Abraham Lincoln Before 1860

X vJo *J3 °Q 3 Abraham Lincoln before 1 860 Birth Excerpts from newspapers and other sources From the files of the Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection m 260*1. OZS'.GIG&Z. Wea. — ,* the "Age of r,^.. ^ .j£«** to h*H,*»WW»4. but some •Wtcaed it from WiWfl U^Jas Born It to the flaaaaa. not be burned, the If I 'jinmisji|s1M be did not Ceevstfht, MM, by the ' tetlally chena ™vHT*Mews' tillw the ^s»iBBBBBg»nssBjBjB) srsTafeM ^^W^W»M •> •™ dar^fhts deatT It was la the political domain, how- ever, where Paine Influenced Lincoln most profoundly. As one was the D«laratioa of Inde- BE world />f MOB Wli some- anthor of the of pendence, so the other became Its whmt different ' from that ..aimufc.ii-ai^. sfe apostle. - of 1906. In many line* of hu- d ndee and One the greatest pieces of eloquence that ever man endeavor It la doubtful If fell frees the emancipator's lips was In all the previous centuries saw as great support of this chatter of the rights changes as have taken place In that light, a sail aUP with a Lusitania or of man. FlEF'LiiiJilLn otig ;> i')«irTTT Indeed, both Jefferson and Lincoln then la Its earliest Infancy. Watt had locomotive. were pupils of Paine, whom the world watched his teakettle and Invented hie, Politically the showing is almost as will some day recognise as the founder •engine, It Is true; Fulton had made his bad for "the good old times." Eng- sallied his work by trying to steal was In that very year, 1809, taking out! despotism. Napoleon bad snuffed oat wes "• truer end more honorable tlien a laborer and was only dreaming i olutlon. Most of the rest of Europe! the new political gospel with more materialise until five years later. Thus, for the personal military role of this while the use of steam as a motive on* man. In America alone were lib- fidelity. power was barely known, the marvel- erty sad democracy recognised. They When Lincoln was bom Paine was about to take his Jeffer- ous revolution to be wrought by It had no home elsewhere. deathbed and had not yet started. Spiritually the world was emerging son in three weeks would relinquish had reached his zenith In entitle curiosity. As far as any prac- eenth century Into the revived dogA and a few possible steam engine was invented, and the that did not come till years later. In at from any standpoint 1 Is steamboat was launched, .1800 water and horseflesh were the just about a million miles ahead oflJ but nobody chief motor powers; boats, wagons and the corresponding year In the preced-l knew what either meant The world stagecoaches were the -almost exciu- Ing century. And that is not merel had not awakened to modem progress, but was cive methods of travel; candies sad boasting. It is history. stirring In its sleep. tallow dips were need as lllumlnants; For all that, 1800 was a noteworthy! The particular comer of the earth In •VY:i Wl'Mi.fl er than its performance. During It most virgin wilderness. Kentucky at . these email and poorly printed, and J nf the errant nnefo nfl wprn horn two r, but the last century, Poe frontier 'and cost much lor postage. Only a Edgar A. and raw at that. It was nature Tennyson. small percentage of the population was Alfred And on Feb. 12, unmodified and unadorned. It was very educated, duellos was In voarue. Slav- 1800, the day that Lincoln waa good fundamental- stuff out of which bom, Charles Robert ery was In existence on both ides Darwin saw the to make a man, provided the man was light. Lincoln and Darwin! Where fundamental enough strong of the ocean, there was little democ- and enough mmsmm .- such heredity, M who taught us that the black man la But there has been a vast amount ttme for some people. Truly, the world m*M&tv. patient, homely simplicity; both earn- Hand even his wife have come In for Wmgmrrmm Lincoln does not need to have his clr evolution, who has revolutionised the cumstances or his people minimised u In Asia and Africa thought of the world; Lincoln, the order that he may seem great. Prob- liberator sTaUMaWlIe M> •*•* ssByseaMsBMB) esf^^MjpssT of the negro, the preserver of ably they do not show well by the con- the two Americas the republic, the incarnation of democ- trast, but that Is not their fault They racy, the world whnt aad anther* Ml end grotesque no- who has shown were fully as good aa the average clr- tton in the ££3 The ordinary hill may look very Insig- continent The chief ftTrffifrp fcaB nificant beside a mountain, but hill J80B, should be a far shining day. the those days was as a basis for Males, cannot help that la this same year occurred a not- Jjr good for steal- able death. Thomas Paine, the The Llncolna were poor, but so was c iiiisisis" fMM ill sailing then apostle of liberty la America, Bag- everybody else. Equality is a leaven farad and France, the real author of which leaves *poverty not one-half so 'thg Declaration of Independence, one bitter. Lincoln was bom in a log W^Bw "^WfcBBSjpsaBrr 3P£*C3S33fW house with one room and a dirt floor, I the country he had helped to liberate. ti«r of that day. Ida TarbelMudlg- nantly denies that Lincoln, 1 Peine Wed to tree mankind lntsj- Thomas s*ctaeJly as well as politically and Abraham's father, was the lazy loafer J he has been pictured, and as that la the I than gained the enmity of those who Tar- I loved aether kind of chains, which more charitable view and as Miss bell is a woman I am going to side I meant practically everybody. Bat the e*rt» coming end is not far distant i:Waea^M>.; ^ntf^mA^ as there are two women in this case I side with her more than ever. More- f ' * ' '. «-HJ''Vd- I" IUOJ ''I'l.t ' j 1 the charitable view Is the right one. Disced oa the —— of Thomas I Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln iTlsst wuTtura to rofnlsamt I respecting wer* an nonorable - Mlt and Mse^sswsw*Tt friir I 1 iningtrious couple fully up to the aver- ' age or above the average of the time In which thov lived. The sunie tiling applies to Lincoln's environment. It was not bad; It was only crude. All these things are com- parative. Besides, there Is a whole lot of unnecessary fuss made about the early accidents that surround great men. An acorn will grow an oak If the soil la anywhere near to being half decent In which It Is drop- ped. One of the immortals cannot be explained by the presence or absence of plush carpet on the floor of the bedroom In which he is born. Neither bank credits nor their effects can make or seriously mar a real genius who in- herits their command. Poverty could not overwhelm Lincoln any more than wealth could spoil Roosevelt. The worst that can be said of the Kentucky of Lincoln's day Is that It was new, but it was also wholesome. As for the hard life, the simple fare, the primitive surroundings, what worth while man waa ever retarded by things such as these? Man la not a slave of things. He la in the Image of the Maker of things; therefore he Is a ruler of things by divine right '' All of Abraham Lincoln's life waa a proof of this principle. By the sheer greatness of bis heart, bis Intellect and his soul be overcame an adverse environment. He had few of the helps that are regarded as essential by moat men. He was without toe assistance of family or wealth, early training or influential connections, the prepared steps of the stairway to success. He bad to climb the heights alone. Mr. Lincoln said and did many great things, but was greater than anything he said or did. He was in the fore- front of one of earth's fiercest strug- gles and ye* is known chiefly as an ex- nonent of liberty, brotherhood and peace. He was the largest figure In one of the crises In the world's history and yet lent more luster to bis epoch than be gained from It Lincoln will be a live figure In the minds of men when the occasion that gave him prom- inence shall have grown vague and distant The event that brings a great soul into men's view Is at besC but the stage setting; he is the actor. It Is but the background of the picture, he the chief figure and reason of the paint- ing's existence. It Is but the pedestal; he is the statue. Who remembers that Socrates fought .In a war or that Bud- dha was heir to a kingdom? Alexan- der did not derive his Importance from Mncedon nor Cicero from Catiline. It was great for Lincoln to free the slave and save the Union, but greater to be Lincoln. into the black abyss. Thomas urged iCt±\ the horses forward, trusting to their New Story of Lincoln's Birth instinct of trained sight to take us along the invisible trail, so engulfed in the darkest gloom. '"Just as the gray day begun to Grandson of Neighbors of Thomas and Nancy dawn we came into the clearing lead- ing to the cabin.

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