The herald., 1895-03-24


stract the store of knowledge that lay be-
tween the lids, No doubt, as rurnham
insists, the study of the statutes at this
early day led Abe to think of the law as
his calling in maturer years. At any rate,
Ee now began to evince no little zeal in
the matter of public speaking-in compli-
ance with the old notion, no doubt, that a
lawyer can never succeed unless he has the
elements of the orator or advocate in his
construction--and even when at work in
the field he could not resist the temptation
to mount the nearest stump and practice
on his fellow laborers.
With all his peaceful propensities Abe
was not averse to a contest Of strength,
either for sport or in settlement-as in one
memorable case-of grievances. Personal
encounters we're of frequent occurrence in
Gentryville in those days, and the prestige
of having thrashed an opponent gave the
victor marked social distinction. Green
B. Taylor, with whom Abe worked the
greater part Of one winter on farm, fur
nished me with an account of the noted
fight between John Johnson, Al be's step
brother, and William Grigsby, in which
stirring drama Abe himself played an inn
portant role before the curtain was rung
down. Taylor's father was the second for
johnson, and William Whitten offciated
In similar capacity for Grigsby.
"They had terrible fight, " relates Tay
lor, land it soon became apparent that
Grigsby was too much for Lincoln's man,
Johnston. After they had fought long
time without interference, it having been
agreed not to break the ring, be burst
through, caught Grigsby, threw him off
and some feet away. There he stood, proud
as Lucfer, and swinging bottle of liquor
oter his head swore he was the big buck
Of the lick If any one doubts it. he
shouted, he has only to come on and whet
HIS horns. I" A general engagement fol
ErWd his challenge but at the end Of hos.
tEicscs tho field was cleared, and the
Nhunded retired amid the exultant shouts
of thoir yictors.
Keeping Close to History.
Much of the latter end of Abe's boy hood
would have been lost in the midst of ira
t2tion but for the store of Information and
rsGollections l was fortunate enough to
scavre from an interesting old lady whom
! met in Indiana i'll 1865. She was the
wife of Josiah Crawford-"B Blue Nose, !"
as Abe had named him-and possessed
raro accomplishments for woman reared
in the backwoods Of Indiana. She was not
OHlJ lUlHrGSStu Wlbl ADc carly 6ilOruS,
but expressed great admiration for his sis
ter Narah, whom she often had with her
at her own hospitablehome and whom she
described rs a modest, industrious and
sensible sister of a humorous and equally
sensible brother. From Mrs. Crawford
obtained the few specimens of Abes early
literary efforts and much of the matter
that follows in this chapter. The intro
Guotion here of the literary feature as af
furding us glimpse Of Lincoln's boyhood
days mag to certain extent CRATE harshly
Oh cTcrreflned ears, but still no apology is
necessary, for, as intimated at the outset,
l intcnd to keep close to Lincoln all the
way through. Some writer's would prob
ably omit these songs and backwoods re-
citals as savoring too strongly of the bac-
chunalian nature, but that would be a
narrow view to take of history If we ex-
pact to know Lincoln thoroughly, we
must be prepared to take him as he really
was
In 1926 Ahe's sister Sarah was married
to Aaron Griesby, and at the wedding the
Lincoln family sang a song composed in
honor Of the event by Abe himself. 1t is q
tirasome doggerel and full of painful
rhymes. l reproduce it here from tho
manuscript furnished me by Mrs. Craw-