The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-02-11
LINCOLN BALKED AT BECOMING
 FARMER, AS HIS FATHER WISHED
By WILLIAM F. SULLIVAN, International News Service Staff Cor

respondent.
 Springfield, ILL, Feb. 11.--Abraiham have been a farmer had he followed the inclfnations of his father and had he been satisfied with the impoVer- 1sf1ed surroundings of his boyhood days.
 But the immortal Lincoln, whose 18th birthday is being commemorat- ed by the nation and the world today, had loftier ambitions and, further, a hatred for the rustic life of soil tiller.
 Scarcely had the man who later be- came one of the greatest figures in American history becomes o4ld enough home of his father and step-mother, which was a small cabin located on what was known as Goose Nest Prai- rie, near Charleston, H., in Coles County.
 This was not the home in which Abe was born, but where his father settled after coming to Illinois. Lin coin was born on February 12. 1SO9 in log cabin on a barren farm in the backw4oods of Kentucky. three vile.
 Spent Youth in Indiana
 When he was seven years old his family hoved to a town called Gen. tryville. in Spencer County, Indiana, where his mother, Nancy Hanks Lin coins father was remarried to the Widow Sarah Johnston a Kentucky girl, and the family moved over into Illinois, where his father settled The trip Of the Iincolns from Indiana to Illinois was made in a wagon drawn by four oxen.
 When Lincoln left his fathers coun- try home in Coles County he moved west into Illinois and first settled at Salem, near Sprin gfield.
 Lincolns early life was one of many struggles, hardships and of was first of all a "man of odd 1obs.' rail splitter, blacksmith store clerk and trader before he practiced law. He later entered politics.
 One of the most interesting books on the early days of Lincoln much of which has been untouched upon by historians, is in the possession of nsin DennIs of Hanks the jTfY R9TiHg % bl9od who now resides in Springfield.
 ''ScrapbooI<'' Is Valued.
 Dow1ing's ''scrapbook," upon which he has spent more than 40 years, con- with men who knew Lincoln person. ally, of pictures depicting the poverty of his surroundings and numerous other interesting facts of Lincoln's pictures is the first photograph ever taken of Lincoln.
 Dowling's mother, Sarah Jane Dow ling, was a second cousin of the great President and spent many years near line family when Lincoln lived in Coler County. She knew him personally and often corresponded with him af- ter he was elected to the Presidency.
 Tn later years, Bowling said, his mother often held him on her lap ard told many interesting stories about Uncle Abe" On the morning following the night when Lincoln was shot she was telling the family at the breakfast table of dream she had of me President, when a neigh bor brought news of the assassination. Mrs. Bowling always thought her death-
 step-Mothers Opinion. ''Lincoln's Life from the Cradle to the Crave" contains a newspaper clip ping of an interview with Mncoln's in which she says: he was the ugliest chap that ever obstructed my view. But he was honest to the core. He would not drink, but at times a highIy-poIished cuss-word would escape his lips"
 The face of Lincoln is often refer ned to as having had the look of deep- est sadness. Judge O. B. FickIn, who lived at Charleston and who serv- ed in another clipping in the Dow1- ing 'treminigcences'' as saying:
 He was naturally Respondent and sad, like many another who has made 
 could tell a story to make a group roar with laughter but when his face was unit with pleasantly 1t was dark, gloomy and peculiar"
 Hated Work on Farm.
 Another cnping quotes Captain l Dohn Esaston. a close friend of Idn- coin, with the following:
 'Tinco1n hated farm work and | would rather do odd jobs around | town than work on the farm. He | was a great boy for wrestling and, | with his powerful stature could throw | anyone in the community After failing in business at Salem | lincoln tried for the Legislature, but | vas defeated in his first attempt. He | vas elected in his second race and | eTved four terms in the Legislature, at the age of twenty-five, in 1884, and serving until 1842.
 When nearly thirty-three years of Lge Lincoln was married to Mary odd of Springfield. The wedding vas held in a private house on No- -ember 4, 1s42, and was an important unction, for it was the first Eptsco- allan wedding that good society in .pringfield had witnessed.
 During the wedding ceremony Lin oln is said to have startled old Judge srown, of the Illinois Supreme Court yhen, in lawyerlike terms, he is re- orted to have turned to the bride nd said:
 Rebuked at Wedding with this ring I thee endow with lentS-"