the pioneers--"John Cameron always kept a
barrel of whiskey in the house." He was a powerful man physically, and
a typical frontiersman. He was born in Kentucky in 1791, and, with
his wife, moved to Illinois in 1815. He settled in Sangamon County in
1818, and in 1829 took up his abode in a cabin on a hill overlooking
the Sangamon River, and, with James Rutledge, founded the town of New
Salem.

According to tradition, Lincoln, for a time, lived with the Camerons.
In the early thirties they moved to Fulton County, Illinois; then,
in 1841 or 1842, to Iowa; and finally, in 1849, to California. In
California they lived to a ripe old age--Mrs. Cameron dying in 1875,
and her husband following her three years later. They had twelve
children, eleven of whom were girls. In 1886 there were living nine
of these children, fifty grandchildren, and one hundred and one
great-grandchildren. Mr. Cameron is said to have officiated at the
funeral of Ann Rutledge in 1835.--_J. McCan Davis._]

[Illustration: JAMES SHORT, WHO SAVED LINCOLN'S HORSE AND
SURVEYING INSTRUMENTS FROM A CREDITOR.

From a photograph taken at Jacksonville, Illinois, about thirty years
ago. James Short lived on Sand Ridge, a few miles north of New Salem,
and Lincoln was a frequent visitor at his house. When Lincoln's horse
and surveying instruments were levied upon by a creditor and sold,
Mr. Short bought them in, and made Lincoln a present of them. Lincoln,
when President, made his old friend an Indian agent in California. Mr.
Short, in the course of his life, was happily married five times. He
died in Iowa many years ago. His acquaintance with Lincoln began in
rather an interesting way. His sister, who lived in New Salem, had
made Lincoln a pair of jeans trousers. The material supplied by
Lincoln was scant, and the trousers came out conspicuously short in
the legs. One day when James Short was visiting with his sister, he
pointed to a man walking down the street, and asked, "Who is that man
in the short breeches." "That is Lincoln," the sister replied; and Mr.
Short went out and introduced himself to Lincoln.--_J. McCan Davis._]

[Illustration: SQUIRE COLEMAN SMOOT.

Coleman Smoot was born in Virginia, February 13, 1794; removed to
Kentucky when a child; married Rebecca Wright March 17, 1817; came to
Illinois in 1831, and lived on a farm across the Sangamon River from
New Salem until his death, March 21, 1876. He accumulated an immense
fortune. Lincoln met him