and started off at once, and got Kirkham's grammar. He applied himself to learning it, and would recite to his friend, Green, and then would consult the school teacher, Mr. Grah

cattering circulars asking for volunteers for the Black Hawk war. Black Hawk was

der. Mr. Kirkpatrick wanted to be captain, and Lincoln thought he would like to be. This same Mr. Kirkpatrick had owed Abraham some money for a long time and would not pay it; so Lincoln said to a friend, he would run for the place, and may be Kirkpatrick would pay him. Each one stood out, and the men were told to stand beside the man they preferred for captain, and about two-thirds of them stood beside Lincoln, and thus he was made captain. He said afterwards when he was president,

nother company. A strange incident then occurred, the meeting of four men, who afterwards became very celebrated. It was on the Rock River near Dixon. There were together, Colonel Zachary Taylor, afterwards commander in general and president of the United States; Abraham Lincoln, afterwards president of the United

going largely to public sales and shaking hands with the people, and making speeches. At one place he helped settle a fight and then got upon the platform and went on with his speech. Linco

uy a barrel of rubbish for which he had no room in his wagon. Lincoln paid half a dollar for it. Sometime afterwards in looking over the stuff, he found a complete edition of Blackstone's law commentary. "The more I read," said

rtner Berry did not attend to the business very well, the store was not prosperous. They gave it up and sold out. Lincoln then studied surveying, and became a surveyor. He also began to practice a little law, and when anybody had a law suit about New Salem, he was frequently employed. It is said th

he same kind of suits, buckskin trousers and coonskin caps as the soldiers of the Black Hawk war. At the time Mr. Lincoln was a member of the legislature it was very unpopular to be an abolitionist. The legislature passed a resolution condemning the abolitionists be

mber of the legislature. He had four terms, and met some men th

was very poor, so he walked to and from Vandalia. He was quite a big man and of course had big feet. They tell a funny story of one time he and a companion were walking home from Van

short, heavy-set man), and yours are too long; what do you think about it?" Mr. Lincoln replied, "Well, I never gave the matter much thought but I have always been of the opinion that a man's legs ought to be long enough to reach from his body to the ground." In March, 1837, he was licensed to practice law, and concluded to move from New Salem to Springfield. A pathetic incident is related of his moving. He had very little goods, so borrowed a horse and put most of them into a pair of saddle-bags, rode up to Springfield and went into the store of his friend Speed and asked him how much it would cost to buy a bedroom set of furniture. Mr.

d a very pretty and sweet daughter named Anne. She was gentle, kind and good, and everyone loved her. She was also bright intellectually as a student, and a good many young men

ant thing, and so he was the one favored by Anne Rutledge.

, and urge him to control his sorrow, "I cannot. The thought of snow and rain on her grave fills me with indescribable grief," and it was a long time before he could shake off the melancholy and sadness of her death so as to apply himself to