_Thomas Moore_.

LESSON LIX

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Abraham Lincoln, the restorer of the Union, the sixteenth president of
the United States, was born in Kentucky on the twelfth of February,
1809. His father was a typical backwoodsman, and young Lincoln grew up
among frontier surroundings. The Lincoln family came originally from
Pennsylvania. At a later period the Lincolns moved south to Virginia,
and again they migrated to Kentucky. It was here that the grandfather
of Abraham Lincoln lost his life in a battle with the Indians.

The first seven years of Lincoln's life were spent in the wilds of
Kentucky. In 1816 his father left that state and moved northward to
Indiana, but here the surroundings were not much better. A rude
blockhouse, with a single large room below and a low garret above, was
the home of our young hero. Every hardship and privation of the
pioneer's life was here the lot of our growing youth. But he loved the
tangled woods, and hunting and fishing were his delight.

There were no schools there, and Abraham learned a little reading and
writing from a man who shared the poor blockhouse with the Lincoln
family. For writing, a slate was used, and now and then a pine board,
or even some flat stone upon which the figures were traced with
charcoal. His books were few, but he read them over and over again,
and the impressions they made on him were so much the deeper. In this
way Lincoln acquired the rudiments of education. When Abraham was
scarcely nine years old, his excellent mother died. His father married
again, and fortunately for young Lincoln, his stepmother was a lady of
refinement, who took the greatest interest in her rugged but talented
step-son. She sent him to a private school for a while, and Abraham
learned many useful things and easily kept at the head of his class.
His stepmother also procured more books for him, for Abraham was a most
ardent reader, and he spent all his leisure time in reading and
self-culture. Being tall of stature and well built, young Lincoln had
to help his father on the farm a great deal, and the only time left for
study was late at night or in the early morning.

Thus our future president grew up to manhood; a sturdy, awkward, but
honest backwoodsman, with a sound mind in a healthy body.

When Lincoln was about eighteen years old, his father again moved
northward, this time to Illinois. Here Abraham continued to work and
to improve his mind a