*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 56210 ***
The Isaac Golliher house.
The LINCOLN
COUNTRY
in Pictures
By CARL and ROSALIE FRAZIER
HASTINGS HOUSE Publishers New York 22
The story of Abraham Lincoln is ever fresh. It appeals to the imagination and
grips the vision of many people in various ways. Perhaps that is why millions of
visitors make pilgrimages to the humble abodes in which he lived and the places
he frequented.
Photograph Courtesy Chicago Historical Society.
4
“Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. Whether it be true or not, I
can say for one that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed by
my fellow men, rendering myself worthy of their esteem. How far I shall succeed
in gratifying this ambition, is yet to be developed.”
—Address to Sangamon County, March 9, 1832.
Copyright © 1963, by Carl and Rosalie Frazier
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced
without written permission of the publisher.
Published simultaneously in Canada
by S. J. Reginald Saunders, Publishers, Toronto 2B
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 63-19173
Printed in the United States of America
5
FOREWORD
We know it is no longer possible to add anything new to the written word
about Lincoln. The hundreds of historians who have attempted to write
the life of the Great Emancipator have covered every facet of it. Therefore, we
have chosen to present our story of a by-gone day in a series of camera impressions,
hoping to arouse in our readers an emotional sense of “present being.”
We have done this for two reasons: first, because Lincoln’s early frontier
has achieved a factual and imaginative rebirth through loving care and painstaking
efforts after having fallen into ruin for many years. Secondly, we believe
as many historians do, that America owes much of the credit for its national
character and institutions to the atmosphere of the early frontier. It was the
appreciation of the role it played on the character of Lincoln that brought about
the restoration of New Salem, Illinois, and those objects which were so closely
associated with him. These objects are of special interest because it was among
them that he moved slowly forward through a cycle of failures and successes
before reaching the high place which destiny had reserved for him. No man in
American history has started with so little and achieved so much.
With a certain temerity then, we present our pictorial history of the environment
in which Lincoln spent the most formative years of his life. It was from
this frontier atmosphere and these frontier people that Lincoln acquired his uncanny
understanding of how common folk think and the wisdom that enabled
him to hold in his hands the ties that bound a people and made a nation.
6
A Brief Chronology of Abraham Lincoln
Feb. 12, 1809 | Born on Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky. |
1811 to 1816 | The family, which included Abe’s sister, Sarah, lived on Knob Creek near Hodgenville, Kentucky. |
Nov. 1816 | The family moved to Pigeon Creek in Indiana. |
Oct. 5, 1818 | Abe’s mother died of “milk sickness.” |
Dec. 2, 1819 | Thomas Lincoln married Sarah Bush Johnston, a widow with three children, from Elizabethtown, Kentucky. |
Jan. 20, 1828 | Sister Sarah died. |
Mar. 1830 | The Lincoln family moved from Indiana to Illinois. |
Apr. 19, 1831 | Offut’s flatboat piloted by Lincoln got stuck on the dam at New Salem, Illinois. |
Mar. 9, 1832 | Announced candidacy for the Illinois Legislature. |
May 8, 1832 | Mustered into U.S. Army for service in Black Hawk War. |
July 16, 1832 | Mustered out of military service. |
Aug. 6, 1832 | Defeated for the Legislature. |
May 7, 1833 | Appointed postmaster at New Salem, Illinois. |
Aug. 4, 1834 | Elected to the Legislature. |
Mar. 24, 1836 | Sworn in as a lawyer of the Circuit Court of Sangamon County. |
Aug. 1, 1836 | Reelected to the Legislature for a second term. |
Sept. 9, 1836 | Licensed to practice law. |
Mar. 1, 1837 | Admitted to the bar in Illinois. |
Mar. 15, 1837 | Moved from New Salem to Springfield, Illinois. |
Aug. 1, 1838 | Reelected to the Legislature for a third term. |
Dec. 3, 1839 | Admitted to practice law in the Circuit Court of the United States. |
Aug. 1, 1840 | Reelected to the Legislature for a fourth term. |
Nov. 4, 1842 | Married Mary Todd of Lexington, Kentucky. |
Aug. 1, 1843 | First child, Robert Todd Lincoln, was born. |
|
Jan. 7, 1844 | Bought home in Springfield. |
Mar. 10, 1846 | Second child, Edward Baker Lincoln, was born. |
Aug. 3, 1846 | Elected to Congress. |
Dec. 6, 1847 | Took seat in Congress. |
Mar. 7, 1849 | Admitted to practice law before United States Supreme Court. |
Feb. 1, 1850 | Second child, Edward Baker Lincoln, died. |
Dec. 21, 1850 | Third child, William Wallace Lincoln, was born. |
Jan. 17, 1851 | Lincoln’s father, Thomas, died. |
Apr. 4, 1853 | Fourth child, Thomas “Tad” Lincoln, was born. |
June 16, 1858 | Delivered “house divided” speech at Springfield. |
Aug. 21, 1858 | First debate, with Stephen A. Douglas at Ottawa, Illinois. |
Aug. 27, 1858 | Second debate, at Freeport, Illinois. |
Sept. 15, 1858 | Third debate, at Jonesboro, Illinois. |
Sept. 18, 1858 | Fourth debate, at Charleston, Illinois. |
Oct. 7, 1858 | Fifth debate, at Galesburg, Illinois. |
Oct. 13, 1858 | Sixth debate, at Quincy, Illinois. |
Oct. 15, 1858 | Seventh and last debate, at Alton, Illinois. |
Nov. 2, 1858 | Defeated by Douglas for the United States Senate. |
Nov. 5, 1858 | First mentioned in press for President. |
May 18, 1860 | Nominated for the Presidency. |
Nov. 6, 1860 | Elected President. |
Jan. 31, 1861 | Visited for the last time with his stepmother. |
Mar. 4, 1861 | Inaugurated as President. |
Nov. 8, 1864 | Reelected as President. |
Mar. 4, 1865 | Reinaugurated as President. |
Apr. 14, 1865 | Shot by Booth. |
Apr. 15, 1865 | Died in Washington. |
May 4, 1865 | Buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois. |
8
It was from the faithful Sinking Spring, near Hodgenville, Kentucky, that the
farm of Lincoln’s nativity got its name.
9
The branches of the Boundary Oak, a landmark for early frontiersmen, still
shelter the hallowed birthplace of the man who went to school for perhaps a
year, split rails in frontier clearings, traveled the Eighth Circuit as a lawyer,
became President of the United States, freed the slaves, spoke the First and Second
Inaugurals and the Gettysburg Address.
10
On February 12, 1809, a blizzard raged at Sinking Spring Farm, near Hodgenville,
Kentucky. The wind howled down the chimney and through the cracks of
the humble log cabin in which Abraham Lincoln was born to Thomas and Nancy
Lincoln. The proud parents named the boy Abraham after his grandfather.
11
When Abe was two years old, his father moved the family to Knob Creek Farm
where they lived until Abe was seven. The cabin lay nestled in a valley surrounded
by rolling hills and deep gorges. Here Abe played with his friend,
Austin Gollaher, gathered firewood from the forest, wild berries from the vales,
and for a short time attended Mrs. Hodgen’s “blab” school. Thomas Lincoln
decided to move his family across the Ohio River to live on Pigeon Creek in
Indiana where the soil was richer and there were no slaves.
12
The Lincoln’s erected a new log cabin on Pigeon Creek in Indiana. For the next
fourteen years they struggled with the almost impossible odds of a bitter and
treacherous wilderness. It was here that Abe’s mother died, and he helped his
father lay her to rest in the forest.
14
In the little Log Schoolhouse near Pigeon Creek, in Indiana, Abe managed to
get a few scattered weeks of sporadic schooling in readin’ writin’ and cipherin’
to the rule of three.
15
Abe did his homework by the light of the smouldering fireplace. He would
scrape his charcoal cipherin’ from wooden boards so as to use them over and
over again.
16
The Lincoln family often attended services in the little Baptist Church that Abe
helped his father to build, near Pigeon Creek, in Indiana.
17
This was the home of Josiah Crawford, a neighboring farmer, where Abe alternated
working and learning. Mr. Crawford had several books which he lent Abe.
When plowing, Abe read at the end of each furrow while he stopped to allow
his horse to “breathe.”
18
In Gentryville, not far from Pigeon Creek, Mr. Gentry, a farmer and storekeeper
lived in this two-story log mansion. At times, when his father didn’t need his
help, Abe worked in Mr. Gentry’s store and on the farm. He helped Allen, Mr.
Gentry’s son, build a flatboat, load it with store produce and float it down the
Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans.
19
It was early spring of 1830 when the Lincoln’s made the long dismal journey
from Indiana to the promising prairies of Illinois. Their stout wagons were piled
high with rough-hewn furniture, feather beds, personal belongings, iron pots
and pans. There were plows for breaking the “prairie’s sleeping sod” and tools
for building a new log cabin.
20
This rustic abode was the last home of Thomas and Sarah Lincoln. Abe, who
was now past twenty-one, had left his parents to seek his fortune on the bustling
Illinois frontier.
22
Timber lined the river’s banks and crowned the rolling hills.
23
NEW SALEM
In the fall of 1828, James Rutledge and John Camron
erected homes on this hill. The following year
they built a grist and sawmill on the Sangamon River
just below the hill, laid out the town of New Salem
and began to sell lots. The mill became so popular that the
town grew rapidly and flourished for several years although
it never included more than one hundred inhabitants. With
the founding and growth of Petersburg, two miles to the north
and more accessibly located, its decline began. When the seat
of the new County of Menard was located at Petersburg in
1839, New Salem quickly passed out of existence.
Abraham Lincoln resided at New Salem from the
summer of 1831 until the spring of 1837, supporting himself
successively as clerk and mill hand, soldier in the Black Hawk
War, storekeeper, postmaster and deputy surveyor. In 1832 he
entered politics. Although defeated in his first campaign for
the Legislature, he was elected a member of the House of
Representatives in 1834 and again in 1836. Throughout his
residence at New Salem, Lincoln strove to perfect his education,
studying grammar, mathematics, and finally law. Upon his
admission to the bar in March 1837, he sought greater opportunities
than New Salem offered, and so removed to Springfield.
24
It was on a pleasant April day that the flat-bottomed boat, loaded with barrel
pork, corn and live pigs, and piloted by young Abe Lincoln, rounded a bend in
the Sangamon River and came to rest on top of the miller’s dam that stretched
out across the river. The bow of the boat was raised high into the air. The
squeals of the frightened pigs brought the citizens of New Salem hurrying down
the bluff to the river bank.
This was Lincoln’s introduction to the people of New Salem. Denton Offut, a
swaggering, boastful, hard-drinking frontiersman, was owner of the boat. He
became so impressed with the thriving little village that he decided to return
after the voyage to New Orleans, and open a store with Lincoln as his clerk.
The new store was opened the following September.
26
Lincoln helped fell the trees from which Offut’s one-room log store was erected.
It stands on the bluff that leads down to the grist mill and the river bank. It
was the usual type of frontier store, stocked with produce from the prairie farms
or objects made at home.
It was while working for Offut that Lincoln decided to improve his education.
In fair weather, when there were no customers about, Lincoln could be seen
lounging on the porch studying or talking with friends about slavery, crops,
politics, cockfighting, horse racing or just telling stories to listening loafers.
28
At the top of the bluff, among the tall oak trees, stood the cabin of Rowen
Herndon. Lincoln boarded here because it was near the store.
29
Bill Cleary’s saloon stood a short distance down the bluff from Offut’s store. It
was the hangout for Jack Armstrong, who challenged Lincoln to a wrestling
match. Even though the match ended in a draw, it gave Lincoln the reputation
for courage and strength that convinced his associates that he “belonged.”
30
New Salem was a trading post for the farmers who cultivated farms on the surrounding
prairies. On Main Street there was a cobbler, a hatter, a cooper, a
blacksmith and wagon builder, a wheelwright and several merchants.
These tradesmen had come to New Salem to help fill the needs felt by everyone.
At the height of its prosperity, New Salem had a population of a hundred citizens
and some twenty-five or thirty buildings.
32
The buildings were made of logs, notched
together at the corners and chinked with native clay.
Roofs were pitched and covered with
clapboard shingles called “shakes.”
33
Better homes in New Salem had chimneys
made of stone.
Most homes had “cat and clay” chimneys,
made of logs and chinked with native clay. On cold windy
days members of the household were kept busy running outside
to see whether or not the chimney had caught fire.
34
New Salem homes
had window panes
made of glass.
Windows were usually
near the fireplace
where family activity
was carried on.
35
Over an open fire, in iron pots, frying pans and skillets, housewives cooked
venison stew, roasted pork and wild game, fried mush, baked corn bread and
corn dodgers to a golden brown and often hard enough “to split a board or fell
a deer at forty feet.”
36
Sturdy trestle tables
served the pioneer
family well.
Pioneer women were
especially proud of
their chinaware.
37
A Seth Thomas clock
adorned the mantles
of those who were
able to afford a touch
of elegance.
Housewives spun the
wool from which
they made garments
often stiff and too
large, but suitable as
garments to protect
the family from the
elements.
38
Beds were dressed
with home-woven
coverlets.
Babies came in annual
crops.
39
Of the humble one-room log house the cooper’s son wrote: “At meal time it was
all kitchen. On rainy days, when neighbors came to relate their exploits, how
many deer and wild turkey they had killed, it was all sitting room. On Sunday,
when the young men all dressed up in their jeans, and the young ladies, in their
best bow dresses, it was all parlor. At night it was all bedroom.”
40
Outside, wood stacked
high during the summer,
dwindled rapidly
as the winter passed.
From the ash hoppers,
found in every
backyard, lye was
leeched for use in
making soap.
41
Wells with windlass
ropes and wooden
buckets supplied the
household with needed
water.
Rain barrels caught
the “soft” water that
dripped from the
eaves. This water was
used for the family
washing.
42
Samuel Hill, New Salem’s most prosperous businessman, owned the only four-room,
two-story house in the village.
43
The opulence reflected in the Hill residence was not common to the homes of
New Salem.
44
Samuel Hill was also owner of the woolhouse and carding machine. In spring,
during wool shearing time, farmers brought their wool to the warehouse in
sacks, old bed quilts and petticoats, pinned with thorns from the honey locust.
45
The carding machine in action was New Salem’s most dramatic attraction. From
dawn until darkness the weary treading of oxen hoofs on the cleated treadmill
powered the squeaking, moaning, wooden gears of the carding machine.
46
Samuel Hill and John McNeal owned the most successful store in New Salem.
It was the center of village life. Under its protective porch people gathered to
argue the questions of temperance, travel and human slavery.
47
Doctor John Allen lived across the road from the Hill-McNeal store. Unconvinced
of the virtue of quinine for treating malaria fever, the doctor kept to such
old remedies as Peruvian bark, jalop, calomel and boneset tea.
48
Peter Lukin, the cobbler, lived next door to Doctor Allen. The cobbler shop was
in the small lean-to. As winter approached the cobbler converted piles of animal
hides into shoes for the community.
49
Residence and office
of Doctor Francis
Regnier, Allen’s capable
colleague, who
purged, bled, blistered,
puked, and salivated
his patients.
The Doctor’s medical
laboratory and reference
library.
50
This was the home and workshop of Martin Waddell, the village hatter. He
made hats from opossum, raccoon and rabbit skins. A rabbitskin hat cost fifty
cents. A hat made from an opossum or raccoon skin, with the tail hanging down
in the back, cost two dollars.
In this kettle Waddell
prepared the
skins from which he
made the hats.
51
Residence of Isaac Burner. Very little is known about the Burner family.
A familiar sight on Main Street, New Salem.
52
In the small lean-to in the rear of his cabin, Robert Johnson, the wheelwright
and cabinetmaker, painstakingly made spinning wheels, wagon wheels, looms,
and sturdy furniture for the community.
53
Residence of Isaac Golliher, who had the only root cellar in the village.
54
For three years Lincoln was postmaster at New Salem. In this position he became
well-acquainted with people for miles around. It was here he began his
lifelong habit of reading newspapers, through which, in part, he learned to
interpret public opinion. To supplement his earnings as postmaster he did odd
jobs, such as clerking in Hill’s store, helping out at the mill or splitting rails.
55
This was the home of Alexander Trent. When Lincoln became postmaster he
was required to furnish bond of five hundred dollars. Alexander Trent was one
of his bondsmen.
56
Henry Onstat’s cabin and the cooperage where he made barrels so much in demand
by the community of New Salem.
57
The cooperage was a busy place. There was always a great pile of shavings in
the fireplace. Lincoln often came to the cooperage at night and by the glow of
the burning shavings he studied mathematics, literature and law.
58
Across the road from the cooperage stood the double cabin of Jack Kelso, philosopher
and fisherman, and his brother-in-law, Joshua Miller, the powerful village
blacksmith.
59
Lincoln was a frequent visitor to the Kelso cabin; he and Jack often sat around
the table and by the cheerful glow of the fireplace, read and discussed Shakespeare,
Blackstone and Burns. It was Jack Kelso who introduced Lincoln to the
classics of literature.
60
Joshua Miller’s blacksmith shop was the busiest place in town. The ring of his
anvil was heard from morning until night throughout the village as he shaped
metal into oxen shoes, horseshoes and farm implements.
61
Lincoln, seeking an occupation that would afford him a better living than odd
jobs, considered becoming a blacksmith. For a time his strong arms grappled
with the chore, but he preferred lighter work which allowed him more time for
studying. He also had thoughts of becoming a merchant.
62
The limbs of the great oak tree still cast their shadows across the Lincoln-Berry
store. In fair weather, when housewives were busy and sales were restricted to
an occasional pound of sugar or a piece of beeswax, Lincoln, barefoot, lay
stretched out under the oak tree, lost in a book.
64
The Rutledge Tavern, where Lincoln courted Ann Rutledge, stood across the
road from the Lincoln-Berry store. While waiting on a customer, or studying
under the oak tree, he often paused to watch her as she moved about the yard of
the tavern.
A burning candle in
the tavern window
welcomed whatever
wayfarer might be
seeking food and
lodging.
65
The tavern was a pleasant and comfortable place. Every day brought new guests
to the dining room. For a time Lincoln lived at the tavern; his wit and tall tales
often made him the center of interest.
66
While residing at the tavern, Lincoln climbed the rungs of a well-worn ladder to
the loft, where he shared a bed with E. Y. Ellis, who says that Lincoln’s wit and
stories often kept the other male guests in an uproar until late at night.
67
The west room of the tavern accommodated the Rutledge family and now and
then an overnight lady guest.
68
On Sunday evenings the Rutledge family and friends gathered before the fireplace
to listen to a sermon and to sing hymns. Lincoln stood near Ann and
turned the pages of her Missouri Harmony Song Book.
69
The betrothal of Ann Rutledge and Lincoln ended with her untimely death.
Ann’s brother said: “The effect upon Mr. Lincoln’s mind was terrible. He became
plunged in despair, and many of his friends feared reason would desert her
throne. His extraordinary emotions were regarded as strong evidence of the
existence of the tenderest relations between himself and the deceased.”
70
Lincoln, the ardent student, could be found pursuing his studies in the most
unusual places. Squire Godbey, seeing him stretched out on a pile of wood, inquired:
“What are you reading Abe?” Lincoln replied: “I am not reading. I am
studying Law.” “Law? Good God A’mighty!” exclaimed the surprised squire as
he walked away.
71
The little subscription schoolhouse stands a half mile south of the village near
Purkapile “crick.” Schoolmaster Mentor Graham was a constant stimulus to
Lincoln and always ready to help and encourage him. After the day’s routine
had ended Lincoln often came to the school so that the master might evaluate
his progress.
72
In 1834, Lincoln’s quest for knowledge and esteem was rewarded. The citizens
of Sangamon County sent the novice lawmaker to the State Capitol at Vandalia,
to take his seat in the Ninth General Assembly of the Legislature of Illinois.
73
In the Assembly, Lincoln said little, but observed closely and learned much. He
was among men of affairs, education and political experience. He became floor
leader of the Whigs and an esteemed member of a political group known as the
“Long Nine” who were successful in having the State Capitol moved from
Vandalia to Springfield.
74
In March of 1837, after having been admitted to the bar in Illinois, Lincoln
moved from New Salem to Springfield. For the next twenty-five years the first
State Capitol Building in Springfield became the center of his many activities.
75
The Postville Courthouse was on the “Old Eighth Circuit.” In Lincoln’s day
judges and lawyers rode horseback from one county courthouse to another, so as
to make a living by representing the litigants in the suits to be heard. This was
known as “riding the circuit.”
76
The Mount Pulaski Courthouse hasn’t changed much since Lincoln practiced
law here more than a hundred years ago.
77
In the court and jury room Lincoln argued cases before such distinguished judges
as David Davis, who became a Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
During those inevitable moments of disturbance when the
courtroom became unruly, Judge Davis would sound this gavel calling for order
in the court.
78
The Metamora Courthouse, dating from 1845, retains the atmosphere of those
rugged days when Lincoln and his colleagues came here to plead for justice before
the bar.
79
At Metamora, Lincoln
sat at this table.
The “skirt” was cut
away to accommodate
his long legs.
The well-worn courthouse
doorstep is evidence
of one court
room visitor’s observations:
“Court week
is a general holiday.
Not only suitors, jurors
and witnesses, but
all who can spare the
time brush up their
coats and brush down
their horses to go to
court.”
80
An atmosphere of exultation pervaded the Metamora courtroom when Lincoln
was present. He was the most popular of all the barristers who traveled the
Eighth Circuit.
81
The Old Cass County Courthouse in Beadstown, Illinois, was the scene of the
“Duff” Armstrong murder trial in which Lincoln defended the son of “Aunt
Hanna” Armstrong, who had befriended him when he lived in New Salem.
During the trial Lincoln proved, by referring to an almanac, that the moon was
not shining brightly at the time of the murder. It is said that tears stood in
Lincoln’s eyes as he pleaded for the boy’s life and that the hardened pioneer
jurymen wept with him. Young Armstrong was acquitted.
82
On the evening of July 29, 1858, Lincoln, Republican Candidate for the United
States Senate and the incumbent Democratic Senator, Stephen A. Douglas, were
guests at the Bryant Home. It was here that the two politicians agreed to their
seven debates.
Lincoln occupied the chair below during the evening’s discussion.
On this table
Douglas wrote a letter to Lincoln confirming the schedule for seven debates.
83
This memorial to the Lincoln-Douglas debates, at Quincy, Illinois, stands as a
symbol of Lincoln’s moral and spiritual convictions. They enabled him to match
wits with Stephen A. Douglas, who was blind to the evils of slavery and deaf
and dumb to those who expressed a desire to abolish it.
84
Lincoln had crossed the threshold of his greatest ambition when he and his
family became frequent visitors to the Governor’s Mansion, where they mingled
with the elite both politically and socially. Lincoln’s name had been mentioned
in the press as a possible candidate for the Presidency.
85
“The Rail Splitter.” Lincoln acquired this nickname during the 1860 convention
in Chicago, where he became known as “The Rail Splitter” candidate for President
of the United States.
86
It was to this house, Lincoln’s Springfield residence, that the appointed committee
came on May 19, 1860 to notify “The Rail Splitter” candidate of his nomination
for the Presidency.
88
One of the committeemen rang the front doorbell, which has announced visitors
to the Lincoln house for more than a hundred years.
89
“The Rail Splitter” himself opened the front door and welcomed the committee
into the entrance hall, where both the humble and the great had always been
welcome visitors.
90
It was in the north parlor that the committee spokesman, George Ashmun,
delivered to Lincoln the letter which confirmed his nomination, a copy of the
Republican platform and a short congratulatory speech. “The Rail Splitter”
candidate stood tall and dignified, a grave expression on his rugged countenance.
91
The committee was introduced to Mrs. Lincoln in the south parlor, where she
served refreshments and water. Later “The Rail Splitter” opined that the water
seemed a sufficient stimulant.
92
Mr. Lincoln’s favorite rocker.
Mrs. Lincoln’s sewing rocker.
93
When Mrs. Lincoln was entertaining friends, “Honest Abe” often retired to the
kitchen where he stretched out on the floor to read a book or newspaper.
94
It was a cold January day when Lincoln journeyed from Springfield to this
quaint little house near Charleston, Illinois, to visit for the last time
with his beloved stepmother, before leaving for Washington and his inauguration.
While sitting before the glowing fireplace, Lincoln and his stepmother
must have reminisced about those formidable days in the forests of Indiana
and the first few years on the prairies of Illinois.
95
“How slowly, and yet by happily prepared steps, he came to his place,” said
Emerson. This statue is in Chicago’s Lincoln Park.
96
At the dedication of the memorial and tomb to the Great Emancipator in Oak
Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois, Governor Richard Oglesby spoke these
words: “And now under the gracious favor of Almighty God, I dedicate this
monument to the memory of the obscure boy, the honest man, the illustrious
statesman, the great liberator, and the martyr President Abraham Lincoln, and
to the keeping of Time.”
The LINCOLN COUNTRY:
IN PICTURES
by Carl and Rosalie Frazier
Perhaps no man in American history has
been viewed with such respect and reverence
by the American people as has Abraham
Lincoln. School children and scholars alike
have been moved by the humanity of his
deeply lined face, have marveled at his rise
from poverty to the Presidency, have sorrowed
anew at the tragedy of his death, have
read his words and been unable to erase them
from their memory. If there is one historic
person most of us would like to know, it is
Abraham Lincoln.
Here—in these pages which recreate the
world Lincoln knew as a child and a young
man—the reader can come close to Lincoln.
In these fine photographs, which carefully
depict the familiar, everyday scenes of young
Abe’s manhood, he can see Lincoln’s world
as Lincoln saw it. As the authors say: “It
was from this frontier atmosphere and these
frontier people that Lincoln acquired his uncanny
understanding of how common folk
think and the wisdom that enabled him to
hold in his hands the ties that bound a people
and made a nation.”
It is this atmosphere that the authors have
captured in over 100 photographs, and it is
the rhythm of frontier life that they have
caught in the factual simplicity of the text.
98
Here is the farm in Kentucky where Lincoln
was born; here are reconstructed the smithy,
the tavern, the houses of New Salem, Illinois
where Lincoln was a clerk, where he studied
law, where he was elected to the state legislature.
Here is the Springfield that Lincoln
knew when he was first elected to Congress,
the town where his sons were born, where
in 1860 he learned that he was a candidate
for the Presidency. This is Lincoln’s country.
As the reader follows Lincoln through the
pages of this book, he will feel suddenly
close to the man who left such an indelible
imprint on the history of this nation—and
upon its people.
CARL and ROSALIE FRAZIER live in
Chicago, Illinois where they pursue their professions
as artists and photographers. Their
knowledge of Abraham Lincoln comes from
their considerable and extensive research into
Lincoln’s life and their many pilgrimages to
those places where he lived in Kentucky,
Indiana and Illinois.
The Fraziers became interested in trying to
capture through the lenses of their cameras
that certain something which attracts visitors
by the thousands to the Lincoln shrines every
year. They hope this picture book will preserve,
or at least refresh the memories of these
observant visitors, and bring to those who may
never have this opportunity a better mental
picture of this benevolent man’s environment.
HASTINGS HOUSE PUBLISHERS
New York 22
99
The Rutledge Tavern where Abraham Lincoln often stayed.
The well-worn ladder leads to his bed in the loft.
Transcriber’s Notes
- Copyright notice provided as in the original—this e-text is public domain in the country of publication.
- Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and dialect unchanged.
- Moved some captions closer to the corresponding pictures.
- In the text versions, delimited italicized text by _underscores_.
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 56210 ***