In the fall of 1828, James Rutledge and John Camron erected homes on
this hill. The following year they built a grist and sawmill on the
Sangamon River just below the hill, laid out the town of New Salem and
began to sell lots. The mill became so popular that the town grew
rapidly and flourished for several years although it never included more
than one hundred inhabitants. With the founding and growth of
Petersburg, two miles to the north and more accessibly located, its
decline began. When the seat of the new County of Menard was located at
Petersburg in 1839, New Salem quickly passed out of existence.
Abraham Lincoln resided at New Salem from the summer of 1831 until the
spring of 1837, supporting himself successively as clerk and mill hand,
soldier in the Black Hawk War, storekeeper, postmaster and deputy
surveyor. In 1832 he entered politics. Although defeated in his first
campaign for the Legislature, he was elected a member of the House of
Representatives in 1834 and again in 1836. Throughout his residence at
New Salem, Lincoln strove to perfect his education, studying grammar,
mathematics, and finally law. Upon his admission to the bar in March
1837, he sought greater opportunities than New Salem offered, and so
removed to Springfield.
[Illustration: It was on a pleasant April day that the flat-bottomed
boat, loaded with barrel pork, corn and live pigs, and piloted by
young Abe Lincoln, rounded a bend in the Sangamon River and came to
rest on top of the miller’s dam that stretched out across the river.
The bow of the boat was raised high into the air. The squeals of the
frightened pigs brought the citizens of New Salem hurrying down the
bluff to the river bank.
This was Lincoln’s introduction to the people of New Salem. Denton
Offut, a swaggering, boastful, hard-drinking frontiersman, was owner
of the boat. He became so impressed with the thriving little village
that he decided to return after the voyage to New Orleans, and open a
store with Lincoln as his clerk. The new store was opened the
following September.]
[Illustration: Lincoln helped fell the trees from which Offut’s
one-room log store was erected. It stands on the bluff that leads down
to the grist mill and the river bank. It was the usual type of
frontier store, stocked with produce from the prairie farms or objects
made at home.
It was while working for Offut that Lincoln decided to improve his
education. In fair weather, when there were no customers about,
Lincoln could be seen lounging on the porch studying or talking with
friends about slavery, crops, politics, cockfighting, horse racing or
just telling stories to listening loafers.]
[Illustration: At the top of the bluff, among the tall oak trees,
stood the cabin of Rowen Herndon. Lincoln boarded here because it was
near the store.]
[Illustration: Bill Cleary’s saloon stood a short distance down the
bluff from Offut’s store. It was the hangout for Jack Armstrong, who
challenged Lincoln to a wrestling match. Even though the match ended
in a draw, it gave Lincoln the reputation for courage and strength
that convinced his associates that he “belonged.”]
[Illustration: New Salem was a trading post for the farmers who
cultivated farms on the surrounding prairies. On Main Street there was
a cobbler, a hatter, a cooper, a blacksmith and wagon builder, a
wheelwright and several merchants.
These tradesmen had come to New Salem to help fill the needs felt by
everyone. At the height of its prosperity, New Salem had a population
of a hundred citizens and some twenty-five or thirty buildings.]
[Illustration: The buildings were made of logs, notched together at
the corners and chinked with native clay.]
[Illustration: Roofs were pitched and covered with clapboard shingles
called “shakes.”]
[Illustration: Better homes in New Salem had chimneys made of stone.]
[Illustration: Most homes had “cat and clay” chimneys, made of logs
and chinked with native clay. On cold windy days members of the
household were kept busy running outside to see whether or not the
chimney had caught fire.]
[Illustration: New Salem homes had window panes made of glass.]
[Illustration: Windows were usually near the fireplace where family
activity was carried on.]
[Illustration: Over an open fire, in iron pots, frying pans and
skillets, housewives cooked venison stew, roasted pork and wild game,
fried mush, baked corn bread and corn dodgers to a golden brown and
often hard enough “to split a board or fell a deer at forty feet.”]
[Illustration: Sturdy trestle tables served the pioneer family well.]
[Illustration: Pioneer women were especially proud of their chinaware.]
[Illustration: A Seth Thomas clock adorned the mantles of those who
were able to afford a touch of elegance.]
[Illustration: Housewives spun the wool from which they made garments
often stiff and too large, but suitable as garments to protect the
family from the elements.]
[Illustration: Beds were dressed with home-woven coverlets.]
[Illustration: Babies came in annual crops.]
[Illustration: Of the humble one-room log house the cooper’s son
wrote: “At meal time it was all kitchen. On rainy days, when neighbors
came to relate their exploits, how many deer and wild turkey they had
killed, it was all sitting room. On Sunday, when the young men all
dressed up in their jeans, and the young ladies, in their best bow
dresses, it was all parlor. At night it was all bedroom.”]
[Illustration: Outside, wood stacked high during the summer, dwindled
rapidly as the winter passed.]
[Illustration: From the ash hoppers, found in every backyard, lye was
leeched for use in making soap.]
[Illustration: Wells with windlass ropes and wooden buckets supplied
the household with needed water.]
[Illustration: Rain barrels caught the “soft” water that dripped from
the eaves. This water was used for the family washing.]
[Illustration: Samuel Hill, New Salem’s most prosperous businessman,
owned the only four-room, two-story house in the village.]
[Illustration: The opulence reflected in the Hill residence was not
common to the homes of New Salem.]
[Illustration: Samuel Hill was also owner of the woolhouse and carding
machine. In spring, during wool shearing time, farmers brought their
wool to the warehouse in sacks, old bed quilts and petticoats, pinned
with thorns from the honey locust.]
[Illustration: The carding machine in action was New Salem’s most
dramatic attraction. From dawn until darkness the weary treading of
oxen hoofs on the cleated treadmill powered the squeaking, moaning,
wooden gears of the carding machine.]
[Illustration: Samuel Hill and John McNeal owned the most successful
store in New Salem. It was the center of village life. Under its
protective porch people gathered to argue the questions of temperance,
travel and human slavery.]
[Illustration: Doctor John Allen lived across the road from the
Hill-McNeal store. Unconvinced of the virtue of quinine for treating
malaria fever, the doctor kept to such old remedies as Peruvian bark,
jalop, calomel and boneset tea.]
[Illustration: Peter Lukin, the cobbler, lived next door to Doctor
Allen. The cobbler shop was in the small lean-to. As winter approached
the cobbler converted piles of animal hides into shoes for the
community.]
[Illustration: Residence and office of Doctor Francis Regnier, Allen’s
capable colleague, who purged, bled, blistered, puked, and salivated
his patients.]
[Illustration: The Doctor’s medical laboratory and reference library.]
[Illustration: This was the home and workshop of Martin Waddell, the
village hatter. He made hats from opossum, raccoon and rabbit skins. A
rabbitskin hat cost fifty cents. A hat made from an opossum or raccoon
skin, with the tail hanging down in the back, cost two dollars.]
[Illustration: In this kettle Waddell prepared the skins from which he
made the hats.]
[Illustration: Residence of Isaac Burner. Very little is known about
the Burner family.]
[Illustration: A familiar sight on Main Street, New Salem.]
[Illustration: In the small lean-to in the rear of his cabin, Robert
Johnson, the wheelwright and cabinetmaker, painstakingly made spinning
wheels, wagon wheels, looms, and sturdy furniture for the community.]
[Illustration: Residence of Isaac Golliher, who had the only root
cellar in the village.]
[Illustration: For three years Lincoln was postmaster at New Salem. In
this position he became well-acquainted with people for miles around.
It was here he began his lifelong habit of reading newspapers, through
which, in part, he learned to interpret public opinion. To supplement
his earnings as postmaster he did odd jobs, such as clerking in Hill’s
store, helping out at the mill or splitting rails.]
[Illustration: This was the home of Alexander Trent. When Lincoln
became postmaster he was required to furnish bond of five hundred
dollars. Alexander Trent was one of his bondsmen.]
[Illustration: Henry Onstat’s cabin and the cooperage where he made
barrels so much in demand by the community of New Salem.]
[Illustration: The cooperage was a busy place. There was always a
great pile of shavings in the fireplace. Lincoln often came to the
cooperage at night and by the glow of the burning shavings he studied
mathematics, literature and law.]
[Illustration: Across the road from the cooperage stood the double
cabin of Jack Kelso, philosopher and fisherman, and his
brother-in-law, Joshua Miller, the powerful village blacksmith.]
[Illustration: Lincoln was a frequent visitor to the Kelso cabin; he
and Jack often sat around the table and by the cheerful glow of the
fireplace, read and discussed Shakespeare, Blackstone and Burns. It
was Jack Kelso who introduced Lincoln to the classics of literature.]
[Illustration: Joshua Miller’s blacksmith shop was the busiest place
in town. The ring of his anvil was heard from morning until night
throughout the village as he shaped metal into oxen shoes, horseshoes
and farm implements.]
[Illustration: Lincoln, seeking an occupation that would afford him a
better living than odd jobs, considered becoming a blacksmith. For a
time his strong arms grappled with the chore, but he preferred lighter
work which allowed him more time for studying. He also had thoughts of
becoming a merchant.]
[Illustration: The limbs of the great oak tree still cast their
shadows across the Lincoln-Berry store. In fair weather, when
housewives were busy and sales were restricted to an occasional pound
of sugar or a piece of beeswax, Lincoln, barefoot, lay stretched out
under the oak tree, lost in a book.]
[Illustration: The Rutledge Tavern, where Lincoln courted Ann
Rutledge, stood across the road from the Lincoln-Berry store. While
waiting on a customer, or studying under the oak tree, he often paused
to watch her as she moved about the yard of the tavern.]
[Illustration: A burning candle in the tavern window welcomed whatever
wayfarer might be seeking food and lodging.]
[Illustration: The tavern was a pleasant and comfortable place. Every
day brought new guests to the dining room. For a time Lincoln lived at
the tavern; his wit and tall tales often made him the center of
interest.]
[Illustration: While residing at the tavern, Lincoln climbed the rungs
of a well-worn ladder to the loft, where he shared a bed with E. Y.
Ellis, who says that Lincoln’s wit and stories often kept the other
male guests in an uproar until late at night.]
[Illustration: The west room of the tavern accommodated the Rutledge
family and now and then an overnight lady guest.]
[Illustration: On Sunday evenings the Rutledge family and friends
gathered before the fireplace to listen to a sermon and to sing hymns.
Lincoln stood near Ann and turned the pages of her _Missouri Harmony
Song Book_.]
[Illustration: The betrothal of Ann Rutledge and Lincoln ended with
her untimely death. Ann’s brother said: “The effect upon Mr. Lincoln’s
mind was terrible. He became plunged in despair, and many of his
friends feared reason would desert her throne. His extraordinary
emotions were regarded as strong evidence of the existence of the
tenderest relations between himself and the deceased.”]
[Illustration: Lincoln, the ardent student, could be found pursuing
his studies in the most unusual places. Squire Godbey, seeing him
stretched out on a pile of wood, inquired: “What are you reading Abe?”
Lincoln replied: “I am not reading. I am studying Law.” “Law? Good God
A’mighty!” exclaimed the surprised squire as he walked away.]
[Illustration: The little subscription schoolhouse stands a half mile
south of the village near Purkapile “crick.” Schoolmaster Mentor
Graham was a constant stimulus to Lincoln and always ready to help and
encourage him. After the day’s routine had ended Lincoln often came to
the school so that the master might evaluate his progress.]
[Illustration: In 1834, Lincoln’s quest for knowledge and esteem was
rewarded. The citizens of Sangamon County sent the novice lawmaker to
the State Capitol at Vandalia, to take his seat in the Ninth General
Assembly of the Legislature of Illinois.]
[Illustration: In the Assembly, Lincoln said little, but observed
closely and learned much. He was among men of affairs, education and
political experience. He became floor leader of the Whigs and an
esteemed member of a political group known as the “Long Nine” who were
successful in having the State Capitol moved from Vandalia to
Springfield.]
[Illustration: In March of 1837, after having been admitted to the bar
in Illinois, Lincoln moved from New Salem to Springfield. For the next
twenty-five years the first State Capitol Building in Springfield
became the center of his many activities.]
[Illustration: The Postville Courthouse was on the “Old Eighth
Circuit.” In Lincoln’s day judges and lawyers rode horseback from one
county courthouse to another, so as to make a living by representing
the litigants in the suits to be heard. This was known as “riding the
circuit.”]
[Illustration: The Mount Pulaski Courthouse hasn’t changed much since
Lincoln practiced law here more than a hundred years ago.]
[Illustration: In the court and jury room Lincoln argued cases before
such distinguished judges as David Davis, who became a Justice of the
United States Supreme Court.]
[Illustration: During those inevitable moments of disturbance when the
courtroom became unruly, Judge Davis would sound this gavel calling
for order in the court.]
[Illustration: The Metamora Courthouse, dating from 1845, retains the
atmosphere of those rugged days when Lincoln and his colleagues came
here to plead for justice before the bar.]
[Illustration: At Metamora, Lincoln sat at this table. The “skirt” was
cut away to accommodate his long legs.]
[Illustration: The well-worn courthouse doorstep is evidence of one
court room visitor’s observations: “Court week is a general holiday.
Not only suitors, jurors and witnesses, but all who can spare the time
brush up their coats and brush down their horses to go to court.”]
[Illustration: An atmosphere of exultation pervaded the Metamora
courtroom when Lincoln was present. He was the most popular of all the
barristers who traveled the Eighth Circuit.]
[Illustration: The Old Cass County Courthouse in Beadstown, Illinois,
was the scene of the “Duff” Armstrong murder trial in which Lincoln
defended the son of “Aunt Hanna” Armstrong, who had befriended him
when he lived in New Salem. During the trial Lincoln proved, by
referring to an almanac, that the moon was not shining brightly at the
time of the murder. It is said that tears stood in Lincoln’s eyes as
he pleaded for the boy’s life and that the hardened pioneer jurymen
wept with him. Young Armstrong was acquitted.]
[Illustration: The courtroom.]
[Illustration: On the evening of July 29, 1858, Lincoln, Republican
Candidate for the United States Senate and the incumbent Democratic
Senator, Stephen A. Douglas, were guests at the Bryant Home. It was
here that the two politicians agreed to their seven debates.]
[Illustration: Lincoln occupied the chair below during the evening’s
discussion.]
[Illustration: On this table Douglas wrote a letter to Lincoln
confirming the schedule for seven debates.]
[Illustration: This memorial to the Lincoln-Douglas debates, at
Quincy, Illinois, stands as a symbol of Lincoln’s moral and spiritual
convictions. They enabled him to match wits with Stephen A. Douglas,
who was blind to the evils of slavery and deaf and dumb to those who
expressed a desire to abolish it.]
[Illustration: Lincoln had crossed the threshold of his greatest
ambition when he and his family became frequent visitors to the
Governor’s Mansion, where they mingled with the elite both politically
and socially. Lincoln’s name had been mentioned in the press as a
possible candidate for the Presidency.]
[Illustration: “The Rail Splitter.” Lincoln acquired this nickname
during the 1860 convention in Chicago, where he became known as “The
Rail Splitter” candidate for President of the United States.]
[Illustration: It was to this house, Lincoln’s Springfield residence,
that the appointed committee came on May 19, 1860 to notify “The Rail
Splitter” candidate of his nomination for the Presidency.]
[Illustration: One of the committeemen rang the front doorbell, which
has announced visitors to the Lincoln house for more than a hundred
years.]
[Illustration: “The Rail Splitter” himself opened the front door and
welcomed the committee into the entrance hall, where both the humble
and the great had always been welcome visitors.]
[Illustration: It was in the north parlor that the committee
spokesman, George Ashmun, delivered to Lincoln the letter which
confirmed his nomination, a copy of the Republican platform and a
short congratulatory speech. “The Rail Splitter” candidate stood tall
and dignified, a grave expression on his rugged countenance.]
[Illustration: The committee was introduced to Mrs. Lincoln in the
south parlor, where she served refreshments and water. Later “The Rail
Splitter” opined that the water seemed a sufficient stimulant.]
[Illustration: Mr. Lincoln’s favorite rocker.]
[Illustration: Mrs. Lincoln’s sewing rocker.]
[Illustration: When Mrs. Lincoln was entertaining friends, “Honest
Abe” often retired to the kitchen where he stretched out on the floor
to read a book or newspaper.]
[Illustration: It was a cold January day when Lincoln journeyed from
Springfield to this quaint little house near Charleston, Illinois, to
visit for the last time with his beloved stepmother, before leaving
for Washington and his inauguration.]
[Illustration: While sitting before the glowing fireplace, Lincoln and
his stepmother must have reminisced about those formidable days in the
forests of Indiana and the first few years on the prairies of
Illinois.]
[Illustration: “How slowly, and yet by happily prepared steps, he came
to his place,” said Emerson. This statue is in Chicago’s Lincoln Park.]
[Illustration: At the dedication of the memorial and tomb to the Great
Emancipator in Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois, Governor
Richard Oglesby spoke these words: “And now under the gracious favor
of Almighty God, I dedicate this monument to the memory of the obscure
boy, the honest man, the illustrious statesman, the great liberator,
and the martyr President Abraham Lincoln, and to the keeping of Time.”]
The LINCOLN COUNTRY:
IN PICTURES
_by Carl and Rosalie Frazier_
Perhaps no man in American history has been viewed with such respect and
reverence by the American people as has Abraham Lincoln. School children
and scholars alike have been moved by the humanity of his deeply lined
face, have marveled at his rise from poverty to the Presidency, have
sorrowed anew at the tragedy of his death, have read his words and been
unable to erase them from their memory. If there is one historic person
most of us would like to know, it is Abraham Lincoln.
Here—in these pages which recreate the world Lincoln knew as a child and
a young man—the reader can come close to Lincoln. In these fine
photographs, which carefully depict the familiar, everyday scenes of
young Abe’s manhood, he can see Lincoln’s world as Lincoln saw it. As
the authors say: “It was from this frontier atmosphere and these
frontier people that Lincoln acquired his uncanny understanding of how
common folk think and the wisdom that enabled him to hold in his hands
the ties that bound a people and made a nation.”
It is this atmosphere that the authors have captured in over 100
photographs, and it is the rhythm of frontier life that they have caught
in the factual simplicity of the text. Here is the farm in Kentucky
where Lincoln was born; here are reconstructed the smithy, the tavern,
the houses of New Salem, Illinois where Lincoln was a clerk, where he
studied law, where he was elected to the state legislature. Here is the
Springfield that Lincoln knew when he was first elected to Congress, the
town where his sons were born, where in 1860 he learned that he was a
candidate for the Presidency. This is Lincoln’s country. As the reader
follows Lincoln through the pages of this book, he will feel suddenly
close to the man who left such an indelible imprint on the history of
this nation—and upon its people.
CARL and ROSALIE FRAZIER live in Chicago, Illinois where they pursue
their professions as artists and photographers. Their knowledge of
Abraham Lincoln comes from their considerable and extensive research
into Lincoln’s life and their many pilgrimages to those places where he
lived in Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois.
The Fraziers became interested in trying to capture through the lenses
of their cameras that certain something which attracts visitors by the
thousands to the Lincoln shrines every year. They hope this picture book
will preserve, or at least refresh the memories of these observant
visitors, and bring to those who may never have this opportunity a
better mental picture of this benevolent man’s environment.
HASTINGS HOUSE PUBLISHERS
_New York 22_
[Illustration: The Rutledge Tavern where Abraham Lincoln often stayed.
The well-worn ladder leads to his bed in the loft.]