One day an old "friendly Indian" came into camp with a "talking paper"
or pa.s.s from the "big white war chief." The men, with the pioneer idea that "the only good Indian is a dead Indian," were for stringing him up.
The poor old red man protested and held the general"s letter before their eyes.
"Me good Injun," he kept saying, "white war chief say me good Injun.
Look--talking paper--see!"
"Get out! It"s a forgery! Shoot him! String him up!" shouted the soldiers angrily.
This noise brought Captain Lincoln out of his tent. At a glance he saw what they were about to do. He jumped in among them, shouting indignantly:
"Stand back, all of you! For shame! I"ll fight you all, one after the other, just as you come. Take it out on me if you can, but you shan"t hurt this poor old Indian. When a man comes to me for help, he"s going to get it, if I have to lick all Sangamon County to give it to him."
The three months for which the men were enlisted soon expired, and Lincoln"s captaincy also ended. But he re-enlisted as a private, and remained in the ranks until the end of the war, which found him in Wisconsin, hundreds of miles from New Salem. He and a few companions walked home, as there were not many horses to be had. Lincoln enlivened the long tramp with his fund of stories and jokes.
It is sometimes a.s.serted that Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis met at this early day, as officers in the Black Hawk War, but this statement is not founded on fact, for young Lieutenant Davis was absent on a furlough and could not have encountered the tall captain from the Sangamon then, as many would like to believe.
Lincoln always referred to the Black Hawk War as a humorous adventure.
He made a funny speech in Congress describing some of his experiences in this campaign in which he did not take part in a battle, nor did he even catch sight of a hostile Indian.
AGAIN A RIVER PILOT
Abe was still out of work. Just before he enlisted he piloted the _Talisman_, a steamboat which had come up the Sangamon on a trial trip, in which the speed of the boat averaged four miles an hour. At that time the wildest excitement prevailed. The coming of the _Talisman_ up their little river was hailed with grand demonstrations and much speech-making. Every one expected the Government to spend millions of dollars to make the Sangamon navigable, and even New Salem (which is not now to be found on the map) was to become a flourishing city, in the hopeful imaginings of its few inhabitants. Lincoln, being a candidate, naturally "took the fever," and shared the delirium that prevailed. He could hardly have done otherwise, even if he had been so disposed. This was before the days of railroads, and the commerce and prosperity of the country depended on making the smaller streams navigable. Lincoln received forty dollars, however, for his services as pilot. The _Talisman_, instead of establishing a river connection with the Mississippi River cities, never came back. She was burned at the wharf in St. Louis, and the navigation of the poor little Sangamon, which was only a shallow creek, was soon forgotten.
LINCOLN"S ONLY DEFEAT BY A DIRECT VOTE
When Abe returned from the war he had no steady employment. On this account, especially, he must have been deeply disappointed to be defeated in the election which took place within two weeks after his arrival. His patriotism had been stronger than his political sagacity.
If he had stayed at home to help himself to the Legislature he might have been elected, though he was then a comparative stranger in the county. One of the four representatives chosen was Peter Cartwright, the backwoods preacher.
Lincoln afterward mentioned that this was the only time he was ever defeated by a direct vote of the people.
CHAPTER XII
BUYING AND KEEPING A STORE
After making what he considered a bad beginning politically, young Lincoln was on the lookout for a "business chance." One came to him in a peculiar way. A man named Radford had opened a store in New Salem.
Possessing neither the strength nor the sagacity and tact of Abe Lincoln, he was driven out of business by the Clary"s Grove Boys, who broke his store fixtures and drank his liquors. In his fright Radford was willing to sell out at almost any price and take most of his pay in promissory notes. He was quickly accommodated. Through William G. Greene a transfer was made at once from Reuben Radford to William Berry and Abraham Lincoln. Berry had $250 in cash and made the first payment. In a few hours after a violent visit from those ruffians from Clary"s Grove Berry and Lincoln had formed a partnership and were the nominal owners of a country store.
The new firm soon absorbed the stock and business of another firm, James and Rowan Herndon, who had previously acquired the stock and debts of the predecessors in their business, and all these obligations were pa.s.sed on with the goods of both the Radford and Herndon stores to "Honest Abe."
The senior partner of the firm of Berry & Lincoln was devoted to the whisky which was found in the inventory of the Radford stock, and the junior partner was given over to the study of a set of "Blackstone"s Commentaries," text-books which all lawyers have to study, that came into his possession in a peculiar way, as Candidate Lincoln told an artist who was painting his portrait in 1860:
"One day a man who was migrating to the West drove up in front of my store with a wagon which contained his family and household plunder. He asked me if I would buy an old barrel for which he had no room in his wagon, and which contained nothing of special value. I did not want it, but to oblige him I bought it, and paid him, I think, half a dollar for it. Without further examination I put it away in the store and forgot all about it.
"Some time after, in overhauling things, I came upon the barrel, and emptying it on the floor to see what it contained, I found at the bottom of the rubbish a complete set of "Blackstone"s Commentaries." I began to read those famous works. I had plenty of time; for during the long summer days, when the farmers were busy with their crops, my customers were few and far between. The more I read the more intensely interested I became. Never in my whole life was my mind so thoroughly absorbed. I read until I devoured them."
With one partner drinking whisky and the other devouring "Blackstone,"
it was not surprising that the business "winked out," as Lincoln whimsically expressed it, leaving the conscientious junior partner saddled with the obligations of the former owners of two country stores, and owing an amount so large that Lincoln often referred to it as "the national debt." William Berry, the senior partner, who was equally responsible, "drank himself to death," leaving Lincoln alone to pay all the debts.
According to the custom and conscience of the time, the insolvent young merchant was under no obligation whatever to pay liabilities contracted by the other men, but Lincoln could never be induced even to compromise any of the accounts the others had gone off and left him to settle.
"Honest Abe" paid the last cent of his "national debt" nearly twenty years later, after much toil, self-denial and hardship.
POSTMASTER LINCOLN AND JACK ARMSTRONG"S FAMILY
Again out of employment, Abe was forced to accept the hospitality of his friends of whom he now had a large number. While in business with Berry he received the appointment as postmaster. The pay of the New Salem post office was not large, but Lincoln, always longing for news and knowledge, had the privilege of reading the newspapers which pa.s.sed through his hands. He took so much pains in delivering the letters and papers that came into his charge as postmaster that he antic.i.p.ated the "special delivery" and "rural free delivery" features of the postal service of the present day.
"A. LINCOLN, DEPUTY SURVEYOR"
Later John Calhoun, the county surveyor, sent word to Lincoln that he would appoint him deputy surveyor of the county if he would accept the position. The young man, greatly astonished, went to Springfield to call on Calhoun and see if the story could be true. Calhoun knew that Lincoln was utterly ignorant of surveying, but told him he might take time to study up. As soon as Lincoln was a.s.sured that the appointment did not involve any political obligation--for Calhoun was a Jackson Democrat, and Lincoln was already a staunch Whig--he procured a copy of Flint and Gibson"s "Surveying" and went to work with a will. With the aid of Mentor Graham, and studying day and night, he mastered the subject and reported to Calhoun in six weeks. The county surveyor was astounded, but when Lincoln gave ample proofs of his ability to do field work, the chief surveyor appointed him a deputy and a.s.signed him to the northern part of Sangamon County.
Deputy Surveyor Lincoln had to run deeper in debt for a horse and surveying instruments in order to do this new work. Although he made three dollars a day at it--a large salary for that time--and board and expenses were cheap, he was unable to make money fast enough to satisfy one creditor who was pushing him to pay one of the old debts left by the failure of Berry & Lincoln. This man sued Lincoln and, getting judgment, seized the deputy"s horse and instruments. This was like "killing the goose that laid the golden egg." Lincoln was in despair. But a friend, as a surprise, bought in the horse and instruments for one hundred and twenty dollars and presented them to the struggling surveyor.
President Lincoln, many years afterward, generously repaid this man, "Uncle Jimmy" Short, for his friendly act in that hour of need.
Lincoln"s reputation as a story teller and wrestler had spread so that when it became known that he was to survey a tract in a certain district the whole neighborhood turned out and held a sort of picnic. Men and boys stood ready to "carry chain," drive stakes, blaze trees, or work for the popular deputy in any capacity--just to hear his funny stories and odd jokes. They had foot races, wrestling matches and other athletic sports, in which the surveyor sometimes took part.
But Lincoln"s honesty was as manifest in "running his lines" as in his weights and measures while he was a clerk and storekeeper. In whatever he attempted he did his best. He had that true genius, which is defined as "the ability to take pains." With all his jokes and fun Abraham Lincoln was deeply in earnest. Careless work in making surveys involved the landholders of that part of the country in endless disputes and going to law about boundaries. But Lincoln"s surveys were recognized as correct always, so that, although he had mastered the science in six weeks, lawyers and courts had such confidence in his skill, as well as his honesty, that his record as to a certain corner or line was accepted as the true verdict and that ended the dispute.
ELECTED TO THE LEGISLATURE
Hampered though he was by unjust debts and unreasonable creditors, Postmaster and Surveyor Lincoln gained an honorable reputation throughout the county, so that when he ran for the State Legislature, in 1834, he was elected by a creditable majority.
CHAPTER XIII
THE YOUNG LEGISLATOR IN LOVE
SMOOT"S RESPONSIBILITY
Paying his debts had kept Lincoln so poor that, though he had been elected to the Legislature, he was not properly clothed or equipped to make himself presentable as the people"s representative at the State capital, then located at Vandalia. One day he went with a friend to call on an older acquaintance, named Smoot, who was almost as dry a joker as himself, but Smoot had more of this world"s goods than the young legislator-elect. Lincoln began at once to chaff his friend.
"Smoot," said he, "did you vote for me?"
"I did that very thing," answered Smoot.
"Well," said Lincoln with a wink, "that makes you responsible. You must lend me the money to buy suitable clothing, for I want to make a decent appearance in the Legislature."