Several experts consider this book the finest ever written about Abe Lincoln for young readers. It shows him growing steadily toward becoming the great and humane President of the Civil War years. This vivid and accurate biography tells the story of Lincoln's boyhood and young manhood on the midwestern frontier. Then he taught himself surveying, served as village postmaster, read law and was four times elected to the Illinois state legislature. Back home again in New Salem he opened a little store which soon “winked out,” leaving him deeply in debt. He was proud to be elected captain of his volunteer company in the Black Hawk War. He would walk miles to borrow a book and he read every newspaper on which he could lay his big, gnarled work-hardened hands. He was the best wrestler in many miles, told the funniest stories and thought the deepest thoughts. One night Abe and his friend Allen Gentry had to fight for their lives against seven men who came aboard hoping to kill and rob them.įor the most part, however, Abe was a gentle, kindly and humorous boy. Visitors walk the steps to the shrine housing the log cabin representing the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln at the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National. Twice he took flatboats down the treacherous, winding river to New Orleans. But six-foot-four-inch Abe Lincoln did not fear them. This article was published by the National Park Service.There were river pirates in those days on the untamed Mississippi. The family left Knob Creek and Kentucky in December 1816 moving to Spencer County, Indiana. Austin, with a keen sense of pioneer knowledge, grabbed a long tree limb from the bank and held it out like a strong arm to the struggling Lincoln.Ībraham spoke of the incident after he became President. Had it not been for Austin Gollaher, a friend, Abraham would probably have drowned. Likewise, he never forgot the time he fell in the swollen Knob Creek while playing on a foot log near his home. Free schools did not come to Kentucky until the 1830s. These were subscription schools and lasted only a few months. Lincoln once wrote that while living on Knob Creek he and his sister, Sarah, were sent for short periods to an A, B, C school - the first kept by Zachariah Riney, and the second by Caleb Hazel. It was also at Knob Creek that Abraham first saw African - Americans being taken south along the Bardstown - Green River Turnpike, part of the old Cumberland Road, to be sold as slaves. The following night a big rain in the hills sent water rushing into the creek, the creek flooded the fields and washed away their garden. The Cabin Series are Designed with Outdoor Living in mind, The Perfect size and floorplan for everyone from the Avid Sportsman to the Person just looking. He remembered one occasion when he and his sister, Sarah, had planted the garden Abraham said he planted pumpkin seeds in every other hill and every other row while Sarah and others planted the corn. Lincoln could also remember the baby brother who was born and died on the Knob Creek Farm. He could remember how he stayed by his mother's side and watched her face while listening to her read the Bible. Abraham recalled in later years numerous memories of his childhood here a stone house he had passed while taking corn to Hodgen's Mill a certain big tree that had attracted his boyish fancy the old homestead the clear stream where he fished, and the surrounding hills where he picked berries were all impressed on his mind. Here he learned to talk and soon grew big enough to run errands, such as carrying water and gathering wood for the fires. The Lincoln family lived on 30 acres of the 228 acre Knob Creek Farm from the time Abraham was two and a half until he was almost eight years old. Haycraft had invited the future President to visit his childhood home in Kentucky. So wrote Abraham Lincoln on June 4, 1860, to Samuel Haycraft of Elizabethtown, Kentucky. "My earliest recollection is of the Knob Creek place." Photo courtesy of the National Park Service
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |