Abraham Lincoln Read online

  MOVING TO ILLINOIS

  MRS. SARAH LINCOLN stood alone in the little cabin in the Pigeon Creek Settlement. The room was empty. The bureau, chairs, and stools were gone. The featherbeds, quilts, and spinning wheel were gone. Mr. Lincoln’s guns were gone. There wasn’t even a coonskin cap on a peg.

  Mrs. Lincoln looked about the empty room and began to cry. Just then Thomas came in. “Come, Sarah,” he said, “the wagon is loaded and we are ready to start.”

  “I don’t want to go,” she said. “We’ve lived here a long time, and I love our neighbors. I don’t want to leave them.”

  “But I can’t make a living here,” said Thomas. “I thought this land was good, but it isn’t. I can’t raise a good crop of anything.”

  “I know, but I hate to leave Indiana,” said Sarah.

  “We’ll get rich in Illinois, Sarah. They say everything over there grows twice as fast and twice as large. So we’ll have all the money we want, and you shall have a new Sunday dress.”

  Sarah smiled and dried her eyes. Then she followed Thomas outside. There stood the big wagon drawn by four oxen. It was loaded with furniture, featherbeds, quilts, skins, clothing, tools, shovels, saws, and many other things. There was even a plow.

  There was scarcely room for Mrs. Lincoln, but she climbed up and sat on the load. Matilda and Sarah Johnston walked by the wagon. They were large and strong and could walk miles and miles without getting tired.

  Pretty Sarah Lincoln wasn’t with them. She had died two years before.

  John Johnston, Dennis Hanks, and Abe Lincoln were young men now, but they went with the family and walked with Mr. Lincoln.

  At night they camped in the woods. After supper they all sat around the campfire and told stories. Mr. Lincoln told Indian stories. He always knew a new one. Abe told funny stories. He always knew a new one, too.

  John, Dennis, and Abe took turns watching the fire. This time Abe didn’t burn all the wood in one big blaze. He kept a small fire burning, but no green eyes came nearer and nearer.

  One day they crossed a small river. It was cold weather, and the river was full of chunks of floating ice.

  When they reached the other side, they heard a dog barking. And there across the river—on the shore they had just left—was their own dog.

  They called him, but the dog was afraid to swim. He was afraid of the floating ice. He ran up and down the shore, barking pitifully. He was trying to say, “Don’t leave me here alone! There is no one here to take care of me. I shall starve to death.”

  “Just listen to him,” said Abe. “I can’t stand it. I’m going back after him.”

  “No, Abe,” said his father. “We haven’t time. We must go on.”

  “I’ll catch up with you,” said Abe.

  Into the icy river he plunged and swam to the other shore. The dog was wild with joy. He licked Abe’s hands, he jumped, he pranced, he barked joyfully.

  Then into the icy river Abe plunged again. He held the dog up out of the water and swam with one arm. It was hard work, but he reached the other shore safely.

  The wagon had gone, but Abe overtook it. He put the dog in the wagon and walked on with the men.

  “He is tenderhearted,” said Mrs. Lincoln. “No one else would have crossed that icy river to get a dog.”

  “Abe couldn’t let the dog starve to death,” said Matilda. “The others didn’t even think of that.”

  “That is what makes Abe different,” said her mother. “He thinks of everything.”

  IN THE NEW STATE

  The Lincoln family now lived in a new state, Illinois. Mr. Thomas Lincoln had bought land on the Sangamon River and had built a cabin on the bank of the river.

  Abe had helped to clear land for the cabin and a field. He had helped to build the log cabin and fence in the field.

  Then Abe left home. He was now twenty-one years old, and he wanted to make a living for himself.

  “You have been a great help to me, Abe,” said his father. “You have given me every cent you ever earned. I wish I could help you now, but I can’t.”

  “I’m sorry to see you go, Abe,” said his stepmother. “You have been very good to me. You have never given me a cross word, and you have never disobeyed me. I love you as if you were my own son.”

  “You have been good to me, Mother,” said Abe. “I will never forget you, and I will help you as long as I live.”

  Abe carried his clothes in a small bundle. This he tied to a stick which he carried over his shoulder. He had a little money, about twenty-five cents.

  He found plenty of work on farms near by. He plowed, chopped down trees, and split rails. He husked corn, took care of horses, cows, and pigs. He did every kind of work that was done on a farm.

  If there was no farm work to be done, he would help the farmer’s wife. He carried water, dug potatoes, fed the chickens, and churned.

  He even took care of the children. He didn’t mind rocking a baby to sleep, because it gave him a chance to read. He rocked the cradle with his foot.

  So Abe worked and worked. From sunrise to sunset he worked. But he was never too tired to tell funny stories and jokes. He was never too tired to be kind to everyone.

  Before long, Abe had many friends. They invited him to Sunday dinner; they told him to stop in when he was passing by. They liked Abe because he wasn’t rough and quarrelsome. Most of all, they liked him because he was kind.

  One cold day Abe saw a man chopping wood. The man was barefooted and his clothing was old and thin. He was shivering with the cold, and he looked unable to work at all.

  Abe felt very sorry for this poor man.

  “How are you this cold day?” he asked.

  “I’m just about ill,” said the man, “but I have to chop this wood. I need shoes.”

  “Give me that ax,” said Abe. “You go home and sit by the fire.”

  The man thanked Abe and went home at once.

  Then Abe swung the ax. And there were few who could swing an ax as Abe could. He knew just how high to lift it. He knew just how hard to strike.

  So it wasn’t long until the great pile of wood was chopped. It wasn’t long, either, until the poor man sold it and bought shoes.

  And he was devoted to Abe Lincoln as long as he lived.

  HELPING THE HELPLESS

  “MOLLY,” SAID THE cooper to his wife, “Abe Lincoln has a new suit of clothes.”

  “Well! Well!” said Molly. “I’m glad to hear that. If ever anyone in this world deserves a new suit, it’s that young man.”

  “That’s exactly what I think,” said the cooper.

  “But how did he ever get enough money to buy a suit?” asked Molly.

  “He split rails, Molly. Each yard of the material cost him one week of hard work.”

  “He must have split hundreds of rails,” said Molly.

  “He must have,” said the cooper. “But it was time he bought a good suit. People were making fun of his clothes.”

  “Who was?” Molly asked sharply. She liked Abe very much, and she didn’t want anyone to make fun of him.

  “Oh, the folks who don’t want Abe to succeed,” the cooper said.

  “Of course,” said Molly. “They are jealous of Abe because he can make better speeches than any of them.”

  “Indeed he can,” said the cooper. “Abe Lincoln is the best speaker in this state. He is going to speak at the Big Meeting next week.”

  “I hope he will wear his new suit,” said Molly.

  “He will. That’s why he bought it. He told me so himself.”

  “Well, no one need be ashamed of Abe Lincoln in his old clothes,” said Molly.

  A week later, Mr. Lincoln was on his way to the Big Meeting. He was wearing his new suit, and he was proud of it. “No one can make fun of me today,” he said to himself. “I look as well as anyone else now.”

  He was riding horseback on a muddy road, and he rode carefully. He didn’t want his new clothes splashed with mud.

  Just then h
e heard a pig squeal. He looked around. There in a field, in a great mudhole, was a little pig.

  It was struggling to get out of the mud, but it couldn’t. It looked straight into Abe’s eyes and squealed again.

  Abe said, “I am very sorry, little pig, but I can’t help you. This is my new suit, and the mud would ruin it. I hope someone else will get you out.”

  Then Abe rode on. But he couldn’t forget that pitiful squeal. He couldn’t forget the fear in the little pig’s eyes.

  Suddenly he turned his horse and rode back. He pulled the pig out of the mud and put him on dry land.

  That was fine for the little pig. But it was hard on Mr. Lincoln’s new suit—the suit he had worked so hard to get—the first good suit he had ever owned.

  Mr. Lincoln arrived at the Big Meeting with mud-spattered clothes. He was late. The people had been waiting for him a long time. They were shouting for him now. “Abe! Abe!” they shouted. “Speech! Speech!”

  Mr. Lincoln brushed his clothes, but the mud stains showed plainly.

  He couldn’t keep the people waiting any longer, so he went on the platform and began his speech.

  In two minutes everyone forgot the muddy clothes. Mr. Abe Lincoln was speaking! Nothing else mattered.

  THE LITTLE TRUNK

  Several years passed. Abe Lincoln still lived in Illinois, but he didn’t live in a cabin in the woods. He lived in a two-story house in a big town, Springfield.

  No longer did Abe plow, chop down trees, and split rails. He didn’t work on a farm now. He was a lawyer. He had an office in that big town, and everyone respected him and called him Mr. Lincoln.

  That is what study and good books had done for Abe.

  He still worked hard, but it was the kind of work he loved. He worked with books, and he was helping people.

  He would ride horseback many miles to get someone out of trouble. He would ride on muddy roads, through rain, sleet, and snow.

  He still studied at night and sometimes till midnight and past midnight. The more he learned, the more he wanted to learn. He never thought he knew enough.

  But he never forgot to tell funny stories and jokes, and he never forgot to be kind. He would go out of his way and neglect his own business to help others. Years later, people still remembered how kind he had been.

  “Mr. Lincoln helped me once,” said an old lady to three little girls.

  “Mr. Lincoln! The great Abraham Lincoln?” asked Helen.

  “Yes, my dear,” said the old lady. “The great Abraham Lincoln. It was when I was a little girl. I lived in the same town, Springfield, and he often passed my home.”

  “Did he speak to you?” asked Elsie.

  “Always, Elsie. He never forgot to look for me. Mr. Lincoln loved children.” Grandma smiled as she remembered.

  “How did he help you?” asked Helen.

  “I’ll tell you the whole story, girls. I was going to visit my grandmother in another city. I had to go on the train and I had to go alone. My father and mother were too busy to go with me.

  “But they helped me get ready. Mother made some pretty dresses for me. Father bought a little trunk.”

  “A trunk!” said the three girls all together.

  “Yes, indeed,” said the old lady, “and it wasn’t a toy trunk, either. It was large enough to hold six dresses, two pairs of shoes, my Sunday hat, a sunbonnet, and many other things.”

  “Did you have a special Sunday dress?” asked Mary.

  “Yes, my dear, I did. It was pink, and I had pink slippers and pink stockings. My Sunday hat was pink, too.”

  “I know you looked beautiful, Grandma,” said Mary.

  Grandma smiled again as she remembered something else. “I had a pretty pink parasol, too,” she said.

  “Did you put it in your trunk?” Elsie asked.

  Grandmother nodded. “It was the last thing Mother put in,” she said. “Then she locked the trunk and Father carried it downstairs. He left it on the porch and went for the expressman.

  “I was all ready, so I just sat down and waited. I waited and waited. I talked with Mother. Then I waited some more, but the expressman didn’t come.

  “It was almost time for the train, so I went out to the gate to look for him. I looked up the street. I looked down the street. Then I looked up and down, and down and up. There wasn’t a sign of him!”

  “Oh! Oh!” said the girls.

  “Then,” said Grandmother, “I heard the train whistle, and I knew it would soon be at the station.”

  “Oh! Oh!” said the girls again.

  “What did you do, Grandma?” asked Elsie.

  “I cried, Elsie. I cried out loud, too. I knew I couldn’t get to the train now.

  “Suddenly a tall man crossed the street. He had black hair, gray eyes, and a kind face.”

  “Mr. Lincoln!” cried the girls.

  “Yes, girls, it was Mr. Lincoln. He said he heard me crying across the street and wanted to know what was the matter.

  “I told him about my trunk.

  “ ‘Is it a large trunk?’ he asked.

  “ ‘No, it’s a small trunk,’ I said. ‘It’s there, on the porch.’

  “ ‘I’ll take it to the station,’ he said. Then he ran to the porch, lifted the trunk to his shoulder, and away he hurried to the station.

  “I had to run to keep up with him, but I did keep up, and we reached the station just in time.

  “The train was ready to go. The conductor was calling, ‘All aboard!’

  “ ‘Wait for this young lady!’ called Mr. Lincoln.

  “The conductor helped me up the steps. Mr. Lincoln put my trunk in the baggage car. Then the train began to move.

  “Mr. Lincoln waved his hat to me and I waved my hand to him. ‘He’s the kindest man in the world,’ I said to myself. And I have said it ever since, girls. He was always the kindest man in the world.”

  PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

  IT WAS NOVEMBER, 1860. Bells rang! Whistles blew! People shouted! Men hugged each other and threw their hats into the air.

  “Abe Lincoln has been elected!” they cried. “Abe Lincoln will be our new president!”

  Abe was proud that he had been chosen to become president of the United States, but he was humble, too. He knew that there was much hard work ahead of him. He was used to working hard, and he was determined to do the best job he possibly could as president.

  Mrs. Lincoln and the Lincoln boys, Robert, Willie, and Tad, were proud and pleased, too. They were eager to move to Washington. They had several months to get ready, because Mr. Lincoln would not become president until early in March of the next year.

  On February 11, 1861, a special train left Springfield for Washington. The Lincoln family and other important people were on the train.

  Traveling in a special train was an exciting experience for the boys. All along the way crowds gathered to watch the train go by. Whenever the train stopped at a city or town, more crowds gathered. At most of these places, Mr. Lincoln made a short speech.

  Between stops, he planned what he would say at other cities. Before he left Springfield, he had written a special speech that he was going to give in Washington. He carried a copy of the speech with him in a carpetbag.

  The Washington speech was the most important of all the speeches that he was to make. He wanted it to be just right. When he had a little time on the train, he would get the speech out of the carpetbag and go over it again.

  One afternoon when he was working on this speech, Willie and Tad became very restless and noisy. At last Mrs. Lincoln said, “Boys, I wish you would be more quiet. Your father is trying to finish his Washington speech.”

  Willie sat down beside his mother at once. “Do you mean the speech he will make at his inauguration?” He said the long word carefully.

  Ever since Mr. Lincoln had explained that he would not be president until after his inauguration, Willie and Tad had tried to use the word. They thought that it had a fine sound.
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  “Yes,” Mrs. Lincoln nodded, “that’s the one. Many people are waiting to hear what your father will say in that speech.”

  Mr. Lincoln stopped working on his speech and put it back in the carpetbag.

  “Well, well,” he said. “Is anybody ready to do a little wrestling?”

  “I am! I am!” Willie and Tad shouted.

  “Oh, Abe,” Mrs. Lincoln said. “You’re tired. Besides, you have so much to do.”

  Mr. Lincoln chuckled as he wrestled playfully with the boys. “I’m never too tired or too busy to spend time with my sons.”

  And he never was. No matter what problems he faced, no matter how busy or tired or worried he was, he found time for his boys.

  By the time Abraham Lincoln went to Washington, some of the Southern states had withdrawn from the United States of America. The people in these states had set up a country of their own, the Confederate States of America.

  The Northern states were called the Union. Mr. Lincoln did not believe that the United States should be divided into two countries. The people in the Union agreed with him. The people in the Confederate States did not agree. About six weeks after Lincoln’s inauguration, the War Between the States began.

  President Lincoln hated the cruel war, but he believed liberty and union were worth fighting for. He believed the North and South should be one nation.

  He also believed that all the people were important in any government. In one of his speeches he said that “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

  Abraham Lincoln worked long hours, day and night, during the war. There was no end to the problems that he had to solve. Through it all, he found time to help many people.

  Every day soldiers came to see him. Widows and mothers of soldiers came, too. He always did everything he could for them.

  Mr. Lincoln felt sorry for all the people who were hurt in the war. He felt sorry for their families. Even in these sad times he went on telling jokes and stories. He tried to make people laugh. He knew it was important to keep cheerful and to be good-natured.