The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-03-10
LlNCOLN'S EARLY LIFE
GEN. yIELE ON THE FLATB0 Altman
AND RAILsPLITTER STORIES.
He objects to Placing Lincoln i'm
These Classes, and Is Sharply Crit
fcfsed By Another Writer.


terly destitute of heredity, l. e.. had no an
cestors worthy of mention. 1t is shown
that, on the contrary, he came of an intel
lectual and distinguished race. 1t is now
in order fer some controversial genius TO
prove by Mr.. Lincoln's own handwriting
that, like Topsy, he was not born at all.
contributor to the Tribune makes a
somewhat discourteous attempt to criticise
my protest against chasing Mr.. Lincoln
with an unsavory set employed on the West
ern rivers and known as ''1atboatmen.'' of
whom, as class, such as / knew of them
for several years, I will add that they We're
drunken. blasphemous and obscene lot.
Your contributor garbles my description OF
these people, and still insisting that Mr..
Lincoln was actually fiatboatman, quotes
what he calls an autobiography of Mr.. Lin
coin. given to some person in 1850 and evil
IDENTIFY used in the presidential canvass of
that year for the purpose of showing that
Mr.. Lincoln was of the people. which
was very proper under the circumstances.
This account of his early exploits, written
in his usual vigorous style. states that he
and another boy or young man navigated
hatboat, without other assistance. to New
Orleans. This was evidently the trip he
told me of. On another occasion he was
employed to repeat this trip. This, the
writer seems to think, made Mr.. Lincoln a
fiatboatman, with all its name implies"
Mr.. Henry Ward Beecher learned by OBJ
servation how to shoe horse, and took
great pleasure in relating his skill in horse
shoeing, which on one occasion elected from
an old hand the compliment that a good
blacksmith was spoiled when he was made
a preacher. Yet We have not been told
historically" that Mr.. Beecher began life
as blacksmith. Daniel Webster, when
cows. Yet history does not inform US
.'cowherd'F When was boy was very
fond OF saving wood, and probably sawed
s much w1Cd rase Nj d aSen f Sp #
physical vigor which has been of great
service to me since. Yet it never. occurred
Mr.. Gladstone and Mr.. Greeley both de-
lighted in cutting down trees. There is
and taken in connection with his wonderful
strength, Mr.. Lincoln undoubtedly derived
great pleasure. from splitting rails, and I
reassert, notwithstanding the crushing irony
of your contributor, that Mr.. Lincoln en-
!oyed very much, on proper oc ,ta e,1.s;
an ak. to the great establishment Of many
who imagined they We're stronger than he
was and whose attempts at imitation
1t seems hardly necessary that the vir-
tues and fame of Abraham Lincoln, so dear
to every true American, and which. as time
rolls on, are entwining his memory with
that of Washington, should be associated
constantly with fea class to which ne qua not
lily is of necessity a laborous one, and out
of the pioneers of America have come her
labor, but there is in low association, and
it was utterly impossible that the associa-
a man as Lincoln. Let the 'fatboatman"
and the railsplitter, good enough for cleo
@ los bf an hard cder
the Harrison campaign, and let us think of
him always as the center figure in the great
est crisis of our history.
I enjoyed an intimate personal acquaint-
ance with Mr.. Lincoln in the darkest period
Of the war and was his companion ,IS. nc for
something of his character. do | know
him to have been gifted with the highest
cate and refined sensibility to have been a
voluminous reader and hard student. with
ysis and his clearness of conception were
wonderful. His mental processes, like his
physical powers, were quick ana strong.
He called it a vice because of its influence
over him. Yet it Is this very trait that
added so much to the pathos of his life
and to the wrong of his sudden taking off.
Viele's Statements Criticised.
J. A. L., in New York Tribune.
have just read with no little Indignation
Gen. Egbert L. Viele's letter of Feb. Is,
denying that Mr.. Lincoln was fiatboatman,
as was stated by Mr.. Bancroft in his funer-
al Grafton before both houses of Congress,
and since by Mr.. Depew in an address lately
| delivered by him in Vermont. General
Viele's description of a hatboat' and its
| general uses is wrong, but / will let that
| pass as it has no real bearing on the case
| in question His statement about Mr.. Lin
| coins railsplitting merely to show his great
| strength is likewise entirely fictitious.
| 1 was personally acquainted with Mr.. Lin.
/ zffa ar1 n
| relate his experiences as railsplitter and
as a fiatboatman, and have a portion of one
| of the black walnut rails he and John Hanks
| split in Macon county, in Illinois, in 1880
| In place of being ashamed of his early
| work. Mr. Lincoln took great pride in it
! and in relating his connection Herewith
| From his earliest youth he was fond OF be,
lag 81 old Id assisted James Taylor in manag
| ing a f1atboat that was used as Terry TX
cross the Ohio river at the mouth tis o oar, AN
tee teen Years Years old he determined to become I
+! fiatboat1rlan, but was persuaded out or th'
| notion then by his friend Wood.
| In March, 1928, James Gentry, an Indians
neighbor fitted out a hatboat with stoeI
/ of grain and meat for a trading expeditiol
| to New Orleans, and hired Mr. Lincoln q
work on the boat. This he did, and wa:
| on the boat he was bow hand and tina
| position entailed the most iaporiouSo out
connected with the voyage. In .t tssJ a Mr
! miles northwest of the then small viiiag
| Of Decatur now charming, large ant
| prosperous city,, in Macon county. Her
he and John Hanks broke up fifteel
| acres Of sod and, as John Hanks told me
Abe and myself split ,r !, walnut rams ehous
| / saw John Hanks bring pile or tnes
| rails into a State convention IN llnnoi
| where Mr. Lincoln was candidate 10
| some office, and / distinctly remember tn
| excitement that was caused thereby. Whe
| living at Goose Nest Prairie, in Coles coun
ty. illinois, Mr.. Lincoln said he works
! at odd Jobs in the neighborhood,' and o
| these Jobs rail-splitting was not an un
usual work. AS late as 1881 he split tnre
thousand rails for Major Warwick: an
walked daily three miles 10 his work an
the same distance in returning from 1t.
In 1881 he met Denton Ohut. a genera
trader and speculator, and who often sen
datboats loaded with grain and provision
to New Orleans. Lincoln was introduce
to Offut by John Hanks and they two an
a cousin of Lipcolns named johnson hire
| Themselves to Offut to work as natDoa
| men on a boat he was then getting read
| for a trip to New Orleans. For his servic
| he was paid 80 cents per day. and was I
| have a small share of the pronts or IN
| trim For some reason unknown TO m
| Cyffut failed to start the boat. as originaii
| Intended but determined TO build another
| and Hanks and Lincoln and johnson weT
| enaployed about four weeks in building tn
| beat and during that time Lincoln acted 9
| cook for the building party. BY April
| a. t,oat had been built and loaded. an