Delaware State journal and statesman., 1865-04-28
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

A brief recurrence to the principal events
in the life of the late lamsnted President
Lincoln, while his remains are being CON
signed To- their last resting-place, will, we
feel assured, be acceptable to the public.
1t is the common fate of eminent public
mcu to be ardcntly cherished by their
political friends and hated by their enemies.
The career of the great and good Washing
ton wns no exception to this rule, and that
Of the stern hero Jackson formed n striking
illustration Of its truth. Yet now that they
have long passed from earth, they have be-
come canonized in the popular heart, and
uo one would think Of questioning their
patriotism, and few the wisdom of their
measures. President Lincoln was called TO
the helm of State at time of far greater
difficulty than that which embarrassed any
of his predecessors; and during the progress
of the struggle which he made for the pre-
seryation of the Union he did not escape
censure but no sooner has his great soul
been removed from earth than his worst
enemies Join his best friends in deplOring
his loss rs great national calamity. All
concele now that he was transpqrently
honest, that he was humane to Il fault, and
that his wisdom and sagaoity had made him
almost indispensable to the restoration of
peace and union to the country, The life
of such Il man must at all times awaken
interest, but especially is this true on an
occasion like the present.
The family of the late President Lincoln,
as we learn from the authentic life of him
by his friend, Joseph H. Barrett, the Com
missioner Of Pensions, is Of English origin.
His remotest ancestor, Of whom anything
Is certainly known, was among the early
settlers of Pennsylvania, and may have
come directly from England Or, possibly,
from Hexam, Massachusetts but more
probably from the former as he was Of the
Society Of Friends. The great-grandfather
OF the late President emigrated from Berks
county, Pennsylvania, to Rockingham
county, in the Shenandoah, Valley, Virginia,
about the year 1850; and thirty years later
his grandfather, Abraham lincoln, removed
thence to Kentucky, and settled on the
kentucky river. Strange to say, he there
met fate similar to that of his eminent
grandson and namesake. "He hat made
but mere heyiaaing IN his neto pioneer
IaJors," says his biographer, "IYhea, 'chilt
at 'oOrk one day, at a distance from his
cabin, onsaspecting OF daager, he ioas killed
W an Indian, who had stolen upon him
aaawares." This assassination of Mr..
Lincoln's grandfather took place in 1854
about four years after his arrival in
Kentucky. He left three sons, of whom
the eldest, Thomas, was destined to be the
ather Of President of the United States
lie married, in 1906, Nancy Hanks, ,
native OF Virginia, and settled as farme
in Harden county, where, on the 18th o
February, 1909, Abraham Lincoln wa,
born The opportunities for education
enjoyed by the poor farmers were yer,
limited, but the future President was some
what favored in having been taught t,
read before he was seven years old. Ii
lsl6, the father, Thomas Lincoln, with hi
family, emigrated to Indiana, where tn
son spent his boyhood, generally in til
labors of the farm, and occasionally a
school. But it is said that altogether h
never in his life was at school more tha
one year.
At nineteen years Of age Mr.. lincol
went on trip to New Orleans, on board
Hatboat doing service as one of the hands
IN 1880 the father of MIR. Lincoln, VIII
seems to have preferred a pioneer lif,
emgrated from Indiana to Sangamo
county, Illinois, with his family. Abraham
vas then of age, and went out to seek h
'oFFnne for himself His first enterpris