My father, at the death of his father, was but six years of age; and he grew up, literally without education--He removed from Kentucky to what is now Spencer county, Indiana, in my eighth year--We reached our new home about the time the State came into the Union--It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods--There I grew up--There were some schools, so called; but no qualification was ever required of a teacher, beyond "_readin, writin, and cipherin_" to the Rule of Three--If a straggler supposed to understand latin happened to sojourn in the neighborhood, he was looked upon as a wizzard--There was absolutely nothing to excite ambition for education. Of course when I came of age I did not know much--Still, somehow, I could read, write, and cipher to the Rule of Three; but that was all--I have not been to school since--The little advance I now have upon this store of education, I have picked up from time to time under the pressure of necessity-- I was raised to farm work, which I continued till I was twenty two--At twenty one I came to Illinois, and passed the first year in Macon county--Then I got to New-Salem at that time in Sangamon, now in Menard county, where I remained a year as a sort of Clerk in a store--Then came the Black Hawk war; and I was elected a Captain of Volunteers--a success which gave me more pleasure than any I have had since--I went the campaign, was elected, ran for the Legislature the same year (1832) and was beaten--the only time I ever have been beaten by the people--The next, and three succeeding biennial elections, I was elected to the Legislature--I was not a candidate afterwards. During this Legislative period I had studied law, and removed to Springfield to practice it--In 1846 I was once elected to the lower House of Congress--Was not a candidate for re-election--From 1849 to 1854, both inclusive, practiced law more assiduously than ever before--Always a whig in politics; and generally on the whig electoral tickets, making active canvasses--I was losing interest in politics, when the repeal of the Missouri Compromise aroused me again--What I have done since then is pretty well known-- If any personal description of me is thought desirable, it may be said, I am, in height, six feet, four inches, nearly; lean in flesh, weighing, on an average, one hundred and eighty pounds; dark complexion, with coarse black hair, and grey eyes--No other marks or brands recollected-- Yours very truly A. LINCOLN. J. W. Fell, Esq. WASHINGTON, D. C., March 20, 1872.