The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1926-02-12

to justify belief in the ca
pacity OF the common people than
the fact that Idncoln's great heart
and brain sprang from poor. inlet
tere@ ancestry and We're nourished
in the fertile soil OF backwoods life.
Lincoln was born In Hardin County.
Kentucky. Feb. IL. 1909. His log
cabin home was but a shade better
than an Indiana lodge; his food and
clothing We're more often trophies
OF the chase than products of the
soil. The school was nearly five
miles distant, and the teacher was
competent to teach only reading,
writing and elementary arithmetic.
At 81 Lincoln possessed only six
books-the Bible. Pilgrims Prog
ress," "Aesop's Fables" THE Ara
bian Nights" life of Washington
and the statutes Of Indiana He had
also. from seeing AN occasional
Louisville or Vincennes newspaper,
committed to memory a number Of
Henry Clay's speeches which APP
peared in these publications.
The conditions of life in southern
Indiana, whittier the family re-
moved in 1916, were as primitive as
In Kentucky. Here on the farm
near Gentryville-now Lincoln City
near the Ohio River, >Iincoln's
brave young mother died for lack OF
medical attendance. in 1918. To his
mother. who urged him to learn all
he could and be OF some account In
the world and to his capable step
mother. with her sympathy and in
sight, he owed much in the shaping
of his character. Honesty. loyalty
and affection, willing service. and
striving after every kind OF good
marked the twenty-one years he
spent under his fathers various
roofs. For good measure he added
six months to help the family estab-
lish themselves in the new hone on
Sangamon River, Illinois, In 1890.
He helped build the cabin, cleared
land for corn. and split walnut rails
to fence the clearing. Thirty years
later some of those rails, carried IN
to the convention at Chicago, by
John Hanks, his relative, helped win
for him the nomination for the
presidency. Little he thought OF
such a thing. when in the autumn
OF 1880, he tied HIS extra shirts and
home-knit socks in big cotton
handkerchief. and turned his face to
the nearest settlement of New
Salem-to begin life as a man.
Went to New Orleans
He made two voyages on flatboats
TO New Orleans, served as-captaln Of
the Clary's Grove boys, company
Of volunteers in the Black Hawk
War. clerlxed in a store, acted as
village postmaster, carrying all the
mail in his hat; and learned survey
ing. AS a trader he was failure,
but his moral. social, and mental
gifts made him leader. In 1894,
he was chosen by the Wings Of his
district to represent them in the
Legislature. Self-educated, he passed
the examination for admission to
practice law in 1897. When Spring
field became the capital of Illinois
in 1897, he removed to that city,
and 1912. refused to serve further In
tho legislature. All his time was
needed TO attend his growing prac-
tice. In 1886, he served one term
in Congress, but the administration
was Democratic and he was Wing,
so there was little chance to dis
tinguish himself. From 1S4S to 1854.
Lincoln was out of politics, but he
was making a reputation as a lawyer
and as an orator. The passage of
the Kansas Nebraska bill prepared
by Stephen A. Douglas. Democratic
Senator from Illinois. alarmed the
Wings of the north to vigorous re-
sistance against the threatened
spread of slavery. Lincoln soon be-
came the leader of the opposition in
the West. He returned to the I'LL
nois legislature and helped organize
the new Republican party. In the
first national convention of the Re
publicans his name was presented by
the Illinois delegation as it's candi-
date for the vice presidency In
1858, his fame became national
through his contest with Douglas
for the United State Senatorship.
in the course Of which occurred the