The Life of Abraham Lincoln | Page 9

the telling of a humorous story and
having always a plentiful supply. His speech-making proved so
attractive that his father was forced to forbid him to practise it during
working hours because the men would always leave their work to listen
to him.
During these years he had no regular employment, but did odd jobs
wherever he got a chance. At one time, for example, he worked on a
ferryboat for the munificent wages of thirty-seven and one half cents a
day.
When sixteen years old, Lincoln had his first lesson in oratory. He
attended court at Boonville, county seat of Warwick County and heard
a case in which one of the aristocratic Breckenridges of Kentucky was
attorney for the defense. The power of his oratory was a revelation to
the lad. At its conclusion the awkward, ill-dressed, bashful but

enthusiastic young Lincoln pressed forward to offer his congratulations
and thanks to the eloquent lawyer, who haughtily brushed by him
without accepting the proffered hand. In later years the men met again,
this time in Washington City, in the white house. The president
reminded Breckenridge of the incident which the latter had no desire to
recall.
When about nineteen years old, he made his first voyage down the
Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Two incidents are worth recording of this
trip. The purpose was to find, in New Orleans, a market for produce,
which was simply floated down stream on a flat-boat. There was, of
course, a row-boat for tender. The crew consisted of himself and young
Gentry, son of his employer.
Near Baton Rouge they had tied up for the night in accordance with the
custom of flat-boat navigation. During the night they were awakened
by a gang of seven ruffian negroes who had come aboard to loot the
stuff. Lincoln shouted "Who's there?" Receiving no reply he seized a
handspike and knocked over the first, second, third, and fourth in turn,
when the remaining three took to the woods. The two northerners
pursued them a short distance, then returned, loosed their craft and
floated safely to their destination.
It was on this trip that Lincoln earned his first dollar, as he in after
years related to William H. Seward:
"... A steamer was going down the river. We have, you know, no
wharves on the western streams, and the custom was, if passengers
were at any of the landings, they were to go out in a boat, the steamer
stopping and taking them on board.... Two men with trunks came down
to the shore in carriages, and looking at the different boats, singled out
mine, and asked, 'Who owns this?' I modestly answered, 'I do.' 'Will
you take us and our trunks out to the steamer?' 'Certainly.'... The trunks
were put in my boat, the passengers seated themselves on them, and I
sculled them out to the steamer. They got on board, and I lifted the
trunks and put them on the deck. The steamer was about to put on
steam again, when I called out: 'You have forgotten to pay me.' Each of
them took from his pocket a silver half dollar and threw it on the

bottom of my boat. I could scarcely believe my eyes as I picked up the
money. You may think it was a very little thing, and in these days it
seems to me like a trifle, but it was a most important incident in my life.
I could scarcely credit that I, a poor boy, had earned a dollar in less
than a day; that by honest work I had earned a dollar. I was a more
hopeful and thoughtful boy from that time."
The goods were sold profitably at New Orleans and the return trip was
made by steamboat. This was about twenty years after Fulton's first
voyage from New York to Albany, which required seven days.
Steamboats had been put on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, but these
crafts were of primitive construction--awkward as to shape and slow as
to speed. The frequency of boiler explosions was proverbial for many
years. The lads, Gentry and Lincoln, returned home duly and the
employer was well satisfied with the results of the expedition.
In 1830 the epidemic "milk sick" reappeared in Indiana, and Thomas
Lincoln had a pardonable desire to get out of the country. Illinois was
at that time settling up rapidly and there were glowing accounts of its
desirableness. Thomas Lincoln's decision to move on to the new land of
promise was reasonable. He sold out and started with his family and
household goods to his new destination. The time of year was March,
just when the frost is coming out of the ground so that the mud is
apparently bottomless. The author will not attempt to describe it, for he