Gettysburg Speech and Other Papers by Lincoln Abraham

Author:Lincoln Abraham
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Historical Speeches
ISBN: 9781172228232
Publisher: Nabu Press
Published: 2010-10-01T07:00:00+00:00

"I was born February 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Ky. My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families—second families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks…My paternal grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, emigrated from Rockingham County, Va., to Kentucky about 1781 or 1782, where, a year or two later, he was killed by the Indians, not in battle but by stealth, when he was laboring to open a farm in the forest…

"My father (Thomas Lincoln) at the death of his father was but six years of age. By the early death of his father, and the very narrow circumstances of his mother, he was, even in childhood, a wandering, laboring boy, and grew up literally without education. He never did more in the way of writing than bunglingly to write his own name…He removed from Kentucky to what is now Spencer County, Ind., in my eighth year…It was a wild region, with many bears and other animals still in the woods…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 wizard…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…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…till I was twenty-two. At twenty-one I came to Illinois, Macon County. Then I got to New Salem,…where I remained a year as a sort of clerk in a store. Then came the Black Hawk war; and I was elected captain of a volunteer company, a success that gave me more pleasure than any I have had since. I went to campaign, was elated, 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 afterward. During the legislative period I had studied law, and removed to Springfield to practice it. In 1846 I was elected to the lower house of Congress. Was not a candidate for reëlection. From 1849 to 1854, 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.

"If any personal description of me is thought desirable, it may be said that 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 gray eyes. No other marks or brands recollected.

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