Abraham Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life, Volume 1 (of 2) — John Shaqi
Abraham Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life, Volume 1 (of 2)Herndon, William Henry
History
Abraham Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life, Volume 1 (of 2)
Herndon, William Henry
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865
The structure, when completed, was fourteen feet square, and was built
of small unhewn logs. In the language of the day, it was called a
"half-faced camp," being enclosed on all sides but one. It had neither
floor, door, nor windows. In this forbidding hovel these doughty
emigrants braved the exposure of the varying seasons for an entire year.
At the end of that time Thomas and Betsy Sparrow followed, bringing
with them Dennis Hanks; and to them Thomas Lincoln surrendered the
"half-faced camp," while he moved into a more pretentious structure--a
cabin enclosed on all sides. The country was thickly covered with
forests of walnut, beech, oak, elm, maple, and an undergrowth of
dog-wood, sumac, and wild grape-vine. In places where the growth was not
so thick grass came up abundantly, and hogs found plenty of food in the
unlimited quantity of mast the woods afforded. The country abounded in
bear, deer, turkey, and other wild game, which not only satisfied the
pioneer's love for sport, but furnished his table with its supply of
meat.
Thomas Lincoln, with the aid of the Hankses and Sparrows, was for a time
an attentive farmer. The implements of agriculture then in use were as
rude as they were rare, and yet there is nothing to show that in spite
of the slow methods then in vogue he did not make commendable speed. "We
raised corn mostly"--relates Dennis--"and some wheat--enough for a cake
Sunday morning. Hog and venison hams were a legal tender, and coon skins
also. We raised sheep and cattle, but they did not bring much. Cows and
calves were only worth six to eight dollars; corn ten cents, and wheat
twenty-five cents, a bushel." So with all his application and frugality
the head of this ill-assorted household made but little headway in the
accumulation of the world's goods. We are told that he was indeed a poor
man, and that during his entire stay in Indiana his land barely yielded
him sufficient return to keep his larder supplied with the commonest
necessaries of life. His skill as a hunter--though never brought into
play unless at the angered demand of a stomach hungry for meat--in no
slight degree made up for the lack of good management in the cultivation
of his land. His son Abraham* never evinced the same fondness for
hunting, although his cousin Dennis with much pride tells us how he
could kill a wild turkey on the wing. "At that time," relates one of the
latter's playmates** descanting on the abundance of wild game, "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 or the sport as I was."***
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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