors
were Germans who could not speak the
English
language.
Farther
do\rn
the
valley
of
the
Schu3dkill
the
settlers
were
mostly from
"Wales, who gave Welsh names to the towns.
In Gwynedd were four
brothers—Thomas, Robert, Owen, and Cadwallader Evans.
They could
trace their ancestral line back to Lludd, King of
Britain, who fought
the Romans when Julius Csesar was Emperor
of Rome. (
' )
Cadwal-
lader was the youngest of the brothers.
He became a preacher after
joining the Friends,
Before leaving England he married Ellen Morris,
of Bryn Gwyn, which means White
Hill,
They had a
beautiful and
queenly
daughter,
Sarah.
We need
not think
it
strange
that John
"'4t'
HINGHAM MEETING -HOUSE.
ANCESTRY.
1711.
FREEHOLD MEETING-HOUSE.
Hanks, of Whiteraarsh, found pleasure in her society and asked her to
be his wife.
The autumn leaves were changing, and there was glory on the hills,
October 12, 1711, when John Hanks and Sarah Evans stood before the
congregation of Friends, in Gwynedd, he promising to love and
honor her as a husband,
she to be a true and faithful
wife.
The clerk who recorded
the marriage put John down as
"yeoman," and Sarah as " spin-
ster." ('")
Their home was in
"Whitemarsh.
Children made
it musical with their prattle
John, William, Samuel, Jane,
and
Elizabeth.
The
eldest
reaches
manhood,
marries—
whom we do not know
; but he
finds a home in Union town-
ship, on the west bank of the
Schuylkill.
His neighbor is John Lincoln, from Freehold.
Across the
river are the homes of Mordecai Lincoln and George Boone, and that
of his son, Squire Boone.
Settlers were building their homes in the surrounding country, but
there were
still vast reaches
of forest abounding with game.
One of
Squire Boone's sons—Daniel—found great pleasure
in
listening to the
singing of the birds, the chattering of squirrels.
He loved hunting, and
before he was ten years old could bring down a deer when
it was upon
the run.
His parents allowed him to go out
alone, for on dark and
cloudy days he could keep the points of compass, and was never in dan-
ger of being
lost.
One
night he did not return.
The
second
night
came, and
Daniel was
still
absent.
His
father and
the
neighbors
searched the woods, and found that he had built a camp, killed a deer,
kindled a fire, and was broiling venison for his dinner. (")
A warm friendship sprang up between the Boone, Lincoln, and Hanks
famihes.
They were on the frontier
; many of the settlers around them
could not speak English.
It
does not appear that Mordecai or John
Lincoln ever joined the Friends, and it is not certain that George Boone
was a member of the society; but they attended the meetings, and
all
lived together in brotherly love.
Mordecai Lincoln, in his last will and
testament, appointed George Boone to assist in settling the estate.
He
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
had many hundred acres of land.
He bequeathed 1000 acres to be di-
vided between Mordecai, junior, Thomas, and Abraham; 100 to Ann and
Sarah, the children of Hannah Salter Lincoln
; and 300 acres to John,
the eldest son, born in Massachusetts. ("
)
A fever of unrest was upon
the people
of Pennsylvania, causing
them to move southward, through Maryland, across the Potomac, into
the
valley
of the
Shenandoah, and
settling upon lands which
George Washington had
surveyed.
John
Hanks,
junior, and
John and
Thomas
Lincoln
sold
their
farms
in
Union, made
their
way
across
the
Potomac
River, and
settled near
Harrisonburg, Va.
Squire Boone, with
his
family, went
farther
south, and
settled
at
Holman's Ford, on
the Yadkin
River, not
far from Wilkesborough,
KG.
It was a memorable year in the history of America
; for while these
families were seeking new homes, the flag of France was giving place to
England's banner at Quebec.
The settlers along the frontier who had
been disturbed by the Indians could
lie down
at night and sleep
in
peace.
When John Lincoln's eldest son, Abraham, born in Pennsylvania, be-
came
of
age, he
left the Harrisonburg home
to
visit
his
friends, the
Boones, in North Garolina, where he made the acquaintance of Mary
Shipley, who became his wife. ('')
He built a cabin, and opened a farm
on the banks of the Yadkin.
Daniel Boone knew there was a beautiful country beyond the mount-
ains westward.
In 1748 Thomas Walker and
three
others had
dis-
covered
a remarkable gateway
in
the
mountains, which
they
called Gumberland Gap, in honor of the Duke of Cumberland,
Prime-minister to King George.
They beheld a beautiful region, abound-
ing with game.
It
is not
surprising that Daniel Boone
resolved
to
explore
it.
With four companions he passed through Cumberland Gap
and travelled many miles beyond, finding meadows waving with grass,
the haunt
of buffalo and
deer.
He and one
of
his companions were
captured by the
Indians, but made their escape.
When they returned
to their camp the other two men were gone.
They never knew what
became
of
them,
Boone
remained
so long
that
his family became
alarmed.
His younger brother, accompanied by another man, came in
search of him.
Daniel, instead of returning, sent him back to
tell his
friends that he was
safe
; he was
to return with powder and
bullets.
Three months went by before the younger brother came.
Daniel was
alone the while.
He knew the Indians would be glad to capture him
;
ANCESTRY.
but he knew
tlieir wiles, and
elacled them.
After being alisent nearly
a year, he returned to his home.
People were crossing the mountains
to make
their homes in Ken-
tucky.
Daniel Boone organized a company of fifty, who made a settle-
ment at J^oonsborough.
The Revolutionary AVar had begun, and
the Indians were being supplied with arms and ammunition l)y the
British at Detroit.
The settlers built a fort, which was often beset
]:)y the
Indians.
They captured Jemima Boone, and Elizabeth and Frances Cal-
laway, who were seized while in a canoe on the Kentucky River.
The
})eople in the fort heard their cries and started in pursuit of the Indians,
IT'ZS.
DANIEL BOONE.
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN".
CAPTURED BY THE INDIANS.
who were hurrying their captives towards the Ohio River.
Boone, with
several others, followed in pursuit.
When night came they were obliged
to halt, but at daylight were pressing on once more.
Boone had roamed
the forest
so long that he could easily keep the
trail.
"When the sun
ANCESTRY.
went down the second day he knew the Indians were not
far
in ad-
vance.
With the first flush of dayhght on the third day the pursuers
were hastening on.
Noiselessly, no one speaking above a whisper, they
glided through the woods.
Suddenly, at a sign from Boone, they drop
upon the ground, for just ahead a
fire
is blazing, and the Indians are
broiling their breakfast
of venison.
Four of
the pursuers
are
to
fire
when Boone gives the signal
; the other three, with himself, are to be
ready to encounter the remaining Indians.
Four rifles flash, and then
THE SITE OP BRYANT S FOKT.
with ffleaminof knives all rush forward.
Four of the Indians have
fall-
en
; the others are fleeing, leaving the three
girls unharmed and over-
whelmed with joy at their rescue.
The tide of emigration to Kentucky was increasing.
A second fort
was constructed near Lexington
; a third was
built by Joseph Bryant
and
his companions
five miles
distant.
They made a mistake
in not
enclosing a spring of water.
No well had been dug, when the place
was suddenly besieged by several hundred
Indians.
The
settlers had
plenty
of food, but no water.
They knew the Indians w^ere
secreted
in the bushes near the
spring, and
if a man were to go for water he
would be
killed.
It was thought
if the women and
girls were to go
with buckets, the Indians would think they had not been
discovered,
and would not harm them.
The brave - hearted wives and daughters
went down the path chattering and laughing, filled their buckets, and
returned
to
the
fort unharmed.
Two men mounted on
fleet
horses
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LlisCOLN.
dashed out from the gateway, and rode so swiftly that before the Ind-
ians could recover from their surprise they were bej^ond the reach of
their
rifles, riding to Lexington to give the alarm.
The Indians began
the attack; the
settlers' rifles flashed
in return.
The women were
as
brave as the men
; they moulded bullets, cared for the wounded, encour-
aged their husbands, and assisted in ever}^ possible way in maintainina:
the defence till reinforcements came and compelled the Indians to flee.
The
hardships
of a journey
of
500
miles
on horseback
did
not
deter Abraham and Mary
Shipley Lincoln from leaving
their home
on the Yadkin to establish a new^ home in Kentuckj'.
They had
three children, Mordecai, Josiah, and Thomas, the
last a babe in
the arms of the mother.
They settled near Bear -grass Fort, a short
distance from what is now the City of Louisville. ("^)
The w^ar with England was over, but the Indians were angry because
the settlers w^ere taking possession of their hunting-grounds.
It was a
pleasure to them to creep stealthily through the forest, come upon
the unsuspecting white man, bring him down with a bullet, and
take his scalp.
Abraham Lincoln was at work in the clearing with his
three boys—Mordecai, ten
3^ears old
;
Josiah, eight
;
and Thomas, six.
A bullet fired by an Indian pierced
his
heart.
The scene
is one for a
painter
: Mordecai running towards the cabin, animated by a great re-
solve; Josiah fleeing towards
the fort; and the Indian who had flred
the fatal bullet seizing Thomas by the arm to lead him
aw^aj^
Sud-
denly a rifle flashes and the savage falls, shot dead by Mordecai. ('^)
Such was the tragedy in the life of Mary Shipley Lincoln.
She was
a widow with five young children, for two daughters had come to the
cabin home.
She did all that she could for them.
Xo schools had been
established in Kentucky, and her children grew to manhood a,nd woman-
hood without any opportunity to obtain an education.
The
Lincoln
family through
all the generations had been on the
frontier of civilization.
Few of the ancestors of Thomas had ever at-
tended school.
Their education was not from books, but from the hard-
ships of
life.
They had
lived righteous
lives, and transmitted to their
children successively the inheritance of the manl}" character and Puritan
faith bequeathed by the weaver apprentice.
Lender the law of entail in
Kentucky the eldest son inherited the estate of a father, and so Morde-
cai Lincoln came into possession
of the farm, and Josiah and Thomas
must begin life in |)overty.
"We have seen John Lincoln and John Hanks
settling side
bj" side
in the Shenandoah Yallev.
The children of Abraham Lincoln were in
ANCESTRY-
Kentucky.
It is not strange that the descendants of John Hanks should
also be there.
Joseph Hanks had emigrated to Kentucky,
He was a
carpenter of Elizabethtown.
Shall we think it strano'e that Thorn-
as Lincoln, who was working with him, found pleasure in the so-
ciety of his nieces—Lucy, Elizabeth, Polly, and Xancy Hanks
{
Kancy
was
tall, dark -haired, comely, dignified, and winsome by her grace and
kindness.
She seemed
at times as
if looking far away—seeing what
others did not
see.
She had attended school
in Virginia, and
stood
upon a higher intellectual plane than most of those around her.
The
Bible was read morning and evening, and her conduct was in accordance
with its precepts.
She was on the
frontier, where
few" books were
to
be had to satisfy her thirst for knowledge, and where there was
little
intellectual culture.
Through the summer days she heard the mourn-
ful cooing of the ring-doves, the mimicry of the mocking-bird, and the
tender notes of the hermit-thrush in the
forest.
In winter the voices
were harsh and discordant—the barking of foxes and the howling of
wolves.
Her eyes, so sad at times, looked into an uncongenial present
and unpromising future.
Thomas Lincoln was twenty-eight years old and jS^ancy Hanks twen-
ty-three when they were united in marriage by Rev. Jesse Head.
Their
first home was a cabin in Elizabethtown. C)
They had but few articles
for house-keeping, but Thomas Lincoln w\is a kind and loving husband,
and she a helpful wife, ever regardful of his happiness and welfare. A
daus:hter was born to them in this uncono^enial home.
As their ances-
tors had done, they turned to the Bible for a name, and selected Sarah
—the princess. (")
NOTES TO CHAPTER
I.
(') "History of Liucolusbire."
(-) "The Oi'igiual List of Persous of Quality—Emigrauts from Great Britaia to the
Auiericau Phxutations, 1600-1700," edited by Johu Canideu Hntton, p. 290.
(^) Sauuiel Baruard Eliot, lu "Cincinnati Gazette," October 6, 1882.
(*) George Lincoln, in "Boston Transcript," January, 1892.
(5) Ibid.
('') Will of Mordecai Lincoln, Plymontb, Mass., "Records."
(') Samuel Shackford, in " Chicago Tribune," April 14, 1883.
(8) Ibid.
(^) H. M. Jenkins, "Historical Collections of Gwynedd,"
p. 143.
('")
Ibid., p. 110.
( " ) Cecil B. Hartley, " Life of Daniel Boone."
( ' ) Sannrel Shackford, iu " Chicago Tribune," April 14, 1883.
('3) Ibid.
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
(») Ibid.
('^) Kicolay and Hay, "Abraham Liucolu
: A History,"
"Ceutury Magazine," No-
vember, 1886.
C)
Ibid.
(") President Lincoln knew very
little about his ancestry.
In a letter written in
1848, he said
: "My grandfather went from Eockingham Countj-, Va., to Kentucky, about
1782, and two years afterwards was killed by the Indians.
We have a vague tradition
that my grandfather went from Pennsylvania
to
Virginia;
that he was
a Quaker.
Further than that I have never heard anything."
It has loug been known that tlie first emigrants from England bearing the name of
Liucoln came from Hingham, England, and settled
in Hingliam, Mass.
Recent investi-
gations show that Thomas Liucoln became an emigrant in 1633
; that his younger brother,
Samuel, apprenticed to Francis Lawes, landed at Salem, Mass., 1637; that he was
eigh-
teen years of age, and subsequently settled in Hiughani, and was the ancestor of the Pres-
ident.
The maiden name of his wife was Martha, but her family name is not known.
Their children were
:
1. Samuel, born August 25, 1G50.
2. Dauiel, born January 2, 1653.
3. Mordecai, born June 19, 1655
;
died in infiincy.
4. Mordecai, born June 14, 1657.
5. Mary, born March 27, 1662.
6. Thomas, born August 20, 1664.
- 7. Martha, born December 11, 1667.
8. A daughter, born August 3, 1669;
died in infancy.
9. Sarah, born June 17, 1671.
10. Rebecca, born March 16,
1674.
The fourth
son, Mordecai, born in
1657, became a blacksmith.
He married Sarah
Jones, of Hull, daughter of Abraham Jones, of whom he learned his trade.
The shop was
on a point of land which projects into Boston harbor.
It seems probable that the set-
tlers in that vicinity ma^' have been fishermen rather than
farmers.
He subsequently
lived in Hingham, and with his elder brother Samuel was employed, in 1679, in building the
meeting-house,
still standing (1892) in Hingham.
His father, Samuel, and himself paid
taxes in that town in 1680, and the blacksmith was assigned a seat in the front gallery.
It is probable that he moved into Cohasset, the adjoining town, about 1700, and with his
neighbors established iron-works and built a mill.
He died in 1727.
His grave is in the
cemetery in North Scituate.
Children of Mordecai and Sarah Jones Liucoln
:
1. Mordecai, born April 24, 1686.
2. Abraham, born January 13, 1689.
3.
Lsaac, born October 21, 1691.
4. Sarah, born July 27, 1694.
5. Elizabeth.
6.
Jacob.
It seems that the two last-named were childreii of a second
wife.
The
will of the
iron-founder was made in 1727, and Jacob was sixteen years of age at the time.
Mordecai Liucoln, junior, born 1686, was the ancestor of President Lincoln.
No record
of his marriage has been
found.
We only know that he
emigrated to Freehold, Mon-
mouth
County,
N. J., accompanied by
his brother Abraham, and
that he had one
son,
John.
He was
married
to Hannah Salter, of Freehold, before
1714—the
date
of
his
uncle's will, which bequeathed to Hannah Salter Lincoln £250.
It appears that he moved
to Amity township, Pa., and became near neighbor to George Boone.
His
Avill bears
ANCESTRY.
date February 22, 17;}5-3G, providing for John, Mordecai, Ann, Sarah, and a posthnmous
chiUl which was named Abraham.
John Liucohi, born in Massachusetts, ancestor of the President, married and resided
iu
Freehokl, but moved
to Union, Pa., in
1758, where he was assessed for
taxes.
His
children were Thomas, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
It
is probable that all his children
were born at Union, and that he moved to Virginia in 1759.
Abraham, his second sou, joined the family of Squire Boone at Holmau's Ford, eight
miles from Wilkesborough, N. C, wliere he
married Marj^ Shipley.
Their children were
Mordecai, Josiah, Thomas, born
in
Nortli
Carolina, and Mary and Sarah, born at Bear-
grass Fort, Ky.
The paternal
line
of descent
is:
1. Samuel;
2. Mordecai;
3. Mordecai;
4. John; S.Abraham;
6. Thomas;
7. Abraham—President.
The maternal ancestry of President Lincoln cannot to a certainty be traced continu-
ously from his mother, Nancy Hanks, back to John Hanks, who married Sarah Evans,
of Gwyuedd, in 1711.
It is very probable that the mother of the Pi'esident was a descend-
ant of their son John, who settled in Union township, Pa., and who probably moved to
Rockingham
County, Va., in
1759.
Presumably Nancy Hanks was his granddaughter.
It
appears that John Hanks, who
lived
iu Whitemarsh, made
his
will December
12,
1730.
It was admitted to probate in May, 1731.
His wife was executrix, and he mentions
seveu children.
From the recoi'ds of marriages among the Friends of Gwynedd, it seems
that Sarah Evans Hanks, widow, married Tliomas Williams, widower,
of Montgomeiy
township. Pa.
The witnesses of the marriage were her seven
children. — "Historical
Collections of Gwynedd,"
p. 116.
Mrs. William Parker Faulke, in " Historical Collections of Gwynedd," informs us that
Sarah Evans was the daughter of Cadwallader Evans, who, with three brothers, emigrated
from
Merioneth County,
in
Wales, which,
together with Moutgomery,
Flint, Deubig,
Caruavon, and Anglesey constituted the ancient Gwynedd.
The Evans family occupied
an
exalted
position.
Their ownership of land exteuds back to tiie twelfth century. The
genealogical
line has been traced to Mervyu Vrjch, King of Man, who married Essylt,
daughter of the King of Wales, iu 820, both of whom traced their ancestral line to Lludd,
King of Britain, who resisted the Roman invasion.
It does not appear that any of the paternal ancestors of President Lincoln in Pennsyl-
vania belonged
to the
Society of Friends, but
rather that they attended the religious
meetings of the Friends, and lived in harmonious relations with them.
It seems probable
that John Hanks, of Whitemarsh, joined the
society, and
that
his son John
remained
a Friend
; but his nieces, who emigrated to Kentucky, were uot Friends. Ou the paternal
and maternal side it was a religious ancestry.—Author,
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
1809.
CHAPTEE
TI.
EARLY YEAES.
THOMAS LliN'COLlS' selected a quarter -section of land situated on
N'olin's Creek, near Hodgensville, for a farm.
The site chosen for
his home was near an ever-flowing spring of pure, cool, refreshing water,
issuing from a
cleft
in a rock shaded by forest
trees.
Asters,
columbines, and other flowers bloomed around
it, drawing their
moisture from the crystal fountain.
We may justly infer that the carpenter could not earn much money
by working at his trade.
Not many mills had been built for sawing
lumber, and consequently
the
time
had
not come
for erecting frame-houses.
A log-cabin could be easi-
ly constructed by the set-
tler himself felling the
trees and notching the
logs. His neighbors would
manifest
their friendship
by coming
to
the
"roll-
ing," lifting the logs that
were
to form
the
cabin
walls, and partaking free-
ly
of
the
whiskey
pro-
vided
for
the
occasion.
The owner
of
the house
could lay the
stones
for
the fireplace and hew
the timbers for the floor.
The cabin built by Thom-
as
Lincoln had
but
one
room.
The floor was not laid, no glass had been purchased for a window,
or boards provided for a door, when it became the home of the family.
WQfi^^
Ji
THE SPOT ONCE OCCUPIED BY THE CABIN IN WHICH
ABRAHAM LINCOLN WAS BORN.
[From a photograph taken by the autlior,
1890.
The stones at the
foot of the pear- tree mark the locality of the
fireplace.]
EARLY YEARS.
The wife had
not many
utensils
for house
- keeping— probably a
Dutcli-oven, frying-pan, a few tin
dishes, wooden
plates, and a
bucket.
Kone of his ancestors could have ever lived in a home more destitute of
needed articles or one more cheerless.
Perchance the cabin of his father
on the Yadkin or that at Bear-grass Fort may have been but little bet-
ter; but the home of Mordecai, the
iron-founder of Scituate, and that
of Mordecai, the land proprietor
of Freehold and Amity, were
palaces
in comparison with
this
habitation.
Shall
we
conclude
that
inability
to acquire wealth
or that intellectual decadence are
the natural outcome
of the
ad-
verse circumstances of life on the
picket -line of civilization?
It
is
not
probable
that
the
grandfa-
ther or father of Thomas Lincoln
had much opportunity to attend
school.
Theirs
was
a
limited
education.
The
owner
of
the
home on Kolin's Creek
did not
know the
letters
of the
alpha-
bet until taught them by
his
devoted
wife.
How
shall we
account
for
the
gradual
waning
of
intellectual
endowment
in
the
genera-
tions between the
active and
energetic "gentleman," the landed pro-
prietor
of Freehold, and the unambitious
carpenter of Ilodgensville ?
Though the
roots
of
the
husband's
ancestral
tree
reached down
to
Puritan England, and, on
the
part
of the wife, to
the days when
a
King of Britain confronted imperial Rome, nature gave no intimation,
through hereditary descent, of the coming of one who should be a re-
deemer to millions of
his fellow-men.
The evolution had been down-
ward
rather than upward.
Xo prophetic voice whispered
of coming
greatness
; no sign appeared
; no
star rested above the cheerless cabin
by Rock Spring, in wdiich, February 12, 1S09, Abraham Lincoln, son of
Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, w^as born.
To keep out the snow and rain possibly the skin of a bear may have
hung across the doorway of the cabin, or that of a deer over the open-
ing left for a window
; but the Avintry winds had free access through the
unplastered
crevices between the
logs.
Here the mother folds in her
A DUTCH-OVEN.
[From a photograph taken by the author.
N'olin's Creek,
Ky., October, 1891.]
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
arms her infant son.
Here she attends to her household duties—Uving
the routine of drudgery, baking the corn-bread, frying the bacon, dress-
ing the skins of the deer brought down by her husband's
rifle, making
his clothing, carding cotton and ^YOol to obtain a dress for herself and
garments for her children.
It was not a difficult matter for Thomas Lincoln to obtain meat for
his famil}^, as the woods abounded with deer and wild turkeys.
It was
more of a task to obtain corn.
When obtained, it must be taken to Mr.
Hodgen's mill for grinding.
What other home surpasses this in exhibi-
tion of pathetic scenes ?
Another child came, to live only a few hours.
]^ancy Hanks Lincoln—queenly in personal appearance, imperial in her
aspirations—attends to her wifely duties.
The day begins and ends with
religious service.
The cultured wife reads the Bible to the uncultured
husband.
His lips utter the prayer.
The Puritan instinct in the hus-
band has come down through the successive generations from the Hing-
ham straw-thatched cottage in old England, and in the wife from the
Friends' home on the white hills of Wales.
In the gloaming, when work
for the day
is done, the mother
tells the
stories of Abraham, Moses,
David, and the Child of Nazareth.
The horizon of ber
life was wider
than the walls of her home.
That her kind-hearted husband might be
more than he was to her, himself, and
his fellow-men, she taught him
the
alphabet
;
but
he
never was
able
to
construct
sentences.
She
showed him how to write
his name, but
his proficiency with the pen
ended with that attainment.
The iron which had given vigor to his
ancestors seems to have been wanting
in
his
blood.
Little
did
this
mother know how deeply her lessons
of truth and virtue went down
into the heart of her listening son
; how in the fulness of time the germs
would put forth their tender shoots
; how her own
spirit would
reaj)-
pear in his, and the beauty of her soul glorif}^ his life.
She had few opportunities to gratify her longings or enlarge her
sphere of usefulness.
Occasionally a preacher came to the log meeting-
house at Little Mound to hold services on Sunday.
Like her own home,
it had no floor.
Logs split in halves served for seats.
Pubhc spirit in
Hodgensville had erected the building, but had not jDrovided glass for
the windows.
To this meeting-house, located three miles from the Lin-
coln home, settlers came from far and near—parents and children, on foot
or on horseback.
It w^as not only a place for religious service, but the
news exchange, where, before and after the sermon, they could hear what
was going on
in the community and in the world outside of
]SJ"olin's
Creek.
At
Little Mound young men could look into the faces of the
EARLY YEARS.
maidens, thinking possibly quite as much of their charming countenances
as of the heads of tlie preacher's sermon.
Abraham Lincoln, five years old, was not unmindful of what he saw
and heard in
Little Mound meeting
- house, for usually, after reaching
home, he mounted a stool and preached a sermon of his own, shouting
in imitation of the minister, and pounding the table with his little
list.
He especially liked the Eev, David Elkin.
The preacher may have seen
something in Thomas Lincoln's boy that attracted his particular atten-
tion.
It may have been
the
purity, earnestness, and
sadness of
the
mother's countenance reproduced in the face of the son
; perchance the
boy asked him questions when he stepped down from the pulpit to shake
hands with the father and mother. Whatever the mutual attraction may
have been, David Elkin and Abraham Lincoln became fast friends.
It is plain that the settlers of Hodgensville had no very exalted ideas
concerning the education of their children.
'No school-house had been
provided when Zachariah Riney proposed to open a school.
He was a
Roman Catholic
priest, who
travelled through the settlements teach-
ing a few weeks in a
place.
The people were too poor to pay him
much money, nor was
it much that he could teach.
The children
of
Hodgensville and along
Nolin's Creek, those living at
Little Mound,
boys and girls verging upon manhood and womanhood, flocked to the
cabin which served for a school -house.
The teacher had only a
spell-
ing-book containing easy lessons for reading.
Quite likely the young
men were somewhat chagrined when Abraham Lincoln, five years
old,
marched to the head of the class.
His mother had been his teacher.
Thomas Lincoln made no headway in paying for his farm.
He tried
to better his fortune by bargaining for 200 acres of land on Knob Creek,
seven miles from Nolin's.
He built a cabin, but
it was little bet-
ter than the one he abandoned. (')
Another
teacher came
George Hazel—who, like Riney, had only a spelling-book.
When the
most advanced pupils finished
it, he started them once more in words of
one syllable. (') No other book was studied.
He did not teach writing.
We have seen Thomas Lincoln's oldest brother inheriting
all the
property of their father's
estate.
The law of
entail was no longer in
force, but the titles of land which had been granted by Virginia to in-
dividuals before Kentucky became a State were not always clear.
Set-
tlers, after building their houses and improving the land, frequently found
they were not the legal owners of the property.
Under such a condition
of affairs people were moving to Indiana, where they could buy land for $2
an acre, and obtain an unclouded title from the United States.
Slavery
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
existed in Kentucky.
Poor men were conscious of an assumed supe-
riority on the part of those who owned
slaves.
The lands in Indiana
were
fertile.
It was a free
State, in which rich and poor alike were
respected.
Thomas
Lincoln,
in common
with many
others
in
Ken-
LITTLE MOUND MEETING- HOUSE, HODGENSVILLE, KY.
[From a photograph taken by the author, October, 1891.]
tucky, resolved to live where there would be no distinction between rich
and poor, and where he would have a better chance to get on in the
world.
He had bargained for the Knob Creek farm, built a cabin, dug a
well, and cleared a portion of the land. He was fortunate enough to find
a settler who would purchase the improvements.
He took in payment
400 gallons of whiskey, which was everywhere a marketable commod-
ity. (
^ )
IN'early everybody drank spirituous liquors, in accordance with
the custom of the times.
Instead of being disreputable to drink, it was
regarded as ungracious not to drink, especially when invited to do
so.
Only when people became senseless or quarrelsome was the drinking
regarded as harmful.
Next to silver coin, whiskey came nearest to being
legal tender in business.
At the
junction
of Knob Creek with
Kolling
Fork, Mr. Lincoln
constructed a boat.
The barrels of liquor were placed on board, togeth-
EARLY YEARS.
er with his carpenter's
tools.
Without any mishap he
floated down
Rolling Fork to Salt River, and with the current of that stream to the
Ohio, which had overflowed its banks.
Suddenly his frail craft was cap-
sized in the swirling water, and whiskey and tools went to the bottom
of the river.
lie swam to the shore and stood penniless upon the bank
;
but when the water receded, a few days
later, he
regained
his
prop-
erty, obtained another boat, and floated down the Ohio to Thompson's
Landing.
Leaving
his
property
in
a
storehouse, he went northward
twenty miles through the forest to Pigeon Creek.
He was charmed with
the country.
The soil was fertile.
Mr. Gentrj^ had built a cabin
; other
settlers were selecting lands.
He made choice of a quarter section, and
travelled seventy miles to Vincennes to enter his claim, and returned to
Kentucky.
The Kovember winds were rattling the acorns and walnuts to the
ground, and the ripened leaves were falling, when the family moved to
Indiana.
The nights were cold.
ISTo shelter had been provided.
The late autumn rains were setting
in.
It was only a " camp "
that the
carpenter
could
build, one
side
of which was open
to the
^veather.(/)
The hard-working wife, as in the floorless cabin at Nolin's
Creek, baked the corn-bread and went on w^ith the making and mending.
It seems probable that while occupying this camp she taught writing to
Abraham.
"We know that George Hazel did not teach
it, but further
on we shall see Abraham writing a letter to a friend in Kentucky.
1817.
,„«^
SITE OF THOMAS LINCOLN'S HOME ON KNOB CREEK.
[From a photograph taken by the author, October, 1891.
The well dug by Thomas Lincoln
is seen
in
the centre of the picture.]
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
ioUBO/S
\CRAWF0RD
?
I._.r-, A
iLincoln
f+CRA |/£j OF
'^1.. LIKCOILNSMOTHER'^
zi^anst/lii/ej^^
Jt^
;
"f^^^^^ckportlf
^J
75"
~3o MILES
POINTS OF INTEREST IN THE EARLY LIFE
OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Through the winter carpenter Lincoln was hewing timber for his
future home, which was to be something more than a cabin.
Although
there would be but one room on the ground, he would build the walls
high enough for a
loft, which would give sleeping accommodations to
Sarah and Abraham.
Built of hewn logs, it would be palatial
in com-
parison with his former homes.
Picture it as we may, we shall not be
able
to portray the
desolateness
of the winter passed
in the Pigeon
Creek camp, and the weariness of spirit on the part of one endowed as
was the mother to adorn a palace.
We are not to think that Thomas
Lincoln was idle, nor that he was altogether shiftless.
He was in pov-
erty.
The family must have food. A home must be built.
The ground
must be cleared for planting corn.
There
is no evidence that he was
idle.
Other
settlers, more
industrious than
he, could not accumulate
much property in a section of country covered by a dense forest. Many
sturd}^ blows must be given with the axe before he could complete his
house and clear the ground for raising corn.
The new home was not finished when the family moved into it—the
floor not laid, no boards provided for a door.
The moving was hastened
by the arrival of Thomas Sparrow, whose wife Avas Mrs. Lincoln's
1818
sister.
Dennis Hanks, a nephew, came with them.
Without doubt
it was a glad day when they arrived, but the joy was quickly changed
to mourning.
A few weeks later Mr. and Mrs. Sparrow were borne to
their graves.
Sickness, which became epidemic, appeared throughout
southern Indiana, attacking cattle and human beings
alike, caused, as
is supposed, by herbs which poisoned the milk of the cows.
The physi-
cian had no counteracting medicine.
The illness was brief
; the result,
in most cases, fatal.
Nancy Hanks Lincoln was thirty-three years old.
Life as found by
EARLY YEARS.
her had presented few attractions.
It seems jirobable that not much
sunshine
fell across her
path, even
during her
girlhood,
in Virginia.
She had been dependent upon
friends
for a home.
By circumstances
beyond her control she had been compelled to accept uncongenial life
on the frontier.
Her aspirations were far different from those of her
kind-hearted husband.
She
heard voices which
he
could
not
hear.
Her discerning eyes beheld what he never would be able to see.
Shall
we wonder that the sadness deepened upon her countenance ?
Seem-
ingly it was not much she could do to
lift her offspring to a better life
than her own had been
; but human vision does not reach down to the
springs which underlie character.
The world never will know the great-
ness of its debt to her for doing what she could
in stamping her own
lofty conception of duty and obligation upon the hearts and consciences
of her children.
October had come.
The forest was arrayed in glory.
The harvest
was at hand.
There had ever been loving intimacy and sympathy be-
,'^^"
JUNCTION OF SALT RIVER WITH THE OHIO, WHERE THOMAS LINCOLN'S BOAT WAS
CAPSIZED.
[From a photograph taken by the author, 1890.]
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLK
tween Mrs. Lincoln and
her
children.
She had
discerned what the father
had not seen in their boy
—a nature rich and rare
:
kindness
of
heart, sym-
pathy with
suffering, re-
gard for what was right,
impatience with
w^rong.
She had watched the un-
folding
of
his
intellect.
He had asked questions
wdiich others of his age
did not ask.
She knows
that
her work
for
this
life
is ended.
Her boy
stands by her bedside.
"I am
going away
from you, Abraham, and
shall not return.
I know
that you wall be a good
boy
;
that
you
will
be
kind
to
Sarah and
to
your father.
I want you
to
live as
I have
taught
you, and
to
love your Heavenly
Father."
Through life he will hear her last words.
In the full vigor of manhood
he will not think
it unmanly to say, with tearful eyes, " All that I am,
all that
I hope to
be, I owe to my angel mother." (')
Death came.
The husband made the coffin.
ISTo preacher was near, but sympathizing
neighbors bore all that was mortal of her to the summit of a hill that
overlooked the unfinished home—the site selected for her resting-place.
That
his mother had been
buried without a rehgious service
cut
Abraham Lincoln to the heart.
In the lonesomeness and desolation of
the winter's camp she had trained
his hand
in
holding the
pen.
Is
it probable
that there
w^as any other boy only ten years old
in the
State of Indiana—or
in the country—who would have
set himself to
write a letter inviting a minister 100 miles distant to come and preach
a funeral sermon?
But Rev. David Elkin, at
Little Mound, received
such
a
letter. C)
Abraham
Lincoln!
That must
be Nancy Hanks
Lincoln's
boy.
Yes, he
w^ould
go, although
it was so many miles to
GRAVE OF NANCY HANKS LINCOLN, PIGEON CHEEK, IND.
[From a photograph taken by the author, October, 1890.
The marble
slab and surrounding fence were erected by P. E. Studebaker, of South
Bend, Ind.
The stone bears the following inscription
:
" Nancy Hanks
Lincoln, mother of President Lincoln, died October 5, a.d. 1818, aged 35
years.
Erected by a friend of her martyred son, 1879."]
EARLY YEARS.
Pigeon Creek.
The appointment was made.
From far and near the
settlers gathered round the newly-made grave.
The hymn was sung,
the sermon preached, the prayer offered.
So the departed mother was
committed to God's keeping.
NOTES TO CHAPTER
II.
(
'
)
III several of the biographies of Abraham Liucohi
it is stated that the laud select-
ed oil Noliu's Creek by Thomas Lincoln was worthless.
" The ground bad nothing attractive about it but
its cheapness.
It was hardly more
grateful than the rocky hill-sides of New England.
It required full as earnest and intel-
ligent
industry
to persuade a living out
of those barren
hillocks and weedy hollows,
covered with stunted and scrubby underbrnsh, as it would amid the sands on the Northern
coast."—Nicolay and Hay, vol.
i.
"The land he occupied was sterile and broken—a mere barren glade, and destitute of
timber.
It required a persistent effort to coax a living out of it, and to oue of his easy-
going disposition
life was a never-ending struggle."—Herndon, vol.
i., p. 18.
Having visited the spot where Abraham Lincoln was born, the farm on Nolin's Creek,
and
also the farm
on Knob
Creek, I do not coincide with these
estimates of the quality
of the land.
That on Nolin's Creek is a fair representative section of the land in the im-
mediate region.
It was under cultivation (1890), yielding an average
crop.
The farm on
Knob Creek, while embracing a rocky hill, has many acres which
are very
fertile.
It
would seem that his selections of land cannot with justice be cited as evidence of in-
efficiency or want of judgment.—Author.
(2) Austin Gollaher, schoolmate of Abraham Lincoln, to Author.
(3) William H. Herndon, "Lincoln," p. 19 (edition 1889).
{*) Nicolay and Hay, " Century Magazine," November, 1886.
(5) Joshua F. Speed, Lecture on Abraham Lincoln.
(«)
J. G. Holland, "Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 29.
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
CHAPTEE
III.
LIFE
IN INDIANA.
THE unfinished cabin of Thomas Lincoln was a cheerless home.
He
had not found time to hew "puncheons" for a
fl.oor, saw boards
for a door, make a sash for the window, or plaster the crevices between
the
timbers
to
exclude the
drivino^
rain
or
drifting- snow. (')
1819
n
\
/
Sarah Lincoln, twelve years old, baked the corn-bread, fried the
bacon, and did what she could to make the cabin cheerful
; but no fire,
be it ever so bright, during the winter days and nights could dissipate
the cheerlessness of such a home.
In the evening the shadows of the
father, Sarah, Abraham, and that of Dennis Hanks danced on the walls
in the flickering
light, but the mother's was not
there.
The nearest
neighbors were so far away that voices other than their own seldom
broke the silence.
It is not strange that Abraham Lincoln became grave and thoughtful,
or that a sadness like that seen in the countenance of
his mother ap-
peared on his face at times.
Dennis Hanks found pleasure in treeing
raccoons, but Abraham did not care much for 'coon hunting.
Most of
the boys in Pigeon Creek delighted to trap wild turkeys or bring down
a deer with the rifle.
Abraham once shot a turkey with
his father's
gun by firing through the crevice between the timbers, for he did not
hke to see any animal put to
death.
He was growing
rapidly, and
was so strong that he could throw an iron bar farther than any other
boy in Pigeon Creek.
It was a delightful book that came to his hands—"-^sop's Fables;"
also an
arithmetic.
"Where he obtained them we do not know.
For
want of a slate and pencil he used a wooden shovel and a charred stick.
When the shovel was covered with figures he wiped them off and began
again. (')
Sarah and Abraham were outgrowing their clothing.
They needed
some one to care for them.
A year had gone since the death of their
mother.
Their father was
silent and thoughtful.
Suddenly he
left
LIFE IN INDIANA.
home.
He did not say whither he was going;
possibly he had some
misgivings as to the outcome of his journey, and thought
it wise to say
nothing.
He reached Ehzabethtown, Kentucky, where he had
learned to be a carpenter.
He called upon Sarah Bush Johnston,
a widow with three chil-
dren—John,
Sarah, and
Matilda.
Mrs. Johnston
had been
his
playmate
in
his boyhood.
When
he became a young man
he asked
her
to marry
him
;
but
she
had
ac-
cepted Mr. Johnston
in-
stead.
It
was
evening
when
Mr.
Lincoln
en-
tered her home.
" Do you
remember
me, Mrs. Johnston ?"
" Oh
yes
;
you
are
Tommy
Lincoln.
It
is
long since you moved
from
Elizabethtown—
fourteen years or more."
" Yes
;
but
I have come, Mrs. Johnston, to
see
if vou
will be my
Avife.
You and I are old friends.
My children need a mother, and I
would like to have you go home with me."
It was an unexpected request.
" Why, Mr. Lincoln
!
I could not go at
once.
I am owing some
debts, and I could not go till they are paid."
Such in substance was the conversation, according to the story that
has come to us.
Mr. Lincoln found she owed about $12, and he called
upon the creditors and paid them.
In the morning a marriage-license
was obtained, and they became husband and wife during the day. (')
Kalph Krume, who married Mr. Lincoln's
sister, kindly offered
to
take the whole family to Indiana in his four-horse wagon.
They reached
the Ohio Eiver, were ferried across in a flat-boat, and then made their
way through the woods to Pigeon Creek.
Just what Sarah and Abra-
ham Lincoln thought when they saw a wagon draAvn by four horses, in
which was a new mother, a new brother, and two new sisters, a bureau,
feather-beds, and
chairs, we do not know; neither do we know the
SITE OF THOMAS LINCOLN S INDIANA HOME.
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
thoughts that flashed through the mind of Sarah Bush Lincoln as she
entered the uncompleted cabin, and beheld her newly-acquired daughter
and son, their clothes worn to tatters.
But her coming brought about
a new order of things.
A door was hung, a
floor
laid, a window pro-
vided, and neatness and order established.
With eight in the family—three romping girls and three rollicking
boys, for Dennis Hanks was there—the cabin was no longer a place of
gloom, but a home ringing with merry voices.
It was Abraham Avho
told funny stories and asked puzzling questions.
The time had come for Pigeon Creek to have a school - house.
The
settlers felled the
trees, cut the trunks into suitable lengths, notched
the logs, and rolled them into place.
Having no glass, thin strips
of wood were fastened across the opening left for a window, on
which greased paper was pasted.
Azel Dorsey was employed as teach-
er.
Reading, writing, spelling, and arithmetic were taught.
The am-
bition of the boys of Pigeon Creek was not to stand at the head of the
class, but to be champions in wrestling, throw a weight farthest, and, in
a fight, strike the hardest blow.
Abraham Lincoln was ready to try his strength with them in wrest-
ling, and if any fun was going on he could do his part in making things
lively.
He began no quarrel, but allowed no one to pick upon him.
Somehow, if there was any dispute, the other boys appealed to him to
say what was right and fair.
There is humor in the lines which he wrote in his arithmetic
:
"Abraham Lincoln,
His band and pen
;
He will be good,
But God knows wlien."(-*)
After a few weeks with Dorsey, two years went by before the settlers
felt able to employ another teacher.
Abraham Lincoln, the while, was
reading Defoe's " Robinson Crusoe," Bunyan's " Pilgrim's Prog-
ress," and Weems' "Life of Washington." (')
He borrowed the
last-named book of Josiah Crawford, and unfortunately laid it where the
rain wet the leaves.
Mr. Crawford charged him 75 cents for the dam-
age done the volume.
Having no money, he paid the bill by working
three days in Crawford's cornfield. (')
He was growing strong enough
to swing* an
axe, and help
clear
the land and hoe corn.
His
father
wanted him to be a carpenter, and was teaching him to use the saw and
chisel.
LIFE
IN INDIANA.
With
eig'lit in the family, a hag of meal ([iiiekly (lisa])])('arc<l.
It was
fifteen miles or more to the nearest corn-mill, which was not driven by
water, but by a horse attached to a sweep and going round
in a circle.
The customer furnished the horse for the grinding.
Abraham went
to the
mill with a bag of
corn, harnessed
the mare, and
struck her
with a
stick.
He was going to
say, " Get
u)), you
old hussy !"
The
w^ords "get up"
fell from
his
lips, and then he became unconscious,
caused by a kick from the mare.
Hours passed.
Suddenly those who
stood around him heard the rest of the sentence—" you okl hussy."
In
after-years he thus explained
it
:
" Probably the muscles of my tongue
had been set to speak the words when the animal's
heels knocked me
down, and ray mind, like a gun, stopped half-cocked, and only went off
when consciousness returned." (')
People in Pigeon Creek had few opportunities of hearing what was
going on
in the
world.
Once
in a while a newspaper found its way
into the settlement.
By going to Gentry's Landing, on the Ohio River,
they could have a talk with boatmen from Cincinnati and
Louisville.
Occasionally a traveller passed a night at Gentryville, and talked with
those who spent their evenings in Jones's store.
Abraham Lincoln was
the one who usually asked questions. (')
He made everybody good-na-
tured by what he himself had to say.
People were talking of the " hard
times."
At
Pittsburg
flour would bring only $1 a
barrel.
Whiskey
could be had for 15 cents a gallon.
Tea cost $1 a pound.
Twelve bar-
rels of flour would purchase one yard of " broad" cloth. (')
Times were
hard in the Eastern as well as the Western States.
People had doleful
stories to tell of privation and suffering
: how the
sheriffs
of Pennsyl-
vania and other States were turning men and women out of doors be-
cause they could not pay their debts.
The jails were
filled with poor
debtors. ('")
But good news came from Washington.
Congress had
passed a law reducing the price of land to $1.25 per acre.
With whiskey costing only 15 cents a gallon, we need not w^onder
that men drank more than was good for them.
Al)raham Lincoln did
not
drink
intoxicating
liquor. (")
On a bitter cold night, as he and
others were on their w^ay home from Jones's
store, they came upon a
drunken man.
The others went
on, but Abraham, sixteen years
old,
strong and kind-hearted, shouldered the man and carried him to a cabin,
doubtless saving the poor fellow from freezing. ("')
Thomas
Lincoln
thought
that
his
son
had
been
to
school long
enough.
He could read, write, and cipher, and was ahead of any other
boy in Pigeon Creek.
AVas not that sufficient
?
He w\anted him to help
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
grub the ground for the next year's crop of corn. ('')
An affectionate
intimacy the while had sprung up between the stepmother and Abra-
ham.
He was ever ready to help her, and she ever solicitous for his
welfare. ('^)
Through her influence the three boys and three girls from
the Lincoln cabin made
their way to the school taught by Andrew
Crawford.
Some of the boys found pleasure in tormenting dogs and
,
,
.>il>l{IM|l|l "
llillllll
,,f
iii'i,,;
'i,!'i
ii"'" V
"ii',,
9'
»
iVli'ii'li.'"
'
I.
'
'
,
"^
SARAH BUSH LINCOLN.
[From a photograph in possession of Mrs. Harriet Chapman, Charleston,
111.]
cats.
Abraham wrote a composition upon cruelty to animals, in which
he maintained that to give pain to a dumb animal was contemptible,
cruel, and wicked.
A few weeks at school, and he was once more at work.
It was irk-
some to swing an axe and grub with a hoe.
Without doubt Mr. Lin-
LIFE IN INDIANA.
coin had his patience sorely tried by three boys who loved fun, and who
had rollicking times when he was not with them.
They had " spoken
pieces " at school, and
it was far more agree-
able
to Abraham
to
mount a stump and re-
hearse what he had
learned
from
the
" Amei'ican
Precept-
or,"'
or make an im-
promptu
political
speech than
to work.
His
audience— John
Johnston, Dennis
Hanks, and the three
girls— Avere
ever
ready
to
clap
their
hands at his perform-
ance. ( "
)
Abraham was hun-
gry
for
intellectual
food.
He
walked
twelve miles to David
Turnham's home
to obtain a copy of the laws
of Indiana.
A man
accused of committing murder was arraigned at Booneville, the county
seat, fifteen miles distant.
Abraham attended the
trial.
He had great
respect for the judge, who represented the majesty of the law.
He list-
ened with intense interest
to the argument of Mr. Breckenridge, the
lawyer who defended the accused man.
"When the argument was
fin-
ished there occurred a scene for an artist.
Abraham Lincoln, tall, slim,
with bare feet, wearing buckskin trousers and a jean coat, walked across
the room and shook hands with him.
" That
is the best speech I ever
heard," he said. (")
Once more Abraham was in school—one taught by Master Swaney.
He helped Katy Roby in
spelling.
Several scholars
in the
class had
failed in their attempts to spell the word "defied."
" D-e-f," said Katy,
and stopped.
Should she say
i or y f
She saw the
tall young
man raise a finger and touch his
eye, and, comprehending the
meaning of the
action,
spelled the word
correctly.
"When
the
term
closed
his
school- davs were
over.
Puttino-
all
the weeks
together,
SITE OF JONES'S STORE AT GENTKYVILLE, IND.
[From a photograph taken by the author, 1800
]
1825.
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLK
they were less than a twelvemonth.
He had not seen a geography or
grammar.
The time had. come when he must earn mone}^.
He was emploj^ed
by James Taylor to ferry people across the Ohio Eiver
at
Gentry's
Landing.
His wages were $2.50 a week.
His earnings were for
his
father, and not for his own personal benefit.
It was a memorable event
when two strangers came to the landing and were taken out to a pass-
ing steamboat.
Each gentleman tossed him a shining half-dollar.
One
dollar
for a few
minutes
labor
!
r
As he rowed back to the shore his
world was
larger, and
the
possi-
bilities
of
life
far
greater
than
he had supposed them to be. ('')
Katy Eoby lived near by, and
made
time
fiy more
swiftly by
chatting
with him
while he was
waiting for
travellers.
It was a
pleasure to take her up-stream on
a
moonlight
evening,
and
float
down
with
the
current
to
the
landing.
They see the moon and
Yenus sinking towards the western
horizon,
"We say the moon goes down,"
said Abraham, " and the stars rise
and set
; but they do not come up
and go down.
It is we who do the
rising and setting."
" You are a
fool, Abe.
Don't
you see that the moon and Yenus
are going down ?"
" Iso, they are not.
The earth
turns
over
every
twentj^-four
hours ;
it is that which makes them
seem to rise and set.
It is only an
illusion, Katy."
He went on and
explained
it
so
clearly that
she
gazed with increasing admiration
DEN.MS HAKKs.
^t thc youug mau who previously
[From a photograph taken in 1889.]
h^^l helped her HI Spcllmg. (
'
)
LIFE IN INDIANA.
Possibly Judge Pitcher, who lived near the landing, saw something
unusually attractive in the boy Avho, wiiile waiting for travellers, came
into his office and asked
if he might look
at the books on his
shelves.
The ferry-boy saw people make fools of themselves by drinking too
PLANTER S HOME.
much Tvhiskey.
He could not discover that any good came from drink-
ing liquor.
On the contrary,
it made men
silly, or cross and ugly, and
brought misery to themselves and their families.
He wrote a composi-
tion on the foolishness of drinking, and the
evils that come from the
habit.
The judge w^as pleased with it, and handed it to Eev. Mr. Farmer;
he in turn sent it to an editor, w^ho gladly printed
it.
So Abraham Lin-
coln, five years before the beginning of a great temperance reformation
which swept over the country, did what he could to bring it about. ('')
The ferry-boy probably never had seen a geography.
Possibly he
may have seen a map
of the United
States.
He knew the
passing-
steamboats made
their way to New Orleans or
St.
Louis.
He may
have heard of the journey of exploration by Captain Lewis and George
Rogers Clarke, of Kentucky, up the Missouri and down the Columbia to
the Pacific Ocean.
He knew the United States was a vast country.
He was thinking about its form of government—the Constitution and
the
Union.
He wrote
out
his thoughts
several years
before
Daniel
Webster uttered the w^ords, " The Constitution and the Union now and
forever
:
one and inseparable."
"Winter came, and there were so few travellers that Mr. Taylor no
longer needed him.
He returned to Pigeon Creek
to
attend the w^ed-
ding of his sister Sarah, who married Mr. Grigsby.
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
1828.
Mr. Gentry had purchased a large quantity of corn, pork, and other
produce, which he determined to send to New Orleans.
He had seen
enough of Abraham Lincoln to know that he was honest and faith-
ful, so engaged him to take charge of the flat-boat which he was
loading for that market.
Allan Gentry was to accompany him.
The
boat was wide and flat
; the steamboat men called it a " broad horn."
It
had a little caboose, in which they could sleep.
Clay several inches in
depth was spread upon the bottom of the boat, upon which they could
kindle a fire, bake their corn-bread, and fry their meat.
Abraham Lincoln, captain of the craft, was nineteen years old.
For
pulling an oar and assuming responsibility in marketing the produce he
was to receive $8.50 a month.
The two boatmen did not
see many settlements
along
the
river.
Here and there they beheld a clearing and a solitary cabin.
In spring-
time the
Mississippi overflowed
its banks, and
all the lowlands Avere
flooded.
The settlements, consequently, were mostly inland, upon high-
er ground.
Memphis was only a collection of huts.
The country behind
it was still the hunting-ground of the Cherokee Indians.
It was a lone-
ly voyage.
At times they met a steamboat.
After passing the mouth
HOMES OF THE SLAVES.
LIFE IN INDIANA.
FLAT-BOATS.
of the Arkansas River they saw aUigators sunning themselves along the
banks.
Farther down they beheld live-oaks with festoons of moss trail-
ing from the wide-spreading branches.
At Baton Eouge the two boatmen had an opportunity to show of
what stuff they were made.
Their boat was moored for the night at the
landing.
They were awakened by a gang of negroes, who leaped on
board,
intending
to help
themselves
to
plunder.
The
negroes were
slaves.
White men had
stolen them — their manhood,
their
natural
rights, their labor.
Why should they not help themselves to whatever
they could find?
The boatmen leap from their bunks and rush
out
from the caboose.
They have no weapons, but Captain Lincoln pitches
two into the river, a third
is felled by Gentry, and the
others, seeing
the fate of their companions, take to their heels.
They had reached a section of the country where the people used the
French language.
Katchez was a very old town.
The French settled
it when
they took
possession
of
Louisiana.
The
people,
language,
houses, manners, and customs—all were different from what Lincoln and
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
his fellow-boatman had ever seen.
At intervals they beheld large plan-
tations with collections of cabins—the homes of the slaves.
The two young men beheld strange sights
at New Orleans.
Hun-
dreds of flat-boats were moored along the levees
; steamboats were com-
ing and going
;
ships were anchored
in
the
river.
They heard
lan-
guages which they could not understand—French and Spanish—and
saw sailors from all parts of the world.
In the old part of the
city
that settled by the French—they felt themselves, as
it were, in a
for-
eign land.
Having disposed of the cargo, they returned to Indiana.
Mr.
Gentry was well satisfied with the result of his venture.
Abraham Lincoln had reached a period in life which many another
boy has reached—the period of restlessness and discontent.
His father
wanted him to be a carpenter, but he would like to do something more
than push the plane and use a saw all his days.
His world
is larger
than it was before he floated down the great river and saw vessels that
had come from foreign lands.
The money w^hich he had earned is not
his own, but his father's.
It is lonesome in Pigeon Creek.
Why stay at
home ? Why not strike out for himself ?
But before going he will talk
about
it with his good friend William Wood, at Gentry's Landing.
" No, Abraham, you must not go
; you must stay at home
till you
are of age and can leave rightfully.
It
is a duty which you owe to
yourself and to your parents." ('°)
The question
is settled — duty
!
obligation
!
On Sunday evenings,
in the old Kentucky home, when he was a little boy, his mother talked
about doing
right.
He hears once more the words that fell from her
lips as he stood by her side for the last time—" Be kind to your father !"
With new strength and resolution he goes back to the Pigeon Creek
home as went the Child of Nazareth—to be obedient to his parents.
NOTES TO CHAPTER
IIL
(1) William H. Herndou, "Liucoln," p. 23 (edition 1889).
C)
Ibid., p. 28.
( = ) Ibid., p. 29.
" Letters of Samuel Hay craft."
(*)
Ibid., p. 40.
(=)
J. G. Holland, "Life of Abraham Liucoln," p. 31.
(«)
Ibid., p. 32.
( ') William H. Herndou, "Liucoln," p. 59 (edition 1889).
(
^ ) Joseph Gentrj', of Geutryville, to Author, September, 1890.
( ^ )
" Auuals of North America," edited by Edward Howlaud.
C") Ibid.
LIFE IN INDIANA.
( "
) Joseph Gentry to Author, Septoinbcr, 1890.
(12) J. G. Holhiiul, "Life of Ahraliain Liiicohi,"
p. 33.
('3) William H. Hcnidoii, " Lincoln," p. 30 (edition
IS.-iO).
(») Ibid.,
p. 31.
(15) Ibid., p. 44.
('«)
Ibid.,
p. 58.
('"
) J. G. Holland, " Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 34.
('**) William H. llerndon, ''Lincoln," p. 39 (edition 1839).
('«)
Ibid., p. 01.
(20)
Ibid., p.
62.
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
CHAPTER
lY.
A CITIZEN
OF ILLINOIS.
A
LETTER came to Thomas Lincoln, postmarked Decatur,
111., writ-
ten by John Hanks, formerly
of E
.abethtown, Ivy.
He
said
that Illinois was a beautiful State
:
there were vast reaches of prairie
;
the
soil was
rich; there were winding rivers and
creeks, and
groves of oak, maple, elm, and gum trees.
Settlers were pouring
in, many from Kentucky.
If Thomas Lincoln would come, he would
select a quarter-section of land for him, and have logs cut for a cabin. (')
The prospect was
inviting.
The
disease which
carried the
first Mrs.
Lincoln to her grave reappeared every autumn.
There was no
partic-
ular reason why the family should remain at Pigeon Creek.
One of the
step - daughters had married Levi Hall, and the
other Dennis Hanks.
They were ready to go.
His own daughter Sarah, who married Aaron
Grigsby, had died.
There were no tender ties to be severed,
Abraham
was twenty-one years old, but ready to cast his lot with the
rest.
It
would be a long and tedious journey, but by starting in March they
would reach the Sangamon country with the beginning of spring.
So
the farm was sold and preparations made for the journey.
.
They were eight in
all, besides
beds, bedding, frying-pan,
skillet,
Dutch-oven, bags of meal, hams, and sides of bacon, in wagons drawn by
oxen.
It was in March— the month
of snow, sleet, rain, mud, chilling
winds.
The rivers were
filled with
floating
ice or overflowing
their
banks.
If they could not find shelter in a cabin at
night, they must
build a camp in the woods or sleep in the wagons.
Abraham Lincoln
is free to go Avhere he
will, but
the
fever and
restlessness of former days have passed away.
He has been a
dutiful
son, and will see his parents in their new home before he strikes out for
himself.
He
drives the oxen, or takes
his turn
in swinging the axe
to build a camp or a bridge across a creek.
When the wagon sinks
hub-deep in the mire he puts his shoulder to the wheel and lifts it out.
A little dog trots by the side of the teamster.
They come to a river
“LHDIN GULL HOU dNVO V DNIAVW im lal ih by mi a nen
i. i — ———— —S eS Oe - i —s
A CITIZEN OF
ILLINOIS.
4'J
with ice upon its banks and in its surging current.
The reluctant cat-
tle wallow the stream with all hands in the wagons.
Unwittingly the
puppy has been
left behind
; they hear
it yelping.
It
is a worthless
cur, but Abraham Lincoln has not the heart to leave
it.
He will not
have the shivering cattle wade the stream again, but barefooted he
re-
crosses the water, takes the dog in his arms, and returns to the wagons.
" I cannot bear to see even a puppy in distress," he
says, as he brings
the cur up the bank. (
'
)
Before they reached Decatur two weeks^went by—days of hardship
and
suffering, the
severest weather of
the winter.
John Hanks had
been true to his promise
; the logs had been made ready, and, with all
hands to help, a cabin was quickly constructed.
At the age of twenty-one, Abraham Lincoln, wearing a jean jacket,
shrunken buckskin
trousers, and 'coon-skin
cap, driving an ox-team,
entered
Illinois, to
be
thenceforth
a
citizen
of
that
State.
He
had
reached the years of manhood.
What would he do with himself?
For
what was he fitted?
He was so strong of muscle that he could sink
an axe into a hickory log deeper than any other man in Pigeon Creek
;
he could pull an oar on a flat-boat
; he could take charge of the cargo
and successfully dispose of it in New Orleans.
He did not like manual
labor
;
it was vastly easier and more delightful to read books.
He could
not teach school for a living, for he did not know enough.
"What prob-
ability was there
that he would ever do an^^thing beyond chopping,
rowing, or driving a team?
There was nothing before him except to
help his father plough fifteen acres
of land and
split enough
rails to
fence
it, and then
help plough
fifty
acres
for another
settler.
His
clothes were wearing out so fast that he was ashamed to appear in de-
cent society.
He had no money, but bargained with Nancy Miller to
make him a pair of trousers, he to split 400 fence rails for each yard of
cloth required—1400 rails in
all.
It was three miles from
his
father's
cabin to her w^ood-lot, where he made the forest ring through the long
summer day with his cho]iping.
Of the 150,000 people in the State of
Illinois in
that summer, was
there one lower down
in poverty than he?
Was there an individual
whose outlook for the future was more cheerless ?
"Would he ever be
able
to make headway against
the
adverse tides of
life
?
For what
could he hope ?
The year 1830, which marked his arrival to manhood, may be taken
as the initial of a new era—the beginning of the development of material
forces and a corresponding advancement of moral ideas.
The Erie Canal,
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
connecting the Hudson Eiver with the great lakes, had been opened five
years, and the country was beginning to feel the impetus of that achieve-
ment.
While he was
splitting fence
rails, workmen in Massachusetts
were laying the iron for a railroad between Boston and Lowell—the
first to be completed in the country.
The invention of the machine for
cleaning cotton, separating the fibre from the seed, greatly cheapening
the cost
of cotton cloth and creating a demand for
it the world over,
was
setting mill-wheels in motion, and Lowell and other towns were
becoming busy places of industry.
Inventors w^ere making spindles and
shuttles do the work formerly done by hands.
The stage-coach was
giving place to the locomotive engine.
People from Europe were cross-
ing the Atlantic to find homes in the United States.
Twenty thousand
emigrants came in 1820
; in 1830 no less than
80,000 arrived
; and by
an instinct as true as that of the honey-bee winging
its way to sweet
flowers, they selected
their homes
in those
States where
there were
no slaves.
With the rivers of iS'ew England setting machinery in mo-
tion for the manufacture of cloth more cotton was called for, and more
ships were needed to transport
it from Charleston and Xew Orleans
and other southern ports to Boston.
The cotton planters wanted more
slaves to work in the cotton-fields.
As the plant could not be grown in
Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri, and as slaves w^ere called
for to cultivate
it in the more southern States, the slave-holders in the
border States began to raise slaves for the Southern markets.
Traders
set up
their marts
in Baltimore, Washington, Alexandria, Richmond,
Louisville, and St. Louis.
Gangs of negroes in chains were taken from
Baltimore across the country, or shipped on
vessels to southern ports.
Steamboats descending the
lyiississippi Biver transported other gangs
from Missouri and Kentucky to the greatest of all markets—ISTew Or-
leans.
During the days Avhen Abraham Lincoln was floating down the Mis-
sissippi on a flat-boat. Congress passed a law imposing a duty on cotton
goods manufactured in other countries.
The law was opposed by the
slave-holders of South Carolina.
They regarded it as damaging to their
interests, for England manufactured
far more cotton
cloth and
jsirn
than Avas produced by Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
More ships
sailed from Charleston for Liverpool loaded with cotton than for Boston.
The planters of that State determined to pay no attention to the law,
but to do as they pleased.
Under the clause in the Constitution of the
United
States which counted slaves
in the basis
of representation
in
Congress, and through the rapid increase of slaves, the institution had
“) CANNOT BEAR TO SE EVEN A PUPPY IN DIS
A CITIZEN OF ILLINOIS.
become a great political power, controlling the Government.
Good men
—doctors of divinity, judges, senators, members of Congress—men hon-
ored and respected, saw no moral wrong in holding negroes as
slaves.
There always had been
slaves.
In Bible times, Moses, who gave laws
to
the
children
of
Israel,
established
statutes
relating
to
bondmen.
Abraham had bond-servants.
There were slaves in the time of Christ
and the apostles.
Paul told the
slaves of
his time that they must be
obedient to their masters.
If
it was right to hold slaves in those days,
where was the wrong in holding them in the United States in the year
1830 ?
Was
it not a
beneficent
institution, divinely ordained by Al-
mighty God for the best welfare of the human race ?
So reasoned men
renowned for learning.
A young man, born in Newburyport, Mass., was setting type in a
newspaper office in Baltimore.
He did not agree with the general sen-
timent in regard to slavery.
He saw a gang of slaves taken from
jail,
where they had been placed under lock and key to prevent their run-
ning away, and put on board a ship which was owned and commanded
by a sea-captain from his native town.
Congress had prohibited the
bringing of slaves from xA.frica to the United States, and any person vio-
lating the law was to be regarded as a pirate.
The young printer, Will-
iam Lloyd Garrison, could not see why it was not just as much a crime
to ship
slaves from Baltimore to 'New
Orleans, or anywhere
else
in
the country, as to bring them from Africa to Baltimore.
He printed
an
article which denounced the act of his fellow-townsman
as piracy,
for
doing which he was
arrested
for
libel,
tried
before
the
court,
found guilty, and, because he had no money to pay the
fine, was put
in ]3rison.
A large-hearted merchant in Xew York, Arthur Tappan, heard what
had taken place and paid the money, securing his liberty.
We are not
to conclude that the printer was the first person in the United States
who saw the iniquity of slave-holding.
Forty years before this occur-
rence Dr. George Buchanan delivered an address before a society which
had been organized in Baltimore to bring about the abolition of slavery.
He said that Africans were born free and independent, and that to keep
them in slavery was an infringement of the laws of God.
Other anti-
slavery societies had been formed before the year 1800—one in Virginia
;
but at that time slavery was not regarded as profitable, and
it had not
become a great political power, as m 1830.
The young printer went to Boston to give lectures upon the iniquity
of the slave-traffic.
He found, to his amazement, that people were not
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
1831.
willing to listen to him.
He discovered that there was an intense prej-
udice against the negro in the Northern States.
Being of indomitable
energy, he established a paper, "The Liberator," which advocated the im-
mediate abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia and the Terri-
tories over which Congress had jurisdiction.
So it came about that at the time when Nancy Miller was making a
pair of jean trousers, and Abraham Lincoln was
splitting
rails to pay
for them, William Lloyd Garrison was issuing the
first number of his
paper.
The country was divided into two political parties—Whig and Dem-
ocratic.
The Democratic party was
in power, with Andrew Jackson
as President.
Henry Clay, Senator from Kentucky, was an
ac-
knowledged leader of the Whig party.
A book had been pub-
lished setting forth the political principles of Mr. Clay, which Abraham
Lincoln read during the days when he could get nothing to
do.
He
thought that the principles held by the Senator from Kentucky were
better for the country than those held by President Jackson.
The month
of March saw John Hanks and Abraham Lincoln j)ad-
dling down the Sangamon Eiver in a boat to meet Denton Offut, of
Springfield, who was buying corn, beef, pork, and pigs, which they were
to take to New Orleans.
John Johnston was to go with them.
Offut
agreed to give them 50 cents per day and $60 besides.
The boat was to
be ready for them at Judy's Ferry, five miles from Springfield.
They
found Offut at the Buckhorn Tavern, taking things easy.
He had no
boat,
but would
like
to
have
them build one.
He would just
as
soon pay them
as anybody
else.
Tlie
timber
would
cost
them nothing,
for there was
an abundance
along the San-
gamon,
on
land owned by
the
Govern-
ment.
They
could
get
it
sawed at Mr. Kirkpatrick's mill. (')
Abraham had at one time worked
with
his father at carpentering, and could
superintend
the
construc-
tion
of the
boat.
The bargain was made.
A shanty was
built on
J.SKEMP.
PLACES IN ILLINOIS FREQUENTED BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
A CITIZEN OF ILLINOIS.
^^^V^
,^.>
^:
J/
-,9*/r
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-_f*;fRi.
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//«///;
SANGAMON RIVER NEAR NEW SALEM.
[From a photograph taken by the author in 1890.
The view looks down the river towards Petersburg,
stood at the left.
The village of New Salem was amid the trees at the top of the hill.]
the bank of the river, in Avhich they slept and ate their meals,
Abra-
ham, besides being the head-carpenter, took charge of the cooking.
An
axe, saw,
chisel, and auger were the
only
tools
needed.
Two
great
trees were felled and hewn for the sides, upon which the planking was
pinned; the seams were calked and smeared with
pitch.
Offut and a
large number
of his friends came out from
Springfield to the launch-
ing, bringing a supply of whiskey.
Speeches were made—some uphold-
ing
Jackson, others
supporting Henry Clay.
The
cook
told
funny
stories and declared himself in favor of Clay.
A sleight-of-hand
per-
former was along, and, among other tricks performed, eggs were fried
in the cook's hat. (')
On April
19th, with
the
barrels
of pork and
beef on
board, the
three boatmen bade good-bye to Sangamon town, and floated down the
river to New Salem.
Mr. Rutledge had
built a dam at a bend
in the
river and erected a mill on the Avestern
bank.
The
boat, instead
of
gliding over the dam, hung fast upon
it.
Abraham thought a
Avhile,
and showed John the way out of the difficulty.
They must take to the
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
shore some of the barrels at the forward end.
The seams had not been
made tight, and the boat was partly filled with water.
He would bore
a hole in the bottom at the end projecting over the dam, which would
let the water out and lighten the
craft.
Then he would plug up the
hole, roll the barrels to the bow, and the boat would slide over.
When
below the dam they could put more oakum in the seams, daub on more
pitch, and be in good shape for their trip.
It was done, with the people
of 'New Salem looking on and admiring the ingenuity of the J^oung man
who devised the plan.
At Blue Banks a herd of pigs which
Oflfut had purchased of Squire
Godbey were to be taken on board.
The animals were determined not
to embark on such a craft.
The more the three boatmen and
Squire
Godbey tried to drive them, the more they would not go.
They munched
the corn strewn on the ground, but showed no disposition to eat that on
the boat.
" We might sew up their eyes, and then they would have to go
it
blind," said Abraham. (')
As the pigs would not be coaxed, he carried them one by one in his
arms down the bank and put them on board. (")
Once more they were
floating with the stream down the Sangamon to the Illinois, where final
preparations were made for the trip to 'New Orleans.
They
set up
a mast, and, having no
canvas, rigged a wooden
sail.
People
at
Beardstown,
Alton, and
St. Louis laughed when they
be-
held the contrivance
; the pilots of steamboats, when they saw
it, won-
dered what was coming
; but their wooden
sail helped them on when
the wind was in the right direction to use it.
They reached
ISTew Orleans without
special adventure.
Abraham
Lincoln, with no responsibility upon him
in disposing of the cargo, as
when upon the
first trip, wandered about the city.
He visited the sec-
tion
settled by the
Spaniards, and
also
the
quarter occupied by the
French and
Creole
population.
He saw gangs
of
slaves which had
come from Kentucky and Tennessee marched to the sugar-cane and
cotton plantations.
He stood
in
the
auction -room where they were
sold, and saw women and
girls stripped
to
the
waist, men handling
them as they handled cows and calves: making them run to see
if they
were lame, looking into their mouths to ascertain
if their teeth were
sound, calculating
their
age, and whether they would bear
children.
He hears the auctioneer telling their good points
: how much work they
can do, what they are fitted for, how good and kind and religious they
are.
He hears the bidding, and beholds maidens shrinking from men
‘(10S GUAM AAHL AWAHM WOOU-NOILONV AHL NI GOO FH,, “
A CITIZEN OF ILLINOIS.
who look them over with leering eyes.
He hears the wailing and sees
the weeping, as husbands, wives, and children are separated, never to
meet again.
The boatman
turns away with something rising
in
his
throat, and
goes out with John Hanks into the sunshine.
His
lips are quivering,
for his soul is on fire.
'^ John, if I ever get a chance
to
Jilt that institntum, III hit
it hard,
hy the Eternal God T C)
Who
is he, to hit the
institution
of slavery a blow ?
He
is only a
boatman, a wood - chopper, teamster, backwoodsman — nothing more.
What position of influence is he likely to attain to enable him to strike
at
slavery^
His school -days have
been
less
than
a
year.
He
is
unknown, except
to a few
people.
Slavery
is
incorporated
into the
framework of society and legalized
in
half
of the
States
of the Ee-
public.
It
is intrenched
in Church and
State
alike
;
pronounced by
doctors of divinity and statesmen to be divinely established for the good
of the human race.
It is a political force, recognized by the Constitu-
tion of the United States
;
it enters into the organization of Congress,
and dictates as to the affairs of government and the election of
Presi-
dents.
Is there the remotest probability that he will ever be able to
strike a blow at such an institution ?
Why does he speak the words ?
Why lift his right hand to heaven and swear a solemn oath
?
Is
it that
those
eyes, looking as
his mother's looked, far away, catch some dim
vision of what may be by-and-by?
Does the thought come that in the
unfolding years an all-directing Providence in human affairs has some-
thing especially marked out for him to accomplish ?
Is
it an illumina-
tion by some spirit-force of a coming conflict
in which he
is to take a
conspicuous
part—the whispering of some messenger from an unseen
realm that he
is the one chosen to give freedom to millions of slaves?
Be that as
it may, certainly no words ever spoken by the prophets of
Israel have had
a
larger fulfilment than
those uttered by Abraham
Lincoln in the streets of New Orleans.
As we thus go over the events in the life of this carpenter's son, we
think of the Son
of another carpenter, and recall his words: "Wist ye
not that I must be about my Father's business ?"
The three boatmen returned to St, Louis, accompanied by their em-
ployer, who was intending to open a store in Xew Salem, where Abra-
ham Lincoln had exhibited
his ingenuitj^ in getting the
flat-boat over
Kutledge's mill-dam.
Offut remained at
St. Louis to purchase goods,
and the three boatmen made their wav on foot across the countrv to
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Farmington, near the eastern boundary of Illinois, where Thomas Lin-
coln was preparing to build a new house.
On an appointed day Abra-
ham was to meet Offut at New Salem, and begin business with him as
clerk and salesman.
Reaching Farmington, he assisted his father in building a cabin con-
taining two rooms.
It was of hewn logs, and much superior to any of
the former dwellings.
AVe have seen that the recreations and pleasures of people on the
frontier were exhibitions of physical strength.
Daniel ISTeedham, cham-
pion wrestler of Coles County, had put many men on their backs, and
boasted loudly of his powers.
Having heard
that there was a strong
young
flat -boatman in Farmington, he
sent him
a special
challenge,
which the boatman
accepted.
Abraham
Lincoln
found
his
highest
pleasure in reading, but he was by no means indifferent to the pleasure
that comes from putting forth physical strength.
The match was held
at AVabash Point.
Needham soon found himself on the ground.
Cha-
grined
at
his
discomfiture, he demanded
a second
trial, to be again
vanquished.
The boatman, in consequence of his victory, became very
popular with the young men of Coles County. (')
On the day appointed, the clerk engaged by Offut stepped from a
canoe at Rutledge's mill.
He had paddled down the river from Decatur.
IS'ew Salem was a collection of log-houses overlooking the beautiful val-
ley of the Sangamon.
Offut was there to welcome him, but the goods
had not arrived.
The future clerk had time, therefore, to make the ac-
quaintance of the people.
The day for the annual election came.
Men-
tor Graham was
clerk, but the
assistant
clerk was not present.
Mr,
Graham noticed a tall young man loitering about the village, and vent-
ured to ask him
if he could write.
" I can make a few rabbit-tracks,"
was the reply
; whereupon he was installed in
office.
The voters were
not long in discovering that the assistant clerk was honest and
fair,
and performed his duties
faithfully.
More than
that, he entertained
them with stories. (')
One of the citizens of Xew Salem was departing for Texas with his
family.
It was not far to the Illinois River, and the most expeditious
way of reaching Beardstown, where he could take a steamboat
for
St.
Louis, would be
b}'- flat-boat down the Sangamon.
The assistant clerk
of elections engaged to convey the family to the Illinois, and once more
was pulling an oar.
The water was low, and the boat often grounded
on the sand-bars
;
but all obstacles were surmounted, and the
trip
suc-
cessfully accomplished.
A CITIZEN OF ILLINOIS.
Upon the arrival of
OfTut's goods, the boatman became clerk and
salesman.
It was a country store, and the articles for
sale were such
as a newly-settled agricultural community on the frontier would espe-
cially need.
Women wanted
pins, needles, thread
;
they asked
if the
calico which they examined would " wash ;" they " chinked " the crock-
ery to discover a possible crack.
Their presence, in comparison with the
men whom he met on
flat - boats, made the
air sweet and
pure.
He
greeted them with a pleasant smile, and was so truthful in what he said
about the goods, and gave such just weight, that they soon had implicit
confidence in him.
In keeping accounts he was careful to reckon the
half and quarter
cents.
AYe are to remember that the mint at
Phil-
adelphia for coining money had been in operation but little more than
thirty years;
not many dimes and twenty -five
cent
pieces were
in
circulation, but fourpence, sixpence, ninepence, and
shilling
pieces
of
English coinage, together with many Spanish
coins, were
in
use.
A
silver fourpence coin was valued at six and one-fourth cents.
A nine-
pence coin was worth twelve and one-half cents.
If Abraham Lincoln
made a mistake in reckoning or weighing he was quick to rectify it the
moment he discovered the error.
He was closing the store one evening
when a woman came for a half-pound of tea.
In the morning he saw
from the weight in the scale that he had given her only one-quarter of a
pound.
Leaving everything else he weighed out the other ounces and
carried them to her.
Another customer paid him
six and one-quarter
cents more than was his due, and when the store was closed at night he
hastened to correct the mistake, although she lived two miles away. ('")
Denton
Offut's store was the
social exchange for a wide extent of
country along the Sangamon—the place where people could hear from
his clerk what was going on
in the world.
After the arrival
of the
mail (which brought his newspaper, the "Louisville Journal"), he could
tell them what Congress was doing, and what was occurring throughout
the country and on the other side of the Atlantic.
They discovered that
he could talk intelligently upon a great many questions.
Some of the
fellows who made the store a lounging-place while their corn was grind-
ing at Rutledge's mill used profane language.
One of them had so little
sense of what was decent that he used
vile words when women were
present.
'* Don't use such language here," said Lincoln.
" Who are you ?
I'll swear when and where
I please.
I can
lick
you," said the fellow.
" When the ladies are gone
I'll let you have a chance to do so."
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
The women
departed, and the bully dared Lincoln to touch him.
Little did the ruffian comprehend the strength and resolution of the man
whom he had incensed.
Suddenly he found himself lying on the ground
and blows falling upon him like the strokes of a hammer.
He begged
for mercy, and Lincoln bathed the fellow's face with water to relieve
the pain.(")
" He can
lift more than any other man in Sangamon County
; and
when it comes to wrestling, he can throw the whole crowd," said Oifut.
The
" Clary Grove boys," as they were
called, heard of
it.
They
were a wild and lawless set of fellows, who lived seven or eight miles
from ISTew Salem.
Jack Armstrong was their champion wrestler and
leader.
They found pleasure in picking upon a stranger, and having fun
with any one weaker than themselves.
It was delightful sport to put a
man into a cask and set it rolling down a hill.
They rode through the
settlements at night whooping, swearing, frightening women and chil-
dren.
They cared nothing for law or order, and were a terror to the
countr5^
" Jack Armstrong will put Offut's clerk on his back in a twinkling,"
said one of the gang.
" I'll bet that Lincoln will use him to wipe his feet on," said Offut.
" I'll bet $10 that Jack is the better man," responded Bill Clary.
" I'll take that
bet, and as much more as you and your gang will
put up."
" I do not want to wrestle," said Lincoln, when Offut asked him to
engage in a contest with Jack Armstrong. He was no longer a boatman
;
he was drifting away from former things.
There was something in life
better than
wrestling.
He looked every day
into the faces
of noble
women and pure -hearted
girls as they examined the goods which he
placed before them.
What would they think of him
if he found his
greatest pleasure in wrestling with Jack ?
" I want you to teach those fellows a lesson," said Offut.
" They are
a set of bullies, and I want you to take them down."
Quite likely Abraham Lincoln was not averse to teaching them a
lesson, and there would be some satisfaction in putting their champion
upon the ground.
The match was arranged, and the
da}^
fixed.
All
the Clary Grove fellows, and others up and down the Sangamon, heard
of
it, and laid their plans to be present, some staking their money on
Armstrong, others on
Offut's
clerk.
The day arrives
;
ISTew Salem
is
astir.
The spectators tie their horses beneath the trees and take a drink
of whiskey.
The ring is formed.
There
is a friendly hand-shaking as
\\ = — UIQ SON WO [From a photograph taken in 1890. Abraham Lineo
A CITIZEN OF ILLINOIS.
the contestants enter
it
; then comes the grapphng, turning, the strain-
ing of muscles.
If Jack Armstrong imagined
it would be an easy vic-
tory, he found himself mistaken.
lie
tries
his
peculiar
tricks, which
have given him victory over other wrestlers
; but somehow this clerk of
Offut's, who spends so much time
in reading, does not go down.
lie
seems to be playing with Jack, and biding his time.
Jack's friends do
not
like the looks of things
;
if he
is vanquished they
will
lose their
bets, and
it will be humihating.
One of the gang attempts to interfere
in behalf of Armstrong.
"Fair
play!"
"Stand
back!''
"Let them alone!" were the
cries
from the excited crowd.
Lincoln sees that the Clary Grove fellows
in-
tend to help Jack gain an advantage
;
like another Samson he puts forth
his strength, and the hitherto champion of Sangamon goes to the ground.
Armstrong's friends are amazed and angry.
But there
is good stuff
in Jack.
He knows that he has been
fairly thrown, and exhibits his
manhood by rising and shaking hands with
Lincoln.
From that mo-
ment through life he will be a steadfast friend.
The Clary Grove boys
have lost their bets, but forget their anger in
their admiration
for the
man who does not crow over what he has done. ('^)
Abraham Lincoln was champion
; but instead of wrestling, he wanted
to study grammar.
Mentor Graham thought that Mr. Vaner might
possibly have a text-book.
Although
it was several miles, he walked to
Vaner's house, and returned
with a copy
of
" Kirkham's Grammar."
Customers who came to trade the next day found him lying on
the
counter with the book
in hand, his head pillowed on a
pile of cotton
goods.
He knew that his language was not grammatical.
He wanted
to express himself clearly and correctly.
It was a pleasure to read the
editorial articles in the " Louisville Journal," because they were so well
written.
He would like to be able to write so that people would under-
stand just what he intended to say.
With that object
in view, he de-
termined to know the parts of speech and the
rules which govern the
construction of language.
He had no one to teach him, but went on
as best he could. ('')
While the clerk was waiting upon customers, keeping exact accounts,
and getting on with
his grammar, Offut was buying produce, trading
horses, and speculating generally; giving his notes, which were not paid
when due.
He transacted business in such a lucky-go-easy way that the
day came when the sheriff took possession of the store.
Abraham Lincoln was adrift once more.
Good news came.
Cap-
tain Bogue, of Springfield, had gone to Cincinnati to obtain a steamboat
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
/
which was to navigate the Sangamon.
Meetings were held in Spring-
field, Kew
Salem, and other towns,
to help on
the
enterprise.
The
merchants
at
Springfield
informed
their
customers
that their
1832
o
goods were to be brought direct from Cincinnati by the steamboat
" Talisman," which would ascend the Illinois and the Sangamon rivers.
It was April, and the spring floods enabled Captain Bogue to make the
upward trip without much difficulty.
Some work must be done, how-
ever, in cutting away trees to enable the boat to reach l^ew Salem.
Abraham Lincoln was one of the
first to volunteer his
services
as a
wood-chopper.
At the Springfield landing the people welcomed him
with speeches and plenty of liquor.
A young lawyer wrote a " poem :"
"Now we are up the Sangamoo,
And here we'll have a grand hurrah
;
So
fill your glasses to the brim
With whiskey, brandy, wine, and
gin."(''*)
The " Talisman " went on to Decatur.
But the water was falling, and
the captain despaired of ever getting back, on account of the sand-bars
and drift-wood embedded in the mud
; so he wisely employed the two
boatmen, who had navigated the
Mississippi to 'New Orleans, to take
the craft down to the Illinois.
They had much difficulty to get past the
mill-dam at New Salem, but Beardstown was
finallj^ reached, and the
boatmen received $40 each for their labor.
The Sac and Fox Indians of Wisconsin, who had given up their lands
to the United States and moved to Iowa, determined to return to their
old hunting-grounds.
Their chief. Black Hawk, began war by commit-
ting outrages upon the settlers of that section.
The Governor of
Illi-
nois called
for
soldiers.
Abraham Lincoln
enlisted.
The young men
along the Sangamon volunteered in sufficient numbers to form a com-
pany.
They elected him captain.
He knew nothing of military tactics,
and his soldiers were equally ignorant.
"With
rifle, powder-horn, knap-
sack, and canteen the march was begun to Yellow Bank, on the Missis-
sippi River.
The company is marching battalion front, and comes to a
fence which has
a narrow opening.
Captain
Lincoln does not know
what order he ought to give to get them into
single
file, and were he
to give
it correctly the company might not know how
to execute
it.
He sees that something must be done
:
his soldiers will laugh at him
if
they are brought to a
stand-still by a
rail -fence.
There
is one order
which they will comprehend.
A CITIZEN OF ILLINOIS.
" Halt !" he shouts,
" This company
is dismissed for two minutes
;
it will reassemble on the other side of the fence.
Break ranks !"('^)
The dignity of Captain Lincoln was maintained, and
possibly most
of his soldiers thought
it the proper order to be given.
The steamboats which were to take the
soldiers up the Mississippi
were not
at the
appointed landing.
The
troops had
nothing
to
do.
They marched, countermarched, wheeled, and performed
other
evolu-
tions
; but time dragged.
They were impatient of military restraint and
became quarrelsome.
They had
little respect
for
their
superior
oJE-
cers, and
it
required much tact on the part
of Abraham Lincoln to
preserve order
; but Avith the arrival of the steamboats and a supply of
food harmony was restored.
"VYe are not to suppose that such a motley set of young men could be
brought under strict military discipline in two or three weeks
; neither
should we conclude that Captain Lincoln could assume military dignity
in the same space of time.
On the contrary, the captain thought
it not
undignified to take part in wrestling-matches.
Possibly he won respect
and honor by putting
his
soldiers one after
another on
their
backs;
one only was his equal in strength.
Though he took part in the games,
he did not lose his authority as their commander.
An old Indian came
into camp, bringing a letter written by General Lewis Cass, who stated
that the bearer was
entitled to protection
;
that he was friendly, and
had taken no part in the uprising.
The soldiers discredited the letter.
" It is a forgery," said one, who
did not think of the absurdity of what he was saying.
The soldiers had
come to fight Indians
; they thought there were no friendly Indians.
" Shoot him !" they shouted.
" No, you will not shoot him—I
shall protect him
!
I'll shoot the
first man who lays hands on him !" was the calm but resolute reply of
their captain.
The company was part of a regiment commanded by Colonel Samuel
Thompson, which marched northward to Dixon.
The troops halted to
await the arrival of United
States
soldiers.
Two battalions of horse-
men, under Majors Stillman and Bailey, were eager to encounter the
Indians—perhaps thinking
it would be fun to chase them across
the
prairies.
The horsemen advanced and reached Old Man's Creek, where
they suddenly found themselves confronted by Black Hawk and a large
number of
Indians.
The
soldiers became
panic-stricken and
fled
to
Dixon, the Indians pursuing and killing
several.
In the morning not
an Indian was to be seen.
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
The time
expired
for wbich the
soldiers from Sangamon had
en-
listed.
They had not fought a battle, but were weary of military
life.
All the company, with the exception
of Captain Lincoln and one pri-
vate, returned to Sangamon.
The captain was
without
a command,
but he could become a private, and accordingly enlisted in a company
of cavalry commanded by Captain Elijah
lies.
It was known
as the
" Independent Spy Battalion."
It was a holiday service, lasting three
weeks.
The Indians were defeated in a battle at Bad Axe, and Black
Hawk taken prisoner.
The "Independent Spy Battalion " was not pres-
ent to take part in the engagement.
Private Lincoln saw no fighting,
and was mustered out of service June 16th by young Lieutenant Eobert
Anderson.
From Fox Kiver Lincoln and his fellow-soldier, Harrison, made their
way to the
Illinois Kiver at Peoria, where they obtained a canoe and
paddled to Havana, and from that town walked to JSIew Salem.
NOTES TO
CHAPTEE
IV.
(') Nicolay and Hay,
'' Abralia™Lincoln: A History," vol.
i., p. 45.
( = ) William H. Henulon, "Lincoln," p. 68 (edition 1889).
(^) Herndon speaks of the plank
as being sawed at Kirkpatrick's
mill.
J. G. Hol-
land, Tisiting
Illinois
immediately
after
tLe
death
of President Lincoln,
1865, says:
" Every jDlauk of it was sawed by hand with a whip-saw."— " Life of Abraham Lincoln,"
p. 42.
(*) William H. Herndon, "Lincoln," p. 73 (edition 1889).
(») Ibid., p. 75.
(«) J. G. Holland, "Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 42.
(') William H. Herndon, "Lincoln," p. 76 (edition 1889).
(") Ibid.
(') Mrs. Lizzie
H.
Bell's
letter
qnoted
in
Nicolay and Hay's "Abraham Lincoln:
A Historj-," vol.
i., p. 78, note.
(")
J. G. Holland, "Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 43.
(") Ibid., p. 44.
(>2) William H. Herndon, "Lincoln," p. 43 (edition 1889).
(13)
Ibid., p. 84.
( " )
Ibid., p. 88.
(
'=
)
Ibid,, p. 93, note.
LIFE AT NEW
SALExM.
CHAPTER V.
LIFE AT NEW SALEM.
IN a community where every man casts a vote there will ever be a
large number of people who will desire to hold office or represent
their fellow-citizens in making laws.
In
Illinois those who desired po-
litical distinction might aspire to be candidates for any position
^"°"^^'' and enter the
hst independent of nomination by a convention
of electors.
Before volunteering as a
soldier, Abraham Lincoln
had announced that he would be a candidate for the Legislature.
It
was only ten days before the election when he reached New Salem.
His
friends welcomed his return.
Those who had served under him as sol-
diers were ready to persuade their friends to cast their ballots for him.
He had shown his patriotism by being one of the first to enlist, and had
re-enlisted when others, wearied of the restraints of camp-life, returned
to their homes.
He was brave, resolute, kind-hearted, and had a mind
of his own
;
in wrestling he had put the best men
of the regiment on
their backs—all save one.
Though most of them were Democrats and
he a Whig, they were ready to vote for him.
A majority of the people
in
Illinois accepted the
political principles held by President Andrew
Jackson.
Abraham Lincoln
supported the
principles
held by Henrv
Clay, who believed the nation ought to improve the rivers, make them
navigable, and pass laws which would protect the industries of the coun-
try by imposing a tariff on goods made in other countries.
He thouglit
a national bank would be a good thing for the country.
Candidates bet-
ter known to the people than he were making speeches in the villages
throughout the county.
There was to be an auction of horses, cattle, and pigs at Pappsville,
twelve miles from
Springfield, where
all the candidates would speak.
The people
for miles around would be there to hear them, and help
themselves to
free whiskey.
The day arrives, and Pappsville
is alive.
A stand for the speakers had been erected.
Those who gather around
it see a very tall young man, wearing a blue jean clawhammer, bobtail
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
coat, tow-and-wool
trousers, cowhide
boots, and a straw hat, laughing
and teUing
stories to
those around him.
It
is Captain
Lincoln, and
those Avho served under him in the war with the Indians are grasping
his brawny hand.
His face
is bronzed from exposure to the sun and
winds upon the prairies.
The other candidates speak.
He is a young
man of twenty-three years, and respectfully waits his turn.
Whiskey has
flowed so freely that some ruffians in the crowd are quarrelsome.
CajD-
tain Lincoln sees one of his friends
sorel}'' beset by a bully.
He jumps
from the platform, gives the fellow a threshing, tosses him aside as
if he
were but a boy, returns to the platform, and listens to the other candidates
just as if nothing had happened.
It is a brief speech w^hich he makes
:
" Fellow-citizens, I presume you "would like to know who I am.
I am
humble Abraham Lincoln.
I have been
solicited by my friends to be-
come a candidate for the Legislature.
My politics are short and sweet,
like the old woman's dance.
I am in favor of a national bank
;
I am in
favor of the internal improvement system and a high protective tariff.
These are my sentiments and princijDles.
If elected I shall be thankful
;
if not, it will be all the same."(')
Another meeting was held at Springfield, where he made a longer
speech.
One who was present has described his appearance on that
occasion
:
"He was
tall, gawky, and
a
rough -looking
fellow.
His
panta-
loons didn't meet
his shoes by
six inches
; but after he began speak-
ing
I became much
interested
in
him.
He
made
a
very
sensible
speech." (')
Four representatives were to be
elected.
There were twelve candi-
dates.
Abraham Lincoln was not chosen.
He could not go to Yandalia,
the capital of the State, as a representative.
"What should he do ?
He
did not w^ant to be a boatman or wood - chopper.
"Would it not be well
for him to become a blacksmith?
He turned the matter over, (^) but
suddenly found himself
again keeping
store
in
an unexpected way.
Rowan and James Herndon, after the failure of Offut, opened a store at
K'ew Salem.
James sold
his
interest to Mr. Berry, wdio induced Lin-
coln
to purchase the interest held by Eowan Herndon.
Lincoln had
no money, but Herndon was i^eady to take his note.
Another store "was
opened by Eeuben Radford about the same time.
" You had
better get on good terms with the Clary Grove boys,"
said Radford's father, " or they will trouble you."
Radford stayed at the store several evenings, expecting a visit from
the gang
; but as they did not come, and wishing to spend a night a few
LIFE IN NEW SALEM.
miles distant, he left the
store
in charge
of a younger brother—Jack,
sixteen years old.
" You may give the boys, if they come, two drinks all round, but no
more," he said.
It was the evening chosen by the fellows for a lark in 'New Salem.
" Well, boy, aren't you going to give us a treat?" they asked.
" Oh yes," and they were each given a generous drink.
" It is about time for another snifter, isn't
it, sonny ?" they said, after
a while.
" Yes ;" and Jack served them once more.
They lounged about the
store, sang songs, danced, and made them-
selves at home.
" Well, Jack, we reckon that
it is time for another nipper," they said.
" You can't have any more.
Kube said I might give you two drinks,
but no more."
" Oh ho
! he said so, did he ?
We will see 1"
And each one of the
crew went to the whiskey-barrel, took a big drink, and filled his bottle.
The whiskey was
doing
its work— they danced
and whooped
like
Indians.
" I'll bet the drinks
I can beat you in hitting those
jars," said one,
seizing a weight and smashing a glass jar.
Each in turn brought the
jars and
crockery
crashing
to
the
floor;
then
frying-pans,
skillets,
Dutch-ovens, coffee-pots, tin basins, milk-pans, saucers, plates and
plat-
ters, molasses-jugs, went flying through the air.
The glass in the win-
dows rattled
to the ground, and the door was
torn from
its
hinges.
A little past midnight they rode whooping homeward, with cow-bells
tied to their saddles.
The sun was
just rising when Eeuben Radford was awakened by
the cow -bells and whooping, as the gang rode past the house where
he was
spending
the
night.
Suspecting
there might be
trouble, he
mounted his horse and galloped towards New
Salem, passing on the
way a boy of sixteen, William G. Green, who had started early in the
morning with a bag of corn to be ground at Mr. Rutledge's mill.
Rad-
ford reached
the
store, beheld
the wreck and
ruin, and heard Jack's
story.
He had no particulai* desire to be a merchant any longer, and
was ready to sell out.
" I'll sell this store to the first person who makes me an offer," said
he, as Green rode up
; and added, " What will you give for it ?"
The boy looked through the window and
survej^ed
the
interior—
the shattered glass and crockery, the helter-skelter of frying-pans and
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
broken jugs.
He noticed many of the most valuable
articles had not
been disturbed, and ^vithout much thought, and in fun rather than in
earnest, said, " I'll give you $400."
" It is a bargain."
" But I haven't any money,"
" IS'o matter
;
I'll take your note."
Green dismounted, entered the
store, and signed a note promising
to pay $400 after a specified number of days.
A little later Abraham
n
KUTLEDGE « MILL.
[From a photograph by C. S. JlcCullough, Petersburg,
111.
Lincoln & Berry's store stood
near the trees at the right of the view.]
Lincoln came, beheld the broken crockery and general confusion, and
laughed
as he
listened
to Jack Radford's
account of how the Clary
Grove boys danced, yelled, and smashed things.
Green told the story
of the purchase.
" Billy," said Lincoln, " I shouldn't be surprised
if you had made a
good bargain.
I'll help you take an inventory." (')
Young Green, whose education had been limited, did not know just
LIFE IN NEW SALEM.
what an inventory might be.
If
it was a further smashing, he said he
did not care for
it.
Lincoln explained
it was an estimate of the value
of each article.
'' You will need
it, to be able to fix prices."
The man who said this was part owner in a rival store
; but he was
readv to help the boy who thoughtlessly had begun as a trader.
They
buns' the door on its hino'es and nailed boards over the window.
Green
took his corn to the mill and Lincoln left for his breakfast.
Through
the day he went over the inventory with Green.
The broken glass and
crockery were swept out and things put in place.
''Billy,
it figures up more than $1200 at St. Louis prices," said Lin-
coln, when the inventory was completed.
Customers came, listened to
the
story, laughed
over
it, and purchased
articles.
During
the day
Green sold goods to the amount of $15.
Mr. Lincoln's partner, Berry, thought
it would be a good business
operation to buy out Green.
" What will you take for your bargain ?" he asked.
Berry owned a good
horse, which Green thought he would
like to
obtain.
Although he was only sixteen years old, he had an eye to busi-
ness, and was ready to quit being a store-keeper.
Besides, he was not
quite sure how his father would look upon what he w^as doing.
" I'll
tell you what
I'll do.
If you
will
let me have your horse,
saddle, and bridle, $200 cash, and you and Lincoln will give your joint
notes for $200,
I'll call it a bargain."
Lincoln had made the inventory, and found the property was worth
$1200.
Berry having $200
in
silver on hand, the
offer was accepted,
the notes signed, and the transfer completed.
With the goods of both
stores put
into one building, Berry and Lincoln began
business on a
larger scale, having a monopoly of trade in N"ew" Salem.
It was nearly midnight when Green, riding the horse obtained from
Berry, and leading the other with the bag of meal on
its back, reached
home.
Having put the horses in the stable, he lifted the latch and en-
tered the house.
His father and mother were in bed.
They had heard
what had been going on at Xew Salem
: the wreck done by the Clary
Grove boys, and the purchase by their son.
" Well, boy," said his father, " you think you can be a store-keeper,
do you ?
ril teach you a lesson not to buy a store when
I send you
to mill.
Go to bed, you rascal, and be prepared for a threshing in the
morning !"
" Hold on, father !" said the
son, raking open the coals
in the
fire-
place and throwing on a stick of wood.
He seated himself on the floor
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
and began
to
toss
shillings, quarters, and half dollars on the hearth,
which rang as they
fell.
The father heard the jingling, and sat up in
bed, gazing with astonishment at the growing pile.
" Wife, give me a chaw of tobacco," he said.
He took the quid, sat
more erect, spat at the fire, and gazed at the shining pieces of silver.
" There
is
S215.12-|-.
Besides this, I have got Berry's horse, saddle,
and bridle in the stable, and his and Lincoln's notes for $200," said the
son.
" Wife, get up
!
Billy must have some supper—the best you can get.
Billy, I won't thresh you in the morning.
You are a good bov—good
boy!"(^)
It was a dull winter for trade.
Although Berry and Lincoln were
the only store-keepers in Kew Salem, they were not making much head-
way in business.
The farmers had little produce to
sell, conse-
1833
quently could not purchase many goods.
Berry, the while, was
drinking whiskey, and Lincoln was thinking of what was going on in
South Carolina and
in
Congress rather than how
to
increase
trade.
South Carolina was proposing to pass a law to nullify the acts of Con-
gress, because a
tariff was to be collected on goods brought from other
countries.
In Congress Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, made a speech
on the Constitution and the Union which electrified the country
;
Pres-
ident Jackson uttered a solemn oath
that
the Union should be pre-
served.
All of which was interesting reading to Lincoln.
The partners thought they might make money by keeping a tavern,
and took out a license, which prescribed the prices they might charge
per
pint
for
liquors:
French
brandy,
cents;
peach
brandy,
18-|
cents; apple brandy, 12 cents; Holland gin, 18| cents; wine, 25 cents;
rum, 18|
cents
; whiskey,
12-^
cents.
Meals, 25
cents
each
;
lodging,
12-1- cents.
Horse for the night, 25 cents.
Breakfast, dinner, or supper
for passengers in the stage, ST-j cents.
The project
of keeping
a tavern was not carried
out.
The
store
was sold to Trent Brothers.
They had no money, but gave their notes.
Lincoln and Berry had given their own notes—first to the Herndons,
then to Green.
From the beginning the transactions were pretty much
in notes.
No one seemed to look forward to the time when they would
become due, or made any preparation
for such an event.
The Trents
probably had no thought of ever paying.
They would get what they
could for the goods and leave town.
Berry became a loathsome
sot
and died.
Abraham Lincoln found
himself held
on
the
joint
notes
which had been given
to the Herndons and to Green.
He could not
LIFE IN NEW SALEM.
pay them, but did not repudiate them.
lie had put
in no capital.
If
the creditors would not harass him he would do his best to pay them.
Years went by, the debts hanging like a millstone about his neck,
but were paid finally, principal and interest, to the last cent.
He would
not have been true to him-
self, would not have been
Abraham Lincoln, had he
not done so.
The
little
money
he
had when the Trents took
the store was soon gone.
His
board
bill
at
Rut-
ledo:e's
tavern
was
due.
He would
like
to
spend
his time
in
reading;
but
there was no
chafing
of
spirit as he shouldered his
axe
and went down the
hill -side
to
the
woods
along the river, chopping
down
trees
in
order
to
obtain
splints, which
he
carried to a shanty, where
his
evenings were
spent
reseating chairs.
He was
twenty -four
years
old, without an
oc-
cupation, and did not know for what he was fitted.
He would like to
be a lawyer.
He had not forgotten the plea of lawyer Breckenridge
in Indiana.
He had come
in contact with the prominent lawyers of
Springfield
:
Stephen
T. Logan and Major John
T. Stuart.
The
last
named served with him in the war with the Indians.
His old comrade
was very kind, and loaned him a law-book.
The people of Xew Salem
sometimes saw him
stretched upon
the ground
beneath
an
oak-tree
studying
it.
Russell Godby wanted a hand
to help harvest
his corn
and gave him work.
He was astonished
to
see
his new hand, when
resting, seated on a stump
I'eading a book.
jS^ever before had he
be-
held a fellow with a book in the field.
" What are you reading, Abe V
" I am not reading
;
I am studving."
OAK-TREES STANDING NEAR THE SITE OP BERRY & LIN-
COLN'S
STORE.
[From a pholograiih by C.
S. JlcCullough, Petersburg,
111]
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
1838.
" Studying
!
"What, I should like to know ?"
" Law, sir."
" Great God Almighty !" exclaimed Godby.
It was not a profane
expression, but one of astonishment.
When the book was finished, the farm hand walked to
Springfield
and obtained another from his
friend.
He
earned money enough to
pay his board by assisting Mr. Ellis, who had opened a store.
When a
customer came he put his book aside, but took it up again the moment
he was at leisure.
Just how
it happened
is not known, but he was
appointed
post-
master.
President Jackson was
a
Democrat, and
did
not
appoint
many Whigs to
office
;
for he had given utterance to the expression,
" To the
victors belong
the
spoils."
Lincoln was
in
a Dem-
ocratic community, but was popular with Whigs and Democrats
alike.
So few letters came to New Salem that the revenue would hardly
pay him for the trouble of receiving and sending the weekly mail.
His
hat was the post-office.
He thrust the letters into it, and kindly carried
them to the people in the village to whom they were addressed.
The 3'OUEg
postmaster
at
ISTew Salem
greatly admired
Henry Clay, of Kentucky, who
had
been
Senator,
and
also
member of President John
Quincy Adams's Cabinet.
In
1829 a young man, George D.
Prentice, who was born in Con-
necticut,
established
a
news-
paper, the "New England Re-
view,"
at Hartford,
in
that
State.
He had graduated at
Brown University, and was a
very
able
and
witt}^
writer.
His poems were appearing
in
the newspapers.
Mr. Clay was
a candidate for the Presidency,
and Mr. Prentice was employ-
ed to write his life.
So it came
about that John G. Whittier,
whom
the world
has
since
wTLLiAM
G. GREEN OCTOBER,
1890.
heard
of, bccamc editor of
LIFE IN NEW SALEM.
GEORGE
D. PRENTICE.
the " Review," and Mr. Prentice went to Kentucky and jDrepared a life
of Mr. Clay, a copy of which fell into the hands of the young* postmas-
ter at JSTew Salem, who read
it with great care, and who accepted the
political principles of the Kentuck}^ statesman.
Mr. Clay needed a news-
paper to
set forth
his
principles, and Mr. Prentice accordingly estab-
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
lishecl
the
" Louisville
Journal," for which
the
postmaster
at Xew
Salem had
subscribed.
He found great pleasure in reading
its witty
and pungent paragraphs
to the loungers
in Mr. Hill's
store, such
as
the following
:
"Aa editor in Indiana threatens to liandle us without gloves.
We certainly would
never think- of handling him without three pair, and thick ones at tliat."
" What would you do, madam, if you were a gentleman ?"
" Sir, what would you do if you were one ?"
" Strange that a dinner to wliicli a man has not been invited
is generally the one that
sits hardest on the stomacli."
It
is certain that he must have laughed heartily over Mr. Prentice's
account of what happened in Louisville
:
"Mr. Trotter, without provocation, attempted to shoot Mr. Clark in the street.
Mr.
O'Hara, friend of Trotter, made an
attacl;: upon Mr. Bryant, associate of Clark.
Bryant
gave O'Hara an effectual cudgelling, and then laid his cane over the head and shoulders of
Mr. Trotter till the latter cried for quarter.
There the matter ended.
Mr. Clark retired to
reload his pistols, Mr. Bryant to purchase a new cane, and Mr. Trotter and Mr. O'Hara to
get their heads mended."
Mr. Trotter was editor of the " Louisville Gazette," and said
in his
paper
: " The infamy of George D. Prentice is notorious.
He is shunned
by all honorable men.
The mark of Cain is on his brow."
" Mr. George Trotter," wrote Prentice, in reply, " says that the mark
of Cain
is on our brow.
We don't know about that
; but we do know
that the mark of cane is on his back."
It seems probable
that Mr. Prentice
greatly influenced Abraham
Lincoln in forming his
political
opinions.
The paper which came to
ISTew Salem^—its able
editorials upon the questions of the day and the
measures before Congress—were read with as keen a zest as
its witty
and sarcastic hues.
People from the Eastern States brought books, which the postmas-
ter borrowed.
He
read Baldwin's
History, Gibbon's
works, and the
novels of Mrs. Caroline Lee Hentz. (')
The
civilization
of Isew Salem was
still of the frontier type.
The
Clary Grove
ruffians and many others
delighted in cock-fights.
Mr.
MclSTab had a rooster which he boasted could whip any other cock in
Sangamon.
Another fellow was
sure his chicken was
the
best
bird.
Bets were made, the day
fixed, and
the
cocks tossed
into
the ring.
McXab's, instead of fighting, flew to the
fence, clapped
its wings, and
gave a
lusty crow.
"You
are mighty fine on dress parade, but not
much at fighting," said McXab, who paid his bet amid the laughter of
LIFE IN NEW SALEM.
the spectators.
Such was the
sport, the
delight, the
civiHzation, sur-
rounding the young man who wanted to become a lawyer.
Board
bills must be paid, and Abraham Lincoln, while studying the
law-books loaned by friends in Springfield, Avas obliged to take his axe
in hand once more.
He split rails for James Short,
He was working
on the bank of the Sano-amon when Pollard Simmons came along:.
" Good news for you," said Simmons.
" What is it ?"
" Haven't you heard of your appointment ?"
" "What appointment ?"
" "Why, John Calhoun, who has been appointed by President Jackson
surveyor of public land, has selected you lor his assistant."
Calhoun was an ardent Democrat.
Possibly he did not know any
other person whom he thought competent to do the Avork.
He knew
Lincoln Avas to be trusted in everything that he would be willing to un-
dertake.
'• If
I can be free to carry out my pohtical principles I will accept
;
otherwise
I
Avill not take
it," said Lincoln, and Avent on SAvinging his
axe.(')
He never had studied
surA^eying
; but Mentor Graham, the school-
master, kindly offered to
assist
him, and he
soon comprehended the
meaning of sines, cosines, and traverse tables.
He obtained a compass
and chain, and Avas ready to begin Avork.
The Government surA^eyors,
many years before, had erected the bounds of the quarter sections of
land, but many of the monuments had disappeared and neAv ones must
be established.
A party planned a ncAv toAvn tAvo miles doAvn the San-
gamon from New Salem, which
they named Petersburg, and he
Avas
called upon
to
lay
out the
streets and
lots.
He
resurveyed
Eussell
Godby's land, and received for pay two buckskins, Avhich Hannah Arm-
strong, Avife of Jack the Avrestler, sewed upon
his linsey - AA^oolsey trou-
sers to protect them from the brambles.
He Avas Avanted in different
parts
of the county, and purchased a horse and saddle, also a pair of
saddle-bags, in which he carried the compass, chain, survey-books, and
other instraments.
But the sheriff one day confronted him Avith a Avrit,
and seized his horse and other property, demanding payment of the note
which Berry and Lincoln had given for Kadford's goods.
The note had
been sold to a man Avho Avas determined
to
collect
it, although Berry
was in his grave, and Lincoln Avas having hard
AA'ork to pay his board
and keep himself in decent clothes.
James Short kindly purchased the
horse and equipments, and turned them once more OA^er to Lincoln, Avho
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
never forgot the great service rendered at a moment when he needed a
true friend.
People liked to help him, possibly because he liked to help
others.
He was riding towards
Springfield, and was overtaken by a
man who had ridden fast and far that he might make an entr}^ of a tract
of land in advance of a rich neighbor.
He was poor, but his friends had
contributed $100
to help him.
" H
I get there
first I can secure
it,"
he
said.
" See here," said Lincoln, " your horse
is tired out
; mine
is
fresh.
I am in no hurry
; take mine and go ahead.
Put him up
at
Herndon's stable.
I'll take yours and get there by-and-by."
The man
with a fresh horse reached Springfield, and secured the land a few min-
utes in advance of the other's arrival.
Abraham Lincoln was ever ready
to help those who needed help.
Once more Mr. Lincoln was
a
candidate
for the Legislature, and
the people were ready to vote
for him.
He had become
acquainted
with men in all sections of the county.
There was no need for him to
make speeches.
Of the four persons
elected, only one had more votes
than he.
When the time came for the Legislature to assemble a friend
loaned him money enough to buy a new
suit of clothes, and he made
his way to Yandalia.
When he entered the building in which the rep-
resentatives met he crossed one of the dividing
lines of his life.
The
future was to be
far different from the past.
He was associated with
the foremost men of the State, who had been selected by their fellow-
citizens to represent them in the Legislature.
In the past he had com-
pared himself with men who
chopped wood, with boatmen, and the
Clary Grove gang.
As
a
legislator he was to measure himself with
men who had enjoyed
the advantages of academies and colleges, who
had won reputations and the respect and esteem of their fellow-men.
He heard their speeches, but said little himself.
He met in the lobby Stephen Arnold Douglas, born amid the Green
Mountains
of Vermont.
His
father
died when he was
only
fifteen
months
old, but his mother tenderly cared for him.
He attended the
public-school, and usually stood at the head of his
class.
On the play-
ground he was leader in the games.
He wanted to go to
college, but
could not for lack of money.
" I will earn my own living," he resolutely said.
When fifteen years old he made furniture, obtaining enough money
to
attend an academy
in Vermont one year.
By teaching school he
was able to attend
a second year the academy at Canandaigua,
Is". Y.
He
studied law.
With
only
37|- cents
in
his pocket he entered the
town
of Winchester, not
far from
Jacksonville,
111., where he taught
LIFE IN NEW SALEM.
school and began the practice of law.
He was affable and made many
friends.
He was ambitious to succeed in his profession and in political
life.
He was in Vandalia for the purpose of persuading the Democratic
members of the Legislature to turn out Colonel John J. Hardin from the
oflfice of District Attorney and elect him instead.
He was successful.
The session lasted but a few weeks, and Abraham Lincoln went back
to his surveying.
He was not the same man he had been.
The grasp
of his hand, when he met Jack Armstrong, was as hearty as ever, but
he had advanced to a higher plane of
life.
He had been considering
questions which affected the welfare of his fellow-men and the prosper-
ity of a great and growing State.
The young men of New Salem were attracted to the sitting-room of
Rutledge's tavern because they desired
to be where they could enjoy
the society of the landlord's daughter
; there was not a
girl in
all the country round who had such winsome ways, such grace of
manner and kindness of heart.
If sickness came to a household,
it was
she who hastened to the bedside of the sufferer.
It was her lullaby that
soothed the fretting
child.
There was something
so
pure
and
holy
about her that men were ashamed to
utter an oath
if she were
near.
She had attended school
at Jacksonville; not many of her mates had
enjoyed such advantages.
Of her many admirers she accepted the spe-
cial attentions of John McJSTeil, a young man from the
State of New
York, who had left home
to make
his fortune
in
the growing West.
He had accumulated
several thousand
dollars.
He planned
to go to
New York, bring
his father and mother
to New Salem, and then he
would claim her
for his
bride.
On the evening preceding his depart-
ure he informed her that his real name was not McNeil but McNamur.
He had
left home determined to make
his fortune, and did not desire
his friends to know where he was
till he had attained
his object.
The
explanation was accepted, and he took his departure.
He would write
to her, and she to him
; he would not be gone many months.
The weeks went by, but no letter came for Ann Rutledge
; the sum-
mer waned, and
still no message.
Friends whispered their
suspicions.
Was not the revelation he had made
in regard to his name to his dis-
credit ?
If a true man, why change his name ?
If upright and honor-
able, why not keep his promise?
A letter came at last.
On his home-
ward journey he had been
seized with fever and delirium.
Strangers
kindly cared for him, but months went by before he was able to resume
his journey.
He had reached home, but
it would take time to
settle
affairs.
The troubled heart of Ann Rutledge was at peace once more.
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Other months passed, but brought no letter.
Why did he not write ?
"Was he again down with fever ?
If so, would not some one inform her ?
Was business crowding out all thoughts of herself?
Is it a wonder that
her friends once more
said he was fickle-minded
;
that he cared little
for her
; that he had found some one with a fairer face ?
It was no
secret in iSTew Salem that he did not write
; that a great disappointment
had come to her.
She found comfort and consolation in attending relig-
ious meetings.
There was unwonted pathos in her voice as she joined
in the singing.
Something had gone out of her life.
Her once rippling
laughter was not so joyous as
it had been, and there was a shade of
sadness in her winsome smile.
The heart of Abraham Lincoln goes out to her.
To him there never
was a blossom so fragrant, sweet, and fair as this flower of the prairie.
Wherever he beholds her, whether in her home, in the religious meeting
or by the bedside of the sick, her presence glorifies the place.
We may
be sure that he who once waded the
ice-cold
stream to
care
for
a
dog would love Ann Rutledge with all the intensity and greatness of
his soul.
He had nothing but himself to offer her
; himself— an ungainly,
uncultivated wood-chopper, boatman, teamster, store-keeper, surveyor
a piece of driftwood, thus far
floating on the stream
of time.
He was
poor, almost in poverty.
Would she accept his love ?
But the true love of Ann Eutledge has been awaiting, is awaiting
unanswered
letters.
She
will
write once more
to him to whom she
gave her love.
The
letter
is written.
Weeks
pass, no answer comes,
and the wounded heart, chastened by disappointment, accepts the sym-
pathy and affection of Abraham Lincoln.
It
is pleasure
to
labor, because Ann Rutledge has
come
into
his
life.
IS'ever before have the spring birds been so joyful, the days
so
bright, the nights so calm and peaceful, the vault of heaven so
lit with
stars, or the air so perfumed with flowers.
He returns to New Salem from
his
surveying, to look once more
upon the face of her for whom he would lay down his life, if need be.
He
sits by her
side
in the
gloaming.
She sings a hymn which she
has often sung in the religious meetings
:
" Vain man, thy fond
pursuits forbear
;
Repent, thy end
is nigh.
Death,
at
the
farthest, can't be
far,
Oh think before thou
die !"(^)
The hymn
to which he
listens was
written by one who
in
early
life Avrote a book upon the "Unreasonableness
of Rehgion" (Joseph
LIFE IN NEW SALEM.
Ilart, of London, England), but who saw his mistake, and who became
an earnest preacher of the Gospel. ('")
Abraham Lincoln had entered upon a period of doubt
in
religion.
Thomas Paine's " Age of Reason " and Volney's " Ruins " led him to
question generally accepted religious beliefs.( "
)
Little does he think, as he
listens to the enchanting
voice, that a
great sorrow, like the shadow of an eclipse, is about to darken his life.
He does not mistrust the unwonted bloom upon her cheek that, brighten-
ing her beauty, heralds the approach of life's closing scene.
He does not
dream
the cup of joy brimming over with blessedness at that evening
hour never again will come to his lips—that Calvary is not far away.
A few hours, and her blood is on fire—the fever burning out her life.
"Watchers stand by her bedside—all others are excluded by order of the
physician. ( "^
)
" But I must see him," her pitiful appeal.
He enters the room alone,
stands
by her
side, gazes once more
into her loving eyes.
No
eai-s
other than
their own hear the parting words.
August
25, 1835, Ann
Rutledge enters the life eternal, and all that is mortal of her is borne to
its resting-place.
He
is stunned by the
loss and walks as in a dream.
He spends the night beside her grave, heeding not the chilling Avind or
driving storm.
" I cannot bear to have the rain
fall upon her !" the moan of the
stricken heart.
A great hope has gone down—a joy forever departed.
In the daytime
he, wanders aimlessly.
If he
sits beneath the trees on
the bank of the
river, the
fallen leaves borne away by
its current
re-
mind him of
his
loss.
The faded flowers bring before him the fairer
blossom cut down by death.
He
is overwhelmed by grief.
Reason tot-
ters.
His
friends
are alarmed, and seek
to
divert
his thoughts.
A
friend sends him the poem written by William Knox, of Scotland
:
"Oh
! why should the
sph'it of moitul be proud
?
Like a swift fleeting meteor,
ii
fast flyiug cloud,
A flash of
tlie lightning, a break
of the wave,
He passeth from
life
to
his
rest in
the grave.
"The leaves of the oak and the willow
shall fade,
Be scattered around and together be laid
;
And the young and the
old, and the low and
the high,
Shall moulder
to dust and together shall
lie.
"Yea
!
hope and despondencj', pleasure and
pain,
We mingle together
in sunshine and rain
;
LIFE OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN.
And the smile and the
tear, the song and
tlie
dirge,
Shall follow each other like surge upon surge.
'Tis the wink of an
ej-e,
'tis the draught of a breath,
From the bloom
of health
to the paleness of death
;
From
the gilded saloon
to the bier and the shroud
Oh
!
-why should the
spirit of mortal be proud ?"
td-V,,' i%
GllAVE OF ANN liUTLEDGE.
[From a photograph by C.
S. llcCuUough, Petersburg,
111.]
The poem emphasizes the evanescence of earthly things.
That which
has come to him
is the common lot of man, and so he Avill be resigned
under the great
affliction.
Through
life, whenever he
is bowed with
grief, he will find comfort and consolation in the lines.
Little does Bolin Green know what service he
is rendering to the
world when he takes Abraham Lincoln to his home.
It
is only a log-
cabin, but within
its walls kindness and sympathy are tenderly given
till reason
is once more enthroned.
Years pass, but the kindness
is
never forgotten.
When at last this benefactor passes away, and Abra-
LIFE IN NEW SALEM.
ham Lincoln, crowned with honor, stands by the burial casket, he can-
not give utterance to the words ho
fain would speak
in commemora-
tion of his friend.
His eyes fill with tears; with tremulous lips he turns
away, unable to control his emotion.
NOTES
TO
CHAPTER
V.
(1) A. Y. Ellis's letter in William H. Herndoii's "Lincoln," p. 104 (edition 1889).
(-') Judge Stephen A. Logan, quoted
in Nicolay and Hay's "Abraham Lincoln: A
History," vol.
i., p. 108.
(^) Nicolay and Hay, "Abraham Lincoln
: A History," vol.
i., p. 109.
(*) W. G. Green to Author, October, 1890.
(5)
Ibid.
( ^) William H. Herudon, " Lincoln," p. 113 (edition 1889).
(')
Ibid., p.
118.
( *)
Ibid., p. 120
; also, Nicolay and Hay, "Abraham Lincoln
: A History," vol. i., p. 11.5.
(^) John M. Rutledge's letter in William H. Herudon's "Lincoln," p. 138, note (edi-
tion 1889).
( 10
)
S. W. Dnfiaeld, in " English Hymns," p. 100.
(") William H. Herndou, "Lincoln," p. 439 (edition 1889).
('2) Ibid., p. 138, note.
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
CHAPTEE YI.
IN PUBLIC
LIFE.
A LTHOUGH Abraham Lincoln had once been to Yandalia as a rep-
-^^
resentative, he had not taken an
active
part
in
public
affairs.
Once more he was a candidate.
A great meeting was held at Spring-
field, where Whigs and Democrats addressed their fellow-citizens
1 R^fi
from the same platform.
Lincoln was the leading candidate of
the "Whigs.
" He carried the crowd wath him and swayed them as he pleased,"
are the words of one who heard him. (
'
)
George Forquar, who had been a Whig, but who had changed his
politics, and was holding an
oflBce
at
a
salary
of $3000
a year, w^as
the next speaker.
Mr. Forquar had built a new house—one of the most
expensive in
Springfield.
Lincoln, as he rode into the
city the night
before, noticed the
elegant residence, and was particularly interested
in the
lig'htning' - rod attached to the
building.
He had heard about
lightning-rods, but had never
seen
one.
Many good people thought
that
such
a
contrivance
to ward
off
a
thunder - storm
w^as an
at-
tempt
to
circumvent
Almighty
God,
and
therefore
audacious
and
wicked.
Mr. Forquar thought himself of considerable importance in the com-
munity.
" I see," he said, w^ith an air of superiorit}^, " that I shall have
to take this young man down a little."
His speech abounded with sarcasm and ridicule.
Abraham Lincoln has left the platform and stands a listener in the
audience.
He hears the loud-spoken words, the guffaws of the crowd,
but does not interrupt the speaker.
When Forquar is through, Mr. Lincoln makes a speech w^hich elec-
trifies the audience— not of sarcasm, but argument.
ISTot
till the close
does he indulge in ridicule.
" The gentleman began
his speech by saying that
this young man
would have to be taken down, and he w^as sorry that the task devolved
IN PUBLIC
LIFE.
upon him.
I am not so young in years as I am in the tricks and trades
of a politician
; but live long or die young, I would rather die now than,
like the
gentleman, change my
politics, and, simultaneously with
the
change, receive an office worth $3000 per year, and then have to erect
a lightning - rod over my house to protect a guilty conscience from an
offended God."
Laughter and cheers rend the air, and his friends lift him upon their
shoulders and bear him from the court-house as an expression of their
admiration. (^)
We are not to think that Lincoln shared the opinions of the people
who said that to put up a lightning-rod was to " tempt God," but rather
that he saw an opportunity to employ his opponent's weapon (ridicule)
with
telling
effect.
The
discomfited Democratic
office-holder could
make no reply, and was compelled to endure the raillery that greeted
him.
Abraham Lincoln frankly responded to the call for a statement of
his political principles.
" I go," he said, " for all sharing the privileges of the Government
who assist in bearing
its burdens
; consequently, I go for admitting all
whites to the right of suffrage who pay taxes or bear arms, hy no means
excluding females.'''' (')
Very few people in the United States in 1836 had entertained the
thought that women as well as men were entitled to exercise the right
of suffrage.
It was not a question in the political canvass
; he was stat-
ing what to him was a fundamental principle.
" All questions of social and moral reform," he said a few years later,
" find lodgement
first with
enlightened
souls, who stamp them with
their approval.
In God's own time they will be organized into law,
and thus woven into the fabric of our institutions." (^)
In the
election Lincoln led the
ticket, and nine Whigs were sent
to the Legislature from a county which before had been Democratic.
They were all very tall in stature, and were called the " Long Kine of
Sangamon."
Six years had passed since
his soul was stirred within him at wit-
nessing men, women, and children sold at auction in New Orleans; six
years since William Lloyd Garrison had been put in prison at Baltimore
for printing that trade in
slaves was piracy.
During the period peti-
tions had been presented to Congress
for the abolition of slavery
in
the District of Columbia and the Territories over which Congress had
jurisdiction,
Antislavery
societies had
been formed
in many places
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
throughout the ISTorthern States advocating the doing away with slav-
ery, so far as it could be done by the Government of the United States.
The publication of the " Liberator " and other antislavery papers made
the people of the Southern States very angry.
In Charleston, S. C,
the mail-bags were seized by a Vigilance Committee, and the few ob-
noxious papers found in them were burned
in the pubhc square.
A
grand- jury in Alabama indicted
E.. J. Williams, editor of the "Eman-
cipator," living
in New York
; and
the Governor of Alabama sent a
requisition to the Governor of that State demanding that Mr. Williams
should be given up to him to be dealt with by the courts of Alabama.
The slave-holders of Louisiana offered $50,000 for the head of Arthur
Tappan, of New York, who had paid the fine of Garrison.
The Presi-
dent, in his message to Congress, asked for the passage of a law which
would exclude such papers as the " Emancipator " and " Liberator " from
the mails.
A bill was introduced, but it did not become a law.
There
was much excitement throughout the country.
People who joined the
antislavery societies were called fanatics.
They were accused
of
dis-
turbing
the
peace
of
the
country, and
of
desiring
that
the
slaves
should
cut the throats of their masters.
A benevolent young woman.
Prudence Crandall, was teaching school
in Canterbury, Conn.
A col-
ored girl attended, which gave great offence to the people of the town,
who withdrew their children, whereuj)on she opened a school for
col-
ored
children, which
so enraged
the
people
that
they
held
a town
meeting, and
passed
resolutions condemning the
school.
They were
not willing colored children should obtain an education.
They were
so bitter that
it was difficult for Miss Crandall to obtain food for her-
self or her pupils.
The selectmen of the town informed her she must
pay $1.60 a week for any pupil not an inhabitant of the town, and
if.
the colored girls from other towns did not leave within ten days they
would be tied up to the whipping -post and flogged.
Ruffians
filled
up the well
in Miss
Crandall's dooryard.
The
sheriff
seized one
of
the
pupils, and was about
to
tie her up
to
the whipping - post, but
did not do
it.
Possibly he thought
it would be cruel, as the girl had
not done anything wrong;
it may be he came
to the conclusion
it
would not read well in history.
Instead of whipping the children, the
people secured the passage of a law which prohibited the teaching
in
a
school
for colored children by any one without
first obtaining the
consent of a majority of the people and of the selectmen of a town.
Church
bells, which on Sunday called people to worship God and do
good to their fellow-men, were rung, and cannon
fired, when the Gov-
IN PUBLIC
LIFE.
ernor signed the
bill.
The sheriff put Miss Crandall in jail—into a cell
from which a man accused of murdering his wife had just been taken.
Her alleged crime was teaching colored children.
There were men on
the jury who did not think that she had committed any crime, and she
was set at liberty.
Once more the school began, which made some of
the people of Canterbury so angry that they set her house on
fire, but
she
extinguished
the
flames.
A mob threw stones through the win-
dows and
broke down
the
doors, so that
she
could no
longer keep
school.
The people of Canterbury, however, were not any more prejudiced
against the colored people than those living in other towns throughout
the JSTorthern States.
In
Pittsfield, N. H., the Eev. Mr. Storrs was of-
fering a prayer at an antislavery meeting, when the sheriff entered the
pulpit and dragged him down the steps and out-of-doors.
He had com-
mitted no crime, and was doing what he had a right to do under the
constitution and laws
of the
State.
James G. Birney, who
lived
in
Kentucky, was a lawyer and also a minister, arguing cases in court dur-
ing the week and preaching on Sunday.
He was a slave-holder, but
did not think
it right to hold slaves, and so moved to Ohio and gave
his slaves their freedom.
He established the " Philanthropist," a news-
paper which advocated the abolition of slavery.
It so stirred up the
people of Cincinnati that they held a public meeting.
Jacob Bennett,
one of the judges of the Superior Court and Senator in Congress, pre-
sided.
It was not a meeting of ruffians, but of men who called them-
selves gentlemen.
Many of them, doubtless, thought they were doing
right, and what would be for the welfare of the community, by going
to the
office of the " Philanthropist " and throwing the type into the
street and the printing-press
into the
river.
They tried
to
find Mr.
Birney, with the intention of giving him a coat of tar and
feathers.
Having destroyed
the
printing-office, they
broke
the windows
and
doors of the houses occupied by colored people
; not that the negroes
had done anything w^rong, but because they were negroes.
The colored people of Philadelphia fared worse than those in Cincin-
nati.
A mob
killed
one, beat others with
clubs, treated women and
girls
indecently, broke down the doors and smashed
the windows of
fifty-four houses, and threw the furniture into the
street, just because
they had African blood in their veins.
Some of the women of Boston formed an antislavery society.
The
young
printer, Mr. Garrison, was
present
at
one
of
their meetings.
Mary Parker was reading a chapter in the Bible
cind offering prayer
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.
when a mob gathered about the building.
The mayor of the city, Mr.
Lyman, rushed
in.
" I entreat you to dissolve the meeting," he
said.
"We demand protection," the
reply.
"I cannot
protect
you."
The
mob seized Garrison, put a rope about
his neck, and dragged him into
the street.
"Hang him!" they shouted.
But the police hustled him
into a carriage and took him to the jail
-^ ' ~~^^
to save him from the excited crowd
; not
altogether from men whose homes were
in narrow alleys, but who had
ships on
the sea bringing
cotton from Southern
cities—men who went from their count-
ing-rooms
to well-furnished houses, and
who sat in cushioned pews on Sunday.
"While
this was going on in Boston,
another mob was breaking up a meeting
in Philadelphia and burning the building
in which it was held.
Many of the min-
isters in the Northern States, instead of
being foremost in joining the antislavery
societies, thought that slavery was sanc-
tioned by the Bible, and was ordained for the welfare of the human race.
We are to keep in mind the fact that Southern and Central Illinois
was largely settled by people from Kentucky
; that Abraham Lincoln
was from that
State, as were all his fellow-members in the Legislature
from Sangamon County.
By the
ordinance of
1787, passed by Con-
gress, slavery had been prohibited in the North-west Territory, which
included
Illinois; but
in 1823 an amendment to the Constitution ad-
mitting slavery had been submitted to the people, which Avas rejected
by a majority of only 1800 votes in a total of nearly 11,000.
On the last day of the session of 1836 a member of the Legislature
introduced a
series of resolutions which deprecated any discussion of
slavery by the people, and which bitterly denounced the Abolitionists.
Abraham Lincoln was very far from being an Abolitionist, but he did
not like the spirit of the resolutions.
He believed that the people had
a right to discuss any question.
He thought the institution of slavery
was founded on injustice
; that
it ^vas not good for any community
;
that Congress had the right to abolish it in the
District of Columbia
and in the Territories, but ought not to exercise the right except when
the people in the District and Territories^sked for its
abolition.
He
w^rote a protest against the resolutions, but could get only Dan Stone
IN PUBLIC
LIFE.
to sign
it.
His Whig friends were fearful
tliat
if they were to sign
they might lose some votes when the next election came round.
The
protest was Abraham
Lincoln's
first
public
expression
in
regard
to
slavery.
It was a time when everybody was intending to get rich— the pe-
riod
of grand schemes and
great
expectations.
The
multiplying
of
steamboats on the rivers and lakes, the opening of the Erie Canal, the
fertility of the land
in
Illinois, together with other things, brought a
great many people into the State.
The prairies were dotted with white-
topped wagons of emigrants
; towns and
villages were springing up
;
people who bought land from the Government and divided
it into
vil-
lage lots expected to obtain several hundred dollars for an acre
; those
who obtained their farms from the Government for $1.25 per acre ex-
pected that they would erelong be worth $10 or $15 per
acre.
Chi-
cago, which in 1830 was only a little collection of houses, had become
an important point.
Vessels were coming and going.
A canal which
was to connect Lake Michigan with the
Illinois River had been
sur-
veyed, and the Legislature, of which Abraham Lincoln was a member,
had appropriated $500,000 to carry on the construction.
So much land
was taken by settlers that there was a surplus of more than $40,000,000
in the Treasury of the United
States.
The
land-offices were crowded
with people—many of whom were not settlers—paying for land which
was
rapidly
to
increase
in
value.
Everybody wanted
railroads
con-
structed.
Each member had
his
pet
scheme.
The people
of Alton
wanted roads leading northward and eastward from that town, which
would make
it the rival of St. Louis.
The men who were mining lead
at Galena wanted a road which would run the entire length of that
State to the Ohio River.
There were to be roads east and west, north
and south— in
all, more than 1400 miles.
No surveys had been made
;
neither did any one make an estimate of their cost; but the
Legisla-
ture voted $8,000,000 for the various schemes, and $4,000,000 to help
on the canal, besides $200,000 to improve the rivers.
IS'"o one thought
of raising the money by taxation.
It was said
it could be had by the
sale of bonds to people in the Eastern States.
The State would have
no difficulty in raising money to pay the
interest on the bonds, which
the rich men in New York and across the Atlantic would be eager to
purchase.
Such the reasoning.
Towns were laid out, which, it was be-
lieved, would soon become bustling cities.
The members from Sansjamon County determined to make
Spring-
field the capital of the State.
Other towns were equally determined to
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
secure the
prize.
Lincoln's fellow-members placed the
bill for the re-
moval of the capital in his hands.
He was so kind and genial, and had
so many stories for the entertainment of the members, that those w^ho
did not accept his political opinions were ready to listen to what he had
to say in regard to the matter.
His statements were so clear and argu-
ments so conclusive that he brought about the passage of the bill.
The members from Sangamon and Morgan counties Avere greatly
elated over what they had accomplished.
At Macoupin's Point, where
they passed a night on their homeward journey, they made the
tav-
ern ring with merriment — all
except
Lincoln, w^ho was depressed in
spirits.
" What is the trouble ?" asked Mr. Butler.
" Well, I have no particular interest in having Springfield the capi-
tal," he said.
" I am more concerned in getting some capital for my-
self.
J have been trying to get started in
life, but haven't made much
headway.
I am in debt, and
all the money I have received at Yan-
dalia will go to pay it."
" What do you intend to do for a living?" Butler asked.
" I w^ould
like to leave New Salem, make my home in Springfield,
and study law."
" Make my house your home as long as you please," said Mr. Butler,
w^ho comprehended how greatly they w^ere indebted to him in securing
the passage of the biU. (')
A banquet was provided by the people
of
Springfield upon
their
arrival, at which the following sentiment complimenting Lincoln was
given
:
" He has fulfilled the expectations of his friends and disappoint-
ed the hopes of his enemies."
It
is a great point gained when a young man finds out for Avhat he
is
best
fitted
in
life.
During
the tw^o
sessions of the
Legislature at
Yandalia, Abraham
Lincoln had met
lawyers
in
debate.
He
1837
saw
their qualifications and natural
ability, and had measured
himself with them.
He had been studying the few law-books which
his friends had loaned him, and had been drifting almost insensibly tow-
ards the law as an occupation
; but
if he was to be a lawyer he must
begin in earnest
to prepare himself.
He was twenty-eight years
old.
He was no longer postmaster
; no longer surveyor for the Government.
He w^as in poverty, with the unpaid notes signed by himself and Berry
hanging over him.
He was poorer than on that day when I*^ancy Miller
made him a pair of jean
trousers.
Every village had
its law^yer
;
in
Springfield
there
were
several
gentlemen who
w^ere
well
educated.
IN PUBLIC LIFE.
\Yhat chance was there for him
?
Yet the decision was made cabuly
and resolutely.
The song
birds were building their nests and the forest trees put-
ting
forth
their
leaves, when the
young man who had
secured
the
passage
of
the
bill
which made
Springfield
the capital
entered
the
store of Joshua Speed and threw his saddle-bags upon the counter.
He
intended to make Springfield
his home.
Thenceforth he Avas to be a
lawyer.
'' I want to get a room, and must have a bedstead and some bedding.
How much shall I have to pay ?" he said.
Mr. Speed took up his slate and jotted down the items: the cost of
the bedstead, bed -tick, sheets, blankets, and wash-basin.
"Seventeen
dollars," said the store-keeper.
" I have no doubt
it
is cheap, but I haven't the money to pay for
the articles.
If you can trust me till Christmas, and
if I succeed in my
experiment of being a lawyer, I will pay you then
;
if I
fail, probably
I never shall be able to pay you."
ISTo ripple of laughter came from
his
lips, no smile illumined
the
countenance, and the sad eyes were looking far away.
Mr. Speed was
his friend, but never before had he seen him so dejected.
'' I can fix things better than that," said the store-keeper.
" I have
a large room and a double bed up-stairs, and you are welcome to occupy
the room and share the bed with me."
With
his spare clothing and two law-books in
his saddle-bags he
ascends the stairs.
" I am moved !" his exclamation.
He comes down
with a beaming face, the sadness all gone. (°)
Major John T. Stuart, who had
been a fellow-soldier
in the cam-
paign against the Indians, was ready to receive him as a partner.
We
are not to conclude that a crowd of people came flocking to the office of
Stuart & Lincoln with cases for the court
; on the contrary, not many
clients darkened their doors during the summer.
There came a gentleman, one day, who announced himself as agent
of the Post-office Department at Washington.
'• You were at one time, two or three years ago, postmaster at Xew
Salem, I think ?" said the stranger.
" Yes, I believe so."
" I think your account has never been settled."
" No, it has
not.
I have been wondering why somebody did not
come round to square up things.
I have been keeping the money."
He
goes up-stairs, returns with an old stocking, and counts out half-dollars,
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
shillings, and sixpences— the exact amount due the United
States. (')
In his poverty it has been held sacred.
Long ago
it was written, " He
that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much."
Events were taking place which set Abraham Lincoln thinking about
the value of free institutions under a government of the people.
A ne-
gro
in
St. Louis who had committed a terrible crime was taken from
jail by a mob before he had been tried by the court, chained to a stake,
and burned to death.
After the poor wretch was dead, men and boys
amused themselves by throwing stones at the skeleton.
Eev. Elijah P.
Lovejoy, editor of a religious paper, published an
article in which he
said that while the negro deserved to die, such conduct was no better
than that of savages who burned prisoners of war at the stake, and who
danced around their victims while the
fire was doing
its work.
The
men who burned the negro did not like such plain talk, and organized
another mob, which entered
the printing-office, destroyed the types,
and threw the press into the river.
Mr. Lovejoy left
St. Louis and set
up a new office in Alton,
111., thinking the people of that town would
respect the freedom of the Press; but when the new printing-press ar-
rived from Cincinnati, ruffians broke
it
in
pieces and
destroyed
the
types.
Another press was purchased
in
Cincinnati.
The mayor was
notified, and
a
request made
for
its
protection.
He appointed Mr.
Lovejoy and a large number of citizens special policemen to protect the
property.
The press arrived, and was put into a stone warehouse.
"It
is our determination to protect our property," said Mr. Lovejoy and the
others, as they assembled in the building in the evening with their guns.
"You are acting in accordance with the law," said the mayor. A howl-
ing mob beset the building and fired into it.
Those within returned the
fire, killing one and wounding another,
" Burn them out !" shouted the
ruffians, raising a ladder and kindling a fire on the roof.
Mr. Lovejoy
and others stepped out-of-doors to fire at those on the ladder
; but sev-
eral of the mob fired upon them, and he fell mortally wounded.
The
other citizens, knowing
if they remained they would be burned to death,
fled from the building, the mob firing at them as they ran.
Having
gained possession, they broke the press and threw it into the river. (°)
The men who committed the murder little thought that instead of
suppressing agitation they were helping it on.
In many places through-
out the Northern States public meetings were held denouncing the out-
rage.
Mr. Lovejoy had written
articles against slavery, but men who
were not in sympathy with the Abolitionists saAv that the freedom of
the Press was the great question to be considered.
IN PUBLIC
LIFE.
The young men of Springfield formed a l^^ceum for the considera-
tion of questions affecting the interests of the people.
The discussions
were carried on around the great fireplace in Mr. Speed's store, with the
hickory logs blazing on the
hearth, and the audience
sitting on
nail-
casks and benches.
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas were so
able in argument and keen at repartee that the store could not accom-
modate those who came to hear them, and the meetings were held in
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, SPRINGFIELD.
the Presbyterian church.
They took up the affair at Alton.
It came
to the lot of Lincoln
to deliver an address.
He chose for his theme
" The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions."
He was twenty-eight
years
of
age.
Seven
years
had
passed
since he
entered
the
State
driving an ox -team.
He had pulled an oar on the
Mississippi, navi-
gated the Sangamon, been a
soldier
in the Black Hawk War, store-
keeper, land-surveyor, and legislator.
The people listened wonderingly
to the opening sentences
:
"In the great journal of things happening under the sun, the American people find
our account running under date of the nineteenth century of the Christian era.
We find
ourselves
in
peaceful possession of the
fairest portion of the earth as regards extent of
territory, fertility of soil, and salubrity of climate.
We find ourselves under the govern-
ment of a system of political
institutions conducing more essentially to the ends of civil
,98
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
and
religious
liberty than any of which the history of former times
tells
us.
"We find
ourselves the legal inheritors of these fundanaental blessings.
We toiled not in the
ac-
quirement or the establishment of them
; they are a legacy bequeathed to us
bj' a once
hardy, brave, and patriotic, but now lamented and departed, race of ancestors."
The words that fall from his lips are the utterances of a statesman
of one who is looking into the future, who comprehends in some degree
the mighty forces
that
are
shaping the
future
of the
country.
He
speaks of the action of the mob which, a few weeks before had burned
a negro in St. Louis, and of the peril of the country.
What sentences
are these
!
"There
is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law.
"Many great and good men, sufficiently qualified for any task they should undertake,
may ever be found whose ambition would aspire to nothing but a seat in Congress, a gu-
bernatorial or a presidential chair
; but such belong not to the family of the
lion
or the
brood of the eagle.
AVhat
!
Think you these places would satisfy an Alexander, a Caesar,
or a Napoleon ?
Never
!
"Towering genius disdains a beaten path.
It seeks regions hitherto unexplored.
It
does not add story to story upon the monuments of fame erected to the memory of others.
It denies that
it
is glory enough to serve under any chief.
It scorns to tread in the foot-
steps-of any predecessor, however illustrious.
It
thirsts and burns for distinction, and, if
possible, will have
it, whether at the expense of emancipating slaves or enslaving free men.
Is
it unreasonable, then, to expect that some man possessed with the loftiest genius, coupled
with ambition
sufficient to push
it
to
its utmost
stretch,
will at some time spring up
among us ?
And when such an one does,
it will require the people to be united, attached
to
the
Government and
laws, and
generally
intelligent,
to
successfully frustrate
the
design." (^)
Is
this prophecy ?
Is there some unseen
intelligence
of another
realm whispering to him of the part he is to play in the drama of his
country's history ?
Why did he, six years
before, raise bis right hand
to heaven, as he came from the heart-rending scene in the slave-market
of New Orleans, swear a solemn oath that, if the opportunity ever came
to him, he would hit the institution of slavery a staggering blow ?
Is
it that his own spirit
is already thirsting and burning for the emanci-
pation of 3,000,000 slaves ?
Interpret the words as we may, they will
ever stand as remarkable utterances— seemingly prophetic when read
in connection with the events of his subsequent
life.
In the election of members for the Legislature, Mr. Lincoln was again
a candidate.
His opponent, Colonel Taylor, said the Whig party was
composed of
aristocrats, who. wore broadcloth and rode in
fine
1838
carriages, whereas the Democrats were poor men, who worked
hard to get a living.
The rich Whigs lived
in luxurious homes, while
the Democrats were found in loff-cabins.
IN PUBLIC LIFE.
" My opponent," said Lincoln, in
reply, " accuses the Whigs o1 rid-
ing
in
fine carriages and wearing
ruffled
shirts, kid-gloves, and
gold
watch-chains.
Well, I was once a poor boy, and worked hard on a flat-
l)oat for $8 a month, and had only a pair of buckskin breeches.
You
know that buckskin after being wet
is apt to shrink in drying, and as
my breeches were often wet, the shrinking went on, the breeches getting
shorter and shorter, till there were several inches of bare ankle between
my stockings and the lower ends of the breeches.
They were so tight
that they left a blue streak around my shins.
Now, if you
call
that
aristocracy, I plead to the charge." ( '")
His opponent was a demagogue who, when making political speeches
to obtain an office, liked to wear fine clothes and a showy watch-chain,
but who, when trying to obtain votes, was careful to cover up
his
ruf-
fled shirt and chain.
Lincoln knew that he was deceiving the people,
and by a sweep of his arm gave the fellow's vest a jerk, exposing the
ruffle of his
shirt and gold
chain.
The people roared with laughter,
and the fellow left the platform, very red
in the
face.
By the sweep
of his arm he had upset all of Taylor's plans.
Edward Dickinson Baker was born
in London, England.
He was
two years younger than Abraham Lincoln, and came to America early
in life.
He made Springfield his home.
He was a young lawyer, and,
like Lincoln, an ardent Whig.
His voice was musical.
He could play
the piano, sing songs, and write poetry.
He was an earnest advocate
for the
election of Harrison as
President, and made a speech
in the
court-house to a great crowd.
Many
of those who gathered to hear
him were
Democrats.
They were rough men
;
they chewed tobacco,
drank whiskey, and became angry at what Baker was saying.
The
office
of Stuart & Lincoln was over the court-room.
A trap-
door for ventilation, above the platform of the court-room, opened into
their office.
Lincoln, desiring to hear what Baker was saying, lifted the
door, stretched himself upon the floor, and looked down upon the sway-
ing crowd.
Baker was talking about th^ stealings of the Democratic
officials in the land-offices.
" Wherever there
is a land-office there you
will find a Democratic
newspaper defending its corruptions," said Baker.
" Pull him down
!
Put him out
I
It is a lie !" the cry from a fellow
in the crowd, whose brother was editor of a Democratic paper.
There
was a rush for the platform.
Great the astonishment of the crowd at
seeing a pair of long legs dangle from the scuttle, and then the body,
shoulders, and head of Abraham Lincoln, who let himself down to the
542359
A
100
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
EDWAED DICKINSON BAKER
platform.
He lifted his hand, but the fellows did not heed his gesture.
They saw him grasp a stone-ware w^ater-pitcher and heard him say, "I'll
break
it over the head of the
first man who lays a hand on Baker!
Hold on, gentlemen
!
This
is a free country—a land for free speech.
Mr. Baker has a right to speak
; let him be heard.
I am here to protect
him, and no man
shall take him from
this platform
if
I can prevent
it."(")
It was as if he had said—as was said once before—" Peace, be still."
The people knew how champion wrestlers had gone down before him
;
but
it Avas not that which hushed the crowd to
silence and stilled the
storm.
They knew his goodness—how kind-hearted, just, honest, and
IN PUBLIC LIFE.
101
true he was
; that he stands ever for what
is right.
Baker goes on, no
one daring to disturb him so long as Abraham Lincoln
is there.
NOTES TO CHAPTER
VI.
(') Joshua F. Speed, Lecture on Abraham Lincoln, p.
17.
C)
Ibiil., p.
18.
(^) "Sangamon Journal," Juno, 1836, quoted
in "Herndon's Lincoln,"
p. 16G (edition
1889).
(*) W. H. Herndon, "Lincoln," p. 167 (edition 1889).
(^) J. G. Holland, "Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 71.
C) W. H. Herndon, " Lincoln," p. 185 (edition 1889).
(')
J. G. H(dland, "Life of Abraham Lincoln," p. 55.
(«) "Life of Rev. E. P. Lovejoy."
(^) "Sangamon Journal."
( '«) W. H. Herndon, " Lincoln," p. 195 (edition 1889).
(")
Ibid.,
p. 196.
/
102
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
CHAPTEE
VII.
RIDING THE
CIRCUIT.
THE judicial districts of Illinois comprised several counties, in which
the judge for the district held court, going from county to county
;
he was called
" Circuit Judge."
The
leading lawyers in
the
district
usually accompanied him to the different county seats— all on
horseback.
It was called " riding the circuit."
The judge might
be very grave and dignified when representing the majesty of the law in
the court-room, but when mounted on his horse, with his law-books and
an extra shirt in his saddle-bags, riding across the prairie, accompanied
by a dozen or more jolly lawyers, his laugh was as loud as theirs.
In
the evenings judge and lawyer alike gathered
in the bar-room
of the
tavern, and there was ever an admiring audience to listen to their
sto-
ries.
The coming of the Court was looked forward to by the people of
the county as one of the most important events of the year.
Abraham Lincoln was a 3^oung lawyer.
He could not be called a
leading member of the bar, for he had been only a few months with his
partner when he began to ride the circuit.
He had very few cases in
court, but hoped
that somebody would want to employ him
at
the
different county seats.
The census taken by the United
States in 1840 showed that there
were slaves in Illinois, although it was a free State.
Settlers from Ken-
tucky had brought them across the Ohio River.
Unexpectedly a case
came to Mr. Lincoln which greatly enlisted his sympathy and energy.
Mr. Crowell sold
his slave Nancy to Mr. Bailey, who, not having the
money to pay for her, gave
his note, which was not paid when
due.
Mr. Crowell did not want to lose his money, and brought suit in the
Circuit Court.
The judge decided that the note must be paid.
An
appeal was made to the Supreme Court.
"We do not know just how
it
came about, but possibly somebody had discovered that Abraham Lin-
coln was very kind-hearted, that he loved
justice and
right, and
so
employed him in behalf of the slave.
He was thirty-two years old.
He
RIDING THE CIRCUIT.
103
had not had many cases
;
possibly
this was
his
first
in the Supreme
Court.
The lawyer opposed to him was one of the ablest in Illinois
Stephen T. Logan, who later became his law partner, and subsequently
a judge.
'' May
it please the Court," said Lincoln, in his argument, " the Ordi-
nance of
1787, which prohibited slavery in the North-west Territory,
would give Nancy her freedom.
The Constitution of the State prohibits
the holding of slaves.
She cannot, therefore, be held as a slave
; she can-
not be sold as a
slave.
A note given for the sale of a slave in a free
State can have no value.
Neither Crowell nor Bailey can hold Nancy
;
she is entitled to her freedom, and Crowell
is not entitled to the money
which Bailey promised to pay."
The argument was so plain that the Court decided in his favor.
The
decision put an end to the holding of slaves in Illinois.
The court-house, when the court was in session, was an attractive
place.
It might not be much
better than a barn, but
it was where
people
reverenced
the majesty
of law
;
where
the
brightest men
in
the county might be
seen and heard.
The judge
sat on
a platform
behind a desk, with the clerk in front of him upon a lower platform.
The members of the bar usually were tipped back in chairs, with their
feet on other chairs, chewing tobacco and spitting at a box
filled with
sawdust.
Abraham Lincoln did not chew nor smoke tobacco.
In pre-
senting a case he
often admitted so much that was favorable to
his
opponent, the lawyers were accustomed to say he had given
himself
away
; but he believed one lost nothing by being fair.
He was employed in a very interesting case.
Two farmers went to
law about a young colt.
One brought
thirty-four witnesses, who testi-
fied that they had known the colt from the day of its birth
; that it be-
longed to him.
Thirty other men swore they also had known
it from
its
birth;
that
it belonged
to the other man.
There had been two
colts, but one was missing.
Everybody said they were so nearly alike
in
size and color
it
w^as not possible to say which was which.
" Let
the mares be brought into the case as witnesses," said the judge.
He
leaves the bench, and goes with all the lawyers and a great crowd of
people to see and hear what the animals will say.
The two mares are
brought into the public square, and the colt let loose.
It whinneys for
its mother.
There is an answering whinney from one of the mares, and
the colt runs to her side and will not leave her.
What ought the jury to do ?
Thirty-four men have testified on one
side, and thirty on the
other.
They
all say they have known the colt
104
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
from its birth, and tliat they cannot be deceived.
Shall the actions of
the animals be accepted as evidence ?
" May it please your honor," said
Lincoln, " I submit that the voice of N'ature in the colt and its mother is
of far more importance than the testimony of man.
This
is a case
in
which the argument
is as to the weight of evidence.
It
is a civil s-uit,
and we want to find out who owns the colt.
It
is a case in which the
jury must decide according to the weight of evidence.
Now, gentlemen
of the jury, if j^ou were going to bet
as to which of the mares
is the
mother, on which would you risk your money—even if it was not more
than a picayune ?
On which
is the preponderance of evidence ?
Pos-
sibly you might not be right, but that is not the question.
It is whether
you will accept the testimony of thirty men and the silence of one of the
mares on the one
side, or the testimony of thirty-four men, the other
mare, and the colt on the other side?"
The case was so plain that the jury had no difficulty in deciding as
to which farmer was the rightful owner of the colt.
They decided just
as they would have bet their money.
Another case was that
of a poor woman, nearly eighty years
old,
who came with a pitiful story.
Her husband had been a soldier in the
Revolutionary War, under Washington.
He was dead, and she was en-
titled to a pension amounting to $400.
A rascally fellow, pretending
COUKT-HOUSE, PETERSBURG.
[From a photograph taken by the author, 1890.
The town of Petersburg was surveyed by Mr. Lincoln^
and many of bis legal arguments were made in this building.]
RIDING THE CIRCUIT.
105
great friendship for her, had obtained the money, but had put half of
it
into his own pocket.
The poor woman was the only witness.
The jurj" heard her story.
Abraham Lincoln the while was making the following notes on a
slip
of paper
:
" No contract,
" Not professional services.
" Unreasonable charges.
" Money retained by defendant not given to plaintiff.
" Kevolutionary "War.
" Describe Valley Forge.
" Ice.
Soldiers' bleeding feet.
" Husband leaving home for the army,
" Skin defendant."
He rises and turns to the judge.
Of the lawyers sitting around the
table perhaps not one of them can say
just w^hat there
is about him
which hushes the room in an instant.
" May it please your honor "—the
words are spoken slowly, as
if he were not quite ready to go on with
what he has to say—" gentlemen of the jury
:
this
is a very simple case
—so simple that a child can understand
it.
You have heard that there
has been no contract—no agreement by the parties.
You will observe
that there has been no professional service by contract."
Slowly, clearly,
one by one the points were taken up.
Who was the man to whom the
Government
of
the United
States
OW' ed
the money ?
He had been
with Washington at Valley Forge, barefooted in midwinter, marching
with bleeding feet, with only rags to protect him from the cold—starv-
ing for his country.
The speaker's
lips were tremulous, and his eyes
filled w^ith tears as he told how the soldiers of the Kevolution marched
amid the snows, shivered in the wintry winds, starved, fought, died that
those who came after them might have a
country.
Judge, jurymen,
lawyers, and the people who
listen wipe the tears from their eyes as
he tells the story of the soldier parting from friends, from the wife, then
in the bloom and beauty of youth, but now friendless and alone, old and
poor.
The man who
professed
to
be her friend had robbed her
of
what was her due.
His
spirit
is greatly
stirred.
The jury right the
wrong, and compel the fellow to hand over the money.
And then the
people see the lawyer who has won the case tenderly accompanying the
grateful woman to the railroad station.
He pays her bill at the hotel,
her fare in the cars, and charges nothing for wiiat he has done !(')
A negro woman came
to
Mr.
Lincoln with
a
pitiful
story.
She
106
LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
and her children had been
slaves
in Kentucky, but
their master had
brought them to Illinois and given them their freedom.
Her son was
a cabin-boy on
a
steamboat.
"When the boat reached Kew Orleans
the boy went on shore, and, not having a pass, was
arrested.
He was
in jail, and would soon be sold into slavery because he had no money
to pay the fees due the
jailor.
He was a
citizen
of Illinois.
"What
can you do for the boy, legally and constitutionally ?" wrote Lincoln to
the Governor of the State.
" I am powerless
;
I have no authority," was the reply.
Mr. Lincoln saw as never before the aggressiveness of slavery
; how
it was laying
its iron hands upon
citizens of
Illinois.
He walked the
floor with rising indignation.
" I'll have that negro back, or
I'll have
an agitation in
this
State that
shall
last twenty years,
if need be, to
give the Governor authority to act in such a case !" he exclaims.
He
obtained $200, and secured the return of the boy.
It was a pleasure for him to help others.
He loved justice and right.
He would not undertake to conduct a case in court unless he had right
on his side.
It was a very strange announcement which he made when a
case was called in which he appeared as counsel: "May it please your
honor, I have examined this case with great care
; the only question at
issue is one of authority.
I have not been able to find any authority to
sustain my
side, but
I have found several cases
in point on the other
side.
I will give them, and submit the case to the Court."
Instead of
presenting his own side, or instead of sitting in silence, he had given the
argument and authority on the side of his opponent.
A lawyer in Beardstown received a
call from
Lincoln.
"I
learn,'"
said the latter, "that you are suing some of my clients, and I have come
to see about it."
" Yes, I have brought suit against a man in order to make him carry
out a contract.
Here
is the agreement between the parties.
Read
it,
and see if I have not justice on my side," the reply.
" You are right.
Your client
is justly entitled to what he claims,
and I shall so represent
it to the Court.
It
is against my principle to
contest what is clearly a matter of right." (')
Eight
first, justice always, chicanery never—those were the princi-
ples of Abraham Lincoln.
A man wanted him to undertake
a
case, told
his
story, and was
astonished to hear Lincoln
reply
:
" Yes, I can doubtless
obtain your
case
for
you.
I can
set
the whole neighborhood
at loggerheads.
I
can
distress
a widowed mother and
her
six
fatherless
children, and
RIDING THE CIRCUIT.
107
thereby get you
$G00, to which you seem to have a
legal
claim, but
which rightfully, as it appears to me, belong quite as much to the woman
and her children as to you.
You must remember that some things are
legally right which are not morally right.
I will not undertake your
case, but Avill give you a little advice, for which I shall charge nothing.
You seem to be an energetic man, and
I advise you to make |600 some
other way,"
At Clinton there was
so
interesting a case that men and women
from
all the surrounding country crowded
the
court -room.
Fifteen
women were arraigned,
A liquor seller persisted in selling whiskey to
their husbands after the wives begged him not to do
so.
He cared
nothing for their protestations, but laughed
in
their
faces.
The tears
upon their cheeks did not move him.
What should they do?
There
was no law to stop him.
They marched to the groggery, smashed in
the heads of the
barrels with axes, and broke the demijohns and bot-
tles.
Tlie fellow had them arrested.
JSTo lawyer volunteered to defend
them.
Abraham Lincoln, from
Springfield, entered the room.
There
w^as something about him
whicli
emboldened them to speak
to him.
" We have no one to defend us.
AVould it be asking too much to inquire
if you can say a kind word
in oar behalf?" the request.
The lawyer from Springfield
rises.
All eyes are upon him.
" May
it please the Court, I w411 say a few words in behalf of the women 'vvho
are arraigned before your honor and the jury.
I w^ould suggest, first,
that there be a change in the indictment, so as to have it read,
' The State
against Mr. Whiskey,' instead
of
' The State against the Women.'
It
would be far more appropriate.
Touching this question, there are three
laws
:
First, the law of self-protection
; second, the laAV of the statute
;
third, the law of God.
The law of self-protection is the law of necessity,
as shown when our fathers threw" the tea into Boston harbor, and in assert-
ing their right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
This is the
defence of these w^omen.
The man who has persisted in selling whiskey
has had no reo-ard for their well-beino- or the welfare of their husbands
and sons.
He has had no fear of God or regard for man
; neither has he
had any regard for the laws of the statute.
'No jury can fix any damages
or punishment for any violation of the moral law.
The course pursued
by this liquor dealer has been for the demoralization
of society.
His
groggery has been a nuisance.
These women, finding all moral suasion
of no avail with this fellow, oblivious to all tender appeal, alike regard-
less of their prayers and tears, in order to protect their households and
promote the welfare of the community, united to suppress the nuisance.