The Abraham Lincoln Exhibit Group, Century of Progress 1833 To1933 Chicago

973- 7L63 The Abraham Lincoln Exhib- E5Cl432a it- Group, Century of Pro- cop, i -2 gress, Chicago, ! 953-1933. LINCOLN ROOM UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY MEMORIAL the Class of 1901 founded by HARLAN HOYT HORNER and HENRIETTA CALHOUN HORNER The Abraham Lincoln Exhibit Group Century of Progress 1833 to 1933 Chicago Price 25c LINCOLN ROOM UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY MEMORIAL the Class of 1901 founded by HARLAN HOYT HORNER and HENRIETTA CALHOUN HORNER Re-enacting High- Lights in Life of the Great Emancipator Abraham Lincoln 1809-1865 — . ABRAHAM LINCOLN Preceptor of a Century of Progress LMOST a century and a quarter has passed since Illinois was his home state and then Chicago was, A the birth of Abraham Lincoln. after all, sort of an Austerlitz where political vic- tory in the form of the Republican nomination These years have witnessed the ascent of "honest was conferred upon him in 1860. Abe*', rail-splitter and circuit-riding lawyer, Con- gressman and War President from a secluded Ken- Also, as an interesting association, Chicago was tucky log cabin to an immortal and consecrated the home and burial-place of Lincoln's doughty place in the annals of the Republic. antagonist, Stephen A. Douglas, who lies buried under a monument only a short distance from the This is entirely fitting, for without the Great present exhibit ( at 35th Street and the Illinois Emancipator and an undissolved Union it is a Central tracks) question whether or not we would be enjoying a The re-established buildings are as closely au- Century of Progress Exposition to-day. Without thentic, structurally the splendid administration of President Lincoln and historically, as possible. They are exact replicas (with one or excep- would our country have become a world power two tions) of original Lincoln buildings still standing. or a pair of minor republics? The log cabins are old ones which have been Historians can discuss this: but the fame of brought up from the Lincoln country downstate. ""honest Abe" is secure. They all date back to the early part of Lincoln's So it is singularly appropriate that this great life and are precisely like those Lincoln lived in Exposition celebrating a century of America's during his youth. progress, should commemorate Abraham Lincoln The Rutledge tavern departs somewhat from the by reestablishing some of those buildings that fig- original at New Salem and the Wigwam is, of ured prominently in his career. necessity, smaller than the original building; in While Chicago cannot claim him as a native son, appearance, however, it is identical. LINCOLN S BIRTHPLACE NEAR HODGENSVILLE, KENTUCKY — BUILDINGS mark strides in Lincoln s career THIS, the first building in the Lincoln exhibit, is sinews and his sense of responsibility. No pam- an exact reproduction of the log cabin still pering for him though he was only a youngster. standing near Hodgenville, Ky., in which Abraham But with all of this, his early education despite Lincoln was born, February 12th, 1809. romantic myths to the contrary, was not entirely It is chiefly remarkable for its size—or lack of neglected. size. Inside there is scarcely room to change your For there were footloose privat-docents and men- mind, and the modern cosmopolite can hardly con- dicant pedagogues wandering about the backwoods ceive of living in such a congested space. But back who lingered here and there when subscriptions in those rough-and-tumble frontier days no one and tuition fees were offered to them and who much less a man of the soil like Thomas Lincoln, sometimes established temporary schools for back- allowed himself to be mollycoddled. Thomas woods children. Lincoln was the father of Abraham Lincoln and was the son of an early settler who came to the Two of these, a Trappist named Zachariah Riney "dark and bloody" ground of Kentucky with Dan- and a Caleb Hazel were the first to initiate young iel Boone. Lincoln in the razzle-dazzle of book larnin'. While Abraham Lincoln was still a baby his There is no record of young Abes showing un- family moved to another cabin in the vicinity usual precosity in these exercises and most likely where thev were to stay until Abe was seven years he was the typical American Barefoot Boy more old. interested in swimming, playing injun and getting into mischief than tarrying in the academic groves. From the very beginning Lincoln knew the stern discipline and back-breaking toil of the wilder- Probably whenever he got the chance he was ness. Even hardly more than a baby countless cultivating that cpiality—quite marked later in life, chores were assigned to him that toughened his that Stevenson called "a large and genial idleness." INDIANA CABIN NEAR GENTRYVILLE, INDIANA Reproduction from old print INDIANA LOG CABIN ington which Lincoln left in the window one day where it was ruined by a rainstorm. In settlement Matrix of an immortal Lincoln hauled fodder two days for Mr. Crawford. soles. Thomas Lincoln had itching He was a All of which is a nice story and at least proves that horizon-chaser like all frontiersmen and empire- books were more highly esteemed in those days huilders. Thomas Lincoln liked to blaze the trail than they are to-day. and show the way for others; liked to fight toe-to- Living near the Ohio river gave Lincoln his first toe with hostile nature, but once the fight was real glimpse of the outside world. The horizons fairly well won and security assured he somehow on the river, the waters eddying to strange places, seemed to lose interest and was ready to move on. must have held a touch of drama for young Lin- So in 1816 the Lincoln family packed their be- coln. There were colorful people here, new im- longings in their plain wagon and struck out north- pressions, foils for his insistent curiosity that were ward toward the Indiana Territory. They crossed a liberal education in themselves. And, indeed, the Ohio river and finally settled, some distance he now grew rapidly both mentally and physically. back of the river, near the present town of Gentry- Before long he had made a reputation for him- ville. self with his muscular prowess and swift dexterity Here another log cabin was erected and an ex- with what we now term the "wise-crack." His wit, tensive clearing made in the virgin forest. Young which was later to hamstring more sophisticated Abe worked at this with a will and soon became statesmen, came from a natural intelligence quick- amazingly adept at tree-felling. ened by early contact with this vital, untamed And by now, as the new homestead settled down river life. He could sense the hurdy-gurdy life to a farm-routine, he was old enough to assist in outside the wilderness in the rushing river waters, the real man's work. He learned to plow, seed and the boats from above and below, the explosive harvest. He could swing a "gad" and handle a chinwagging of river characters. team with the best of them and frequently drove During the thirteen years in Indiana Lincoln through the rough forest paths to the mill, the had grown to a height of six feet three, very lanky store and the river landing or from the woods with but made of "cat-gut, raw-hide and whipcord, and a heavy draft. able to "lick his weight in wild cats." There were In the meantime he continued an irregular edu- few youths to dispute his physical or mental su- cation under local private teachers. One of these premacy. He was still relatively uneducated but was Andrew Crawford who, as the story has it. the Lincoln genius had but little concern with loaned Lincoln his copy of Weems Life of Wash- mere books. NEW SALEM STORE NEW SALEM STORE This jaunt to New Orleans was still another eye- opener to young Lincoln. The picturesque and A Business and Political Job dramatic city in the Delta stirred all his latent am- The nomadic Lincolns came to Illinois in 1830 bitions and upon the return to New Salem Abe and settled on a farm along the Sangamon river, was ready to enter a new phase of his life. Here were the mak- about ten miles from Decatur. His flat-boat employer opened a store in New luxurious farm, with the rich bottom ings of a Salem and hired Lincoln as clerk; and it was while assisted lands and all, so Thomas Lincoln and Abe he was in this tiny little river-bank store that by John Hanks, a distant relation of the first Mrs. Lincoln steps from the shadows and begins to take Lincoln, set to work on it. It was here that Lincoln definite form. won undying fame as a rail-splitter; according to Many pleasant legends and anecdotes linger John Hanks, Abe split almost three thousand rails about this period of Lincoln's life. We learn that for use as fence posts to mark off the new home- he was an expert wrestler, a sparkling wit, amusing stead. story-teller and an all 'round good fellow. But for some reason or other, prosperous as this At first a gang of New Salem hoodlums called seemed to be, Thomas Lincoln moved new home the Clary Grove Boys wanted to badger the new- a vear. spring of 1831 he set out on within In the comer but one day Lincoln took on their champion for Coles County, sixty or seventy miles eastward in a catch-as-catch-can wrestling match and routed the upper waters of the Kaskaskia and on Embar- him ignominiously.

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