THE SLAVE SALE. LINCOLN AS SOLDIER, POSTMASTER, SURVEYOR, AND LAWYER.
One day a let-ter came to Thom-as Lin-coln. It bore the post-mark of
De-ca-tur, Ill. It said that Il-li-nois was a grand state: “The soil is
rich and there are trees of oak, gum, elm, and more sorts, while creeks
and riv-ers are plen-ty.” It al-so told that “scores of men had come
there from Ken-tuc-ky and oth-er states, and that they would all soon
get rich there.”
To Thom-as Lin-coln this was good news. He was glad of a chance to make
an-oth-er home. He knew, too, that the same sick-ness which took his
first wife from him had come back, and that he must make a quick move
if he would save those who were left. This was in March, 1830, when
A-bra-ham was a score and one years old. He made up his mind to see his
folks to their new home since go they would.
Then came an auc-tion, or, as they called it, a “van-doo.” The corn was
sold; the farm, hogs, house goods, all went to those folks who would
give the most for them. Four ox-en drew a big cart which held half a
score and three per-sons, the Hanks, the Halls, and Lin-colns. They
had to push on through mud, and cross streams high from fresh-ets.
A-bra-ham held the “gad” and kept the beasts at their task. With him
the young man took a small stock of thread, pins, and small wares which
he sold on the way. When half a score and five days had gone by the
trip came to an end. The spot for a home was found when all were safe
in Il-li-nois and it was on the north fork of the San-ga-mon Riv-er,
ten miles west of the town of De-ca-tur.
The young men went to work and made clear half a score and five a-cres
of land and split the rails with which to fence it. There was no one
who could swing an axe like A-bra-ham, not one in the whole West. He
could now “have his own time” for his 21 years of work for his fa-ther
were at an end. The law said he was free. Though he need not now give
all that he won by toil to his folks, still he did not let them want.
To the end of his life he gave help to his kin, though he was far from
rich.
When Spring had gone by, and the warm days of 1830 had come, A-bra-ham
Lin-coln left home and set off to get a job in that new land. He saw
new farms with no fen-ces. He was sure that his axe could cut up logs
and fell trees. He was in need of clothes. So he split 400 rails for
each yard of “blue jeans” to make him a pair of trou-sers. The name of
“rail-split-ter,” came to him. He knew that he could do this work well.
All he met would at once like him. It was the same way in the new state
as it had been in the last.
There was a man whose name was Of-futt. He saw what young Lin-coln was.
He knew he could trust him to do all things. Mr. Of-futt said he must
help sail a flat-boat down the Mis-sis-sip-pi riv-er to New Or-leans.
He said he would give the new hand fif-ty cents a day. Poor A-bra-ham
thought this a large sum. Of-futt said too, that he would give a third
share in six-ty dol-lars to each of his three boat-men at the end of
the trip. At a saw-mill near San-ga-mon-town the flat-boat was built.
Young Lin-coln worked on the boat, and was cook too, for the men.
At last they were off with their load of pork, live hogs, and corn.
When the flat-boat ran a-ground at New Sa-lem, and there was great risk
that it would be a wreck, Lin-coln found a way to get it off. Folks
stood on the banks and cheered at the wise plan of the bright boat-man.
[Illustration: THE FLAT-BOAT AND ITS CREW ON THE WAY TO NEW ORLEANS.]
When first in New Or-leans, though Lin-coln had seen slaves, he had not
known what a slave sale was like. This time he saw one and it made him
sick. Tears stood in his eyes. He turned from it and said to those
with him, “Come a-way, boys! If I ev-er get a chance, some day, to hit
that thing,” (here he flung his long arms to-ward that block), “I’ll
hit it hard!”
The boat-men made their way home, while Of-futt staid in St. Lou-is to
buy goods for a new store that he was to start in New Sa-lem. First
A-bra-ham went to see his fa-ther and help him put up a house of hewn
logs, the best he had ev-er had.
When Of-futt’s goods came A-bra-ham Lin-coln took his place as clerk.
The folks who came to buy soon found out that there was one in that
store who would not cheat. The coins at that time were Eng-lish or
Span-ish. The clerk was ex-act in fig-ures, but if a chance frac-tion
went wrong he would ride miles to make it right.
[Illustration: LINCOLN AS CLERK IN OFFUTT’S STORE.]
There were rough men and boys near that store. Lin-coln would not let
them say or do things that were low and bad. The time came when he had
to whip some of them. He taught them a les-son. His great strength was
his own and his friends’ pride.
Days there were when small trade came to the store. Then the young
clerk read. One thing he felt he must have. That was a gram-mar. He
had made up his mind that since he could talk he would learn to use the
right words. He took a walk of some miles to get a loan of “Kirk-ham’s
Gram-mar.” He had no one to teach him, but he gave his mind to
the work and did well. Each book of which he heard in New Sa-lem, he
asked that he might have for a short time. He found out all that the
books taught. Once, deep down in a box of trash, he found two old law
books. He was glad then, and said he would not leave them till he got
the “juice” from them. Folks in the store thought it strange that the
young clerk could like those “dry lines.” They soon said that A-bra-ham
Lin-coln had long legs, long arms, and a long head, too. They felt
that he knew more than “an-y ten men in the set-tle-ment,” and that he
had “ground it out a-lone.” He read the news-pa-pers a-loud to scores
of folks who had a wish to know what went on in the land and could
not read for them-selves. He read and spoke on the themes of the day,
and at last, his friends said that he ought to help make the state
laws, since he knew so much, and they felt that he would be sure to
plan so that the poor as well as the rich should have a chance. So in
March, 1832, it was known that A-bra-ham’s name was brought up as a
“can-di-date” for a post in the Il-li-nois State Leg-is-la-ture. Ere
the time for e-lec-tion came, that part of the land found men must be
sent to fight the In-di-ans who were on the war-path. The great chief,
Black Hawk, sought to keep the red men’s lands from the white folks,
but at last he had to give up, though he did all he could to help his
own blood. He was brave and true to his own.
Young men of San-ga-mon went out to fight, with A-bra-ham Lin-coln as
cap-tain. They were not much more than an armed mob, poor at drill,
and with not much will to mind or-ders or live up to camp rules. Their
cap-tain had hard work to gov-ern them, for when he gave a com-mand
they were as apt to jeer at it as to mind it. But in time they learned
that he meant what he said, and that while it was not his way to be too
strict a-bout small things, he would not let them do a grave wrong.
One day a poor old In-di-an strayed in-to the camp. He had a pass from
Gen-er-al Cass which said that he was a friend of the whites, but the
men had come out to kill red-skins, and not hav-ing yet had a chance to
do so, thought they must seize this one. They said the pass was forged,
and that the old man was a spy, and should be put to death.
But Cap-tain Lin-coln heard the noise, and came to the aid of the old
man just in time. He put him-self be-tween his men and their vic-tim,
and told them they must not do this thing. They were so full of wrath
that Lin-coln’s own life was at risk for a while, but his brave look
and firm words at length brought them to terms, and the old sav-age was
let go with-out harm.
[Illustration: CAPTAIN LINCOLN PROTECTING THE OLD INDIAN.]
The time for which the men had en-list-ed was soon at an end, and all
but two of them went home. Lin-coln was one of those who took a place
as a pri-vate in an-oth-er com-pa-ny, and he did not leave till the end
of the war.
A-bra-ham Lin-coln, when he had got home from the war, sent out word
that he would speak where there was need of him as “Whig,” for he was a
“Clay man through and through.” He made his first “po-lit-i-cal” speech
at a small place a few miles west of Spring-field. It was a short one.
While what he said was to the point and no fault could be found with
it, still, his strange looks and queer clothes made those who were not
on his side laugh and make fun of his long legs and arms, and say he
would not be the choice of the most for an-y post. Still, he made more
friends than foes, and though he did not, at that time, get a chance to
go to the Leg-is-la-ture, he had but to wait a while when bet-ter luck
came to him.
In the mean time Mr. Lin-coln knew that he must find work of some kind,
for he had no funds on which he could live. He then kept a store with a
man, but the gain was small and at last they had to give up. There was
a large debt and the part-ner would not help pay it, so Lin-coln took
it all on him-self, though long years went by ere it was all paid.
Law came to him as the next best move, and once more the young man gave
his mind to it all his time, days as well as most of the nights. But
coin could not come from that source for quite a while yet, and, in the
mean-time, there must be food and clothes.
The new lands, just there, had not been sur-veyed. There was need of a
man to do this. Lin-coln heard of a book which would tell him how to
work with chain and rule. He spent six weeks with that book in his hand
most of the time. Then he set off to start work, and as he was too poor
to buy a chain, he found a strong grape vine to take its place. He was
right glad of the sums which came to him then for do-ing this work.
The pres-i-dent of the U. S. at that time was An-drew Jack-son. He was
a strong friend of A-bra-ham Lin-coln and made him Post-mas-ter of New
Sa-lem in 1833.
[Illustration: ANDREW JACKSON]
As folks did not write much in those days, the post of-fice took but
a small part of Mr. Lin-coln’s time. The news-pa-pers which came by
post were read, and passed from one to an-oth-er, and the post-mas-ter
oft-en told the news as he went to the hou-ses where let-ters were to
be left. The hat took the place of a mail bag. The grape vine chain and
the tools with which the length and breadth of the land were found went
a-long, too, as the good man took up his job at sur-vey-ing. Law books
must have their share of time and that had to come then, most-ly from
sleep hours. There were scores of folks who asked the post-mas-ter to
help them. This he did with great good will. He now knew some law and
could set them right. All had trust in him. It was not long, then, ere
he was at the Bar.