Boys' and Girls' Biography of Abraham Lincoln — John Shaqi
Boys' and Girls' Biography of Abraham LincolnShaw, James H.
History
Boys' and Girls' Biography of Abraham Lincoln
Shaw, James H.
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -- Juvenile literature
They settled in southern Indiana, near the town of Gentryville and built
a log cabin house which was called a half-faced camp because it was
enclosed on all sides but one. There was no floor other than the ground
and no door or window. Part of the land around it was cultivated, and on
this they raised corn and vegetables; but the most of it was woods.
Their neighbors were few and so far away even the smoke from their
chimneys could not be seen. At this time there were no steamers going up
the Ohio river to bring them news from Washington, to say nothing of
news from Europe, and as for railroads, there were none at all in this
western country, so that you can see it was very lonesome. They had no
such opportunities as we have. Abraham learned to use the ax and wedge
because with them most of the home was built. They did not even have
saws. For their clothing, they cut the wool from the sheep's back, and
mother would card, spin and weave it. They used needles from the pine
trees and buttons were made by sewing a bit of cloth on a piece of bone.
The one table they had in the one room, was made by cutting a rough slab
of wood, boring holes in the corners and making rough legs. The chairs
were made much the same way. They did not have any bed-steads; but made
a frame by putting holes in the logs of the house and fastening side
pieces to a pole driven down into the ground, then they covered it with
skin, dry leaves and some rough cloth. Little Abraham slept in the loft.
He had a corner there filled with dry leaves, to which he had to climb
by means of pegs driven into the logs. Their food was of the plainest
kind as far as bread went, corn dodger being the most common. Wheat
bread, which they called cake, they sometimes had for Sunday. Once in a
while they would have potatoes for a meal; but most of the time they had
fish and game, such as deer, bear, wild turkeys, ducks, etc., for all of
these were plentiful there. They did not have stoves as we have; but
used a large fireplace built of brick or stone in the side of the log
house. They had what was called a Dutch oven to do the baking. They did
not have the many cooking vessels we have now and hence did not have the
variety of food. They raised their own indigo with which they colored
the cloth they made. They also used sumac berries and white walnut bark
to color. They raised some cotton, which they would put near the
fireplace, to keep warm and make it sweat, and then card it, spin it and
finally color it. This would make what they called a pretty linsey dress
or suit. They had to make their own soap by taking the fat of hogs and
boiling it in a kettle with lye. Abraham's clothes were often made of
deerskin, and he wore a coonskin for a cap.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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