Abraham Lincoln, and the downfall of American slavery

Front matter

EDITED BY

Evelyn Bbbott, /Ift.H.

FELLOW OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD

Preface

In writing this brief biography, I have been moved by a desire to give to the present generation who will never know aught of Abraham Lincoln but what is traditional, a life-like picture of the man as many men knew him. To do this, it has been necessary to draw material from various sources, to paint in a background of the history of the times in which he lived, and to place the illustrious subject in his true relation, as far as possible, to the events in which he was so large a participant. So far as I have been able, I have subordinated the events to the man.

In the preparation of the work, I have been greatly helped by many authors ; and I have been especially indebted to the writings of Colonel Ward H. Lamon, the Hon. Isaac N. Arnold, Dr. J. G. Holland, John G. Nicolay, and Colonel John Hay. It was my good fortune to know Lincoln with some degree of intimacy, our acquaintance beginning with the Fremont campaign of 1856, when I was a resident of Illinois, and continuing through the Lincoln-Douglas canvass, two years later. That relation became more intimate and confidential

VI

PREFACE.

when, in 1862, I met Lincoln in Washington and saw him almost daily until his tragical death. This preliminary egotism may be pardoned by way of explanation of the fact that many things relating to his early life, herein set down, were derived from his own lips, often during hours of secluded companionship. If this little book shall give new and inspiring views of Lincoln to the Englishspeaking people, I shall be grateful that I have been permitted to write it.

NOAH BROOKS.

Preface To New Edition

The character of Abraham Lincoln, as the years pass, becomes grander and more heroic ; and as is usual when a commanding figure slowly rises conspicuous in the history of humanity, traditions and myths are already beginning to cluster around his illustrious personality. The simplest truth is always best ; and the simpler and more direct the biographical sketch of Abraham Lincoln, the more deeply will his image be impressed upon the heart of that “ common people ” whom he loved so well and of which he was the noblest representative. In this book it has been the author’s aim to present such a picture of Lincoln and his times as shall leave upon the mind of the reader a definite and authoritative likeness of the man whose name is now enrolled highest among the types of our National ideals.

Chapter I. The Lincoln Ancestry

PAGE

Condition of the People at the End of the War for Independence — Migrations of the Earlier Lincolns — A Tragedy in the Wilderness Abraham Lincoln’s Parents in Kentucky — Birth of the Future President— The Old Kentucky Home — Another Migration — A Great Disaster in Indiana ......... I

Chapter II. The Boyhood Of Lincoln

The Lincoln Home in Indiana — Hard Times — The Boy of the Backwoods — Log-Cabin Building — Abraham Lincoln’s First Letter —

The Funeral in the Wilderness — The Boy’s First Book . .12

Chapter III. Young Manhood

Thomas Lincoln’s Second Marriage — Improvements in the Backwoods Home — More Books for the Boy — His Horizon Enlarges — He Learns to be Thorough — Down the Mississippi-— A Glimpse of Slavery — Coming out of the Wilderness 27

Chapter IV. The Lincolns In Illinois

The Land of Full-Grown Men — Lincoln Attains His Majority — Striking out for Himself — Another River Voyage — An Odd Introduction to New Salem— Some Rough-and-Tumble Discipline — The Backwoodsman Conquers Friends — He Vanquishes English Grammar ........... 44 ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Chapter V. A Plunge Into Politics

Young Lincoln’s Growing Passion for Knowledge — Candidate for the State Legislature — Captain in the Black Hawk War — A Gathering of Men Since Famous — Hardships of the Volunteer Soldiers — Stump-Speaking and Defeat — Lincoln as a Country Merchant- Lawyer and Surveyor .........

Chapter VI. The Young Politician

Elected to the Legislature — Stump Speaker and Political Debater — Encounters on the Stump — The Lincoln-Stone Protest against Slavery — “The Long Nine” — Removal of the State Capital to Springfield — Compliments to the Sangamon Chief — Lincoln a Full-Fledged Lawyer — Riding the Illinois Circuit — Distinguished Associates at the Bar — Lincoln as a Harrison Man

Chapter VII. Winning His Way

His First Love Affair — A Disappointment — Dark Days — The Lincoln- Shields “ Duel ” — Good Advice on the Subject of Quarrelling— Lincoln and Van Buren — A Roadside Symposium — Congressional Expectations ..........

Chapter VIII. The Rising Politician

Lincoln’s Admiration of Henry Clay — An Irresponsive Idol — Slavery and the Tariff — Lincoln Elected to Congress — The Mexican War A Queer Nickname — Rise of the Free-Soil Party — Election of Gen. Taylor — Return to Springfield— The Boys of Lincoln — A Shiftless Relative ..........

Chapter IX. Lincoln The Lawyer

An Honest Advocate and Counsellor — The Snow Boys and Old Man Case — Famous Lawsuits about Negroes — Jack Armstrong’s Son on Trial for Murder — Lincoln’s Vindication of His Old Friend - — How the Attorney Looked and Spoke .....

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TOO

TABLE OF CONTENTS . XI

Chapter X. A Great Awakening

PAGE

Stupor before Excitement — A Dead Sea of Politics — Repeal of the Missouri Compromise — The Migration to Kansas — Lincoln and Douglas Meet Again — A Memorable Debate — Lincoln Withdraws from the Canvass — Lyman Trumbull Elected to the Senate . .131

Chapter XI. The Kansas Struggle

Freedom and Slavery Wrestle with Each Other — “ Bleeding Kansas ”

— The Troubles of Slave-Owners — The Irrepressible Conflict — Lincoln’s Slowness and Reticence ...... 144

Chapter XII. The Coming Man

Birth of the Republican Party — Nomination of Fremont — The Party Lines Drawn — A Virulent Campaign — Election of James Buchanan — Kansas Reluctant to Consent to Slavery . . . . . T 53

Chapter XIII. Lincoln And Douglas

The Famous Contest for the Senatorship — A Battle of Giants — Douglas and Lincoln Compared — Two Self-Made Men — Lincoln’s Autobiography— A Series of Famous Debates — The Country Intent on the Struggle — A Great Lesson in American Politics . . . 161

Chapter XIV. After A Great Struggle

Condition of the Two Contestants — The Crocodile and the Negro — Douglas in the South — Lincoln Nominated by Illinois Republicans — The Rail-Splitting Candidate — Some Pithy Sayings — Lincoln Speaks in New York — The Man From Illinois . . . .179

Chapter XV. Elected To The Presidency

Rending of the Democratic Party — The National Convention of i860 — Lincoln Nominated at Chicago— A Memorable Scene — Popular Enthusiasm — Four Tickets in the Field — Lincoln’s Great Triumph, 190

TABLE OF CONTENTS .

xii

Chapter XVI. After The Election

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The President-Elect and the Office-Seekers — A Policy Demanded— Treason in Buchanan’s Cabinet — Organization of the Rebel Confederacy— Alarm in the North — The Star of the West Fired on —

A Peace Congress in the Face of War ...... 204

Chapter XVII. From Springfield To Washington

Eincoln’s Farewell to His Fellow-Townsmen — Prayers for the President-Elect— Rush of the People to See Him — A Series of Remarkable Speeches — Why the President would Wear a Beard — Rumors of Assassination — The Night Journey from Harrisburg to the . Capital ........... 220

CHAPTER XVIII. Lincoln’s inauguration

A Notable Gathering in Washington — The First Inaugural Address— How it was received North and South — Precautions against Plots — Formation of the Cabinet — Representative Men . % . 237

Chapter XIX. President Abraham Lincoln

In the White House — Assembling of the Rebel Congress — Rebel Emissaries Sent to Washington — A Vigorous Policy Clamored for — The First Gun at Sumter — Great Excitement throughout the Republic — A Nation in Arms — Attack on the Sixth Massachusetts — Notable Deaths. ........... 252

Chapter XX. Beginning Of The Great Struggle

The Combatants Face to Face — The First Battle of Bull Run — The Sting of Defeat — George B. McClellan — Effect of the Great Disaster — A Message to Congress — Men and Money Voted — How Foreign Nations Regarded the Struggle — Seizure and Release of Mason and Slidell . . . . . . . . .276

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Xlll

Chapter XXI. The Slavery Question Arises

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Fremont s Troubles in Missouri — His Policy Disapproved by the President — Gen. Hunter’s Proclamation Revoked — Irritation in the Border States — Lincoln Invites a Conference — Arming the Freedmen Proposed — Lincoln’s Letter to Horace Greeley — The Emancipation Proclamation Issued ...... 294

Chapter XXII. A Difficult Military Situation

Creation and Equipment of an Army — The Federal Military Plan — Retirement of General Scott — General McClellan in Full Command— Appearance of General U. S. Grant — Fall of Forts Henry and Donelson — Criticism of McClellan — Death of the President’s Son Willie — Military Operations on the Peninsula — McClellan’s Extraordinary Delays — His Advice to the President — Halleck Made General-in-Chief — A Conference of Loyal Governors — The Second Bull Run Defeat — Antietam — McClellan Relieved of His Command ........... 318

Chapter XXIII. The Turning Of The Tide

The Battle of Fredericksburg — Rise of the Peace Party — Factions in Congress — The Battle of Chancellorsville — A Conscription Ordered and Martial Law Declared — Colored Troops Enlisted — Great Financial Measures Afoot — Vallandigham’s Expulsion and Return — Growth of the Anti-War Sentiment — Fall of Vicksburg and Battle of Gettysburg — Popular Rejoicings — The President’s Proclamation of Thanksgiving — Draft Riots in New York — Lincoln’s Address on the Field of Gettysburg — Grant and Sherman in the West ........... 349

Chapter XXIV. Political Complications

A “ President-Making” Congress — Activity of Lincoln’s Opponents — Grant Appointed Lieutenant-General — Beginning of an Aggressive Campaign — Federal Successes in the Southwest — Sheridan in the Valley of the Shenandoah — Political Troubles in Missouri — Lincoln Renominated — McClellan the Democratic Nominee — A Diversion in Favor of Fremont — Peace Negotiations at Niagara

XIV TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE

■ — Five Hundred Thousand Men Called Out — Lincoln Re-elected — Renewed Talk of Peace — A Peace Conference at Hampton Roads — “ The President’s Last, Shortest, and Best Speech” —

The Second Inauguration. ....... 384

Chapter XXV. The Family In The White House

Plain Living and Simple Manners — Lincoln’s Kindness and His Righteous Wrath — The Sons of Lincoln — The Boy of the White House- — Threats of Assassination — The President’s Dealing with Office-Seekers — Sundry Anecdotes 416

Chapter XXVI. The President And His Cabinet

Popular Expectation that Secretary Seward would be the Leading Spirit of the New Administration — Mr. Lincoln’s Firmness and Kindness with the Secretary of State — Mr. Stanton’s Criticisms of Lincoln — Why Secretary Cameron Left the Cabinet — The Exit of Postmaster-General Blair — Secretary Chase’s Restiveness — His Subsequent Appointment as Chief- Justice — The President Deferred to the Ministers • .429

Chapter XXVII. End Of A Strange Eventful History

Symptoms of a Collapse of the Confederacy — Lee Seeks a Parley with Grant — The Fall of Richmond — Flight of the Rebel Government— Lincoln in the Former Rebel Capital — He Goes to the Front — The Surrender of Lee — Great Joy of the People — The National Capital in a Frenzy of Delight— Lincoln’s Last Public

Speech — His Death and Funeral — Conclusion. .... 444 INDEX 463

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS,

FACING PAGE

Statue of Lincoln in Chicago .... Frontispiece

The Half-Faced Camp 12

The Funeral Sermon of Nancy Lincoln . * ... 22

Lincoln’s Early Home 28

The Boy Lincoln 30

Examples in Arithmetic ........ 37

A Mississippi Flat-Boat 40

A Country Store 50

Lincoln’s Wrestle with Armstrong ...... 52

Lincoln Saves the Indian 60

Lincoln as a Surveyor 68

The Log-Cabin Campaign ........ q6

The Lincoln Home at Springfield 116

Kansas Emigrant Train 144

“Wide-Awake” Procession — 1860 200

Lincoln’s First Inauguration 238

The National Capital 244

Fort Sumter during the Bombardment — 1861 .... 258

Fac-Simile of the Gettysburg Address . . . . .379

North Front of the White House ...... 418

Portrait of Robert Lincoln . 420

Portrait of “Tad” Lincoln . 422

THE LIFE

OF

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

Chapter I. The Lincoln Ancestry

Condition of tlie People at the end of the War for Independence — Migrations of the earlier Lincolns — A Tragedy in the Wilderness — Abraham Lincoln’s Parents in Kentucky — Birth of the Future President — The old Kentucky Home — Another Migration — A Great Disaster in Indiana.

AT the end of the war of the American Revolution the condition of the people of the United States was one of deep poverty. The credit of the government was not good. Money was scarce. There was no mint for coinage of American specie, and the paper currency authorized by the Continental Congress was very low in value. Immediately after the end of the war, the young republic had had a slight wave of prosperity. Various kinds of useful manufactures had been established, and people dwelling in cities were at ease, and they who dwelt on plantations and farms were plentifully supported by the yields of their acres, flocks, and herds.

THE LIFE OF LINCOLN.

But this did not last long. Very soon, the country was deluged with English goods, and, instead of being large exporters, the people of the United States imported more than they sent away. During the two years next succeeding the declaration of peace, the value of goods imported from England was about thirty million dollars, while those exported did not amount to nine millions. At the beginning of 1783, the public debt of the republic was about forty-two millions, and the debts of the separate States, added together, were about one half of that sum. Specie went rapidly out of the country to pay for imports, and the almost worthless currency remaining was all that the people had for daily use.

So great was this depression among the towns and villages of the old thirteen States, that many families began to turn their eyes and thoughts westward, where, it was said, was a land of plenty. There, at least, the soil yielded abundantly ; the forests were filled with game, the rivers with fish, and the prime necessities of human life were easily met. Among those who went with this wave of Western migration was the family of Lincoln, from which was to spring, in years to come, the President of illustrious name.

The Lincolns originally came from England, settling in Hingham, Massachusetts, about the year 1638. Thence to Pennsylvania went Mordecai Lincoln, the great-greatgrandfather of the President. The later Lincolns who moved westward in 1782, at the period of which we have just spoken, were Abraham Lincoln, and Mordecai, Josiah,

LINCOLN'S EARLY ANCESTORS.

and Thomas, his sons. They went from Rockingham County, Virginia, to Mercer County, Kentucky, in the year before mentioned. At that time, Kentucky was a part of the great State of Virginia. It was almost an untrodden wilderness, and the few settlers who were scattered over its vast area were brave, hardy, adventurous, and sometimes terrible men. To the savages who roamed the forests they were indeed a terror and a constant threat. The Indians, irritated by the unceasing incoming of the whites, and vainly thinking that they could stem the tide that poured in upon them, were always at war with the intruders, and they omitted no opportunity to pick them off singly, or to drive them out by sudden and deadly attacks on small settlements.

Abraham Lincoln, grandfather of the President, entered four hundred acres of land on the south side of Licking Creek, under a government warrant. He built a log-cabin near the military post, known as Fort Beargrass, the site of the present city of Louisville, Kentucky. Here the family began to open their farm, breaking up the virgin soil and planting their first crops. In the second year of their Kentucky settlement, Abraham Lincoln and his son Thomas being at work in the field, a sneaking Indian waylaid the twain, and, firing from the brush, killed the father at his task. Mordecai and Josiah, the elder brothers, were chopping in the forest near at hand, and, while Josiah ran to the fort for help, Mordecai dashed into the cabin and seized the ever-ready rifle. Looking through one of the port-holes cut in the logs, he saw the Indian, who, taking

THE LIFE OF LINCOLN .

advantage of the flight of the boys, had seized little Tom, then only six years old, and was making off with him to the woods. Levelling his rifle, Mordecai shot and killed the Indian, and as he dropped to the ground, the boy, liberated by the death of his would-be captor, sprang to his feet and fled to the cabin where the future father of the President was clasped in his mother’s arms. J osiah speedily returned from the fort with a party of settlers who took up the bodies of Abraham Lincoln and his slayer.

This scene, as may be imagined, made a deep impression on the minds of the three boys. It is said that Mordecai, standing over the form of his slain father, on the soil to be known for generations thereafter as “ the dark and bloody ground,” vowed that that precious life should be richly paid for in Indian blood. Certain it is that, from that time forth, Mordecai Lincoln was the mortal enemy of the red man, and many an Indian fell before his terrible rifle.

By this lamentable death, the widow of Abraham Lincoln was left alone to care for five children — Mordecai, Josiah, Thomas, Mary, and Nancy. Of their struggles and hardships we know nothing positively; but these can be imagined. Poverty oppressed the entire republic. In the wilderness of Kentucky, there were few gleams of light, no schools, scanty means for acquiring even the art of reading and writing, and no apparent need of the higher branches of a common-school education. In the hard, rude life of the frontier, in ignorance and poverty, the father of the President grew to man’s estate. In later

A BRA II AM LINCOLN'S PARENTS.

years, his son Abraham, asked to tell what he knew of his father’s life, said : “ My father, at the time of the death of his father, was but six years old, and he grew up literally without education.” He was a tall, well-built, and muscular man, quick with his rifle, an expert hunter, good-natured and easy-going, but neither industrious nor enterprising. Unable to read until after his marriage, he invariably put on his lack of education all responsibility for his failures in life ; and these were many. To his credit it should be said that he resolved that no child of his should ever be crippled as he had been for lack of knowledge of the commonest rudiments of learning.

While yet a lad, he hired himself to his uncle, Isaac Lincoln, then living on a claim that he had taken on Watauga Creek, a branch of the Holson River. Manual labor filled the years of Tom’s young manhood. Felling forests, breaking up the soil, building the rude cabins of the time, and rearing the crops needed for the sustenance of the hardy settlers and their broods—these were the occupations of those years. The woods were thickly tenanted by bears, deer, catamounts, and other wild creatures, and so far as hunting was a diversion from toil, this amusement was ready in abundance. But hunting was necessary for procuring meat for the table and furs and skins for clothing and for barter with distant trading-posts. Thomas Lincoln was a laboring man, working for others, and compelled to take for wages whatever he could get in a region where every man wrought with his own hands and few hired from others.

THE LIFE OF LINCOLN .

Thomas Lincoln was married, in 1806, to Nancy Hanks, formerly of Virginia. The young bride was taken by her husband to a rude log-cabin that he had built for himself near Nolin Creek, in what is now Larue County, Kentucky. The region was well covered with timber, and, where cleared and planted, bore good harvests. It was a picturesque and rolling country, and some of the hills rise to the dignity of mountains. One of these is called Shiny Mountain and another is known as Blue Ball. Here and there were clearings, and smiling fields were gradually taking the place of pathless woods.

In this cabin, February 12, 1809, was born Abraham Lincoln, who was to be the 16th President of the United States. While he was yet an infant, the family removed to another log-cabin not far distant, and in these two homes Abraham Lincoln spent the first seven years of his life. One sister, Sarah, was a year older than he ; and one brother, Thomas, two years younger, died in infancy. Mrs. Lincoln was described by her son Abraham as of medium stature, dark, with soft and rather mirthful eyes. She was a woman of great force of character and passionately fond of reading. Every book on which she could lay hands was eagerly read, and her son said, years afterwards, that his earliest recollection of his mother was of his sitting at her feet with his sister, drinking in the tales and legends that were read or related to them by the house-mother.

Theirs was a very humble and even poverty-stricken home. The mother was used to the rifle, and not only

THE OLD KENTUCKY HOME.

did she bring down the bear, or deer, and dress its flesh for the family table, but her skilful hand wrought garments and moccasins and head-gear from the skins. The most vivid impression that we have of the mother of Abraham Lincoln is one of sadness, toil, and unremitting anxiety. That was a hard life for a sensitive and slender woman which was led by the mother of the President The country was very poor in all that makes life easy. The little family was far from any considerable settlement. Father and mother were alike religious and resolved to bring up their children in the fear of God ; but places of worship, schools, and all the means of even a common education were not near at hand. Mrs. Lincoln taught her two children their first lessons in the alphabet and spelling. When Abraham was in his seventh year, Zachariah Riney came into the vicinity and the lad was sent to his school. Riney was a Catholic and the Protestant children that attended his humble school were withdrawn from the little log school-house whenever any religious exercises were held. In later years, Lincoln spoke of this his first schoolmaster with respect and esteem, although Riney did not long continue to teach the future President. Later on, Caleb Hazel, a spirited and manly young fellow, succeeded Riney as teacher, and Abraham attended his school three months. So rare were opportunities for going to school in those days, that Lincoln never forgot the lessons he learned of Caleb Hazel and the pleasure that he felt in that great event of his life — going to school.

THE LITE OF LINCOLN*.

In those primitive times, preaching was usually had under the trees or in the cabins of those few who were so fortunate as to have a bigger roof than most of their neighbors. Lincoln was a full-grown lad when he first saw a church, and it was only from the lips of wandering preachers, devoted men of God, that he heard the words of Christian doctrine, reproof, and admonition. At long intervals, Parson Elkin, a Baptist preacher, took his way through the region in which the Lincolns lived, and young Abraham, fascinated by hearing long discourses fall from the lips of the speaker, apparently without any previous study or preparation, never failed to travel far, if necessary, to attend on his simple services. The boy’s first notion of public speaking were taken from the itinerant, and, years afterwards, the President referred to the preacher as the most wonderful man known to his boyish experience.

Thomas Lincoln wearied of his Kentucky home. There was great trouble in getting land titles; even Daniel Boone, the pioneer and surveyor of the land, upon whom had been conferred a great grant, was shorn of much of his lawful property, and a cloud was laid on nearly every man’s right to own his homestead. Slavery, too, was asserting itself in the region, and, although a dislike for the institution of slavery did not unsettle Thomas Lincoln, it is likely that the fact that he was too poor to own slaves and would be brought into direct relations with men who could own this peculiar kind of property, helped to make him dissatisfied with his sur

ANOTHER MIGRATION .

roundings. But the real cause of his hankering after a new home was probably his thriftlessness. Like many another pioneer, he saw something better far ahead. The tales of wonderfully rich soil, abundant game, fine timber, and rich pasturage that came to Kentucky from Indiana were just like the rosy reports of the riches and attractions of Kentucky that had enticed the elder Lincolns from their home in Virginia, years before. So Thomas resolved to “pull up stakes” and move on, still to the westward.

Thomas found a new-comer who was willing to take his partly-improved farm and log-cabin for ten barrels of whiskey and twenty dollars in cash. This represented three hundred dollars in value, and was the price that he had set upon his homestead. Whiskey made from corn was, in those days, one of the readiest forms of currency in the trading and barter continually going on among the settlers ; and even where drunkenness was almost unknown, the fiery spirit was regarded as a perfectly legitimate article of daily use and a substitute for money in trade. Aided by his boys, Thomas Lincoln built a flat-boat, and, launching it on the turbid waters of the Rolling Fork, which empties into the Ohio, he loaded it with his ten barrels of whiskey and the heavier articles of household furniture. Then, pushing off alone, but followed by the hurrahs of his two children, he floated safely down to the Ohio. Here he met with a great disaster. Caught between eddying currents, and entangled in the snags and “ sawyers ” that beset the stream, Lincoln’s frail craft was upset and much of his stuff was lost. With assistance, the boat was

IO

THE LIFE OF LINCOLN .

righted, and, with what had been saved from the wreek, Thomas Lincoln landed at Thompson's Ferry, found an ox-cart to transport his slender stock of valuables into the forest, and finally piled them in an oak-opening in Spencer County, Indiana, about eighteen miles from the river.

Left at home, in their dismantled cabin, with a scanty supply of provisions, the mother and little ones made the most of their time. The two children attended Caleb Hazel’s school, but Abraham found time to snare game for the family dinner-pot, and, in an emergency, the house-mother could knock over a deer at long range. One bedticking, filled with dried forest leaves and husks, sufficed for their rest at night, and, bright and early in the morning, the future President was out in the nipping autumn

air, chopping wood for the day’s fire. As the time drew near for the father’s return, Mrs. Lincoln leading her living boy, paid her last visit to the grave of the little one whom she had lost in infancy. And his sad mother’s prayers and tears by the side of the unmarked mound in the wilderness, soon to be left behind by the emigrants, made an impression on the mind of the lad that time never effaced.

But when Thomas Lincoln returned to his small brood, it was not with any boastfulness. He had met with what was to them a great loss. Much of their meagre stock of household stuff and farming tools was at the bottom of the Ohio River. Leaving the rescued fragments in care of a friendly settler, he had made a bee-line for the old Kentucky home ; and here he was with a flattering report

SEEKING A NEW HOME.

II of the richness of the land to which they were bound to go.

It was a long journey that was before them. Procuring two horses and loading them with the household stuff and wardrobe of the family, Thomas Lincoln, wife, and two children took up their line of march for the new home in Indiana. At night, they slept on the fragrant pine twigs ; and by day they plodded their way toward the Ohio River. They were like true soldiers of fortune, subsisting on the country through which they marched. Here and there, it was needful to clear their way through tangled thickets, and now and again they came to streams that must be forded or swum. By all sorts of expedients, the little family contrived to get on from day to day, occupying a week in this transit from one home to another. The nights were cool but pleasant. No rain fell on them in the way, and when, after a week of free and easy life in the woods, they came to the bank of the river and looked over into the promised land, they saw nothing but forest, almost trackless forest, stretching far up and down the stream, silent save for its ripplings and the occasional note of some wandering bird.

Chapter II. The Boyhood Of Lincoln

The Lincoln Home in Indiana — Hard Times — The Boy of the Backwoods — Log-Cabin Building — Abraham’s Lincoln’s First Letter — The Funeral in the Wilderness — The Boy’s First Book.

INDIANA had been admitted into the Union as a State, and the tide of immigration setting into the new State was full and far spreading. But neighbors were not uncomfortably near the Lincolns in their new home. Picking up their property left in charge of one of the scattered settlers by Thomas Lincoln on his first visit, the forlorn family pushed on into the wilderness, where on a grassy knoll in the heart of the untrodden forest, they fixed upon the site of their future dwelling-place.

A slight hunter’s camp was all that could be built to shelter the new settlers during their first winter in the woods of Southern Indiana. This was what was sometimes called a “ half-faced camp,” open on one side and that the lower. Four uprights, forked at the top, formed the corner-posts, the rear being higher than the front. On these corner-poles were laid the cross-pieces needed to form the edges of the roof, and across these were the sloping rafters, covered with split “ shakes ” or thin slabs