Boyhood Of Abraham Lincoln (Rev)

for [Music] the United States was still a new nation in 1809 the year Abraham Lincoln was born the country's first President George Washington had died only 10 years earlier and Thomas Jefferson the third president was just completing his second term of office but the new nation was growing many families were joining The Westward Movement journeying Into the Wilderness to clear land for farms and building cabins for homes in 1809 Thomas Lincoln his wife Nancy and their 2-year-old daughter Sarah were living in a log cabin on a farm in Kentucky their nearest neighbors were 2 miles away it was on a winter morning February 12th 1809 that Tom Lincoln told his nearest neighbors ncy got a boy baby the cabin said to be the one where Abraham Lincoln was born is now in a museum on the land that was once Tom Lincoln's farm near Hodgenville Kentucky 2 years after Abe was born the Lincoln family moved to a new farm at Knob Creek Kentucky they lived there for 5 years and then in 1816 when Abe was 7even the family made a journey across the wide Ohio River to the new state of Indiana Tom Lincoln had had some trouble with the land laws in Kentucky he could never be sure that he really owned his farm at Knob Creek and he knew that the laws were different in Indiana their new home was near a community called little Pigeon Creek it was winter when they arrived one of the coldest winters in years later Abraham Lincoln recalled what their new home was like it was a wild region with many animals still in the woods we settled in an unbroken Forest though very young I was large for my age and had an axe put into my hands at once and from that time till within my 23rd year I was almost constantly handling that most useful instrument it was pretty pinching at times at first in Indiana getting the cabin built and clearing for crops but presently we got reasonably comfortable pioneer life meant hard work and young Abe Lincoln was already beginning to develop the great physical strength that he would be known for in later years every day one of Abes chores was to walk to a brook about a mile from their cabin and bring back the family supply of water and often he went with his older sister Sarah to gather wild nuts fruits and berries in the forest but hard work was not the only difficulty that the Lincoln children had to face their mother died in 1817 and then one day about a year later Tom Lincoln told the children that he was going away for a few weeks and leaving them alone on the farm 10-year-old Abe and 12-year-old Sarah would be left to care for themselves until their father returned about three weeks later when Tom Lincoln returned to the farm he told a and Sarah here's your new mommy Sarah Bush Lincoln Tom Lincoln's new wife had been a widow now she and her three children Matilda Sarah and John were part of the Lincoln [Music] family the wagon was loaded with household goods belonging to the new Mrs Lincoln there was a bureau worth $40 Tom Lincoln thought it was almost sinful to have such a luxury for Abe the best thing of all was to discover that his new mother owned some books that was far more important to him than luxuries like the feather mattress that would replace the corn husks he had used as a bed Abe's new mother would help to change the whole direction of his life years later he said of her all that I am or hope to be I owe to my angel [Music] mother Sarah Bush Lincoln was sure that Abe would be a great man someday and she was determined to help him sometime she would do Abe's chores for him so he could go to school it was a long way to school a mile and a half down Backwoods Trails but school days did not come very often for Abe on most days he was needed at home to help with a farmw work while in Indiana I went to ABC schools by Littles I now think that the total of all my schooling did not amount to one year even when he couldn't go to school Abe would spend his spare time practicing what he had learned he had a copy book where he wrote down things that especially interested him often when he didn't have paper he'd write on a piece of wood or a shovel and later copy it over on [Music] paper ab's cousin Dennis Hanks was living with the Lincoln family and many years later in an interview Dennis recalled how Abe would sometimes sit writing his name over several times he'd call me over and he'd say hey Denny look that will you Abraham Lincoln that stands for me don't look a blame bit like me does it appeared to mean a heap to Abe another thing I never seen Abe after he is 12 that he didn't have a book summers's round mornings he'd take a book and some cornbread go off to plow our hole when noon come he'd sit down under a tree and read and eat there's one book full of Tall Tales we called him Yarns I reckon it was them Yarns he read that give him so many stories to tell after he got to be a lawyer Abe says I many a Time them Yarns is all lies and he'd always say Denny when a story learns you a good lesson it ain't no lie and he'd go on reading and chuckling to his and when he come to the house at night he'd set on his backbone by the chimbly and read it didn't seem natural KN how to see a fell read like that the book of Yarns was eso's fables another of ab's favorites was Pilgrim's Progress this book along with the Bible helped to shape his religious ideas and this book The Life of George Washington by Parson weams also made a deep impression on young AB lingan he borrowed the book from a neighbor and he read it through in one night on his way up to bed he slipped the book into a between the logs of the cabin wall that turned out to be a mistake by morning The Borrowed book was rain soaked and badly damaged Abe went to the neighbor who had loaned him the book and admitted that he had been careless damaging a book was a serious matter on the frontier there weren't many books to be had and they were expensive to pay for the damaged book Abe worked for the neighbor for 3 Days cutting porn stalks to feed the neighbor's cattle was hard work and he still had his regular chores to do at home but Abe had learned to take responsibility and do what had to be done that was one of the reasons why many people began to have great respect for Abe Lincoln as he grew to be a man some people began to call him the rail splitter a reminder of his life on the frontier where he learned the values of self-reliance and hard work and the frontier Spirit of democracy [Music] people who knew him when he worked as a storekeeper respected his fairness and began to call him Honest Abe years later when he ran for the Senate from Illinois Lincoln became known around the country as a forceful public speaker who stood firm on his principles but most of all he became known as the president who led the United States during one of the most difficult periods of its history and succeeded in preserving deserving the union Abraham Lincoln the boy who grew up on a frontier farm and came to be loved and respected as the 16th president of the United States [Music]