How Abraham Lincoln became president . oneer community — his single year of instruction underthe pioneer schoolmaster — his bitter struggle with pov-erty, beginning at his birth and continuing into the yearsof manhood — is a story familiar to every schoolboy. AsLincoln emerged from boyhood, he heard of a man forwhom he conceived a high admiration. The man wasHenry Clay of Kentucky. He had been a member ofCongress for many years; he had achieved fame as anorator, and he was rapidly becoming the idol of a largepart of the American people. Henry Clay became the ideal statesman in the mindof Abrah
How Abraham Lincoln became president . oneer community — his single year of instruction underthe pioneer schoolmaster — his bitter struggle with pov-erty, beginning at his birth and continuing into the yearsof manhood — is a story familiar to every schoolboy. AsLincoln emerged from boyhood, he heard of a man forwhom he conceived a high admiration. The man wasHenry Clay of Kentucky. He had been a member ofCongress for many years; he had achieved fame as anorator, and he was rapidly becoming the idol of a largepart of the American people. Henry Clay became the ideal statesman in the mindof Abraham Lincoln, even before he had left the rude hutwhich was the home of Thomas Lincoln and his littlefamily in Indiana. The first year of young Lincoln inIllinois was passed in Macon county, not far from Deca-tur. Here he helped clear a small farm in the Sanga-mon bottom, and made the rails that were destined toachieve renown and to become no small factor in carryingLincoln far beyond his most extravagant dreams of placeand CHAPTER II. FOUNDATION OF GREATNESS LAID IN A FRONTIER VILLAGE. The ensuing six years were extremely important onesfor Abraham Lincoln. They were the year (1831-1837)which he spent in the pioneer village of New Salem. Thiswas one of the little towns that had sprung up along theSangamon river and whose inhabitants had some am-bitious hopes with respect to the future. The atmosphereof New Salem was not much different from that in whichLincoln had passed all of his earlier years. Its inhabitantswere pioneer men and women of rough exterior, but ofkind, generous, honest impulses. There were not manycounterfeits among them. They were genuine men andwomen. In this atmosphere — amid this free, unselfishlife — here where men met upon one common level —here where there were no classes, no aristocracy — onlymen, whose strongest tie binding them together was thebrotherhood of man — Abraham Lincoln completed thefoundation of his great character and
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