Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1860-09-05
ABRAHAM LINcoN AT HOME.

.ho Ohlteu Ot4teS, ana MS surroundings, as he
1ound them at his own home:
In large two-Story frame house-bearipg
no slight resemblance to Washngton's head
quarters at Cambridge, Massachusetts,, now
the residence of Professor LoDgfellow-resi-
des the Republican candidate for President of
the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Here
Mr. Lincoln has resided for some twenty years.
The edifice affords no indications of ostenta-
| tlon. 1t has no ornaments, no flowers or
shrubbery, no marble vases or cooling foun-
talns, no fashionable fences surrounding it !;
| but is built plump out to the sidewalk, the
steps rather encroaching upon the walk. 1t
is like the residence of an American gentle
man in easy circumstances, and is furnished
| In like manner. 1t is not near aristocratic
| an establishment as the houses of many men,
| bers of your Common Council in short there
| is no aristocracy about it, but it is comfor-
| table, cozy home, in which it would seem that
a man could enjoy life, surrounded by his
| family. Immediately opposite the residence
| OF Mr.. Lincoln, is mansion that was once the
| Western home of Lemuel Higbee,a gentleman
who left the State of Massachusetts, some
thirty years ago, settled in Springfield, and
for his honesty and integrity was placed by
| his fellow citizens in prominent positions of
| trust and confidence. ssHonest Old Lem''
| was as much a tavorite phrase in those DAYS in
| this region as ssHonest Old Abe'' is now. The
| widow of Mr.. Higbee is now living in Wey-
| mouth, Massachusetts. Mr.. Lincoln and Mr..
Higbee were associated in several enterprises
of public interest, and the early efforts of the
one, and the more recent efforts of the other,
have contributed largely to the reputation
Springfield now enjoys one of the best and
| most honestly governed cities in the West.
Enjoying life in an easy manner, and yet
practicing attorney in all the courts of the
State and of the United States, Mr.. Lincoln
seeks repose in the midst of his family when
ever the duties of his profession and his po-
litical will enable him n do
Mr.. Lincoln came from the best among our
Revolutionary stock, and from among those
who were the first to penetrate the Western
wilds, and sacrificed their lives in clearing
the road for the advancing tide of civilization.
His grandfather, whose ancestors came origin
ally from New England, whence they were
driven by the prosecutions of the Quakers-a
society with which they were presumed by
the fanaticism of that day to be affiliated
was horn in the county of Berks, Pennsylva-
mia. Removing in after life to the valley of
the Shenandoah, in Virginia, the father of
the subject of this sketch was born. Moving
westward before the Revolution, Mr.. Lincoln's
father penetrated the wilderness, and in COM
panionship with the renowned Col. Boone ,par- |
ticipated in many of those heroic conflicts |
with the savages the records of which GRIM
son the pages of our early Western history. |
The sdark and bloody ground'' are words IA
miliar to all readers of American history, and |
upon that Sanguinary ground the father of Mr.. |
Lincoln fought, and finally perished beneath |
the tomahawk of the savage. In what was |
then called Harden county, Kentucky, but |
in that part of it which now constitutes Larue
county. Abraham Lincoln was born, in the
year 1909. His mother was the daughter of
a man of nerve and energy, and she herself
possessed those distinctive characteristics
which have since rendered her son man of
mark in country. Lincoln had limited
education, and, removing to Illinois, he passed
through various spheres in life, at one time in
as humble, as he is now in an exalted position
in the estimation of his fellow citizens. He
exhibited the grit of his progenitor when the
savage chief Black Hawk commenced his
warfare upon the citizens of our Northwestern
frontier, and he entered into that contest-of
brief duration when fairly commemorative
all his then youthful energy and spirit, which
now seem to be but little impaired. In this
war he held the rank of captain, but he was
deserving the title of colonel, and by those
who knew him best was not unfrequently so
addressed. Passing over his subsequent
practitioner at law, having studied
law with of Ninan Edwards, of Ed
wardsvile, Illinois, as a member of the Illi-
noiS Legislature for several sessionS-during
which he directed his attention to the interests
of the people more than to personal aggran-
dizement-and as member of Congress du-
ring the term of AT and '49, the country at
large became acquainted with his name by
his political battle in 1858 with the then in
vincble ssLittle Giaut,'' Douglas. Here his
political history becomes identical with that
of the present day.
Mr.. Lincoln married a Miss Mary Todd,
daughter of Robert S. Todd, Esq, highly
respectable citizen, living near Lexington,
Kentucky, where Miss Todd was born. Mr..
TODD is now dead. He was Clerk of the Ken
lucky House of Representatives, filled other
positions of trust, and was allied to some of
the most enterprisng and worthy families in
the State of Kentucky-amODg them the
Helms, one of whom was formerly Governor
of the State; the Wintersmiths, family of
influence, and others, some of whom have
lately called upon Mr.. Lincoln, at his home in
Springfield, and renewed the remembrance of
those family ties which, in some cases, unhap-
pily sink into oblivion. Miss Mary Todd was
a pretty young lady, and the graces and ac-
complishments of former years still serve in
maturer ones to adorn happy family house.
hold. They have three children-all boys
one Of whom is now studying at the academy
in Exeter, n. H., where Daniel Webster be-
gan his actual educational career. The two
other boys are at home with their parents, II
bright little lads, and seeming to care 70 more
for the hurrahs with which their father is re-
ceived than If they were bestowed upon any
other man. They appear to take the enthu-
siasm as matter of course; for, as they love :
their father and their mother, no applause
seems less than their deserving.
After pretty thorough investigation, find I
that there is nQa man in this region who says I
a word against the honesty of Abraham Lin
coin. They like his sociabilty and his famil-
iarty. He is universally regarded as plain,
man, possessing strong common
sense, welded to quickness of perception
that detects the right from the wrong and win
nows the chaff from the wheat, whether the {
qustion be one of legal character or the Sc J
lection Of true man from an impostor.-