Life of Abraham Lincoln : his early history, political career, speeches in and out of Congress, together with many characteristic stories and yarns by and concerning Lincoln which has earned for him the sobriquet, "The story telling Lincoln"

Front matter

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The Institute of Museum and Library Services -through an Indiana State Library LSTA Grant

LIFE OF

Chapter I

Aaeeetry »f Abraham Lincoln— Their Residence in Pennsylvania and Virginia— ■is Grandfather Crosses the Alleghanies to join Boone and his Associatee- "The Dark and Bloody Ground"— His Violent Death— His Widow Settles in Washington County — Thomas Lincoln, his Son, Marries and Locates near Hodgenville— Birth of Abraham Lincoln — LaBue County— Early Life and Training in Kentucky \

CHAPTEB II.

Bemoval from Kentucky— An Emigrant Journey— The Forests of Southern Indiana—New Home— Indiana in 1816— Slavery and Free Labor— Young Lincoln at His Work— His Schools and Schoolmasters— Self- Education— A Characteristic Incident— Acquaintance with Biver Life— His First Trip to New Orleans as a Flatboatman— Death of His Mother— His Father's Second Marriage— Becollections of an Early Settler— Close of an Eventful Period in Young Lincoln's History „ 3

CHAPTEB III.

The French Settlements" The North-West — The Advance of Emigration — Four Great States Founded— North and South in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois— Sentiments of Southern Emigrants— The First Emigrations— A Coincidence of Dates— Mordecai and Josiah Lincoln — Bemoval to Illinois— Settlement on the San-

Samon, in Macon County — Locality Described — Abraham Lincoln Engaged in plitting Bails— Bemoval of His Father— He Settles in Coles County— Abraham Lincoln makes another Trip as a Flatboatman — Becomes Clerk in a Store on | His Betum— Postmaster at lnew Salem „ M If

CHAPTEB IV.

dng Out of the Black Hawk War— The Invasion of 1831— The Bock -river country Threatened— Prompt Action of Gov. Beynolds — Betreat of Black Hawk— Treaty of 1804— Bad Faith of the Indians— Invasion of 1832— Volunteers Called For— Abraham Lincoln one ef a Company from Menard County- He is chosen Captain— Bendezvous at Beardstown— Hard Marches across the Country to Oquawka, Prophetstown, and Dixon — Expected Battle Avoided by the Enemy — Discontent among Volunteers — They are Disbanded — Captain Lincoln Be mains, Volunteering for Another Term of Service— Skirmishing Fights — Arrival of New Levies — Encounter at Kellogg's Grove — Black Hawk at Fom Lakes — He Betreats — Battle on the Wisconsin — Hastens Forward to the Mir* slssippi— Battle of Bad-ax— End of Lincoln's First Campaign — Autobiographic Note W

CHAPTEB V.

4 New Period in Mr. Lincoln's Life— His Political Opinions— Clay and Jackson— Mr. Lincoln a Candidate for Representative — Election in 1834 — Illinois Strongly Democratio— Mr. Lincoln as a Surveyor— Land Speculation Mania— Mr. Lineoln's First Appearance in the Legislature — Banks and Internal Improvements—Whig Measures Democratically Botched — First Meeting of Lincoln with Douglas — The Latter Seeks an Office of the Legislature, and Gets it— Mr. Lincoln Be-elected in 1836 — Mr. Douglas also a Member of the House — Distinguished Associates — Internal Improvements Again — Mr. Lincoln's Views on Slavery- The Capital Bemoved te Springfield— The New Metropolis — Revulsion ef 1887 — Mr. Lincoln Chosen for a Third Term— John Calhoun, of Lecompton Memory— Lincoln the Whig Leader, and Candidate for Speaker— Close Vets—

I fl CONTENTS.

Wint Session at Springfield— Lincoln Re-elected In 1840— Partisan Remodeling of the Supreme Court— Lincoln Declines Further Service in the Legislature— His Position as a Statesman at the Close of this Period— Tribune of the People, II

CHAPTER VI.

Mr. Lincoln's Law Studies — His Perseverance under Adverse Circumstances — Licensed to Practice in 1836 — His Progress in his Profession— His Qualities as an Advocate— A Romantic and Excitine Incident in his Practice — Reminiaceac* of his Early Life — Secures an Acquittal in a Murder Case, in Spite of a Strong Popular Prejudice Against the Prisoner — Affecting Scene — Mr. Lincoln Rsnaoves to Springfield in 1837 — Devotes Himself to his Profession, Giving up Political Life — His Marriage— Family of Mrs. Lincoln — Fortunate Domestic Relations — His Children and their Education — Denominational Tendencies — Four Year's Retirement „ 80

CHAPTER VII.

Mr. Lincoln's Devotion to Henry Clay — Presidential Nominations of 1844 — The Campaign in Illinois — Mr. Lincoln makes an Active Canvass for Clay — John CaJhoun the Leading Polk Elector — The Tariff Issue Thoroughly Discussed — Mechod of Conducting the Canvass — "Whigs of Illinois in a Hopeless Minority — Mr. Lincoln's Reputation as a Whig Champion — Renders Efficient Service in Indiana— Mr. Clay's Defeat, and the Consequences — Mr. Lincoln a Candidate for Congressman in 1846 — President Polk's Administration — Condition of the Country— Texas Annexation, the Mexican War, and the Tariff— Political Character of the Springfield District— Lincoln Elected by an Unprecedented Majority — His Personal Popularity Demonstrated ttt

CHAPTER VIII.

The Thirtieth Congress — Its Political Character — The Democracy in a Minority in the House — Robert C. Winthrop Elected Speaker — Distinguished Members in both Houses — Mr. Lincoln takes his Seat as a Member of the House, and Mr. Douglas for the first time as a Member of the Senate, at the same Session — Mr. Lincoln's Congressional Record that of a Clay and Webster Whig — The Mexican War — Mr. Lincoln's Views on the Subject — Misrepresentations — Not an Available Issue for Mr. Lincoln's Opponents — His Resolutions of Inquiry in Regard to the Origin of the War — Mr. Richardson's Resolutions Indorsing ihe Administration — Mr. Richardson's Resolutions for an Immediate Discontinuance of the War— Are Voted Against by Mr. Lincoln— Resolutions of Thanks to Gen. Taylor — Mr. Henley's Amendment, and Mr. Ashmun's Addition thereto — Resolutions Adopted without Amendment — Mr. Lincoln's First Speech in Congress, on the Mexican War — Mr. Lincoln on Internal Improvements— A Characteristic Campaign Speech — Mr. Lincoln on the Nomination of Gen. Taylor ; the Veto Power ; National Issues ; President and People ; Wilmot Proviso ; Platforms ; Democratic Sympathy for Clay ; Military Heroes and Exploits ; Cass a Progressive ; Extra Pay ; the Whigs and the Mexican War ; Democratic Divisions — Close of the Session — Mr. Lincoln on the Stump— Gen. Taylor's Election— Second Session of the Thirtieth Congress— Slavery in the District of Columbia— The Public Lands— Mr. Lincoln as a Congressman— He Retires to Private life , 71

CHAPTER IX.

'■iir. Lincoln in Retirement for Five Years — Gen. Taylor's Administration — The Slavery Agitation of 1850— The Compromise of Clay and Fillmore— The " Final Settlement " of 1852— How, and by Whom it was Disturbed — Violation of the Most Positive Pledges — The Kansas-Nebraska Bill — Douglas, the Agitator- Popular Indignation and Exoitement — Mr. Lincoln Takes part in the Canvass of 1864— Great Political Changes— The Anti-Nebraska Organization— Springfield Resolutions of 1854— Results of the Election— A Majority of Congressmen and of the Legislature Anti-Nebraska — Election of United States Senator to Succeed Gen. Shields— Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Trumbull— A Magnanimous Sacrifice- Mr. Trumbull Elected Ill

CHAPTER X.

The Republican Party Organized— Their Platform Adopted at Bloomington— The Canvass of 1856 — Mr. Lincoln Sustains Fremont and Dayton — His Active Lahore on the Stump— Col. Bissell Elected Governor of Illinois — Mr. Buchanan Inaugurated— His Kansas Policy — Mr. Douglas Committed to it in June, 1857 — John Calhoun his Special Friend— The Springfield Speech of Douglas— Mr. Liwoln'i Reply ,....»,.. US

CONTENTS. vtV

OHAPTEB XI.

The Lecompton Struggle— The Policy of Douglas Changed- -He Breaks with th« Administration and Loses Caste at the Sonth — Republican Sympathies — Douglas Falters, but Opposes the English Bill — Passage of that Measure — Democratic State Convention of Illinois — Douglas Indorsed, and Efforts for his Re-election Commenced — The Democratic Bolt — Meeting of the Republican State Convention in June — Mr. Lincoln Named as the First and Only Choice of the Republicans for Senator— His Great Speech Before the Convention at Springfield— Donglas and Lincoln at Chicago — Speeches at Bloomington and Springfield— Unfair eess of the Apportionment Pointed Out by Mr. Lincoln — He Analyzes the Douglas Programme — Seven Joint Debates — Douglas Produces a Bogus Platform, and Propounds Interrogatories — "Unfriendly Legislation" — Lincoln Fully Defines his Position on the Slavery Question — Result of the Canvass — The People for Lincoln ; the Apportionment for Douglas — Public Opinion 14]

CHAPTER XII.

Mr. Lincoln in Ohio — His Speech at Columbus — Denial of the Negro Suffrage Charge—Troubles of Douglas with his "Great Principle "—Territories not States — Doctrines of the Fathers — His Cincinnati Speech — " Shooting Over the Line " — What the Republicans Mean to Do— Plain Questions to the Democracy — The People Above Courts and Congress — Uniting the Opposition — Eastern Tour — The Cooper Institute Speech — Mr. Bryant's Introduction — What the Fathers Held — What will Satisfy the Southern Democracy — Counsels to the Republicans— Mr. Lincoln Among the Children 181

CHAPTER XIII.

The Republican National Convention at Chicago — The Charleston Explosion — '« Constitutional Union " Nominations — Distinguished Candidates Among the Sepublicans — The Platform — The Ballotings — Mr. Lincoln Nominated — Unparalleled Enthusiasm— The Ticket Completed with the Name of Senator Hamlin— Its Reception by the Country— Mr. Lincoln's Letter of Acceptance — Result of the Canvass—His Journey to Washington — Speeches at Springfield1 and Indianopolis. IS*

Chapter VI

Military Events — Inaction on the Potomac— Western Campaign — Capture of New Orleans 8f»

▼Ifi CONTENTS.

CHAPTER Til.

Military Brents la the Baft— The Peninsular Campaign ............ W

CHAPTER Till.

Campaign of the Army of Tlrginia— Withdrawal of the Army of the Potomac ftom the Peninsula— First Invasion of Maryland— McClellan Superseded 384

Chapter ix.

A New Era Inaugurated— Emancipation— Message of the President — Last Session of the Thirty-seventh Congress 419

CHAPTER X.

Summary of Military Movements In the West — Army of the Potomac— General Hooker Superseded— Gen. Meade takes Command— Battle of Gettysburg 437

CHAPTER XI.

The Popular Tolce In 1863— First Session of the Thirty-eighth Congress— Amnesty Proclamation— Message — Orders, Letters, and Addresses — Popular Sentiment in 1864— Appointment of Lieutenant General Grant— Opening of the Military Campaigns of 1864— Conclusion 461

Chapter I

A new Epoch of the War.— Lieutenant-General Grant in the Bast.— Cam] of the Army of the Potomac from the Rapidan to Petersburg.— The ness. — SpottsylvanJa Court House.— The North Anna.— Cold Harbor. — Across the James.— Sheridan's Grand Raid.— Sigel and Hunter in the Shenandoah Valley.—The Army of the James.— Averill and Crook in South-western Tlrginia.— Combined Armies before Petersburg 488

Chapter II

The Campaign in Georgia.— From Chattanooga to Marietta.— Early Movements of Sherman and Thomas.— Capture of Dalton. — Battle of Rosacea.— Retreat of Johnston. — Slight Engagements. — Occupation of Kingston. — Destruction of Rebel Works at Roma.— Adrance to Cassville. — Battle near Dallas and Powder 8pring.— Occupation of Acworth and Big Shanty.— Attempts on Sherman's line of Communications.— Kenesaw Mountain. — Battle of Nickojack Orwk.— Pause at Marietta.— Louisiana and Arkansas.— Another Invasion of Kentucky.— Movements of the Navy M 811

Chapter III

Mr. Lincoln's Administration in issue before the People.— Disadvantages of the Hour.— Opposition in Official Quarters, and on the Union side in Congress.— The "Radical " Movement.— Recapitulation of the Administration Policy in regard to Virginia and Missouri.— Mr. Lincoln's Method with the Insurrectionary 8tatea.— Gen. Fremont's Military Administration in Missouri.— His Removal.— Personality of the Missouri Feud.— How Mr. Lincoln Regarded it.— His Letter to Gen. Schofield.— His Reply to the Demands of the " Radical " Committee.— The Situation in Louisiana.— Military Governorship in Tennessee.— State Re-or-

Eknization in Arkansas.— Factious Opposition.— Uprising of the People for Mr. incoln. — The Baltimore Convention. — The Nominations. — Responses of Mr. Lincoln.— Address of the Methodist General Conference.— The President's Beply „ 681

CONTENTS. II

OHAPTEB IV.

Imgrmi. Ttin Constitutional Amendment prohibiting Slavery. — Its Defeat is the House. — Repeal of the Fugitive Slave Laws. — New Bureaus Established.— Other Important Legislation. — "Reconstruction." — Opposition to the President's Policy. — The Davis Bill.— Disagreement of the two Houses thereon.— Its Final Passage. — The President withholds his Signature.— His Proclamation on the Subject. — The Wade-Davis Manifesto.— Letters of Mr. Lincoln in regard to Matters in New Orleans and St. Louis. — President Lincoln's Speech at the Phil, adelphia Fair. — A Democratic National Convention Called and Postponed. — Clay, Thompson and other Conspirators in Canada. — The Greeley Negotiations with them.— President Lincoln's Action in the Case. — North-western Conspiracy.—The Chicago Nominations and Platform, 1864 601

Chapter V

Military Operations before Petersburg and Richmond, from June to November, 1864.— Gen. Hunter's Campaign. — Movements in the Shenandoah Valley.— Early's Invasion of Maryland.— His Demonstration against Washington. — His Retreat up the Valley, and Second Advance to the Potomac— Burning or Chambersburg. — Successes of Gen Averill. — Battle of Moorfleld.— Gen. Sheridan takes Command in the Valley.— Admiral Farragut before Mobile. — Brilliant Naval Victories.— Movements of Sheridan.— Important Successes in the Valley.—Thanksgiving Proclamation of President Lincoln. 6M

OHAPTEB VI.

Gen. Sherman's Campaign in Georgia.— From Marietta to Atlanta.— Passage of the Chattahoochee.— Rousseau's Raid.— Battles before Atlanta.— Heavy losses of the Rebels after Hood Succeeds Johnston. — Cavalry expeditions under Stoneman and McCook.— Their Failure. — Operations around Atlanta. — Kilpatrick's Raid.— Sherman's Army on the Macon Railroad. — Battle of Jonesboro. — Capture of Atlanta. — Rebel Raids. — Hood's operations in Sherman's Rear. — Prioe's Invasion of Missouri.— General Results of the South-western Campaigns 604

OHAPTEB VII.

The Presidential Canvass of 1864 concluded.— Spirit of the Opposition.— The North-western Conspiracy. — The Issue Concerning the Habeas Corpus and Military Arrests. — Letters of Mr. Lincoln on these Subjects. — Efforts of the Rebel Cabal in Canada to influence the Election. — The State Elections of September and October.— The Voice of the Soldiers.— The Presidential Vote.— The President's Gratitude to the Army and Navy. — Maryland a Free State. — Mr. Lincoln's Speech to Mary landers. — Cipher Dispatches, and Schemes of the Canadian Oabal.—Affairs in Tennessee.— The Canvass in New York. „. 691

CHAPTER VIII.

Second Session of the Thirty-Eighth Congress.— President Lincoln's last Annual Message. — Cabinet Changes. — Mr. Blair withdraws, and Gov. Dennison becomes Postmaster-General. — Mr. Speed Succeeds Judge Bates, as Attorney-General.— Death of Chief Justice Taney.— Mr. Chase his Successor. — Our Belations with Canada.— The Beciprocity Treaty to Terminate.— Call for 300,000 more Soldiers.— Amendment of the Constitution Prohibiting Slavery, Concurred in by the House.— Popular Rejoicing. — The Rebel Treatment of Union Prisoners. — Retaliation Discussed in the Senate, but Repugnant to Public Sentiment. — The Wharncliffe Correspondence. — Testimony of Goldwin Smith.— Peace Memorial from Great Britain.— Correspondence Thereon. — Congratulatory Address of the Workingmen of Great Britain.— Speech of Mr. Lincoln in Beply to the Swedish Minister.— Speech of Mr. Lincoln on the Death of Edward Everett.— Political affairs in Tennessee, Louisiana and Arkansas.— Abortive Peace Negotiations.— Full Details of the Hampton Roads' Conference. — Rebel accounts of the Same.— Affairs in Richmond.— Close of the Thirty-Eighth Congress.— Creation of the Bureau of Freedmen, and other Legislation „ 66|

CHAPTER IX.

Winter Campaigns of 1864-6.— Movement of Sherman from Atlanta to Savannah. —Fort McAllister Carried by Assault.— Communication Opened with Admiral Dahlgren's Fleet. — Savannah Occupied by Sherman.— Movements of Hood and Beauregard.— Campaign in Tennessee.— Battle of Franklin.— The Armies Before Nashville.— Baid of Stoneman and Burbridge.— Battle of Nashville.— Defeat and Bout of Hood's Army.— Movements Against Wilmington.— Failure of the t CONTENTS

Vint Attack on Fort Fisher.— Success of the Second Expedition.— Fort Fisher Captured by Terry and Porter. — Movements of the Army Before Petersburg.— Sherman's Campaign in the Carolines. — Capture of Charleston and Wilmington.—Advance of Sohofield and Terry on Golds boro— Battles of Averysboro and Bentonville. — Occupation of Goldsboro and Union of the Three Armies in North Carolina.— Movement* in Virginia.— Conference at City Point 731

CAeee of President Lincoln's First Term.— Order to Gen. Grant in regard to Peace Negotiations.— The Fourth of March.— Inauguration Ceremonies.— Mr. Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address. — Contrasts. — Cabinet Changes. — Indisposition of the President.— His Speech at the National Hotel on Negro Soldiers in the Bebel Armies.— He Visits Gen. Grant's Headquarters.— The Military Situation.— Conference with his Chief Generals. — Movement of the Forces under Meade and Sheridan. — Fighting near Dinwiddie Court House. — Sheridan's Victory at the Five ForkB. — Attack of Wright and Parke on the Lines before Petersburg.— The Sixth Corps Carry the Enemy's Works. — Petersburg Evacuated. — Pursuit of the Enemy. — Bichmond Taken. — Dispatches of Mr. Lincoln. — The Nation's Joy. — Lee's Army Closely Pressed. — Captures at Sailor's Creek. — Surrender of Lee. — Mr. Lincoln at Bichmond. — His Visit to the City Point Hospital.— His Return to Washington. — Peace Bejoicings. — Speeches of Mr. Lincoln. — Important Proclamations. — Demand on Great Britain for Indemnity. — Closing Military Movements.— Beduction of the Army. — Mr. Lincoln's Last Meeting with His Cabinet.— Celebration at Fort Sumter TM

CHAPTEB XI.

Last Days of Mr. Lincoln. — His Assassination. — Attack on Mr. Seward. — Bemains of Mr. Lincoln lying in State. — Obsequies at Washington. — Bemoval of the Remains to Springfield, Illinois.— Demonstrations along the route.— Obsequies at Springfield.— The Great Crime, its authors and abettors. — The Assassin's End. — The Conspiracy. — Complicity of Jefferson Davis. — How assassins were trained to their work. —Tributes and Testimonials. — Mr. Lincoln as a Lawyer.- - Incidents and Reminiscences. — Additional Speeches. — Letter to Gov. Hahn, on Negro Suffrage. — Letter to Mrs. Gurney.— Letter to a Widow who had lost five Sons in the War. — Letter to a Centenarian. — A Letter written in early life.-^ A Speech made in 1839.— Letter to Mr. Ohoate, on the Pilgrim Fathers.— Letter to Dr. Maclean, on receiving the Degree of LL.D. — Letter to Gov. Fletcher, of Missouri, on the restoration of order.— A message to the Miners. — Speech at Independence Hall in 18el.— Concluding remarks » 7M

PAET I.

Chapter I

MR. LINCOLN'S EARLY BOYHOOD IN KENTUCKY.

Ancestry of Abraham Lincoln. — Their residence in Pennsylvania and Virginia. — His Grandfather Crosses the Alleghanies to join Boone and his Associates. — " The Dark and Bloody Ground." — His Violent Death. — His Widow Settles in Washington County. — Thomas Lincoln, his Son, Marries and Locates near Hodgenville. — Birth of Abraham Lincoln. — La Rue County. — His Early Life and Training in Kentuoky.

The ancestors of Abraham Lincoln were of English descent. We find the earliest definite traces of them in Berk* county, Pennsylvania, though this was almost certainly not the first place of their residence in thi« country. Their location, and their adherence to the Quaker faith, make it probable that the original emigration occurred under the auspices of William Penn. It was doubtless a branch of the same family that, leaving England under different religious impulses, but with the same adventurous and independent spirit, settled, at an earlier date, in Old Plymouth Colony. The separation may possibly have taken place this side of the Atlantic, and not beyond. Some of the same traits appear conspicuously in both these family groups. One tradition indeed affirms that the Pennsylvania branch was transplanted from Hingham, Massacl usetts, and was derived from a common stock with General Benjamin Lincoln, of Revolutionary fame. There is a noticeable coincidence in the general prevalence, in each American branch, of Scriptural names in christening — the Benjamin, Levi, and Ezra, of Massachusetts, having their counterpart in the Abraham, Thomas, and Josiah, of Virginia and Kentucky. The peculiarity is one to have been equally expected among sober Friends, and among zealous Puritans.

Berks county was not very long the home of Mr. Linooln't immediate progenitors. There can hardly have been more than a slender pioneer settlement there, when one or more of the number made another rsmove, not far from the year 1750, to what is now Rockingham county, Virginia. Old Berks was first settled about 1734 — then, too, as a German colony — and was not organized as a county until 1752 ; before which date, according to family traditions, this removal to Virginia took place.

This, it will be observed, was pre-eminently a pioneer stock, evidently much in love with backwoods adventure, and constantly courting the dangers and hardships of forest life.

Rockingham county, Virginia, though situated in the beautiful valley of the Shenandoah, and inviting, by its natural resources, the advanoes of civilization, must nevertheless have been, at the time just mentioned, in the very heart of the wilderness. Now, it is one of the most productive counties of Virginia, having exceeded every other county in the State, according to the census of 1850, in its crops of wheat and hav. A branch of the family, it is understood, still remains there, to enjoy the benefits of so judicious a selection, and of the labors and imperfectly requited endurances of these first settlers.

From this locality, about the year 1782, Abraham Lincoln, grandfather of him who was to make the name illustrious, started Westward across the Alleghanies, attracted by the accounts which had reached him of the wonderfully fertile and lovely country explored by Daniel Boone, on and near the Kentucky river. During all his lifetime, hitherto, he could have known little of any other kind of existence than that to which he had been educated as an adventurous frontiersman. The severe labor of preparing the heavily-timbered lands of Shenandoah for cultivation, the wild delights of hunting the «!hen abundant game of the woods, and the exciting hazards of an uncertain warfare with savage enemies, had been almost the sole occupation of his rough and healthful life. Perhaps the settlements around him had already begun to be too far advanced for the highest enjoyment of his characteristic mode of living ; or possibly, with others, he aspired to the possession

LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. l&

ef more fertile fields, and to an easier subsistence. Whatever the reason, he set out at the time just stated, with his wife and Beveral young children, on his long journey across the mountains, and over the broad valleys intervening between the Shenandoah and the Kentucky.

At this date, and for ten or twelve years later, the present State of Kentucky formed part of the old Commonwealth of Virginia. "The dark and bloody ground," as afterward named for better reasons than the fiction which assigns this meaning to its Indian appellation, had then been but recently entered upon by the white man. Its first explorer, Daniel Boone, whose very name suggests a whole world of romance Mid adventure, had removed, when a mere boy, among the earlier emigrants from Eastern Pennsylvania, to Berks county. Here he must have been a contemporary resident, and was perhaps an acquaintance, of some of the younger members of the Lincoln family. At all events, as substantially one of their own neighbors, they must have watched his later course with eager interest and sympathy, and caught inspiration from his exploits. At eighteen, Boone had again emigrated with his father, as before, to the banks of the Yadkin, a mountain river in the north-west of North Carolina, at just about the same date as the removal of the Lincolns to Virginia. Some years later, Boone, in his hunting excursions, had passed over and admired large tracts of the wilderness north of his home, and especially along a branch of the Cumberland river, within the limits of what is now Kentucky. It was not until 1769, however, that, with five associates, he made the thorough exploration of the Kentucky valley, which resulted in the subsequent settlements there. The glowing descriptions, which ultimately got abroad, of the incredible richness and beauty of these new and remote forest-climes of Trans- Alleghanian Virginia, and of their alluring hunting-grounds, must have early reached the ears of the boyhood-eompanions of Daniel Boone, and spread through the neighboring country. The stirring adventures of the pioneer hero, during the next five or six years, and the beginnings of substantial settlements in that far-west country, aaust have suggested new attractions thitherward, to the more motive and dariag spirits, whose ideal of manhood Boone *c nearly approached.

From the borders, in various directions, hundreds of miles away, emigration had now begun. These recruits were from that class of hardy frontiersmen most inured to the kiad of toils they were to encounter anew in the Kentucky forests. They went forward, fearless of the dangers to be encountered from the numerous bands of Indians already re-commencing hostilities, after a temporary pacification. Here was a common territory and place of meeting for the tribes, both of the North and the South, and here, before and after this date, there were many exciting adventures and deadly conflicts with these savages, whose favorite haunts had been thus unceremoniously invaded.

It was not far from the date of the disastrous battle of the Lower Blue Licks, in 1782, that the grandfather of Mr. Lincoln, with his young family, reached the region which had. perhaps, long been the promised land of his dreams. The exact place at which he settled is not known. According to the family tradition, it was somewhere on Floyd's creek, supposed to be near its mouth, in what is now Bullitt county. On the other hand, in the field-book of Daniel Boone, who was a deputy -surveyor under Col. Thomas Marshall, father of Chief Justice Marshall, is the following memorandum: "Abraham Lincoln enters 500 acres of land, on a Treasury Warrant — No. 5,994 — beginning opposite Charles Yancey's upper line, on the south side of the river, running south 200 poles, then up the river for quantity, 11th December, 1782." * Yancey's land, as appears from the same book, was on the north side of the "main " Licking Creek, as then designated.

The emigrant had made but a mere beginning in his new pio neer labors, when, while at work one day, at a distance from his oabin, unsuspecting of danger, he was killed by an Indian, who had stolen upon him unaware. His widow, thus suddenly bereaved

* Boone's field-book is now in the hands of L. G. Draper, Esq., of Madison, Wisoonsin, to whom I am indebted for the copy given in the text. The "treasury warrant" was issued by the State of Virginia, in a new and strange land, had now their three sons and two daughters left to her sole protection and care, with probably little means for their support. She soon after removed to what became Washington county, in the same State, and there reared her children, all of whom reached mature age. One of the daughters was married to a Mr. Crume, and the other to a man named Bromfield. The three sons, named Thomas, Mordecai and Josiah, all remained in Kentucky until after their majority.

Thomas Lincoln, one of these sons, was born in 1778. He was a mere child when his father removed to Kentucky, and was but six years old at the time of the latter's death. The date of this event was consequently about 1784. Of the early life of the orphan boy, we have no knowledge, except what can be learned of the general lot of his class, and of the habits and modes of living then prevalent among the hardy pioneers of Kentucky. These backwoodsmen had an unceasing round of hard toils, with no immediate reward but a bare subsistence from year to year, and the cheering promise of better days in the future. But even their lands, as in the case of Boone, they were not always so fortunate as to retain in fee.

More comfortable days, and a much improved state of things had come, before Thomas arrived at maturity ; but in his boyhood and youth, he must have known whatever was worst in the trials and penury of the first generation of Kentucky frontiersmen, with few other enjoyments than an occasional practice with his rifle. His training was suited to develop a strong, muscular frame, and a rugged constitution, with a characteristic quickness of perception and promptness of action. The Kentuckian of that, and the succeeding generation had generally a tall, stalwart frame, a frank and courteous heart, and a humorous and slightly quaint turn of speech ; a fondnesi for adventure and for the sports of hunting ; a manly selfaspect, and a fearless independence of spirit.

" Pride in their port, defiance in their eye,

*****

Intent on high designs, a thoughtful band, By forms unfashioned, fresh from nature's hand, Fierce in their native hardiness of soul, True to imagined right, above control."

This generation began its life with the independent existence of the nation, and partook largely of the spirit of exultant self-confidence then abroad through the land.

These were the circumstances and associations under which, in those primeval days in Kentucky, Thomas Lincoln passed through the period of boyhood and youth. At the date of the political separation from Virginia, in 1792, and the formation of a new State, this orphan boy, struggling to aid his mother in the support of the ill-fortuned family, had reached the age of fourteen. The currents of emigration had become enlarged and accelerated, meantime, until the population was swelled, as early as 1790, to more than 73,000 ; and during the next ten years it was more than trebled, reaching 220,000. The wilderness that once was around Boonesborough, Harrodsburg, and Lexington, was now blossoming as the rose. Still, however, there was ample space unoccupied, within the limits of the new State, for those who craved the excitements and the loneliness of a home in the wilderness.

In 1806, Thomas Lincoln, being then twenty-eight years of age, was married to Nancy Hanks, a native of Virginia, and settled in what was then Hardin county, Kentucky. It does not appear that the parents of Miss Hanks ever removed to Kentucky, though others of the family did so. Of the history of her ancestry, we have no definite particulars. Her position in life appears to have been not dissimilar to that of her husband. That she possessed some rare qualities of mind and heart, there is reason to believe ; although, dying at an early ag8, and having, from the time of her marriage, passed her days on obscure frontiers, few recollections of her remain.