thus passed the early years of abraham lincoln. he was approaching manhood, well prepared physically to undertake its responsibilities, but with a very slender stock of knowledge. he had, however, acquired a taste for learning, and was a close, careful, and shrewd observer. he had also the ability to speak fluently in rough-and-ready style on any subject of which he knew anything. of the world he had seen very little, but his knowledge in that direction was to be extended by a trip down the ohio and mississippi rivers, which he took at the age of nineteen.
early in 1828 he chanced to be in the employ of mr. gentry, the founder of gentryville, a village which had sprung up since thomas lincoln had lived in the neighborhood.
one morning allen gentry said to lincoln:{52}
“abe, how would you like to go to new orleans with me?”
“are you going?” asked abe eagerly.
“yes, i am almost sure of going. i have spoken to father about letting me go on a trading trip down the river, and i should like to have you go with me.”
“i’ll go,” said abe promptly, “if you’ll give me the chance.”
“there is no one i would like better to have with me,” answered allen, “and i can’t go alone.”
he had good reason for preferring abe to any of his other friends, not only that young lincoln was very strong and capable, but because he had then, as in after years, a pleasant humor, which showed itself in stories which he had pat for any occasion. though homely enough, they were never destitute of point, and were brimming over with shrewd fun.
to a backwoods boy the proposed trip was as fascinating—perhaps more so, notwithstanding the hard work involved—as a european trip nowadays. there was constant variety; there was a varying panorama of meadows and villages, as they floated{53} down the rapid current to the mouth of the great river.
mr. gentry favored his son’s plan, and preparations were speedily made.
the craft on which the two young men embarked was a flat-boat, roughly made. it was loaded with a cargo of bacon and other produce, such as it was thought would sell readily down south. abe was the leader of the expedition, and the business was under his care, inexperienced as he was. he was ready to take the responsibility then as in after years, when he piloted the ship of state with its valuable cargo over rougher waters.
my young readers may be interested to know that he was paid eight dollars per month, eating and sleeping on board, and that he was furnished with free return passage on a steamboat.
the custom was to stop at all important points and seek an opportunity to trade. during the night the boat was tied up to the shore, and the two young men slept on board in the little cabin.
generally, there was no risk of robbery or hostile attack; but one night, a few miles below{54} baton rouge, the two young men were startled by hearing footsteps on board.
“what’s that?” inquired allen, starting.
“we must have visitors,” replied abe quietly.
“then they are not the right kind. they must be thieves.”
“i reckon so. let us get up and give them a reception.”
rising as quietly as possible, abe and allen gentry looked out and saw that the invading force consisted of seven stalwart negroes. they were of the same class, only bolder, as the chicken thieves, who visit their neighbors’ hen-roosts.
“they are after our bacon,” said abe. “we must try to save our bacon if we can,” he added, with a humorous smile.
now, it requires some courage to get up in the dead of night and confront a gang of thieves, especially when they are seven to two, but the two young men were courageous, and they had no idea of submitting tamely to robbery.
“bring the guns, abe!” exclaimed allen in a loud tone, intending to be heard by the marauders. “bring the guns; shoot them!”
lincoln had no gun, but he had a huge bludgeon,{55} and he sprang upon them, belaboring them with all the strength of his sinewy arm. no wonder they were terrified as they surveyed the commanding stature of the stripling and felt his terrible blows. seven to two as they were, they found discretion the better part of valor, and fled, some jumping into the water.
but allen and abe were not satisfied with this victory. they felt that they must give their guilty visitors a lesson. so they chased them far back into the country, and, on returning, thought it best to cut loose and float down the river, lest they should have another call from their unwelcome visitors, possibly reinforced by others of the same stripe. these seven negroes little dreamed that the intrepid young man who so belabored them was destined under the providence of god to be the champion and deliverer of their race from the bondage under which they groaned. i may add that abe himself would perhaps have been even more surprised could this have been revealed to him, as, bludgeon in hand, he chased the flying negroes over the meadows.
the time consumed in this river trip was about three months. the result was satisfactory to his{56} employer, and showed that his confidence in his young neighbor was not misplaced. on his return, young lincoln worked as before, wherever opportunity offered, and probably, being under age, turned in his earnings to the common fund. but the time was coming when the family were to find a new home. born in kentucky, abe had spent rather more than half his life in indiana, but a new state—the one which now claims him as her most distinguished son—was soon to receive him. in the spring of 1830, thomas lincoln pulled up stakes and moved to illinois. but his immediate family was smaller now than when he left kentucky. abe’s sister had married early, and survived her marriage but about a year. however, there were the step-children, and the families of dennis hanks and levi hall, so that the company numbered thirteen in all. fifteen days’ journey brought them to a point ten miles west of decatur, where a small house was erected on the north bank of the north fork of the sangamon river. abe and his cousin john broke up fifteen acres of land and split rails enough to serve as a fence. this was the first time, so far as we know, that young lincoln justified{57} the appellation, which clung to him in after years, of rail-splitter.
but young lincoln was now nearing the age of twenty-one. largely because of his affection for his step-mother, to whom he was always ready to acknowledge his obligations, he had remained about home much longer than many sons, who forget filial duty under the impulse of ambition or enterprise. so his twenty-first birthday found him still a member of the home household. then, naturally enough, he felt that it was time to set up for himself. so in march or april he left home, but he seemed to have formed no definite plans—none at least likely to carry him far away from home. he was a candidate for labor, and took whatever offered, but the proceeds went into his own pocket.
one of the “jobs” which he undertook was splitting rails for a man named kirkpatrick. i quote from dr. holland in reference to this period:
“a man who used to work with abraham occasionally during his first year in illinois, says that at that time he was the roughest-looking person he ever saw. he was tall, angular, and ungainly, and wore trousers made of flax and tow,{58} cut tight at the ankle, and out at both knees. he was known to be very poor, but he was a welcome guest in every house in the neighborhood. this informant speaks of splitting rails with abraham, and reveals some interesting facts concerning wages. money was a commodity never reckoned upon. abraham split rails to get clothing, and he made a bargain with mrs. nancy miller to split four hundred rails for every yard of brown jeans, dyed with white walnut bark, that would be necessary to make him a pair of trousers. in those days he used to walk four, six, and seven miles to his work.”
my young readers will be interested in a story which relates to this time. abe was working for a mr. brown, “raising a crap,” when a traveler stopped at the house and inquired if he could obtain accommodations for the night, there being no tavern near.
“well,” said mr. brown, “we can feed your crittur and give you somethin’ to eat, but we can’t lodge you unless you can sleep on the same bed with the hired man.”
the man, who was sprucely dressed, hesitated, and inquired:{59}
“who is he?”
“well,” said mr. brown, “you can come and see him.”
so the man followed the farmer to the back of the house, where young lincoln lay extended at full length on the ground in the shade.
“there he is,” said brown.
“well, i think he’ll do,” said the stranger, and he stayed and slept with abe, whom he then no doubt looked down upon as his “social” inferior. could he have looked forward with prophetic ken, he would have felt honored by such chance association with a man destined to be president of the united states.
i am sorry that some doubts are thrown upon this story, but i have ventured to tell it, for the vivid contrast between the position which young lincoln undoubtedly occupied at that time and that which in after years he so adequately filled.
