_At Lincoln City, Indiana, on the old Lincoln farm. The author, as presiding elder, has officiated and preached in this church._] [Illustration: JACOB S. BROTHER. _Still living at Rockport, Indiana. When a small boy lived with his father's family in the cabin in which Abraham Lincoln was born._] [Illustration: REV. ALLEN BROONER. _An old associate of Lincoln in Indiana. Their mothers died one week apart, and are buried at same place._] CHAPTER V. Lincoln Visits the Old Indiana Home Lincoln an Admirer of Henry Clay—A Whig Elector—Goes to Indiana—Makes Speeches—Old Friends and Old—Time Scenes—Writes a Poem. In 1844, Henry Clay was a candidate for President of the United States, on the Whig ticket. Abraham Lincoln was a great admirer of Mr. Clay, and referred to him as his "beau-ideal of a statesman." He was placed on the Whig ticket as presidential elector, and made speeches in favor of Mr. Clay's election. During the canvass he visited his old home and acquaintances in Indiana for the first time since he left, fourteen years before, and it was his only visit to the home of his youth. On the 22d of October, 1898, Thomas Bunton, then seventy-five years old, said to me: "I heard Lincoln speak in Gentryville in 1844. I saw him coming to the place of meeting with Mr. Jones. I heard Lincoln say, 'Don't introduce me to any one; I want to see how many I can recognize.' He went around shaking hands, and when he came to me he said, 'This is a Bunton.'" Captain Lamar said, at the time of my visit to him already mentioned: "At the close of Lincoln's speech, near Buffaloville, he said, 'Friends and fellow-citizens, I may never see you again, but give us a protective tariff and you will some day see the greatest nation the sun ever shone over.' While saying this he pointed to the east and, raising his hand, he closed the sentence pointing to the west. From the speaking I went with him to Si Crawford's for dinner. He talked much about old times, places, and people familiar to him in other days. The last words Abe said to me were these, 'You are comparatively young, God bless you, I may never see you again.'" Mr. Lincoln was so impressed by his visit to the old home that he wrote a descriptive poem, which is published in some of the Lincoln biographies. The following letter, written in 1846, explains why he wrote the poem: