The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-06-14

/ rpstoh. The crop both In Quality and yield.
| Is said to be pretty fair.--Fdtnirftle CJn-
nl0nUeaih. -
BOyhoSd OF Abe gineosE--His First and
Only Schooling.
1 From Recent Biography. so
| As soon rs there was school opened in
| the neighborhood Mrs. Lincoln sent Abe TO
| school.
oft was probably In the winter of 1919.
she having come out in the December of that
year. 1t hns been seen that she was as much
impressed by his mental ptetocity as by the
good Qualities of his heart. -.
| "Hazel Dorsey was the first master. He
presided in small house near the Little
Pigeon Creek Westinghouse, mile and a
half from the Lincoln cabin. 1t was built
of unhewn logs, and had holes for Windows
in which CREASED paper served for glass,
The roof was Just high enough for man to
stand erect. Here lie was taught Readings
writing, and cipherlng. They spelled IN
classes, and trapped up and down. These
Juvenile contests were very exciting to the
participants; and it is said by the survivors
that Abe was even then the equal, if not the
superior, of any scholar in his class.
| "'The next teacher was Andrew Crawford.
|
neighborhood in the winter of 1925,
while most of his other scholars are unable
to fix an exact date. He kept in the same
little school-house which had been the scene
of Dorsey's labors, and the windows were
still adorned with the creased leaves of old
copy-books that had come down from Dor
sey's time. Abe was now In his fifteenth
year, and began to exhibit symptoms of gal
| lantry toward the weaker sex, as we shall
presently discover. He was growing ut a
| tremendous rate and two years later attained
his full height of six feet four inches. He was
long ,wiry, and strong, with biz icetand hands,
and the length of his legs and arms were
out of all proportion to his small trunk and
head. His complexion was very swarthy,
and Mrs. Gentry says that his skin was
shriyeled and yellow even then. He wore
low shoes, buckskin brecches, linscy-woolsey
shirt, and q cap made Of the skin of an opos-
sum or a coon. The brccchcs chung close to
his thighs and legs. and failed by large
space to meet the tops Of his shoes. Twelve
inches remained uncovered, and exposed
that much Of 'shinbone, sharp, blue, and
narrow .Hc would always come to school
thus. good-humorcdly and laughing says
his old friend Nat Grissby. He was always
in good health, never was sick, had an excel.
lent constitution, and took care of it,
| Crawford hught Manners This was
Il feature of fmckwoods education to which
Dorsey had not aspircd, and Crawford had
doubtless introduced il is Il refinement
which would put to shame the humber eft:
| forts of his predecessor. One of the scholars
was required to retire and rctnter lis polite
gentleman is supposed to enter drawing
room. He was received at the door by All
other scholar and conducted from bench tC
bench until he had been introduced TO al
the young ladies and gentlemen in The
room. Abe went through the ordeal count
less times. II he took serious view of the
business it must have put him to exquisite
torture. for he was conscious that lle was moi
Il pcrCcct type of manly beauty, with his lon.
legs and blue shins, his small head, his great
ears, and shriyellGd skin. II, however, il
struck him as mt all funny, it must hay,
filled him with unspcakable mirth AMI
given rise to many antic tricks and sly Jokes
as he was grayely led about, shamcd-facet
and gawky, under the very eye of the pre-
else Crawford, to be introduced to the boy.
and girls of his more ancient acquaintance
"Nat Grigsby tells Us, with unnecessary
particularly, that essays and poetry were
not taught in this school, 'Abe took Il
them) NJ OH his own account He frs
wrote short sentences against cruelty IL
animals and at last come forward with
regular composition OH the subject. H'
was very much annoyed and panied by Thu
conduct of the boys, who were in the hab
OF catching terrapins and putting Goals
fire on their backs. He would Glide US,
SAYS Nat, tell us it was WRONG, anu would
write against it.
..Thc third and last school to which ABB
went was taught by Il Mr.. Swancy, in ls2G
To get there he had to travel four and hal
miles and this going back. and forth SO grea
4 distance occupied entirely too much OF III
time. His attendance was therefore only Il
odd times, and was speedily broken OIL alto
gether. The school-bouse was much like tn
other one near the PigeOn-Creek meeting
house, except that it had two chllnneys III
-. stead of one"
or elsewhere.
AS the earliest books man reads may b
well supposed TO have some influence on hi
after life. it is interesting to know what lite
nature was within the reach of our youn;
scholar. MIR. Lamon says:
"AmOng the books upon which Abe lat
f his hands were IEsop's Fables Robin
son Crusoe,' Bunyan's 'Pilgrim's Progress,
: Il History Of the United States, and Wecnls'
Life OF Washington All these he rea'
| many times, and transferred extracts iron
them to the boards and the scrap-book. RI
had procured the scrap-hook because mos
, of his literature was borrowed, and n
thought it profitable to take copious note
from the books before he returned them
David Turnham had bought a volume Q
THE Revised Statutes of Indiana but 4
! he was acting constable ut the time h
could not lend it to ABB. But Abe was no
to be batlled in his purpose of going tbroug'
and through every book in the neiShbor
J hood; and so, says Dir. Turnham, he usc'
: to come to my house and sit and read it.
abraham borrowed Weens's Life 0
Washington from his neighbor, old Josla
CraYford-not Andrew Crawford, the schoo
, teacher, as some of his biographers have II
The Life was read with great avldlty D
the intervals of work, and when not in us
was carefully deposited on shelf made OF
!, cupboard laid on two pins. But just u
hind the shelf there was a great crack Dt
tween the logs of the walls /; and one night
while Abe was dreaming in the loft, stoTI
came I'D. and the rain, blown through tn
opening, soaked his precious book from &C
yer to cover. Crawford was sour an
!, churlish fellow at best, and fatty refused I
take the damaged book again. He said ID,
if Abe had no money to pay for it ne coul
work it out. Of course there was no aitel
native; and Abe was obliged to discharge tn
debt by pulling fodder three days {;
twenty-five cents day."
Death PROM NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Her
man has been notified to hold All inquest I