The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1891-04-30
SALLY BUSH.
Abraham L ncoIn's Stepmother.

!
tered bits of prairie land that rose and
| fell i'm waves of hill and hollow most
| fair 10 see.
| Upon one of these eminences stood
/ a small, unsightly cabin of rough and
unhewn logs, with neither doors or
windows. In one corner of the room
poles were stuck into the cracks of the
| logs. while the other ends were sup
! ported BIZ forked sticks sunk into the
| earthen floor. Over these boards were
| laid. upon which dry leaves were scat
/ tered, the whole surmOunted with
| skins of animals. and old clothes. This
was the only bedstead visible. Three
/ or four three-legged stools. Il slab with
/ the flat side upward serving as a table,
ana a Dutch oven and skillet COM
pletcd the furniture of the room.
/ This was the home of Thomas Lin
coin. an easy going. idle man. whose
! chief excellences lay i'll his skill as
/ huntsman aud his remarkable aptitude
! for storytelling.
| About year after the death of his
| wife, who had left to him two children,
he sought another in the person of
| Sally Bush, who had in earlier years
rejected his suit, but who was now
| widow. living with her three children
in Kentucky.
In homey words. he urged imme-
| date marriage and she yielded. 1t is
| fair to presume, however that had she
| known the real truth about the Indiana
/ cabin life her consent would have been
| hard to gain.
| Packing up her household goods and
| loading them on a wagon drawn by
/ four horses, the newly welded pair
| arrived at Thomas Lincolns home.
| Imagine her disappointment when, at
the close Of cold December day, they
| drove up before the doorless. window
less cabin, in front of which stood the
two children. Nancy, girl of IL, and
Abe, Il boy 9 years old.
Ill-clad, with unwashed faces and
uncombed hair, these little creatures
gazed with eyes and mouth wide open
at the wonderful treasures unloaded
from that wagon.
There were chairs and a table, and
knives and forks and cooking utensils,
and most marvellous of all Il real
bureau, that in those days had cost
$40. This last Thomas Lincoln had
declared Il sinful extravaganza, and
had urged Sally to sell it, but she
would not heed and so it was brought
to the backwoods cabin.
To these untutored children, who
had never heard of such things and
change of surroundings came. like a
perfect revelation, and changed the
whole color of their lives.
In person. Sally Bash was tall and
stately, handsome in face and figure,
with earnest eyes and beautiful curl
ing hair. In conversation she was
bright and CHEEKY. and to all her
charms added rare force of charac-
ter, expressing itself in neatness, en-
ergy. economy and thrift.
Desolate as was her future prospect,
unpromiSing in its every feature, she
lost no time i'll lamentaton. Looking
calmly into the face of chaos, out of it
she wrought comfort and order.
Turning with pity TO the two
neglected Lincoln children she cleaned
them thoroughly and combed and
Strengthened their tangled locks. She
taught them how to wash themselves,
and gave them untiring lessons in the
virtues of cleanliness. From her own
wardrobe she fashioned for them gar
menls. and clothed them comfortably
from head to foot. Nice warm beds
and nouriShing food were provided for
them. She treated them us kindly us
she did her own children, and took
them into the heart of her large and
gracious motherhood Through her
insistence, her husband laid wooden
floor, and in due time doors and win
d0ws found their proper places. Lit
tie by little more land was cultivated
and better provisions were made for
the entire family.
Instead of blows and hard usage. tC
which the children had been ALWAYS
subjected, she ruled them by love and
by winsomc WAYS. As Abraham Lin
coin SO often said in after years, .'she
was the woman who first made me feel
like human being To him she was
the embodiment of all things good
his sanity mother" his Angel of
mother rs he used to call her.
uncultivated she certainly was, as
measured by hook attainmentS or by
the accomplishments of these modern
times, but she was strong in high pur-
pose. and capable of arousing ambi-
ton in others. by her earnest zeal. A
short time after she arrived at the Lin
coin home, Abe" TO whom she soon
became warmly attached, was fitted
out in a comfortable suit of clothes,
and sent to school for the first time in
his life.
1t is true he walked four and half
| miles each day for this instruction.
which. at the best, was mcagre. but it
was enough to stir desire for more, and
fan to hving flame the light that was
| III time 10 lead this land through dark
ened p aces.
Utterly ignorant, rude and uncouth,
the new mother found this bow SEEM
ingly destined to Il life OF rudeness and
obscurlty, and from these depths she
rescued the pure and honest and force
ful spirit, that is to-day loved and rev.
erenced by the whole world
Through the transformation she
brought about in the home and in the
entire lie OF the family she completely
won the boys confidence, so that he
rested entirely unon her wisdom and
yielded her, in all things. the most i'm
plieit obedience. Did she assume that
certain things could be brought about.
ne never for one moment questioned
the result
Faithful always through bis entire
LIE to this devoted woman, Abraham
Lincoln never forgot her, in the midst
of triumphs. whose glory might have
din N 1T the remembrance of a heart
less loyal than his own.
After his election 10 he presidency,
before he went 10 Washington. he Wis
tied his mother. now bent and bowed
with age. 1t was a sad parting. this
last one, for both share in the same
ioreboding that they should meet no
more on earth.