The grandfather of Abraham was one of the pioneer settlers of Kentucky. About the year 1780 he removed from Rockingham County, Virginia, to what was then an unsettled wilderness1. His death was tragical2. Four years later, while at work in the field, at some distance from his cabin, he was shot down by a prowling Indian. How his widow managed, with the care of five helpless children, we do not accurately3 know, but God helps the struggling, and she reared them all till they reached man’s and woman’s estate. Thomas Lincoln, born in 1778, was the third child, and the future President was his son. He was a good-natured, popular man, but inefficient4 and unsuccessful,{27} and whatever there was great in his eminent5 son did not come from him.
Nancy Hanks, Abe’s own mother, was born in Virginia, and was probably related to some family emigrating from that State. Dr. Holland says of her: “Mrs. Lincoln, the mother, was evidently a woman out of place among these primitive6 surroundings. She was five feet five inches high, a slender, pale, sad, and sensitive woman, with much in her nature that was truly heroic, and much that shrank from the rude life around her. A great man never drew his infant life from a purer or more womanly bosom7 than her own.” Though she died young, she had taught her children to read, and so laid the foundation of their education.
When Thomas Lincoln had made up his mind to move from Kentucky, he sold his humble8 home, or rather bartered9 it for ten barrels of whisky and twenty dollars in money. It must not be inferred that he was an intemperate11 man—this would not be true—but money was scarce in those days, and it was common to barter10, taking pay in commodities which were marketable. This was before the days of temperance societies; whisky{28} was generally drunk, even by ministers, and there was little risk in accepting it.
So Thomas Lincoln, leaving home by himself to find a new residence for his family, built a flat-boat, and launched it on the Rolling Fork, a creek12 emptying into the Ohio River. He reached the river in safety, but then came a disaster. His flat-boat was upset, and two-thirds of his whisky, and many of his housekeeping and farm utensils13 were lost. He did the best he could, however. With friendly assistance he saved all he was able, and proceeding14 on his journey, carried his goods about eighteen miles into Spencer County, Indiana, the place where we find him at the commencement of our narrative15. He returned to Kentucky for his family, and brought them with him to the new home in the wilderness. Seven days, we are told, were consumed on the journey, though the distance could not have been very great. We can easily imagine what privations and weariness of body this journey involved. People of to-day don’t know what “moving” is. They should have lived in the year 1816, and made a toilsome seven days’ march through the wilderness to understand what it meant then.{29}
Nor were their trials and privations over when the moving was accomplished16. I am tempted17 to quote here from Mr. Ward18 H. Lamon’s interesting life of Lincoln, an account of life in the new Indiana home, contained in a letter from Mr. David Turnham, a school-fellow of Abe:
“When my father came here in the Spring of 1819, he settled in Spencer County, within one mile of Thomas Lincoln, then a widower19. The chance for schooling20 was poor; but, such as it was, Abraham and myself attended the same schools.
“We first had to go seven miles to mill; and then it was a hand-mill that would grind from ten to fifteen bushels of corn in a day. There was but little wheat grown at that time; and when we did have wheat, we had to grind it on the mill described, and use it without bolting, as there were no bolts in the country. In the course of two or three years, a man by the name of Huffman built a mill on Anderson River, about twelve miles distant. Abe and I had to do the milling on horseback, frequently going twice to get one grist. Then they began building horse-mills of a little better quality than the hand-mills.{30}
“The country was very rough, especially in the low lands, so thick with brush that a man could scarcely get through on foot. These places were called Roughs. The country abounded21 in game, such as bears, deer, turkeys, and the smaller game.
“At that time there were a great many deer-licks; and Abe and myself would go to these licks sometimes, and watch of nights to kill deer, though Abe was not so fond of a gun as I was. There were ten or twelve of these licks in a small prairie on the creek, lying between Mr. Lincoln’s and Mr. Wood’s. This gave it the name of Prairie Track of Pigeon Creek.”
I have already said that Thomas Lincoln was a carpenter. He did not, however, understand his trade very well, and, though he was employed in small jobs, there is no evidence that he was ever employed to build a house, or was considered competent to do so. In fact, he derived22 but a small income from his trade, and probably looked upon himself rather as a farmer than a mechanic. It was a piece of good fortune for himself and his children, that, shiftless and unambitious as he was, he should have won a wife so much more capable and energetic than himself. He was much shorter{31} than his son Abe, being an inch or two under six feet. In some respects they were alike, however, for Thomas Lincoln had a gift for telling stories, and would sit about at “stores,” or under trees, and amuse his neighbors with an inexhaustible fund of anecdotes23. Of education he had little or none. He could write his name, having learned this much from his first wife, Abe’s mother, but he never had the ambition or perseverance24 to go farther up the hill of learning. We are told, however, that he was in favor of his children’s obtaining an education, though it was probably the mother and step-mother to whom Abe and his sister were especially indebted for such advantages as they enjoyed. I may say, however, that the most valuable part of Abraham Lincoln’s education was not derived from books. He was a close and keen observer of men and things, and few men excelled him in insight into human nature, and the motives25, the weaknesses, and the subterfuges26 of men. Yet with all this knowledge of the bad as well as the good that was in men, he was always a kindly27 and sympathetic judge and critic.
I suppose all boys at some time or other in their{32} early years have a narrow escape. My young readers may be interested to know how near we came to losing our future President. It was when Abe was seven years old, and before he removed to Indiana.
He was accustomed to go on numerous tramps with his cousin, Dennis Hanks, who sought to initiate28 him into the mysteries of fishing. On one occasion he attempted to “coon” across Knot Creek, by swinging over on a sycamore tree. But he lost his hold and tumbled into the deep water. He would have drowned but for the exertions29 of his boy companion, who had great difficulty in saving him. The readers of Garfield’s Life will remember how he also came near death by drowning, when considerably30 older than Abe was at this juncture31. But God looks after the lives of His chosen instruments, and saves them for His work.
There is no doubt that Abe found plenty to do outside of school. In fact, that did not take up much of his time, for we are told that, adding together all the time he spent in attendance, the aggregate32 would not exceed a year.
As to the sort of work he did, his father found work for him on the land which he had under{33} cultivation33. Then the “chores” which boys in such households are always called upon to do, in his case exacted more time on account of the lack of average accommodations. For instance, the water had to be brought from a spring a mile away, and Abe and his sister were employed to fetch it. There was no water to be had nearer, except what was collected in holes in the ground after a rain, and this was necessarily unfit for drinking, or, indeed, any other purpose unless strained. But Abe is not to be pitied for the hardships of his lot. That is the way strong men are made.
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1
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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tragical
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| adj. 悲剧的, 悲剧性的 | |
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accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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inefficient
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| adj.效率低的，无效的 | |
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eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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7
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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8
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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9
bartered
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| v.作物物交换，以货换货( barter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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barter
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| n.物物交换，以货易货，实物交易 | |
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11
intemperate
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| adj.无节制的，放纵的 | |
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12
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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utensils
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| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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18
ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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widower
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| n.鳏夫 | |
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schooling
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| n.教育；正规学校教育 | |
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abounded
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| v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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anecdotes
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| n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 ) | |
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perseverance
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| n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠 | |
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motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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subterfuges
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| n.（用说谎或欺骗以逃脱责备、困难等的）花招，遁词( subterfuge的名词复数 ) | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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initiate
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| vt.开始，创始，发动；启蒙，使入门；引入 | |
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exertions
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| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
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30
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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31
juncture
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| n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头 | |
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32
aggregate
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| adj.总计的，集合的；n.总数；v.合计；集合 | |
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cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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