The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1895-04-12

was made to it. 1t is rarely mentioned
in the autobiography furnished to Fell
in 1859 John Duncan, afterward a
preacher of some prominence in Ken
lucky, relates how he and Abe on one
occasion ran grounding into a crevice
between two rocks, and after working
vainly almost two hours to get him out
"Abe ran off about quarter of a mile
to blacksmith shop and returned with
an iron hook fastened to the end of a
pole,' and with this rude continuance
they virtually hooked" the animal out
of his retreat Austin Gollaher of
Hodgensville claims to have saved Lin
coin from drowning one day as they
were trying to ''coon it, across Knob
creek on log. The boys were in pur-
suit of birds when young Lincoln fell
into the water, and his vigilant COM
panion, who still survives to narrate the
thrilling story, fshed him out with a
sycamore branch.
Meanwhile Thomas Lincoln was
becoming daily more dissatisfied with
his situation and surroundings. He
had purchased since his marriage,
on the easy terms then prevalent, two
farms or tracts of land in succession.
No terms were easy enough for him,
and the land, when the time for the
payment Of purchase money rolled
around, reverted to its former owner.
Starting Life Anew.
Having determined on emigrating tC
Indiana, he began preparations for re-
moval in the fall of 1916 by building
for his use flatboat. Loading it with
his tools and other personal effects, in
Guiding in the invoice, as we are told,
400 gallons of his whisky, he launched
his ''crazy craft" on tributary of Salt
creek known as Rolling Fork. Along
with the current he foated down to the
Ohio river, but his rudely made vessel,
either from the want of experience in
its navigator or because of its i'll adapta-
ton to withstand the force and caprices
of the currents in the great river, cap
sized one day, and boat and cargo went
to the bottom. The luckless boatman
set to work, however, and by dint Of
great patience and labor succeeded in
recovering the tools and the bulk of the
whisky. Righting his boat, he contin-
ued down the river, landing at point
called Thompson's Ferry, in Perry coun-
ty, on the Indiana side.
The head of the household now set
resolutely to work to build shelter for
his family.
The structure, when completed, was
IA feet square and was built of small
hewed logs. In the language of the day
it was called 'half faced camp" be-
ing inclosed on all sides but one. 1t had
neither floor, door nor windows. In
this forbidding howell these doughty en-
igrants braved the exposure of the vary
ing season for an entire year. At the
end of that time Thomas and Betsy
Sparrow followed, bringing with them
Dennis Hanks, and to them Thomas
Lincoln surrendered the "half faced
camp" while he moved into a more
pretentious structural cabin inclosed
on all sides.
Thomas Lincoln, with the aid of the
Hankses and Sparrows, was for time
an attentive farmer. The implements
of agriculture then in use were as rude
as they We're rare and yet there is moth
ing to show that in spite of the slow
methods then in vogue he did not make
commendable speed. 1--WE raised corn
mostly" relates Dennis, land some
wheat-enough for cake Sunday morn
ing. Hog and venison hams were a
legal tender and coonskins also. We
raised sheep and cattle, but they did not
bring much. Cows and calves were only
worth Sc to So, corn 10 cents and wheat
% cents bushel."
So with all his application and fru-
gality the head of this i'll assorted house
hold made but little Roadway in the ac-
emulation of the worlds goods. We
are told that he was indeed poor man,
and that during his entire stay in In
diana his land barely yielded him sufi-
cient return to keep his larder supplied
with the commonest necessaries of life.
His skill as hunter, though never
brought into play unless at the angered
demand of stomach hungry for meat,
in no slight degree made up for the
lack of good management in the Guilt
walton of his land His son Abraham
never evinced the same fondness for
hunting, although his cousin Dennis
with much pride tells US how we could
kill wild turkey on the wing cat
that time, F." relates one of the latter's
playmates, descanting on the abundance
of wild game, there were great many
deer ticks, and Abe and myself would
go to these ticks sometimes and watch
of nights to kill deer, though Abe was
not SO fond of gun or the sport as
was
The cabin to which the Lincoln fami-
ly removed after leaving the little halt
faced camp to the Sparrows was in
some respects pretentious structure.
1t was of hewed logs and was 10 feet
square. 1t was high enough to admit
of a loft where Abe slept and to which
he assembled each night by means of
pegs driven in the wall. The rude fur
niture was in keeping with the sur
roundings. Three legged stools answer
ed for chairs. The bedstead, made of
poles fastened in the cracks of the logs
on one side and supported by a crotched
stick driven into the ground floor on
the other, was covered with skins,
leaves and old clothes. A table of the
same finish as the stools a few newter