When “Abe” was fourteen years of age, John Hanks journeyed from Kentucky
to Indiana and lived with the Lincolns. He described “Abe’s” habits
thus:
“When Lincoln and I returned to the house from work, he would go to the
cupboard, snatch a piece of corn-bread, take down a book, sit down on a
chair, cock his legs up as high as his head, and read.
“He and I worked barefooted, grubbed it, plowed, mowed, cradled
together; plowed corn, gathered it, and shucked corn. ‘Abe’ read
constantly when he had an opportunity.”