The early life of Abraham Lincoln: / containing many unpublished documents and unpublished reminiscences of Lincoln's early friends

by Ida M. Tarbell

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
		PAGE
Origin of the Lincoln Family.—Possessions of Lincoln’s Grandfather.—Lincoln’s Story-telling Uncle.—Account of Lincoln’s Father, Thomas Lincoln.—Marriage of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks.—Character of Nancy Hanks.—Thomas Lincoln’s Manner of Life and Standing among his Neighbors		[21]
CHAPTER II.
The Birth of Abraham Lincoln.—Lincoln’s Childhood Home.—Reminiscences of Austin Gollaher, a Boyhood Comrade of Lincoln’s.—Saves Lincoln’s Life.—Lincoln’s Early School-teachers.—Lincoln’s Fondness for Study		[42]
CHAPTER III.
The Lincolns leave Kentucky.—Hewing a Way through the Forests of Indiana.—A Cabin erected near Gentryville, Spencer County, Indiana.—Description of Lincoln’s New Home.—Domestic Economy of the Lincoln Household.—Pioneer Fare and Apparel.—Death of Lincoln’s Mother.—Lincoln’s Strength and Skill as a Laborer.—Lincoln earns a Dollar as a Ferryman		[51]
CHAPTER IV.
Lincoln’s Struggle for an Education.—The Books he Read.—Lincoln as the Oracle of Jones’s Store.—Slavery in Indiana.—Lincoln Develops into an Orator and Writer.—Life on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and its Effect on Lincoln		[69]
CHAPTER V.
Lincoln’s Literary Fame among his Neighbors.—The Champion of the Spelling-bee.—His Retort to a Boasting Jockey.—His Affection for his Step-mother		[80]
CHAPTER VI.
Amusements of Lincoln’s Life in Indiana.—Lincoln as a Sportsman.—Lincoln’s Earliest Romance.—Early Bereavements		[88]
CHAPTER VII.
The Lincolns leave Indiana.—Parting from Old Friends in Indiana.—The Journey to Illinois.—Lincoln as a Peddler.—Begins Life on his own Account.—Splitting Rails for a Pair of Trousers.—Lincoln’s Great Strength and his Pride in it.—Lincoln and the Professional Athlete		[94]
CHAPTER VIII.
Lincoln’s First Work on his own Account.—Lincoln’s Popularity in Sangamon County.—Rescues Three Comrades from Drowning.—Ingenuity in getting a Flatboat over a Dam.—A Visit to New Orleans.—New Orleans in 1831, and Lincoln’s Experiences there		[103]
CHAPTER IX.
Lincoln settles in New Salem.—He becomes a Grocery Clerk.—The Frontier Store.—Lincoln defeats the Champion Wrestler of Clary’s Grove.—His Popularity in New Salem.—His Chivalry and Honesty.—Masters Kirkham’s Grammar and enters Politics		[115]
CHAPTER X.
Lincoln’s First Announcement to the Voters of Sangamon County.—His Views on the Improvement of the Sangamon.—Views on Usury and Education.—The Modesty of his Circular.—Pilots a Steamboat up the Sangamon		[125]
CHAPTER XI.
The Black Hawk War.—Outbreak of Sacs and Foxes.—Lincoln volunteers and is elected a Captain.—The Manner of his Election.—An Inexperienced Captain and a Disorderly Company.—The Course of the War.—Stillman’s Defeat.—Zachary Taylor’s Way of dealing with Insubordination		[134]
CHAPTER XII.
Expiration of Lincoln’s Term and his Reënlistment.—Major Iles’s Reminiscences of the Campaign.—The Frantic Terror raised by Black Hawk.—Lincoln and his Company enter Michigan Territory.—End of the War, and Lincoln’s Return to New Salem		[144]
CHAPTER XIII.
Electioneering in 1832 in Illinois.—Lincoln defeated of Election to the Assembly.—Looking for Work.—Berry and Lincoln buy Three Stores on Credit.—New Salem Merchants in Lincoln’s Day.—Lincoln reads Burns and Shakespeare.—His Familiarity with Shakespeare		[155]
CHAPTER XIV.
Lincoln begins to Study Law.—His First Law-book.—A Chance Copy of Blackstone.—Berry and Lincoln take out a Tavern License and hire a Clerk		[166]
CHAPTER XV.
Lincoln appointed Postmaster.—Masters Surveying in Six Weeks, and becomes Deputy County Surveyor.—Surveying with a Grapevine.—His Work and Earnings as a Surveyor.—Early Illinois Towns laid out by Lincoln		[175]
CHAPTER XVI.
Business Reverses.—The Kindness shown Lincoln in New Salem.—His Helpfulness to all about him.—Growing Esteem and Influence in Sangamon County.—Becomes a Second Time a Candidate for Member of the Illinois Assembly.—Lincoln on the Stump.—Lincoln’s Election.—The Vote		[187]
CHAPTER XVII.
Lincoln decides finally on a Legal Career.—His Methods of Study.—First Session in the General Assembly.—Distrust of Yankees in Early Illinois.—Description of the Early Frontier Legislator.—Questions before the Assembly.—Internal Improvements.—The State Bank		[197]
CHAPTER XVIII.
Lincoln’s Romance with Ann Rutledge.—Ann’s First Lover, John McNeill, or McNamar.—McNeill’s Departure from New Salem.—Lincoln’s Engagement.—Ann Rutledge’s Death, and Lincoln’s Deep Grief		[208]
CHAPTER XIX.
Abraham Lincoln at Twenty-six Years of Age.—A Review of his Career thus far.—His Excellent Preparation for what was to come		[218]
APPENDIX.
I.	Memoranda for Lincoln’s Genealogy. By the Hon. L. E. Chittenden	[223]
II.	Christopher Columbus Graham and his Reminiscences of Lincoln’s Parents	[227]
III.	A Leaf from Lincoln’s Exercise-Book	[236]
IV.	The Oldroyd Lincoln Collection	[237]

LINCOLN IN 1854.—HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED.
From a photograph owned by Mr. George Schneider of Chicago, Illinois, former editor of the “Staats Zeitung,” the most influential anti-slavery German newspaper of the West. Mr. Schneider first met Mr. Lincoln in 1853, in Springfield. “He was already a man necessary to know,” says Mr. Schneider. In 1854 Mr. Lincoln was in Chicago, and Mr. Isaac N. Arnold, a prominent lawyer and politician of Illinois, invited Mr. Schneider to dine with Mr. Lincoln. After dinner, as the gentlemen were going down town, they stopped at an itinerant photograph gallery, and Mr. Lincoln had the above picture taken for Mr. Schneider. The newspaper he holds in his hands is the “Press and Tribune.”

LINCOLN IN 1863.
From a photograph by Brady, taken in Washington.

THE EARLY LIFE

OF

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

CHAPTER I.
THE ORIGIN OF THE LINCOLN FAMILY.—THE LINCOLNS IN KENTUCKY.

The family from which Abraham Lincoln descended came to America from Norfolk, England, in 1637. A brief table[^[1]] will show at a glance the line of descent:

Samuel Lincoln, born in 1620. Emigrated from Norfolk County, England, to Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1637. His fourth son was

Mordecai Lincoln, born in 1667. His eldest son was

Mordecai Lincoln, born in 1686. Emigrated to New Jersey and Pennsylvania, 1714. His eldest son was

John Lincoln, born before 1725. In 1758 went to Virginia. His third son was

Abraham Lincoln, date of birth uncertain. In 1780, or thereabouts, emigrated to Kentucky. His third son was

Thomas Lincoln, born in 1778, whose first son was

Abraham Lincoln,

Sixteenth President of the United States.

LAND WARRANT ISSUED TO ABRAHAM LINCOLN, GRANDFATHER OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN.
From the original, owned by R. T. Durrett, LL.D., of Louisville, Kentucky. The land records of Kentucky show that Abraham Lincoln entered two tracts of land when in Kentucky in the spring and summer of 1780. These entries, furnished us by Dr. Durrett, are as follows:
May 29, 1780.—“Abraham Linkhorn enters four hundred acres of land on Treasury Warrant, laying on Floyd’s Fork, about two miles above Tice’s Fork, beginning at a Sugar Tree S. B., thence east three hundred poles, then north, to include a small improvement.”—Land Register, page 107.
June 7, 1780.—“Abraham Linkhorn enters eight hundred acres upon Treasury Warrant, about six miles below Green River Lick, including an improvement made by Jacob Gum and Owen Diver.”—Page 126.
The first tract of land was surveyed May 7, 1785 (see page [23]), and the second on October 12, 1784. In 1782 he entered a third tract of land, a record of which is found in Daniel Boone’s field-book. This entry reads: “Abraham Lincoln enters five hundred acres of land on a Treasury Warrant, No. 5994, beginning opposite Charles Yancey’s upper line, on the south side of the river, running south two hundred poles, then up the river for quantity; December 11, 1782.” This is supposed by some authorities to be a tract of five hundred acres of land in Campbell County, surveyed and patented in Abraham Lincoln’s name, but after his death. The spelling of the name Linkhorn instead of Lincoln, as it is invariably in other records of the family, has caused some to doubt that the Treasury warrant above was really issued to the grandfather of the President. The family traditions, however, all say that the elder Abraham owned a tract on Floyd’s Fork. The misspelling and mispronunciation of the name Lincoln is common in Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois. The writer of this note has frequently heard persons in Illinois speak of “Abe Linkhorn” and “Abe Linkern.”

FIELD NOTES OF SURVEY OF FOUR HUNDRED ACRES OF LAND OWNED BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN, GRANDFATHER OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN.
From the record of surveys in the surveyor’s office of Jefferson County, Kentucky, Book B., page 60.

HUGHES STATION, ON FLOYD’S CREEK, JEFFERSON COUNTY, KENTUCKY, WHERE ABRAHAM LINCOLN, GRANDFATHER OF THE PRESIDENT, LIVED.—NOW FIRST PUBLISHED.
From the original, owned by R. T. Durrett, LL.D., of Louisville, Kentucky. “The first inhabitants of Kentucky,” says Dr. Durrett, “on account of the hostility of the Indians, lived in what were called forts. They were simple rows of the conventional log cabins of the day, built on four sides of a square or parallelogram, which remained as a court, or open space, between them. This open space served as a playground, a muster field, a corral for domestic animals, and a store-house for implements. The cabins which formed the fort’s walls were dwelling-houses for the people.” At Hughes Station, on Floyd’s Creek, lived Abraham Lincoln and his family. One morning in 1788—the date of the death of Abraham Lincoln is placed in 1784, 1786, and 1788 by different authorities; the inventory of his estate (page [28]) is dated 1788; for this reason we adopt 1788—the pioneer Lincoln and his three sons, Mordecai, Josiah, and Thomas, were in their clearing, when a shot from an Indian killed the father. The two elder sons ran for help, the youngest remaining by the dead body. The Indian ran to the side of his victim, and was just seizing the son Thomas, when Mordecai, who had reached the cabin and secured a rifle, shot through a loophole in the logs and killed the Indian. It was this tragedy, it is said, that made Mordecai Lincoln one of the most relentless Indian haters in Kentucky.

For our present purpose it is not necessary to examine the lives of these ancestors farther back than the grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, who has been supposed to have been born in Virginia in 1760. A consideration of the few facts we have of his early life shows clearly that this date is wrong. It is known that in 1773 Abraham Lincoln’s father, John Lincoln, conveyed to his son a tract of two hundred and ten acres of land in Virginia, which he hardly would have done if the boy had been but thirteen years of age. We know, too, that in 1780 Abraham Lincoln had a wife and five children, the youngest of whom was at least two years old. Evidently he must have been over twenty years of age, and have been born before 1760. Probably, too, his birthplace was Pennsylvania, whence his father moved into Virginia about 1758.

Daniel Boone

RELICS OF DANIEL BOONE.
Photographed for this work from the originals, in the collection of pioneer relics owned by R. T. Durrett, LL.D., of Louisville, Kentucky. The articles are a rifle, scalping-knife, powder-horn, tomahawk, and hunting-shirt. Dr. Durrett has all the documents needful to establish the authenticity of each of these articles. They unquestionably were used by Boone through a long period of hunting and Indian stalking; all of the articles are well preserved, and even the leather coat is still fit for service. The rifle, says Dr. Durrett, is as true as it ever was. In this same collection are a large number of similar relics of other Kentucky pioneers.

Abraham Lincoln was a farmer, and, by 1780, a rich one for his time. This we know from the fact that in 1780 he sold a tract of two hundred and forty acres of land for “five thousand pounds of current money of Virginia;” a sum equal to about $17,000 at that date. This sale was made, presumably, because the owner wished to move to Kentucky. He and his family had for several generations back been friends of the Boones. The spell the adventurous spirit of Daniel Boone cast over all his friends, Abraham Lincoln felt; and in 1780, soon after selling his Virginia estate, he visited Kentucky, and entered two large tracts of land. Some months later he moved with his family from Virginia into Kentucky.

Abraham Lincoln was ambitious to become a landed proprietor in the new country, and he entered a generous amount of land—four hundred acres on Long Run, in Jefferson County; eight hundred acres on Green River, near Green River Lick; five hundred acres in Campbell County. He settled near the first tract, where he undertook to clear a farm. It was a dangerous task, for the Indians were still troublesome, and the settlers, for protection, were forced to live in or near forts or stations. In 1784, when John Filson published his “History of Kentucky,” though there was a population of thirty thousand in the territory, there were but eighteen houses outside of the stations. Of these stations, or stockades, there were but fifty-two. According to the tradition in the Lincoln family, Abraham Lincoln lived in one of these stockades.

LONG RUN BAPTIST MEETING-HOUSE.
From the original drawing, owned by R. T. Durrett, LL.D., of Louisville, Kentucky. This meeting-house was built on the land Abraham Lincoln, grandfather of the President, was clearing when killed by Indians. It was erected about 1797.

All went well with him and his family until 1788. Then, one day, while he and his three sons were at work in their clearing, an unexpected Indian shot killed the father. His death was a terrible blow to the family. The large tracts of land which he had entered were still wild, and his personal property was necessarily small. The difficulty of reaching the country at that date, as well as its wild condition, made it impracticable for even a wealthy pioneer to own more stock or household furniture than was absolutely essential. Abraham Lincoln was probably as well provided with personal property as most of his neighbors, and much better than many. He had, for a pioneer, an unusual amount of stock, of farming implements, and of tools; and his cabin contained comforts which were rare at that date. The inventory of his estate, recently found at Bardstown, Kentucky, and here published for the first time, gives a clearer idea of the life of the pioneer Lincoln, and of the condition in which his wife and children were left, than any description could do:

INVENTORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S ESTATE.[^[2]]—NOW FIRST PUBLISHED.

“At the meeting of the Nelson County Court, October 10, 1788, present Benjamin Pope, James Rogers, Gabriel Cox, and James Baird, on the motion of John Coldwell, he was appointed administrator of the goods and chattels of Abraham Lincoln, and gave bond in one thousand pounds, with Richard Parker security.

“At the same time John Alvary, Peter Syburt, Christopher Boston, and William [John (?)] Stuck, or any three of them, were appointed appraisers.

“March 10, 1789, the appraisers made the following return:

		£.	s.	d.
1	Sorrel horse	8
1	Black horse	9	10
1	Red cow and calf	4	10
1	Brindle cow and calf	4	10
1	Red cow and calf	5
1	Brindle bull yearling	1
1	Brindle heifer yearling	1
	Bar spear-plough and tackling	2	5
3	Weeding hoes	7	6
	Flax wheel		6
	Pair smoothing-irons		15
1	Dozen pewter plates	1	10
2	Pewter dishes		17	6
	Dutch oven and cule, weighing 15 pounds		15
	Small iron kettle and cule, weighing 12 pounds		12
	Tool adds		10
	Handsaw		5
	One-inch auger		6
	Three-quarter auger		4	6
	Half-inch auger		3
	Drawing-knife		3
	Currying-knife		10
	Currier’s knife and barking-iron		6
	Old smooth-bar gun		10
	Rifle gun		55
	Rifle gun	3	10
2	Pott trammels		14
1	Feather bed and furniture	5	10
	Ditto	8	5
1	Bed and turkey feathers and furniture	1	10
	Steeking-iron		1	6
	Candle-stick		1	6
	One axe		9
		£68	16s.	6d.

Peter Syburt,

Christopher Boston,

John Stuck.”

THE REV. JESSE HEAD.
From an original drawing in the possession of R. T. Durrett, LL.D., of Louisville, Kentucky. The Rev. Jesse Head was a Methodist preacher of Washington County, Kentucky, who married Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks. Christopher Columbus Graham, who was at the wedding, and who knew Mr. Head well, says: “Jesse Head, the good Methodist preacher who married them, was also a carpenter or cabinet-maker by trade, and, as he was then a neighbor, they were good friends. He had a quarrel with the bishops, and was an itinerant for several years, but an editor and county judge afterwards in Harrodsburg.... The preacher, Jesse Head, often talked to me on religion and politics, for I always liked the Methodists. I have thought it might have been as much from his free-spoken opinions as from Henry Clay’s American-African colonization scheme, in 1817, that I lost a likely negro man, who was leader of my musicians.... But Jesse Head never encouraged any runaway, nor had any ‘underground railroad.’ He only talked freely and boldly, and had plenty of true Southern men with him, such as Clay.”—See Appendix.

Soon after the death of Abraham Lincoln, his widow moved from Jefferson County to Washington County. The eldest son, Mordecai, who inherited nearly all of the large estate, became a well-to-do and popular citizen. The deed-book of Washington County still contains a number of records of lands bought and sold by him. At one time he was sheriff of his county, and, again, its representative in the legislature of the State. Mordecai Lincoln is remembered especially for his sporting tastes and his bitter hatred of the Indians. General U. F. Linder of Illinois, who, as a boy, lived near Mordecai Lincoln in Kentucky, says: “I knew him from my boyhood, and he was naturally a man of considerable genius; he was a man of great drollery, and it would almost make you laugh to look at him. I never saw but one other man whose quiet, droll laugh excited in me the same disposition to laugh, and that was Artemus Ward. He was quite a story-teller. He was an honest man, as tender-hearted as a woman, and, to the last degree, charitable and benevolent.

“Lincoln had a very high opinion of his uncle, and on one occasion said to me: ‘Linder, I have often said that Uncle Mord had run off with all the talents of the family.’

“Old Mord, as we sometimes called him, had been in his younger days a very stout man, and was quite fond of playing a game of fisticuffs with any one who was noted as a champion. His sons and daughters were not talented like the old man, but were very sensible people, noted for their honesty and kindness of heart.” Mordecai remained in Kentucky until late in life, when he removed to Hancock County, Illinois.

MARRIAGE BOND OF THOMAS LINCOLN.
From a tracing of the original, made by Henry Whitney Cleveland.

Of Josiah, the second son, we know very little more than that the records show that he owned and sold land. He left Kentucky when a young man, to settle on the Blue River, in Harrison County, Indiana, and there he died. The two daughters married into well-known Kentucky families: the elder, Mary, marrying Ralph Crume; the younger, Nancy, William Brumfield.

MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE OF THOMAS LINCOLN AND NANCY HANKS.—HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED.
From the original, in the possession of Henry Whitney Cleveland of Louisville, Kentucky. This interesting document, discovered by Mr. Cleveland, and published for the first time in this biography, completes the list of documentary evidence of the marriage of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks. The bond given by Thomas Lincoln and the returns of Jesse Head, the officiating clergyman, were discovered some years ago, but the marriage certificate was unknown until recently discovered by Mr. Cleveland.