Between his duties as deputy surveyor and postmaster, Lincoln had
little leisure for the store, and its management had passed into the
hands of Berry. The stock of groceries was on the wane. The numerous
obligations of the firm were maturing, with no money to meet them.
Both members of the firm, in the face of such obstacles, lost courage;
and when, early in 1834, Alexander and William Trent asked if the
store was for sale, an affirmative answer was eagerly given. A price
was agreed upon, and the sale was made. Now, neither Alexander Trent
nor his brother had any money; but as Berry and Lincoln had bought
without money, it seemed only fair that they should be willing to sell
on the same terms. Accordingly the notes of the Trent brothers were
accepted for the purchase price, and the store was turned over to the
new owners. But about the time their notes fell due the Trent brothers
disappeared. The few groceries in the store were seized by creditors,
and the doors were closed, never to be opened again.
Misfortunes now crowded upon Lincoln. His late partner, Berry, soon
reached the end of his wild career; and one morning a farmer from the
Rock Creek neighborhood drove into New Salem with the news that he was
dead.
The appalling debt which had accumulated was thrown upon Lincoln's
shoulders. It was then too common a fashion among men who became
deluged in debt to "clear out," in the expressive language of the
pioneer, as the Trents had done; but this was not Lincoln's way. He
quietly settled down among the men he owed, and promised to pay them.
For fifteen years he carried this burden--a load which he cheerfully
and manfully bore, but one so heavy that he habitually spoke of it
as the "national debt." Talking once of it to a friend, Lincoln said:
"That debt was the greatest obstacle I have ever met in life; I had no
way of speculating, and could not earn money except by labor, and to
earn by labor eleven hundred dollars, besides my living, seemed the
work of a lifetime. There was, however, but one way. I went to the
creditors, and told them that if they would let me alone, I would give
them all I could earn over my living, as fast as I could earn it." As
late as 1848, so we are informed by Mr. Herndon, Mr. Lincoln, then
a member of Congress, sent home money saved from his salary to be
applied on these obligations. All the notes, with interest at the high
rates then prevailing, were at last paid.
With a single exception Lincoln's creditors seem to have been lenient.
One of the notes given by him came into the hands of a Mr. Van Bergen,
who, when it fell due, brought suit. The amount of the judgment was
more than Lincoln could pay, and his personal effects were levied
upon. These consisted of his horse, saddle and bridle, and surveying
instruments. James Short, a well-to-do farmer living on Sand Ridge a
few miles north of New Salem, heard of the trouble which had befallen
his young friend. Without advising Lincoln of his plans he attended
the sale, bought in the horse and surveying instruments for one
hundred and twenty dollars, and turned them over to their former
owner.
[Illustration: STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS.
Lincoln's first meeting with Douglas occurred at the State capital,
Vandalia, in the winter of 1834-35, when Lincoln was serving his first
term in the legislature, and Douglas was an applicant for the office
of State attorney for the first judicial district of Illinois.]
Lincoln never forgot a benefactor. He not only repaid the money with
interest, but nearly thirty years later remembered the kindness in a
most substantial way. After Lincoln left New Salem financial reverses
came to James Short, and he removed to the far West to seek his
fortune anew. Early in Lincoln's presidential term he heard that
"Uncle Jimmy" was living in California. One day Mr. Short received a
letter from Washington, D.C. Tearing it open, he read the gratifying
announcement that he had been commissioned an Indian agent.