LINCOLN IN STORY

FIRST PERIOD: CHILDHOOD

(1809-1810)

CHAPTER I

"God bless my mother! All I am, or all I hope to be, I owe to her."-LINCOLN.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN was born February 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky, in a little log house such as all the pioneers of the Western States built for themselves; with no flooring but the earth, no paper to cover the logs, and with but the most primitive furniture, such as they themselves could make, the place formed less a residence for comfort than a refuge against the storms of rain in summer and snow and frost in winter. They lived in the open air, in the forest or the field; the log house was simply a place to sleep in, secure from the attacks of wild animals or venomous reptiles.

Here it was that Abraham Lincoln, who was soon nicknamed "Abe," passed the first seven years of his life.

It was here that his mother, impressed with the great importance of an education for her boy, taught him to read and write, there being no school in that thinly settled region. She instilled into his budding mind that intense desire for knowledge and zeal for study which characterized and influenced him throughout his entire life; and if the poverty which burdened them and the hardships they endured claim our sympathies, the outdoor life, the work in the field, or chopping wood, the hunting, fishing, planting, and harvesting, conduced to a strong and vigorous physical growth which was in some measure a compensation. It was this life, with its freedom and the continual and forced intimacy with a new and uncultivated country, as well as the struggle for existence, which made little "Abe" such a perfect child of nature.

It is well to remember that the devotion, affectionate and thoughtful spirit, that guarded the childhood days of little "Abe" lent a halo of glory to the humble home, and clothed the rude life with a charm which left an undying impression upon the boy. It grew stronger as he reached manhood, and this mother-love, so full of the milk of human kindness," blossomed out and found its full fruitage in the emancipation of a race and the glorification of a nation. When Abe "

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was seven years of age his

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parents moved from Kentucky to Indiana in a "Hoosier" wagon drawn by two horses. There being no railroads in those days, the emigration to the Western States was accomplished chiefly in covered wagons which took on the name Hoosier" for the reason that they originated in Indiana, the "Hoosier " State. These vehicles were usually constructed from the long box farm-wagon used for carrying grain; along the sides of the wagon box long hoops were fastened and bent; over these, canvas or other cloth was spread and fastened tight at the sides, thus forming a sort of rounded-top tent. Into this kind of tented conveyance the Lincoln family placed their effects, sleeping at night in the wagon and taking refuge in it from the heat of the sun or rain-storms. It was a common sight, even as late as 1860, to see on nearly every road leading westward, long lines of these tented "Hoosier" wagons moving over hill, through forest, fording streams, or threading across prairies following the " Star of Empire" to the Mississippi River, and beyond to the Rocky Mountains and California.

Little "Abe" no doubt enjoyed this moving life, and found delight in driving the horses and seeing the new country.

During these first seven years the boy not only learned to work and was inured to hardships; he had also amusements of a rough but healthy sort.

He played with a favorite hunting dog, chased butterflies in summer, built little mud dams across the brooks, and sometimes accompanied his father on the hunt.

The voices of nature were continually whispering in his ears. The weird song of the forest, the trees swaying in the breeze or bending in the storm, the wild moaning of the cold winter wind, the silent fall of the snow for days, when they were shut in from the world, exercised an aweinspiring influence on the mind of the wondering boy, and produced a feeling of reverence for the unseen hand which caused them.

Little "Abe" returned his mother's affection, was always willing to do any work required, and, responding to the magical influence of gentleness and love, learned thus early to do his duty courageously and honestly, regardless of personal comfort or pain.

In spite of their great poverty and rude home, little "Abe" flourished, grew strong and full of exuberant boyish spirit. His habit of going barefooted a good portion of the year no doubt contributed something to his health, and thus we may think of his childhood as having been spent happily as well as usefully.

SECOND PERIOD: BOYHOOD

(1816-1819)

CHAPTER II

The boy at school-Kate Roby and the spelling class-Night studies by the log fire-Studying on a rail fence.

THE Lincoln family settled on Pigeon Creek, Indiana, in the spring of 1816, the father building a log hut open on one side and without a floor. The nearest village where there was a post-office or store was Gentryville. Two years after they located there, a terrible disease, called the "milksick," caused the death of many people as well as cattle and calves. Abraham's mother died of that disease, as did also an uncle and aunt who lived near by (1818). About a year after his mother's death his father married again, and brought home a very kind-hearted and good woman who did all she could to make little "Abe's" life happy and useful. She soon became very fond of him, and, many years after, when he had become a famous man, she said "he was the best and most obedient boy she ever knew." It was this good stepmother