Charlevoix county herald., 1917-02-02
LINCOLN'S STORY
OF HIS LIFE
Here L. Lincoln's Story of His
Own Life, Supplied by Him to
J. w. Fell. Il Was All He
Thought Worth While to Say.

y WAS born February IL, 1905.
In Hardin County, Kentucky.
Ny parents were both born In
Il Virginia, Of undistinguishsd
families second families.
perhaps I should say. Ny mother.
who died In my tenth year, was Of
Q family Of the name Of Hanks, some
Of whom now reside in Adams and
others In Macon County. Illinois. Ny
patsrnal grandfather, Abraham LIN
coin. smigratsd from Rockingham
County. Virginia, to Kentucky about
1871 or 1882, whore, q year or two
later. he was killed by the Indians.
not in battle. but by stealth, when
he was laboring to open q farm IN
the forest. His ancestors who were
Quaksrs. went to Virginia from
Berks County. Pennsylvania. An ef-
fort to identify them with the New
England family Of the same name
ended in nothing more definite than
similarity Of Christian names In
both families. such ~ Enoch. Levi.
Mordecai. Solomon Abraham and
the like.
My father at the death Of his
father. was but six years Of age, and
he grew up literally without sduca-
ton. He removed from Kentucky to
what 10 now Spencer County, Indi-
ana. In my<sighth year. We reach
Cd our new homo about the time
tbs State came into the Union. II
was q wild region, with many bears
and other wild animals still In the
woods. There l grew up. There
were some schools. 80 called. but
no Qualification was ever required
Of q teacher beyond 'readin', writin'
and cipherin' to the rule Of three.
II q straggler supposed to under
stand Latin happened to sojourn In
the neighborhood he was looked
upon as q wizard. There was abso-
lutely nothing to excite ambition for
education. or course. when came
Of age ! did not know much. Still.
somehow, ! could read, write and
cipher to the rule Of three but that
was all. I have not been to school
since. The little advance now
have upon this store Of education I
have picked up from time to time
under the pressure Of necessity.
! was raised to farm work, which
I continued until I was twenty-five.
At twenty-one I came to Illinois
Macon County. Then / got to New
Salem. at that time In Sangamon,
now In Menard County. where I re-
NAMED q year as q sort of clerk In
q store. Then came the Black Hawk
war, and I was elected q captain OF
volunteers, q success which gave me
more pleasure than any have had
since. went through the campaign,
the same year (1S32). and was beat
en-the only time I ever have been
beaten by the people. The next and
three succeeding biennial elections
was elected to the Legislature. !
was not q candidate aftsrward. Dur
ing this legislative period I had
studied law and removed % Spring
neld to practice It. In ls4s was
once elected to the lower house OF
Congress. Was not q candidate for
reelection. From 1s4s TO 1854,
both inclusive, I praeticed law more
assiduously than ever before. Al
ways q whig In politics, and gen
orally on the Whig ELECTORAL tickets.
making active canvassss. was los
ing interest In politics when the re-
peal Of the Missouri compromiss
aroused me again. What I have
done since then II pretty well known.
II any personal description Of me
II thought desirable Il may BE- said
am. In height. ak feet four inches.
nearly; lean In flesh. Weighing on IN
average one hundred and eighty
pounds; dark complexion with coarse
black hair and gray eyes. No other