Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -- Childhood and youth
"He was a tall, gaunt young man, dressed in a suit of blue homespun,
consisting of a roundabout jacket, waistcoat, and breeches which came to
within about three inches of his feet. The latter were encased in
rawhide boots, into the tops of which, most of the time, his pantaloons
were stuffed. He wore a soft felt hat which had once been black, but
now, as its owner dryly remarked, 'was sunburned until it was a combine
of colors.'"
There was a sawmill in Sangamontown, and it was the custom for the "men
folks" of the neighborhood to assemble near it at noon and in the
evening, and sit on a peeled log which had been rolled out for the
purpose. Young Lincoln soon joined this group and at once became a great
favorite because of his stories and jokes. His stories were so funny
that "whenever he'd end 'em up in his unexpected way the boys on the log
would whoop and roll off." In this way the log was polished smooth as
glass, and came to be known in the neighborhood as "Abe's log."
A traveling juggler came one day while the boat was building and gave an
exhibition in the house of one of the neighbors. This magician asked for
Abe's hat to cook eggs in. Lincoln hesitated, but gave this explanation
for his delay: "It was out of respect for the eggs--not care for my
hat!"
ABE LINCOLN SAVES THREE LIVES
While they were at work on the flatboat the humorous young stranger from
Indiana became the hero of a thrilling adventure, described as follows
by John Roll, who was an eye witness to the whole scene:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account