BUYING AND KEEPING A STORE
After making what he considered a bad beginning politically, young
Lincoln was on the lookout for a "business chance." One came to him in a
peculiar way. A man named Radford had opened a store in New Salem.
Possessing neither the strength nor the sagacity and tact of Abe
Lincoln, he was driven out of business by the Clary's Grove Boys, who
broke his store fixtures and drank his liquors. In his fright Radford
was willing to sell out at almost any price and take most of his pay in
promissory notes. He was quickly accommodated. Through William G. Greene
a transfer was made at once from Reuben Radford to William Berry and
Abraham Lincoln. Berry had $250 in cash and made the first payment. In a
few hours after a violent visit from those ruffians from Clary's Grove
Berry and Lincoln had formed a partnership and were the nominal owners
of a country store.
The new firm soon absorbed the stock and business of another firm, James
and Rowan Herndon, who had previously acquired the stock and debts of
the predecessors in their business, and all these obligations were
passed on with the goods of both the Radford and Herndon stores to
"Honest Abe."
The senior partner of the firm of Berry & Lincoln was devoted to the
whisky which was found in the inventory of the Radford stock, and the
junior partner was given over to the study of a set of "Blackstone's
Commentaries," text-books which all lawyers have to study, that came
into his possession in a peculiar way, as Candidate Lincoln told an
artist who was painting his portrait in 1860:
"One day a man who was migrating to the West drove up in front of my
store with a wagon which contained his family and household plunder. He
asked me if I would buy an old barrel for which he had no room in his
wagon, and which contained nothing of special value. I did not want it,
but to oblige him I bought it, and paid him, I think, half a dollar for
it. Without further examination I put it away in the store and forgot
all about it.
"Some time after, in overhauling things, I came upon the barrel, and
emptying it on the floor to see what it contained, I found at the bottom
of the rubbish a complete set of 'Blackstone's Commentaries.' I began to
read those famous works. I had plenty of time; for during the long
summer days, when the farmers were busy with their crops, my customers
were few and far between. The more I read the more intensely interested
I became. Never in my whole life was my mind so thoroughly absorbed. I
read until I devoured them."
With one partner drinking whisky and the other devouring "Blackstone,"
it was not surprising that the business "winked out," as Lincoln
whimsically expressed it, leaving the conscientious junior partner
saddled with the obligations of the former owners of two country stores,
and owing an amount so large that Lincoln often referred to it as "the
national debt." William Berry, the senior partner, who was equally
responsible, "drank himself to death," leaving Lincoln alone to pay all
the debts.
According to the custom and conscience of the time, the insolvent young
merchant was under no obligation whatever to pay liabilities contracted
by the other men, but Lincoln could never be induced even to compromise
any of the accounts the others had gone off and left him to settle.
"Honest Abe" paid the last cent of his "national debt" nearly twenty
years later, after much toil, self-denial and hardship.
POSTMASTER LINCOLN AND JACK ARMSTRONG'S FAMILY
Again out of employment, Abe was forced to accept the hospitality of his
friends of whom he now had a large number. While in business with Berry
he received the appointment as postmaster. The pay of the New Salem post
office was not large, but Lincoln, always longing for news and
knowledge, had the privilege of reading the newspapers which passed
through his hands. He took so much pains in delivering the letters and
papers that came into his charge as postmaster that he anticipated the
"special delivery" and "rural free delivery" features of the postal
service of the present day.
"A. LINCOLN, DEPUTY SURVEYOR"
Later John Calhoun, the county surveyor, sent word to Lincoln that he
would appoint him deputy surveyor of the county if he would accept the
position. The young man, greatly astonished, went to Springfield to call
on Calhoun and see if the story could be true. Calhoun knew that Lincoln
was utterly ignorant of surveying, but told him he might take time to
study up. As soon as Lincoln was assured that the appointment did not
involve any political obligation--for Calhoun was a Jackson Democrat,
and Lincoln was already a staunch Whig--he procured a copy of Flint and
Gibson's "Surveying" and went to work with a will. With the aid of
Mentor Graham, and studying day and night, he mastered the subject and
reported to Calhoun in six weeks. The county surveyor was astounded, but
when Lincoln gave ample proofs of his ability to do field work, the
chief surveyor appointed him a deputy and assigned him to the northern
part of Sangamon County.
Deputy Surveyor Lincoln had to run deeper in debt for a horse and
surveying instruments in order to do this new work. Although he made
three dollars a day at it--a large salary for that time--and board and
expenses were cheap, he was unable to make money fast enough to satisfy
one creditor who was pushing him to pay one of the old debts left by the
failure of Berry & Lincoln. This man sued Lincoln and, getting judgment,
seized the deputy's horse and instruments. This was like "killing the
goose that laid the golden egg." Lincoln was in despair. But a friend,
as a surprise, bought in the horse and instruments for one hundred and
twenty dollars and presented them to the struggling surveyor.
President Lincoln, many years afterward, generously repaid this man,
"Uncle Jimmy" Short, for his friendly act in that hour of need.
Lincoln's reputation as a story teller and wrestler had spread so that
when it became known that he was to survey a tract in a certain district
the whole neighborhood turned out and held a sort of picnic. Men and
boys stood ready to "carry chain," drive stakes, blaze trees, or work
for the popular deputy in any capacity--just to hear his funny stories
and odd jokes. They had foot races, wrestling matches and other
athletic sports, in which the surveyor sometimes took part.
But Lincoln's honesty was as manifest in "running his lines" as in his
weights and measures while he was a clerk and storekeeper. In whatever
he attempted he did his best. He had that true genius, which is defined
as "the ability to take pains." With all his jokes and fun Abraham
Lincoln was deeply in earnest. Careless work in making surveys involved
the landholders of that part of the country in endless disputes and
going to law about boundaries. But Lincoln's surveys were recognized as
correct always, so that, although he had mastered the science in six
weeks, lawyers and courts had such confidence in his skill, as well as
his honesty, that his record as to a certain corner or line was accepted
as the true verdict and that ended the dispute.
ELECTED TO THE LEGISLATURE
Hampered though he was by unjust debts and unreasonable creditors,
Postmaster and Surveyor Lincoln gained an honorable reputation
throughout the county, so that when he ran for the State Legislature,
in 1834, he was elected by a creditable majority.