According to tradition, when he first took up the business he was too
poor to buy a chain, and, instead, used a long, straight grape-vine.
Probably this is a myth, though surveyors who had experience in the
early days say it may be true. The chains commonly used at that time
were made of iron. Constant use wore away and weakened the links, and
it was no unusual thing for a chain to lengthen six inches after a
year's use. "And a good grape-vine," to use the words of a veteran
surveyor, "would give quite as satisfactory results as one of those
old-fashioned chains."
Lincoln's surveys had the extraordinary merit of being correct. Much
of the government work had been rather indifferently done, or the
government corners had been imperfectly preserved, and there were
frequent disputes between adjacent land-owners about boundary lines.
Frequently Lincoln was called upon in such cases to find the corner
in controversy. His verdict was invariably the end of the dispute, so
general was the confidence in his honesty and skill. Some of these
old corners located by him are still in existence. The people of
Petersburg proudly remember that they live in a town which was laid
out by Lincoln. This he did in 1836, and it was the work of several
weeks.
Lincoln's pay as a surveyor was three dollars a day, more than he had
ever before earned. Compared with the compensation for like services
nowadays it seems small enough; but at that time it was really
princely. The Governor of the State received a salary of only one
thousand dollars a year, the Secretary of State six hundred dollars,
and good board and lodging could be obtained for one dollar a week.
But even three dollars a day did not enable him to meet all his
financial obligations. The heavy debts of the store hung over him.
The long distances he had to travel in his new employment had made it
necessary to buy a horse, and for it he had gone into debt.
"My father," says Thomas Watkins of Petersburg, who remembers the
circumstances well, "sold Lincoln the horse, and my recollection is
that Lincoln agreed to pay him fifty dollars for it. Lincoln was a
little slow in making the payments, and after he had paid all but ten
dollars, my father, who was a high-strung man, became impatient, and
sued him for the balance. Lincoln, of course, did not deny the debt,
and raised the money and paid it. I do not often tell this," Mr.
Watkins adds, "because I have always thought there never was such a
man as Lincoln, and I have always been sorry father sued him."