As a grocery clerk at New Salem Lincoln was scrupulously honest. This
trait of his soon became known, but the two following incidents are
particularly responsible for the appellation of “Honest Abe,” given him
and by which he has been so familiarly known. He once took six and a
quarter cents too much from a customer. He did not say to himself, “never
mind such little things,” but walked three miles that evening, after
closing his store, to return the money. On another occasion he weighed
out a half-pound of tea, as he supposed, it being night when he did so,
and that having been the last thing he sold in the store before going
home. On entering in the morning he discovered a four-ounce weight on the
scales. He saw his mistake, and shutting up shop, hurried off to deliver
the remainder of the tea. These acts of his, as well as his thorough
honesty in other respects, soon gained for him the now famous title of
“Honest Abe.”