Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-08-10
SLINCOLN AS A RAIL SPLITTER.
Testimony Gathered From People Who Knew
Him in His Youth.


testimony Gathered From People Who Knew
Him in His Youth.
To the Editor of The Evening Star.
In The STAR of last Saturday anneared an
.rt;,,. -, -,
ooPeo ,ion 'ne inuiaiaPois 'ou' "d''
neaueo, Lihcoih Sput NO fsalls, In Thlch the
writer declares that all the stories so freely in
dulged in, especially during the presidential
contest of 1seo that I;n.,,, n,.ao Ill. =; u1
- Aooo' 'A"' Lincoln niauo i'A' III e"iiy
Ao, "oie "efe my ns' ohiy toio 70 aHect us
pontical and personal Advancement and were
untruthful in every particular The writer in
the beoinnino ssvs. lincoln CYtv q ANAL nj,
To-, =; &c.,. -.
&c nu' WOO luz iouf years
Tue hoihe Vi Aoranam Llncolns parents wnon
ne was growing up, &C. &C. Mr.. Llncoln's
parents moved into that new and sparsely set
tieo country In 4ol' from Kentucky, when
ADranam was elgnt years OLD. Inc Following
year mrs. Lncoln dled and was buried out In
the wooos, WIN no taDiet 70 mark her last rest
ing place. soon the widower, Lincoln, Thomas,
returned 10 hentucky ana married a second
"iie ana came Win ner 10 ms nome In Indiana,
where the entire Iamlly continued TO reside up
10 iooV, wheh tney moved 70 Macon county,
III, A3ranam Deing thsn tWenty-one years old.
Ihey dlo not nVe IN Lincoln City, Ind, four
years, lor there was no sucn town IN existence
Tor many years AFTER the family had left the
state, put their nome was exclusively "out in
1ne ~uoerness wnere Tor thirteen years
-" "A' ooii, NJ. oi."h uiu,
apparently, as pos! they coulu. all that good
cIHens' poor anu, IN most respects, llllterate.
wouio pe eApecIeo TO 90 10 build up and sus-
talh an honorable ana worthy name In the COM
MUMMY Ia WHICH tney hao cast tnelr lou.
=, In February OF loiZ was In attendance at
the state repupncah convention indianapolis,
anu ~ met u tne DATES mouse AT that Time gen
.ieman "noae maine can ! recali, VINO was
resident OF spencer county. de came there
s soon alter 'ne Aincons ieit: Ihls gentleman
hao served TWO terms as treasurer OF that
county, having Deen elected hrst In 1850, and
was cahuluate pe1ore the convention where
was In attendance Tor state treasurer and only
lacked lew votes OF q nomination. He vas a
man OF spiendio persona! appearance and OF
the hlShest character. lie told me that all OF
the older citizens OF his locality wheL he came
thefe were Wen acquainted VIII Abraham Lin.
COIN. instead OF pemB an AWKWARD incident
anu apparently uhamDltlous BOY, he was
stud'ous' INDUSTRIOUS ana thouShtfui young
man, "hose naoits were uneAIePaohabiy good
lhere We're out lew book- wphin lis reach
while ne lved there, put ne managed to borrow
or puy' these anu care1uliy peruse them. Ibis
gentleman informed me tha' many OF his neigh
ting cord wood and doing other manual work.
he was also gifted as a cabinet maker. having
made quite respectable book cases and other
household furniture, "hlch TINS gentleman he'd
frequently seen In August OF 1850 went 20
Springfield. ILL.,, TO republican mass
meeting As Approached Mr.. Lincoln s house
vast procession was passing, and the wide
street running In fIont OF that building was
packed as far IS one coulo see either way with
people. Mr. Lincoln stood by the side Of his
door facing the street. eight or ten feet above the
sidewalk In front OF the place where he stood,
not ten feet away, were two high stone gate posts
rounded on at the top, and upon one of these