ed, and Abraham experienced the first great sorrow of his
life. Mrs. Lincoln had possessed a very limited education, but was
noted for intellectual force of character.

The year following the death of Abraham's mother his father returned
to Kentucky, and brought a new guardian to the two motherless
children. Mrs. Sally Johnson, as Mrs. Lincoln, brought into the family
three children of her own, a goodly amount of household furniture,
and, what proved a blessing above all others, a kind heart. It was not
intended that this should be a permanent home; accordingly, in March,
1830, they packed their effects in wagons, drawn by oxen, bade adieu
to their old home, and took up a two weeks' march over untraveled
roads, across mountains, swamps, and through dense forests, until they
reached a spot on the Sangamon River, ten miles from Decatur, Ill.,
where they built another primitive home. Abraham had now arrived at
manhood, and felt at liberty to go out into the world and battle for
himself. He did not leave, however, until he saw his parents
comfortably fixed in their new home, which he helped build; he also
split enough rails to surround the house and ten acres of ground.

In the fall and winter of 1830, memorable to the early settlers of
Illinois as the year of the deep snow, Abraham worked for the farmers
who lived in the neighborhood. He made the acquaintance of a man of
the name of Offutt, who hired him, together with his stepbrother, John
D. Johnson, and his uncle, John Hanks, to take a flatboat loaded with
country produce down the Sangamon River to Beardstown, thence down the
Illinois and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans. Abraham and his
companions assisted in building the boat, which was finally launched
and loaded in the spring of 1831, and their trip successfully made. In
going over the dam at Rutledge Mill, New Salem, Ill., the boat struck
and remained stationary, and a day passed before it was again started
on its voyage. During this delay Lincoln made the acquaintance of New
Salem and its people.

On his return from New Orleans, after visiting his parents,--who had
made another move, to Goose-Nest Prairie, Ill.,--he settled in the
little village of New Salem, then in Sangamon, now Menard County.
While living in this place, Mr. Lincoln served in the Black Hawk War,
in 1832, as captain and private. His employment in the village was
varied; he was at times a clerk, county surveyor, postmaster, and
partner in the